Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Training was usually his time to destress.

It probably wasn’t the healthiest method, in all honesty- but it worked well enough. Usually it was an outlet for all his anger and bitterness to get out before he did something dumb, but today it just felt wrong. Every missed blow, wrong move, bad stance- they all added to the weight looming over his shoulder.

“You’re sluggish today.”

As if he didn’t know that- he had felt like there was a cloud shoved inside his head all day, of course he was sluggish. It took all he had to not snap back, instead just making more wrong moves and adding to the need to do exactly what he was trying not to.

Aizawa sighed, holding up a hand as their signal to stop. Hitoshi did so on cue, standing with too much tension in his shoulders and waiting for his teacher’s next words.

“We’re taking a break.”

The man waved a hand dismissively and walked back over to the mats. Present Mic, who was there so that Hitoshi wouldn’t get used to just one fighting style, watched with a concerned glint in his eyes but said nothing. Hitoshi shrugged, biting the corner of his bottom lip and walking back to his own stack of mats to pick up his water bottle and phone. He pulled up his knees close to his chest and took a generous sip of water. Settling down, he turned on his phone-

And nearly spit up said water.

Hitoshi choked down the liquid, oblivious to the looks of concern and quiet words shared between his teachers, and read the notification again. 

There it was- the root of that fog trapped inside his head that choked his brain. 

Text from Yamamoto: 5:32 pm

We’ve called the center. Your things will be waiting for you on the sidewalk if you aren’t out by six.

Shit. With a twenty minute walk to his house- old house, he corrected himself- that left barely any time for him to pack. Not to mention the fact that his training sessions ended at six… 

“Um-“ His voice came out choked and watery, and Hitoshi was forced to dig his fingers into the legs of his gym uniform and try again. By now, he had both of his teachers’ eyes and had to fight the urge to tell them to look away again. 

“There’s a… family emergency. I have to go.”

Mic raised an eyebrow, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “Alright, kiddo. Do you need a ride anywhere?”

That wasn’t a horrible idea, actually. It would save him a lot of stress… 

“No, I’m fine. I have money for the bus.” That was absolutely a lie, he hadn’t walked dogs in weeks and was on his last few pieces of change, but his tongue betrayed him anyways. Aizawa gave his nod of approval- Hitoshi hoped it was approval.

“Go ahead, then. I’ll be seeing you next week?”

Hitoshi gave a quick nod, already standing and gathering his few things. Maybe if he ran he’d get a bit more time. With a hurried wave, he was out the gym and on his way to get dumped out yet again.

Shouta watched his student rush out, his hands clenching into fists with worry. A gentle hand was placed on his knee, the voice of his husband sounding moments later. 

“He’ll be okay- if anything’s wrong I’m sure he’ll tell you.”

Shouta sighed, shaking his head. It was a nice thought, but Shinsou was closed off. They had been training for months and he still barely knew anything about the kid.

“Maybe.”

Hizashi gave a little smile, nudging Shouta’s knee with his own. “C’mon, sugar. We’ve got that appointment with… Uh, what’s her name…”

“Dinau Mae. I know.” He sighed one last time, reluctantly tearing his thoughts away from his pupil and standing. “You wanna just head straight there or go home first?”

Hizashi laughed and stood up, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he did so. “Shou, look at me. I look like a grease trap- I’m not going anywhere near our future kid like this.”

Shouta smiled fondly, picking up his bag. “Fair enough. Let’s go, then.”

“- and Mae will be there waiting for you in the office. You know where to go, right?”

Hitoshi bit on his tongue to stop himself from making a sharp retort- yes, he knew where the damn center was, he’s lived there for most of his life. Instead he nodded, hefting the weight of his backpack and sloppily packed suitcase around so he could make his getaway. 

More goodbyes were bidden until the clock struck six and they were no longer legally obligated to let him stay in their house. Hitoshi instantly excused himself and left, hopping down the front stairs with more aggression than was probably necessary. Sighing, he began the trek back to Dinau Family Services.

A fancy name for a… less fancy establishment. It was the passion project of some rich upstart who quickly realized he didn’t have it in him to give a shit and pawned it off on the daughter of a family friend. A name change and some applications for government funding later, the center was born. 

Hitoshi stood at the door now. It was an inconspicuous enough building, the only sign it was anything other than a large house was the ‘cozy’ wooden sign that hung on a metal pole extended from the building, almost as if the sign itself didn’t want to be associated with what lay beyond the door. He supposed it was fitting enough- the overflow facilities was generally where the kids who had already had too many strikes- be it age, issues, or simply a scary appearance- were sent to make more room for the kids people would actually want. Even then, there was hardly any competition for space. When he had last left, there were four kids other than himself. Same four he’d been with for ages- basically his siblings at this point.

Anyways. Hitoshi sighed, knocking quietly on the door that would lead immediately into Mae’s office- as if he needed to. Nobody ever visited. Without waiting for a response, he twisted open the doorknob and stepped comfortably back inside. Much to his surprise, there actually was a couple seated before Mae’s desk. The woman took no notice of him, carrying on with reading from her paper.

“- and we generally have potential fosters sit and get to know the kids in their element rather than conducting interviews. You two would-“ Bright blue eyes landed on Hitoshi, a halo of white heather stems poking shyly out from amongst just as saturated pink hair where he could never tell whether it was natural or not. Mae smiled, flashing a gap in her teeth. “Hitoshi! Come on in, kiddo.”

Two more sets of eyes turned to him- dark, dark grey and bright green- and Hitoshi felt his stomach grow heavy as if it was filled with rocks. That little feeling of ‘hey, where have I seen these people?’ was gone, short-circuiting his brain and leaving his tongue numb and dumb for all but one sentence.

“Oh, fuck no.”

Chapter Text

“Hitoshi!”

That was all he really registered- anything else was drowned out by his own thoughts. Pictures, though- his sight remained.

Grey and green darted between each other and him, as if they weren’t sure whether they were allowed to know he existed. He wished they weren’t. He barely registered his back hitting the door he had oh so stupidly shut behind him, penning him in. Suddenly the office felt far too small. 4-7-8, 4-7-8, repeated like a lifeline as his eyes refused to leave the faces of his teachers until a firm yet gentle hand grasped his own and he found himself able to tear his gaze away. 

Hitoshi swallowed heavily, staring down at the concerned face of Mae. Pale cactus blossoms had now joined the arrangement of heather. 

“All good?”

He nodded dumbly, allowing Mae a moment of relief before she turned back to the two men sitting awkwardly in the chairs. “Aizawa, Yamada, this is Shinsou Hitoshi.” A nudge was delivered to his arm- a silent request for him to introduce himself. Too tired to explain, Hitoshi sighed and waved to them. His tongue was still too heavy to formulate any semblance of a proper greeting. Mae clasped her hands together, looking between the two hopefully before sighing. “Come on, then.”

Her flats clicked softly against the wooden floor as she walked to a shelf in the back of the office. The thing was way too tall for her- she stretched up on her tiptoes in an effort to reach one of the prepackaged bags of sheets. Hitoshi sighed at her efforts, pushing down his anxiety to follow her. 

“I’ve got it. Don’t hurt yourself.” It probably came out sharper than he had intended, judging by how she sucked in air through her teeth and red petals began to take the place of the cactus blossoms. He raised an eyebrow as the chrysanthemums forced the white flowers down, ghostly petals falling to the floor. He muttered an apology, taking a thin plastic package and tucking it under his arm. Mae sighed.

“It’s okay- do you have anything to file?”

“No reason to.” He shrugged, his backpack overloaded with clothes and odd belongings shifting with the movement. “Just got tired of me.”

Mae frowned- damn, he really was just being an ass at this point- and nudged his arm gently. “They had their reasons- everybody does. But go ahead and get in. I think Sayama’s kept your room for you.” 

He smiled at that- just a little, but it managed to get one from Mae in return. “Alright.” 

He walked out as quick as he could, deliberately avoiding the still watching eyes of his teachers and shutting the door behind him.

Home sweet home, or whatever.

Hizashi had to be nudged out of his stupor by Shouta. Eventually he looked back over to Dinau, who was shuffling back into her desk seat. “I’m sorry about that- we’ve had more traffic here than usual today and since I’m the only staff member I kind of have to take everything as it happens. But here.” She rifled through a desk drawer, pulling out a folder and shuffling through. A thin section of papers was pulled and passed to them. Shouta took them, spreading them out on the cluttered desk. 

“You can read over those- just general agreements upon entering this facility specifically.” She looked up at them, flashing a smile before pulling a sheet from the top of one of many stacks. She muttered to herself as she scribbled notes over it. 

They both read fast. So when they finished ten minutes later, Dinau clapped her hands together with a smile.

“Excellent! Well, then, you two are ready.” She quickly excused herself to press a button, speaking into a microphone that was barely visible amongst the papers. “If everybody could come into the common room, I would greatly appreciate it!” After that, she stood and gestured for the men to do the same. They obliged, and she gestured to the same door Shinsou had gone through earlier. “Right this way, then!”

Hizashi shared one last look with his husband, flashing him a reassuring smile and squeezing his hand before they both filed down the hallway.

Hitoshi had no idea why Mae even bothered making the announcement- everybody was already in the common room. He had finished unpacking in minutes- it was mostly clothes, anyway. Now he sat with the other kids in comfortable silence, his back against the arm over the overstuffed couch and his knees pulled in close to his chest as he worked on homework. Yuu kept shooting him worried looks, but nobody had asked him anything yet. The announcement had cut them off before they could- and now the door continued it.

“Hey, gang! So- come on in.” Mae shuffled aside, allowing Aizawa and Yamada inside. Hitoshi glanced at them for maybe half a second before looking back to his textbook. Mae faltered for just as long. “Uh- this is Aizawa Shouta and Ya- I should let you introduce yourselves, I’m sorry.” She laughed quietly, looking to the two men. “Go on.”

“I’m Aizawa Shouta, like she said.” His mentor looked bemused, less so in the scary way that Hitoshi was used to. The man beside him grinned, shooting finger guns to Sayama. She raised an eyebrow, and Hitoshi had to fight back a laugh. “I’m his husband, Yamada Hizashi!” 

Husband. Huh.

A couple of them muttered a hello. Hitoshi wasn’t one of them.

Mae’s smile turned a tiny bit more strained. “Well… you all go on! Name, age, maybe a fun fact?” Hitoshi felt bad- she really was trying her best- but this was probably the most awkward thing he’d ever experienced in his life.

Yuu jumped in first, trying to get the others to join in. It wasn’t surprising- they all followed him cultishly since he was the oldest. “I’m Takama Yuu! 17, uh… shit.” Mae gave a little squeak. “Sorry- I’m trying. We couldn’t have done quirks?” 

Junko snorted. “This from you- I thought you had that whole ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ thing going for you?” 

Yuu raised his eyebrows. “Yeah- hold up, you know I’m not interesting.”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes, setting his book off on the slanted coffee table. “Just do your favorite color or something.”

“Ah- we can do quirks too!” Mae quickly cut in, waving a hand and practically begging them to keep talking. Hitoshi felt worse.

“Cool. Takama Yuu, 17, my favorite color is blue-“ He gestured a hand to his hair, which was tinted at the tips with electric blue. “And I’m quirkless. Next.” 

“Ray. I’m nine. Dogs. Stun gun.” Ray spoke immediately after him, shoving his earbuds back in afterwards. Sayama sighed and cut in. “He means he likes dogs- I’m sorry. I’m Minuri Sayama, I just turned 9 too. Ray is my twin, and my quirk is generator. Junko?”

Junko sighed. “Pawayai Junko. My quirk’s textile- I’m 13. Uh… fun fact… oh. My favorite color is purple. Speaking of…” She turned mismatched eyes- blue and green- to Hitoshi. He laughed quietly. 

“Wow, great segway. I’m Shinsou Hitoshi- 16, my quirk is-“ “Mindfuck.” Yuu cut in with a grin, much to the dismay of Mae. Hitoshi laughed, pulling his knees closer to his chest and resting his chin on top of them. “Christ, Yuu. It’s brainwashing. Uh… shit- oh. Sorry, Mae.” She sighed, burying her face in her hands. “I don’t know. I don’t have a favorite color.”

Junko raised an eyebrow. “You’re a cat person- bam, finished. That’s done. We can move on with our lives.”

Mae sighed, a few flowers Hitoshi vaguely recognized as petunias joining the now overcrowded arrangement in her hair. “Alright, then.” She turned to Aizawa and Yamada again, plastering on that big smile again. “I apologize, but I have a lot of paperwork I have to fill out- I’ll be back within a few hours? Two at the most.” Every kid in the room sighed, a few laughing weakly. Aizawa nodded.

“That’s fine.” 

“Excellent!” Mae cut in before any comments could be made. “You two just make yourself comfortable, then. I’ll be back as soon as I can- kids, please behave.” With that, she left with muttered apologies and notes to herself. They all waved with varying degrees of enthusiasm, until the bright pink beacon had disappeared into her office again and left them alone. Hitoshi clapped his hands together, standing. 

“Cool- so I have to unpack still.” Yuu shook his head and snatched him by the waist as he tried to walk off, pulling him back on the couch. 

“Nope! That’s a load of shit- nobody takes that long to unpack. We’re having family time.” He grinned manically. Hitoshi sighed.

“This is blasphemy.”

“This is religion and I’m your god- now sit your sorry butt down and brood in the corner or something.” 

This was going to be a long two hours.

Chapter Text

Shouta was at his wit’s end.

That wasn’t him trying to be rude- just…

He was severely underprepared for this. Not that there was a handbook, but damned if he didn’t wish there was one. It would have been amazing, but unfortunately he was out of luck. Maybe he could write one…

A squeeze came, bringing him back down to earth just a bit. Bless Hizashi- Shouta looked over at him and smiled softly. It was returned just as Pawayai’s voice  cut into his thoughts.

“So- what’d you do this time, Hitoshi?”

Instantly there was clamoring- Takama holding up his hands and trying to calm them down, Ray getting up to move a seat away from Sayama who was flailing her arms with every word, and Pawayai’s laugh cutting over all of it. Shinsou threw a balled up sheet of notebook paper that had been passed around the room countless times as retaliation between them at Pawayai, the object bouncing off her head and landing unceremoniously on the floor. Sayama sprang for it, scooping it up at Shinsou looked the older girl dead in the eyes.

“I wasn’t worth the tax benefits.”

“You say that like anything is worth the shit they pay out people to deal with us.” Pawayai retorted.

“Guys- christ.” Takama plucked the ball from Sayama’s hands and tossed it at Shinsou, just barely missing. “It’s like you want to stay here forever.”

“That’s impossible.” Shinsou simply shrugged it off, breaking his gaze from Pawayai and resting his chin back on his knees. “We all turn 18 eventually, nobody’s staying here forever.”

“Except Mae.” Ray spoke up briefly, causing Sayama to beam. Shinsou nodded and pointed to Ray.

“Except Mae- excellent point.”

The conversation continued, but Shouta had to tune it out again. At first it was awkward, what with the two relative strangers in the room- Shinsou still counted because for the duration of their visit, he had been acting like he knew nothing about them. The kid had an impressive poker face. But eventually they had all kind of forgotten the couple was there, simply trading insults and jokes that Shouta didn’t understand in the slightest and… just generally being kids.

Hizashi squeezed his hand again, bringing his attention back to the conversation just as Shinsou sat up just enough for his face to be visible. 

“UA, huh?”

He knew the question was coming eventually. It was inevitable- he had been moved out with the Yamamotos before he started school. So he wasn’t surprised so much as he was lost on what to say.

“I mean… it’s nice. The people are good.”

The paper ball hit him again. Hitoshi sighed and grabbed it, tossing it straight back to Yuu in retaliation.

“I’m getting there, christ. Words are hard- that’s honestly all I can say.”

Junko huffed, turning in her chair to hook her legs over one chair arm. Her hair spilled over the other arm as she looked at him. “‘That’s all you have to say.’ Bull. Shit.” She clapped her hands with the final two words. “Details. All of them- what’re your teachers like? Have you gotten in any fights? Do I need to get in a fight for you? What poor innocent boy are you going to be a hopeless mess around because you are godawful about expressing any kind of emotion in the semblance of a human being?”

Hitoshi sighed. “The teachers actually give a fuck, no fights, you don’t need to fight anyone, and nobody.”

“Sports festival?” 

“Midoriya is terrifying and I very stupidly didn’t realize it- like. I could have died.”

Junko snorted, straightening back up in her chair with a flounce. “You say that to everything.”

“Everything can kill you.”

“Yuu, I swear to god.” Him and Junko said it in near unison, causing Yuu to grin like a madman.

“Am I wrong? You had your edgy teen phase at the same time as I did, I have receipts. Don’t test me.”

Hitoshi turned pink, grabbing a pillow- Yuu still had the paper- and tossed it at him. “You’re awful.”

“You missed him, though.” Sayama grinned, flashing crooked teeth and prompting her brother for a high five. She received no such thing. “You’re a sentimental idiot, you don’t think anyone is really awful.”

Junko snorted, bleached eyebrows shooting way up her face. “Yes he does.”

“We have a burn book. Don’t tell me I don’t dislike anyone.” Electric blue eyes snapped to Hitoshi, causing him to backtrack. “Uh- You heard nothing.”

“I’m getting that book.” Yuu narrowed his eyes, causing Junko to just laugh louder. 

“You look like a fish, cut it out.”

“Yeah, you really don’t do angry that good. Sorry!” 

The conversation continued, paper ball now being tossed around the room wildly again. Hitoshi smiled to himself, putting his face back under his arms- 

Until he spotted Aizawa. 

Grey eyes were locked onto him in a gaze so intense that Hitoshi found himself shifting closer against the back of the couch on instinct. He pulled himself just a little tighter, a little smaller, trying to puzzle out what that expression was. The fact that his teacher’s face remained as flat as usual didn’t help much.

Adults were always hard to read. That didn’t include Mae- she literally wore her emotions in a crown of petals and leaves. For everyone else, though… it was harder.

The only thing he could settle on was sadness- but that didn’t sit quite right with him. This was a more toned down version. It could have been a result of Aizawa’s attempt to keep his face blank, but something in the back of Hitoshi’s mind told him that wasn’t it. More like sympathy. Maybe. 

“Hey- why don’t you guys ask them stuff instead of harassing me? I don’t leave.” He gestured vaguely in the direction of the couple. Yuu smiled, taking the bait perfectly. Hitoshi sighed in relief, quirking up his eyebrows for half a second to his teachers before contentedly sinking back against the couch and zoning out.

For all of ten minutes, at least. The questions had apparently turned to a debate, and somewhere along the line a pillow was tossed at Junko and hit him square in the head instead. Hitoshi yelped, not having been expecting it, and essentially launched himself backwards over the arm of the couch and onto the floor. Junko crowed with laughter. Yuu peered down at him. 

“Shit- you alright? Do I need to go get Mae?”

Hitoshi shook his head quickly, staggering back to his feet and sitting back where he was before. “I’ve bothered her enough today- I’m not dying yet, it’s fine.”

“‘Yet.’ You’re so edgy.”

He shrugged. “And yet.”

Mae came back frantically into the room, hair sprouting with a fresh batch of white heather. “I heard a thud- everyone okay?”

“‘Toshi fell on his butt. We’re fine.” Sayama smiled up at her.

“Goodness- you’re sure?” She turned to Hitoshi, who shrugged.

“Yeah.” The desire to speak or even… be in the room was quickly fading, leaving behind exhaustion and the last dregs of his panic from earlier. 

Mae must have noticed, because she didn’t push the issue any further. She quickly excused herself, stating that she’d be back soon to sign Aizawa and Yamada out. Conversation sparked up a little while longer, fading to a dull roar in Hitoshi’s brain, until a hand belonging to Yuu was settled on his arm carefully. Yuu spoke softly, allowing the others to distract the couple there with them- Hitoshi thanked his lucky stars.

“You alright?” 

He shrugged, raising his hands to sign out a response.

“Tired.”

Yuu nodded understandingly. “Do you need to go?” He had switched to signing as well, the motions much more fluid than when Hitoshi had last seen him. The two boys stayed oblivious to green and grey eyes that settled on them from time to time.

“No, it’s family time. I’m fine. Tired. You’ve gotten better.”

Yuu smiled, shifting to face him now. “I practiced a lot. Wasn’t expecting you to get back this time but I’m happy I get to practice with someone who’s f-l-u-e-n-t again.”

“Doing good.” Hitoshi shot him a tired smile back. “Fluent. Means f-l-u-e-n-t.”

Yuu snapped, causing Yamada to look up at them again- not that they realized- and grinned. “Fluent. Cool. I’ll keep it in mind.” 

They continued to converse in sign for a bit, the conversation around them carrying on without them. Mae eventually returned, smiling at the group before putting her hands on the back of his teachers’ chairs. “I can go ahead n’ sign you two out, now.” They both nodded, Yamada giving an exaggerated wave to them. They waved back, calling their farewells, and Hitoshi signing his. He pointedly ignored the worried look Mae gave him. White heather stems littered the floor and were quickly replaced with more. Yamada smiled, putting his arm around Aizawa’s shoulders- that was still so wild to think about, they were married- and grinned. 

“We’ll see y’all!” Only as they disappeared down the hallway did Hitoshi notice something- his hands had twitched, signing out the sentences subtly. 

He shrugged it off. It wasn’t important- 

It’s so important he could understand you he knows it you can talk to him-

Hitoshi shoved the thought to the back of his mind, rubbing his temples. He quickly signed an excuse of his own and went back to his own room.

He had no idea how he was going to face either of his teachers at school through next week.

Chapter Text

“- and now he’s probably going to think we’re going to judge him, and- oh, god, what if he just doesn’t show up?”
“He’s not going to skip.”
Shouta’s words did absolutely nothing to reassure his husband, who continued to pace wildly around the otherwise empty gym. He’d been going at this, worrying on and off in the car ride away from the center, at home, the morning, and all throughout the week until now they were here.
“Seriously- Mic. He isn’t going to skip. Have some faith in him.”
Hizashi sighed, sliding back onto his perch on the mats and jittering his leg. Shouta proceeded to set up the mats while the blonde rambled in the background. He finished quickly and sat next to Hizashi, crossing his arms. Maybe he could squeeze in a nap...

“That’s an invasion of privacy, right? Maybe he’s mad.”
Not when Hizashi had other plans. Shouta sighed, looking over at his husband who stared right back with a pointed expression. As he opened his mouth to respond, someone cleared their throat in front of them.
Hizashi nearly jumped out of his skin beside him, but Shouta simply looked over to Shinsou with an anodyne expression.

His student had his hands in the pockets of his gym uniform, looking down. Shouta took note of the heavier than usual bags under his eyes, his slouched shoulders, and just the general aura that he wasn’t doing well. But it wasn’t his place to comment, unfortunately. If something was physically wrong then he needed to learn his own limits.

Hizashi eventually settled down, breaking the palpable silence with a laugh. “Ya scared me there! When did you get here?”

Shinsou shrugged, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. The hands left his pockets to falter in the air for a second as if to sign, but something must have made him decide against it because he spoke up. “Not long ago- sorry, I walk quiet.” 

Shouta shook his head, standing up. His joints popped on cue, causing both his husband and- only now did he notice- his student to look at him with worry. “Don’t apologize- just get to it. You’re good to stay today?”

The kid sighed in what Shouta interpreted as relief. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” 

No words were exchanged past that point- no need to. Until six struck and Shouta didn’t have permission for the gym anymore. Shinsou hit the mats with a thud, thrown off balance- they needed to work on his posture, it seemed- and scrambled to his feet again. Hizashi smiled brightly, getting up and offering a hand to the boy to help him.

“So, kiddo, are we going the same way?”
Shouta’s pointed look either was ignored or misinterpreted, because his husband didn’t backtrack in the slightest. “We can give you a ride if you want.”
Shinsou raised an eyebrow, eyes narrowing and looking over the blonde as if he didn’t trust what he was saying at all. After a pause that lasted way too long for anybody to be comfortable, he shook his head.
“I can walk.”

With that, he ducked under Hizashi’s arm and went for his bag. Minutes later, he had disappeared into the locker rooms without even his usual ‘goodbye.’ Shouta frowned as Hizashi sidled up beside him. Something was wrong.

The moment Hitoshi walked through the door he wanted to leave.

Mae’s desk was clear of papers- that was a sign that someone was in for a long, legal jargon filled talk. Nobody else came around at this time.

As if on cue, Mae exited the filing room and came into the main office with a smile.

“Hitoshi! Let’s chat.”

Hitoshi focused numbly on a manilla envelope in her arms and the circle of purple hyacinth that stuck out proudly from her hair. Talks with Mae- real, legally binding talks, not the banter they’d share occasionally over food or homework- were long. There was no shortage of sympathetic glances and gentle words, but nothing ever worked to ease that knot of anxiety in his stomach that built with those two words. ‘Let’s chat’ could mean anything- it could be about the Yamamotos, about Yamada and Aizawa, about UA, about his recent spiel of silence, about dinner… That last one was unlikely, but it happened once before. That meant it could easily happen again.

As Hitoshi settled into one of two chairs in front of the desk, he spotted the papers that had been laid out in front of Mae’s swivel chair. Mae sat down, digging her feet in to keep the momentum from spinning her around, and folded her hands orderly on top of the wooden surface.

“So. The Yamamotos.”
It was going to be one of those, huh.

“I said I don’t have anything to file-”
“Yes! I know, I remember. But it’s still worth talking about, right?”

“Not really. I’d rather not.”

Mae sighed, pulling more papers from the folder. Hitoshi caught a glimpse of the photo on his own information- great. They were still using that one picture from when he was eight. Mae was oblivious to his discomfort as she pressed on.
“Any issues you’d like to bring up? I know you don’t have anything to file- just because they weren’t bad doesn’t mean they can’t improve on something!” She chirped happily, as if this philosophy hadn’t been shoved on him since he was little. 

“That’s not really- look. They didn’t do anything wrong.” The knot in his stomach grew tighter. The urge to run out somewhere only grew stronger- just 4-7-8, 4-7-8. 

“I’m not saying they did, hon. If we can just talk about them for a second- oh.” She looked up, drawing Hitoshi’s attention to the door that swung shut behind Aizawa and Yamada. “I’ll be right with you! Hitoshi-”
“We can do this later.”
“We can do it now. Because you’re going to dodge the topic if I don’t keep you here.”

Hitoshi sighed, shrinking down and turning back forward. “They were fine.”

Mae smiled as if nothing had happened- god, that drove him crazy- and leaned forward ever so slightly. “Go on?”

“There’s nothing to go on about- the Yamamotos are perfectly fine and normal people with a perfectly fine and normal daughter and they wanted to ‘make a difference’ or whatever garbage they spewed when they showed up over the summer. I didn’t fit the bill because I got upset over stupid things. It. Is. Fine.”
Mae leaned back again. Shit- that was too much. Too much, now came questions- his teachers were here. Damnit.

“What did they do that upset you?”
“I told you- it’s stupid. Their daughter’s scared of me or whatever.”
“It’s not stupid-”
“Oh my god.” Hitoshi pinched the bridge of his nose, sinking lower in his seat. “It’s fine. If I just tell you will you let me go?” He pushed back the urge to look behind him, knowing it would only make him feel worse.

“... Yes.”
“Cool. Great- It’s really dumb. They had this thing where they’d slap at my arm jokingly- they did it to their daughter too, it wasn’t only me-“
“Hitoshi.”

He had to stop himself from jolting at the tone she used. Mae sighed, passing him his form and pointing to a section at the bottom.

Struggles with:

“Tell me what that says.”

“I don’t-”
“Hitoshi.”

This time he did jolt.
“Okay- fine. You should know-”
“Mae- there are other people here-” His voice came out quiet, and he was talked over without Mae realizing.

“Nobody in their right mind is going to hit a child- even jokingly- with a history of severe physical abuse.”
“Mae- please.”
“That’s not okay. That’s not fine. That’s something we need to file.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It is! It’s a huge deal, I don’t understand why you’re not talking about it.” Of course now she heard him.

“I’m not- I’m talking about it now, aren’t I?”

“Because I practically dragged you in here. Hitoshi-”
“Mae. Listen. Please.”
Red cyclamens took the place of the hyacinth. Fantastic- now he’d made her feel bad.

“I don’t care. I didn’t say anything about it, it’s my fault. Can we just- I’ll come to you, I swear. I don’t want to talk about this right now. Not first thing when I get in here, not with other people in the room.” He sighed, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “I have homework.”

He pulled his backpack off the floor from its place beside Mae’s desk, slinging one strap over his shoulder and plodding off silently. 4-7-8, 4-7-8. The door shut with a faintly audible click.

Fucking hell.

Chapter Text

“Oh, goodness.”

Hizashi was snapped abruptly out of his silence- truly rare for him- with those words.

This was messed up. He knew Shouta had wanted to learn more about the kid, but he highly doubted he wanted to like this. Was this an invasion of privacy? He was worried about it before but now he had no doubts.

“I’m sorry- I didn’t realize you two would be here so soon.” Dinau sighed, gathering some of the papers that were strewn across her desk and pulling others out of drawers. “Come sit- we’ll go in eventually, just… give some time.”

Both men nodded after sharing a look, coming to sit where the woman had indicated. A ring of what Hizashi recognized as daffodils sprouted from her hair, golden trumpets standing proudly amongst a sea of saturated pink. 

“So. You all met the kids yesterday- have you noticed anybody in particular?”

“Uh-” Hizashi and Shouta shared another look. They hadn’t really discussed it in full- really they were waiting to get to know them better.
“No worries!” Dinau’s smile didn’t fall. Five sheets of paper were spread over the desk, each bearing names and information for the kids. “You can look over these- it can help to know early on who would be the best fit for your schedules and lifestyles.”

Shouta sucked in a harsh breath as his eyes landed on one of the forms.

Shinsou Hitoshi

Age upon admission: 8

Current age: 16

DOB: July 1, 2XXX

Reason for admission: Guardians deemed unsuitable

The black and white photograph of his student stared up at him. 

Photo taken upon admission

Upon admission- he was eight. 

Eight years old, with wild curly hair falling over his face. It did nothing to conceal wide eyes, tensed shoulders, the marks around his face not unlike the ones Bakugou had received from the muzzle when bound at the sports festival. 

Shouta tore his eyes away from the form- if he was going to learn anything he wanted Shinsou to tell him himself. He and Hizashi looked up at around the same time, prompting a smile from Dinau. “Are you two ready, then? Yuu and Junko are out right now, so it’s just Hitoshi and the twins.”

Shouta nodded, standing up. Hizashi followed as Dinau leaned in towards her intercom.

“If everybody would please come to the common room.”

Once again, there was absolutely no point in the announcement. Hitoshi sat with Sayama and Ray on the couch, his notes spread out over the coffee table for him to reference. He didn’t look up as the door opened- just kept writing.

“You’re back!” Sayama grinned, swinging her legs over the edge of the couch from where she had been leaning over Hitoshi’s textbook earlier.

“They are indeed! You all are fine alone in here?”

Sayama nodded eagerly, Ray giving a thumbs up. Hitoshi nodded, keeping his tunnel vision on the textbook. He heard Mae sigh, but she made no comment. Instead, the sound of her flats clicking down the hallway indicated her departure. Sayama laughed at something before returning to her original position, pointing across the textbook propped up on her knees.

“What’s that?”

“English.”

“I know that, dummy.”

 Hitoshi looked up at her, raising his eyebrows briefly before turning back. “Wow- I’m offended.”

“You sound it. What’s the word mean?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

Sayama sighed heavily, flopping back over and across the couch. “Man, do you know anything?” 

“Rude. This is one word- for all you know I could be fluent for everything except this.”

Sayama laughed. “You forget words in Japanese all the time. I doubt it. Here-“

The textbook was pulled out of his lap. “Ah- this again. I mean, I’m not gonna complain.” He passed the pencil and notebook to her, earning a smile. “Your notes are there.”

“Shouldn’t you be doing your own homework, kiddo?” Shit- he looked up to the amused expression of his English teacher. Ray laughed.

“She’s not gonna do it, just wait.”

Sayama stuck her tongue out at her brother, looking over the notes for a moment. “... this is hard.”

“It is.” Hitoshi smiled, just barely, as Sayama screwed up her face and passed the work back to him. 

“You can do it, I changed my mind.”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes as Ray snorted. “See?”

He kept working after that, Sayama sitting on the edge of the couch cushions and bombarding the couple with questions. He really wasn’t listening fully at that point. Until she waved her hands wide, hitting him on his knee and drawing his attention back to the conversation.

“So you’re heroes?! Wow- like Hitoshi. Wait-“ She gasped, turning back to Hitoshi with urgency and tapping on the edge of his book. “You had training today!”

He nodded, not looking up. Conjugations are weird-

“‘Toshi! How was it?”

“Good.”

Sayama tossed her hands up in the air before gesturing to him, giving a pointed look to Aizawa and Yamada. “You see this? ‘Toshi.” She pulled the book out of his lap and patted his leg. “You can’t just say ‘good.’”

Hitoshi sighed, setting his notebook and pencil on the coffee table. He rested his chin on the palm of his hand and met Sayama’s intensive stare. “Great?”

“No! Ugh-“ 

Ray laughed and cut in. “You’re not gonna get anywhere.”

Sayama huffed and crossed her arms, wrinkling her nose in frustration. “I know! It’s like I’m talking to a wall.”

Hitoshi snorted. “Or screaming into a void.”

“Edgy.”

“Thanks for the input, Ray. Your comments are, as always, nothing but helpful and necessary.” Hitoshi rolled his eyes, reaching for his book again before noticing the time on his phone. “... aren’t you two supposed to be in bed?”

“What?” Sayama grabbed his hoodie sleeve. “You’re not gonna send us away!”

Hitoshi laughed quietly, tugging his sleeve away. “It’s not a life sentence- you get to sleep. Appreciate it.”

Ray huffed, but got out of his spot in the armchair. “Cool. Goodnight.” He waved, walking down the hallway and into the living area. Hitoshi sighed in relief.

“Great- 50 percent there. Now-“ A pillow hit the side of his face. “Thank you. Come on.”

“Ugh… but I’m not tired!” Sayama held her hands up in the air, waving them to make a point. Aizawa looked between them.

“Do you… need help?”

Hitoshi shook his head. “No, I’ve got it. I’ll be back, so… you don’t have to leave.” He shrugged, offering a hand to Sayama. “We can do this the easy way or the embarrassing way.” 

Sayama met his gaze head on, brandishing a stuffed animal. “Cinnamon Sugar says I’m a big kid and can go to bed when I want, and also that you should die.”

Hitoshi snorted, covering his mouth with a hand to hide his laughter. “What the hell, cinnamon sugar. Alright- your fate is sealed.” He sighed, bending down and scooping the girl up. “I’ll be back in a bit.” Sayama’s protests were ignored as he hauled her down to the bathroom to brush her teeth, leaving the couple in the common room to share a look of amusement.

When Hitoshi came back, Yuu was sat on the couch and poring over his English notes. He looked up with a smirk. “Your handwriting is terrible.”

“Good to see you too.” Hitoshi rolled his eyes and sat back in the corner of the couch. “How was practice?”

“Aw- you still remember!” Yuu grinned and reached to tousle his hair, telegraphing his movements enough where Hitoshi could duck under his arm. 

“You told me about it last night, I’m not stupid.”

Yuu grinned and pulled back, falling back and stretching out over the majority of the couch. “Never said you were. It’s nice to hear your voice again- you should help me with my numbers.”

Hitoshi raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said you already know this show.”

“I do, but-“

“Cool. You don’t need me to sing with you.” Hitoshi looked back to his notes, sighing and reaching to pack them up in his notebook. Yuu carried on.

“It never hurts! I swear I always manage to mess something up- god forbid it be a musical number. How ‘bout it Seymour be my son…” He drawled in English, causing Yamada to look up excitedly. 

“You’re in a musical?” 

Aizawa gave him an amused look as the blonde leaned forward. 

“I am indeed. And I must say- it’s so nice to finally meet some of Hitoshi’s teachers.”

Hitoshi looked up with a start. “When did I tell you that?”

Chapter Text

Shouta looked up in surprise as the two boys went back and forth.

“You’re making baseless accusations!”

“‘Baseless’ my ass, that’s Present Mic. I have eyes and half a brain.” 

Shinsou sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose- Hizashi would have made a joke about how similar they were- and shot Takama a look. “I’m- okay. Christ.”

Takama grinned impishly. “I’m right, though, aren’t I?” He moved to face Shouta and his husband, offering a hand for them to shake. Hizashi put on a wide, nervous smile and took the hand. 

“Uh… we’ve already met.”

“But not like this! Different roles. Hitoshi, why didn’t you say anything? I could’ve done this last week.”

“It’s… weird. This whole thing- there’s a lot.”

Takama shrugged, finally moving his hand to offer it to Shouta now. He took it and shook it briefly.

“So- let’s start over. I’m Takama Yuu. You can call me Yuu if you’d like. Hitoshi’s my… relations are hard when you’ve got no traceable relatives but let’s call him my brother.” Yuu nodded and leaned back on the couch, crossing his arms. Shouta hesitated, unsure whether to continue.

“Aizawa Shouta- Eraserhead. I’m the one who’s been training him.” 

“Yamada Hizashi- Present Mic. I’m just… there.”

“You’ll be useful eventually, I’m sure of it.”

Shinsou huffed, either in annoyance or amusement. “Yuu, I swear. You don’t need to go guard dog on them.”

“Oh, but that’s way more fun! Shovel talk and all that. Okay!” He clapped his hands together and leaned forward in his seat. “If you ever hurt him, I do not care what job you have or what ranking you are as a hero. I will end you. There’s plenty of pages left in the burn book, I checked.”

Shinsou held his head in his hands and muttered something unintelligible. Hizashi’s laugh floated over it. “Don’t worry, we don’t plan to.”
“Good.” Yuu smiled, flashing crow’s feet at the corner of his eyes. “So- ‘Toshi. You’re a coward.”
Shinsou looked up, raising his eyebrows with an unamused expression. “Thanks.”

“Come on! You could have said something- don’t you trust me?”

Shinsou shrugged, leaning back against the arm of the couch. Shouta felt concern flutter in his chest, realizing the boy had barely looked at him or Hizashi within the past week. 

“It’s not that I don’t, this is just…” His student faltered and fidgeted with his hands. Shouta recognized a few signs, but the movements were too small for him to recognize any full sentences. Hizashi shifted to lean forward, face shifting into an expression of solicitude.

“Hey- you don’t have to say anything, it’s okay.” 

“No- it’s fine.” Shinsou heaved a deep breath, apparently gathering his thoughts. “Just… this is weird. And the likelihood of it ever happening was… next to zero, and now you both know a lot that usually I would eventually tell people, but… I didn’t get the option to, it just happened. And it’s weird. I’m saying that a lot- shit.” He laughed, the sound nervous and flighty. “Sorry.” 

“Don’t be.” Yuu shoved his arm. “You take too much shit from people.”

“It’s not-“ Shinsou huffed, pulling into himself more. Something from the classes Shouta had taken to get this far came to mind- shielding. 

“I’m not taking shit from them, it’s not their fault. It’s not anybody’s fault, it just… happened.” His voice got quieter as he buried his face in his arms. Yuu shrugged, clicking his tongue.

“Not a stab at you right now, just the facts.”

Shouta shared a look with his husband as the two boys went back and forth, until the former elected to say something. “So… are you okay with us being here?”

Hitoshi froze, faltering with what to say.

Was he okay?

Strange question, not one he heard much- not that he didn’t appreciate it. But he had no idea how to answer.

On one hand, he didn’t care. They both had the right to be there, it wasn’t like his option was going to matter much in the long run. Take out the teacher factor and they were just a well-meaning couple trying to start a family or whatever. It wasn’t a problem.

But on the other hand…

Christ, he wished this wasn’t happening. His home life wasn’t something he got into for good reason, and this would no doubt spark embarrassing or invasive questions. And earlier in the office- he really wished they hadn’t heard that. It was embarrassing. Beyond so, actually- it made his skin crawl and pulse race just thinking about how much they had heard. Horrible, awful, just all around something he didn’t want anybody to know or ask about, much less his teachers and even less so his mentors.

Something settled on his leg. Hitoshi’s breath hitched as he looked up at the concerned side glance of Yuu, eventually registering the steady hand resting on his knee. When the older boy met his unsteady gaze, he retracted and began to sign.

“Okay?”

Hitoshi nodded minutely and gave a thumbs up, prompting a tiny smile from Yuu. Sighing in relief, Hitoshi unfolded from himself just enough to sign back.

“You can translate?” He didn’t want to even try asking Yamada right now.

Yuu smiled. “Gotcha.” The look shared between the two men was missed by them both. 

“Thanks- It’s fine if they’re here, I don’t care.”

The smile fell for just a second, but Yuu said nothing, instead telling Hitoshi’s teachers what he’d said and giving him a bit longer to collect his scattered thoughts.

This was fine. He could manage this. One last set of deep breaths, 4-7-8, and he’d be completely okay.

“So-“ He cracked a smile, putting on a front. “The auditions were today, right?”

“Oh!” Yuu easily took the bait- whether he did it obliviously or intentionally was up in the air- and turned, talking with wild hand motions. “Yeah- man, I kinda wish you’d gone to my school, you’d make a much better Seymour than the guy that got the part.”

“What makes you think that?”

“You don’t need to fake the anxiety. Anyways-“

Hitoshi dragged his hand down his face, laughing tiredly. “Thanks. I’ll be sure to pass out on stage.”

“That kinda works with the character, actually. You remember Little Shop?”

The conversation went from there, Hitoshi easing back into it comfortably. Yamada even joined eventually- it didn’t surprise him that the man would hold an interest in archaic American musicals. It just seemed fitting. Eventually Mae came in with an apology, saying it was time for the couple to sign out. 

Aizawa faltered in the door, looking back. “Shinsou-“

He held his breath, waiting for some awkward question or comment. Instead, what came was-

“I’m busy with a teacher conference next week, and I have an early patrol in two weeks but I can stay for training until four thirty then if you’re free.”

Oh- he nodded, giving a thumbs up. “That works.”

His mentor nodded- was he smiling? No way, he couldn’t be- and waved, following after his husband and Mae down the hallway. 

That knot of anxiety that had been present for a good while loosened in his stomach, making it easier to breathe.

Chapter Text

Hizashi waved goodbye to his husband as he headed towards the door. Shinsou folded up a section of mats off to his right. “See ya at home, Eraser. Text me if you need anythin’!”

Shouta nodded. “Will do. Bye.” He waved once before the door closed, leaving Hizashi alone with Shinsou.

He turned to watch as the teenager pushed a stack of the gym mats onto the others. He really had improved from how Shouta had said he was when they had started training. Hizashi smiled, stepping out of the kid’s way.
“Need some help?”
Shinsou looked up at the words, biting his lip in hesitation as his eyes darted between the man’s face and the mats. “... sure.”

Hizashi tried not to jump on the offer- he had done a similar thing to Shouta when they were in school and scared him off for even longer- but he did break into a bright, enthusiastic smile. On impulse, he reached to ruffle Shinsou’s hair. “Alrighty!” As he pulled back, though, he noticed the boy had frozen up. Hizashi watched in concern for a moment as his shoulders tensed, but he simply took a deep breath and brushed it off.

“Okay.”

They made quick work of cleaning up the gym, making light conversation as they did so- mostly on Hizashi’s side, but it was something- until they stood in the empty facility. Hizashi broke the silence quickly. “Do you need a ride?” He was determined not to make his husband’s student walk or take the bus every day.

Shinsou faltered, fidgeting with the edge of his gym uniform. “Uh- no, that’s okay.”
He made the quick decision to press further. “You sure? It’s no trouble, I promise.”

That decision was instantly regretted when the teen froze up again, but he spoke up regardless of his apparent discomfort. “Um… if you’re sure.”

Success- though the nervous posture of the student didn’t feel much like a victory. Hizashi nodded, smiling gently. The usual hand-on-the-shoulder move was abandoned. “Gotcha- come meet me when you’re ready to head out, then.”
Shinsou returned the smile to him, less confident in appearance but appreciated nonetheless. “Will do.”

Shouta looked up as the apartment door opened up, announcing the return of his husband. He smiled minutely, setting down his case report to meet him. 

Hizashi kicked his shoes off in the doorway, grinning as their eyes met. “Missed ‘ya. How was patrol?”

“Good- what took you so long? Usually you’re back before I’m done.”

Hizashi bent to catch his keys as an old, scruffy cat shoved them off the table he’d set them on. “I picked up some groceries after I dropped Shinsou off.”

“Wait- what?”

“Groceries, Shou.” He gestured to the few plastic bags resting on the floor, hooking the handles over his arm.

“No- I know what groceries are.” Shouta laughed quietly. “What was the other bit?”

“Oh!” The blonde grinned, moving the bags to the kitchen counter. “I asked if he needed a ride home like usual, y’know? And he actually let me this time.” He scooped up the cat as she tried to chew at the bag handles, moving into the living room and passing her to Shouta. “Take the baby.”

“Brat cat.” He smiled, taking her from a dismayed Hizashi. 

“No! She’s an angel- isn’t that right, Sugarcube.” He scritched her under the chin, a raspy purr emitting somewhere low from inside the cat.

“Sure. So- Shinsou. How was that?” Shouta eyed a folder on the coffee table, stamped with the logo of the center.

“Great! I think he likes me- well, more than he did before. He’s a good kid.” Hizashi rambled on as he unpacked the grocery bags, leaving Shouta to listen and worry the folder in his hands again. Reluctantly, he opened it to see what had been on his mind.

Five faces. 

His mind jumped to Shinsou again- but the kid seemingly was terrified of him. It had gotten better after they had trained together for a while, but he didn’t want to drag the kid into an environment where he wasn’t fully comfortable. 

Hizashi plopped down on the couch and leaned up against his side, smiling. “What’cha got there?” 

Shouta tilted the folder in his direction.

“Oh- we get those already? It’s only been, like… a month. I thought it took longer.”

“Not the full thing, but basic information. Dinau sent them over.”

Hizashi nodded, taking one of the sheets and scanning over it. “Any ideas? Or should we let Sugarcube pick?”

Shouta laughed, nudging his arm. “She’s a cat, she’d just pick whoever would bend the most to giving her treats.” 

“True that, but she still gets a say.” Hizashi reaches over Shouta’s lap to pet the cat between the ears. 

“Of course. And… that would eliminate Pawayai, she’s allergic. Not lethally so but enough where she’d be miserable here.”

“Mhm.” Hizashi nodded. “Ray or Sayama?”

Shouta shook his head. “That’s not a good idea either- we only have room for one here and I don’t want to split them up.”

“Same here.” Hizashi hummed, setting their files to the side along with Pawayai’s. “So… Shinsou or Yuu. What do you think?”

Shouta sighed, putting the teens’ files between them. “That’s what I’ve been debating.”

“I would say Shinsou.” Hizashi picked up his file in consideration, setting it open between their laps. “It just… works out, y’know? We already know him, he’s at the same school…”
Shouta only half listened, his sight zeroing in on that picture again. Against his gut instinct, he began to read again. He was so upset for not having a say in what we knew… but if I knew then I’d be able to work with him better…

Relenting, he nudged his husband. “Let’s read, then.”

Shinsou Hitoshi

Age upon admission: 8

Current age: 16

DOB: July 1, XXXX

Reason for admission: Guardians deemed unsuitable

Biological parents: Shinsou Katashi (Father) and Shinsou Masami (Mother)

History:

Born July 1, XXXX

Removed from parental custody May 15, XXXX, placed in Kanagawa Family Services Center for Troubled Youth

Fostered to Nakayamas Oda and Rino August 24, XXXX

Returned to Kanagawa Family Services Center for Troubled Youth September 7, XXXX

Transferred to Dinau Family Services September 21, XXXX

Fostered to Yamamotos Isamu and Mikazuki March 12, XXXX

Returned to Dinau Family Services July 9, XXXX

Struggles with:

Selective mutism

Insomnia

Panic disorder

Minor haphephobia

Minor iophobia

Positive relationships with:

Takama Yuu

 ̶T̶o̶r̶a̶b̶u̶r̶a̶ ̶K̶o̶k̶u̶n̶a̶

Negative relationships with:

 ̶U̶e̶s̶a̶t̶o̶ ̶S̶s̶e̶k̶i̶e̶n̶

Specialist referrals:

XXX-XXX-XXXX

XXX-XXX-XXXX

Attached to the file were various photos, all taken at different ages. A few were… a bit disturbing, namely the ones where Shinsou was obviously younger and looked worse for wear. Still, though, they looked through them, Hizashi gushing over how young his student had been- a value Shouta had never understood. Everybody was younger at some point, but according to his husband Shinsou had been a cute little kid despite the appearance that he was constantly ready to fight for his life. Hizashi picked up a printed one where a younger Shinsou- maybe around twelve- sat with a fat tabby cat in his lap and a wider smile on his face than Shouta had ever seen in person.

“Look! He’s like a mini you- Nemuri already jokes all the time about how he’s secretly your love child.” 

“She what now?”

“Nothing.” Hizashi quickly backtracked, gathering up the photos and putting them back in the folder. “You’re just… similar, y’know?”

Shouta huffed, helping his husband pack up the file and setting it aside. “I guess. So… Shinsou.”

“Mhm.” Hizashi nodded with a smile, getting up close against Shouta’s side and hooking his arm around his shoulders. “We could go there this weekend to talk to Dinau.”

“You have your show in the morning, though.” Shouta leaned back against Hizashi, reaching to pet Sugarcube.

“After, then! It’ll all be good, don’t worry. I can call her now.” The blonde reached in his pocket, producing his phone and pulling up the call screen. He tapped one of the more recent contacts and put the call on speaker. The line picked up before it even reached a full ring, the now familiar voice of Dinau coming over the phone. 

“Dinau Family Services, how may I help you today?”

“Hey! It’s Y-“ 

Shouta cut him off, nudging his arm. “This is Yamada and Aizawa, we’ve looked over the files you sent to us.”

“Oh, fantastic! Any decisions yet?”

“Yes- we’d be interested in fostering Shinsou.”

“Excellent!” The faint sound of hands clapping together sounded over the phone. “Well, I’m a bit busy right now- Hitoshi, stay here, we aren’t done- but I can give you the rundown of our process the next time you’re here. Sound good?”

Hizashi beamed, nodding even though it wouldn’t be seen over the phone. “Sounds great! Thanks!” 

Dinau’s mild laugh could be heard before the line was cut, leaving them to themselves. Hizashi smiled even wider- Shouta had never thought it possible- and wrapped his arms around Shouta’s waist, hugging him excitedly. “We’re gonna be dads!”

“Mhm.” Shouta reciprocated the hug, pressing his nose against Hizashi’s hair. “Just a matter of time.”

Chapter Text

“Come oooon!”

Hizashi dragged his husband to the door, bouncing on his toes. The radio show had gotten him all pumped up, and now he felt about ready to burst with energy. 

Shouta stumbled after him, trying to finish his mug of coffee. “Honey, slow down. I don’t even have my shoes on- the center isn’t going anywhere.”

Hizashi huffed, crossing his arms as he watched his husband chug down his coffee and put on his shoes. “I know, just… I’m excited! You are too, I know it.”

Shouta shrugged, setting his mug in the sink. “I am.”

“See?” Hizashi grinned as the man finished putting on his shoes. “You ready?”

“I am now.” Shouta walked towards the door, pulling on a jacket. 

Hitoshi grinned, putting down his cards. “That’s all in.”

Torabura Kokuna nodded, picking up one of the three stacks of white cards. “First off…”

Hitoshi looked up as the door nearby opened just in time to see Mae enter with Yamada and Aizawa. He waved before turning back to the game.

“Nothing can stop child beauty pageants. Not even child protective services.”

The group burst into laughter, Junko on the verge of tears. “Fuck! Call me out.”

“That wins, shit- I don’t even have to read the others.”

“Thanks.” Yuu grinned, pulling the black card from underneath the white ones. “My turn.” Another black card was played.

“Hold up.” Mae cut in, walking around the edge of the couch. The rest of the group finally noticed her. 

“What’s up?”

“Hitoshi- oh, by the way, how did the Restoril work?”

Junko burst into laughter again. “He was acting bat-shit insane.”

“Jerk.” Hitoshi shoved her arm. “Okay- it kinda messes with my head but I slept, so…” He shrugged. “I can finish out this prescription.”

“Good.” Mae smiled, patting his arm. “Wanna go get it so I can write down the information?”

“Sure, it’s in my room.” Hitoshi looked over as Kokuna nudged his arm. 

“Play your card first, you judge next.”

Hitoshi nodded, slapping down a throwaway card from his hand. He drew from the deck and set his hand down next to a mostly empty mug of coffee before standing. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Stay safe.” 

“Gotcha.” Hitoshi rolled his eyes and started walk-sliding down the hall to his room, Mae gesturing behind his back before following. 

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“I figured.” He pulled the doorknob, walking into his room and navigating over disorganized furniture and dirty clothes with practiced ease to his nightstand to pick up the box of tablets. 

Mae lingered in the doorway. “So… Aizawa and Yamada want to foster you.”

“Oh.” Hitoshi froze, staring at the wall for a second.

That- what? That was weird, right? Teachers don’t just… they don’t do that. Not that he didn’t like either of them, it was just odd to him. But he wasn’t going to push them away if they really wanted to do that to themselves.

“Okay.” Hitoshi shrugged it off, resuming in bringing the box to Mae. “Can… can it wait? Just a little bit.”

“That’s fine, kiddo.” Mae smiled brightly as a ring of sweet peas sprouted in her hair. “C’mon- we can do the interview another time but I think they were planning to spend most of the day.”

Hitoshi nodded, passing her the box and heading back to the living room. Kokuna waved to him. 

“Junko won- you’re the judge.”

“Oh no.” 

“Yuu, I swear to god-“

“Set me FREEEEE-“

Hitoshi threw a pillow at Kokuna as he sat down. “You started this.”

The twelve-year-old tossed up her hands. “What? It’s not my fault y’all are fuckin’ edgy.”

Mae sighed. “I’d ask you all to try and be appropriate, but… just try, please. I have work- Yamada, Aizawa, come find me if you need anything.”

The men both nodded. Mae smiled, walking out of the living room as Hitoshi flipped a black card.

“... what brought the orgy to a grinding haunt?”

Yamada snorted, sitting on the loveseat around the coffee table. Aizawa sat next to him as Junko slapped her card down. “Can you deal me in?”

Yuu nodded, pulling seven cards and passing the hand to Yamada. As he looked over them, Hitoshi pulled his phone out. “Do you guys want music?”

“Fuck yeah- do your frowny face playlist.”

“No- Little Shop?”

“I’m not listening to musicals this early in the morning. Or sad stuff.” Hitoshi drank the last of his coffee.

“It’s ten!”

“Too early. I have… ‘brass bands’ and ‘dance and be gay.’ Take your pick.”

Yamada put a card down- god, this was gonna get awkward- and smiled. “That’s them all.”

“Gotcha- any preference?” Hitoshi held up the phone.

“Gay bangers.” Junko shrugged, taking a spoonful of cereal from a bowl she had precariously balanced in her lap.

“Sure thing.” Hitoshi smiled and pressed play, really old music in English filling the room as he started to read the cards.

“What brought the orgy to a grinding halt? We have… Moldy bread, jumping out at people, going around punching people, and-“ He snorted upon reading the last card. “Alright- whining like a little bitch.”

Yuu snorted quietly.

“And that’s Yuu’s card, and he’s been kicking ass so-“ Hitoshi pushed the card into the discard pile. Yuu groaned, making Hitoshi laugh again. “Punching people wins.”

Yamada snapped, leading into finger guns, and picked up the black card. “Thanks.”

“Oh damn-“ Kokuna grinned, her tail waving excitedly. “A new competitor! You’re the judge-“

“Oh no.”

Hitoshi chucked a pillow at Yuu, but it did nothing to prevent him from screeching the next lyric. Yamada laughed and played another black card.

“Let’s see what we’ve got- oh. What’s so important that you can’t call your mother?”

“Literally everything.” Hitoshi muttered as he looked through his cards, prompting a laugh from Junko.

“Pretty sure she’s used up her prison call anyways.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works…” Yuu mused, slapping down a white card.

“Who knows? I don’t give a damn anyway- nobody is calling anybody.” Hitoshi played his card around the same time Kokuna did.

“Amen.” Junko slapped her card down aggressively, making him jump. “Oops- sorry.”

“You’re good- cards are all in.”

Yamada nodded, picking up the cards and reading them out. Hitoshi smiled at a few that were read before reaching for his mug of coffee again, despite knowing that it was empty. He looked up at Yamada and froze for half a second when he caught the stare- glare? Gaze- of Aizawa. He didn’t mean to, really, the man was just… intimidating. Hitoshi fidgeted with the mug in his hands, wondering what the appropriate response was. Smile? No… that would be weird and he might look creepy- he’d definitely look creepy. 

Luckily Junko nudged him out of his brief moment of panic. “Yo, dipshit, new round. My country, ‘tis of thee, sweet land of blank.”

“Oh- sorry.” Hitoshi quickly shuffled through his hand after setting the mug down. “Here.” He played a card, Kokuna snatching it out of his hand almost instantly.

“My country, ‘tis of thee, sweet land of… Vehicular manslaughter, bullshit-“ Most of the group laughed. “- man. That’s good- full frontal nudity- fuck. That-“ She snorted, covering her mouth with her hand. “It rhymes, I can’t… shit. The other one is ‘daddy’s belt,’ which is weak as hell. Full frontal nudity.” 

Junko grinned and pulled the black card out with a laugh. “Yuu judges.”

“Thank you for phrasing it in a way where he can’t make that joke again.” Hitoshi smiled.

“You’re no fun- how am I maintaining my relationship status?” Yuu flipped a black card and leaned back.

Hitoshi quickly played his card and picked up the coffee mug again. “I’ll be right back- anyone want anything?” He stood.

Aizawa followed, stretching and making his back pop- fuck, that sounded painful every time he did it. “Can I come with you?”

He was asking- huh.

Hitoshi nodded. “Sure thing.” 

“Stay safe, watch the corners.”

“The hallway doesn’t change, Kokuna, I think I’ll live.” Hitoshi smiled and began to walk towards the kitchen, slowly instead of sliding on his socks like he usually would so Aizawa could follow him.

Shouta leaned against the counter as Shinsou poured coffee from a pot into his mug. The boy glanced up at him, faltering with words for a moment before speaking up.

“Do you… want any?”

“If that’s okay.” Shouta shrugged.

“It is.” He pulled another mug from a cabinet on the wall, setting it down. “Do you want anything in it?”

“No thanks.”

Shinsou nodded, filling up this mug as well and passing it over. “Um- I’m kind of confused.”

Shouta raised an eyebrow, silently prompting him to go on.

“Just… I don’t understand why, but…”

“So I’m going to guess Dinau told you.”

“Who? Oh- Mae.” Shinsou nodded. “Yeah.”

Shouta shrugged, taking a sip from the mug that had been passed to him. He idly noticed his husband’s radio logo printed on the front and wondered whose it was. 

Shinsou watched him a nervous expression. “Uh... sorry. I’m not- I don’t have a problem with it, it’s just… weird, I guess? But I don’t get a say, so… I might as well be okay with it.”

Shouta frowned, glancing down at him. “You get a choice.”

“What?”

“You get a choice, Shinsou. We’re not going to drag you off somewhere if you’re not okay with it. I understand it’s an odd situation and I would understand if you don’t want to go with us.”

“Oh. Um…” The teenager twisted his mug in his hands for a moment. “It’s okay. Uh… I don’t know how it works with… professionalism and all that but you can call me Hitoshi. It’s weird hearing Shinsou outside of school.”

“Okay.” Shouta nodded. “Hitoshi, then.” The corner of his mouth quirked up into a smile, which was hesitantly returned.

“Okay.” 

Hitoshi picked up a black card in the midst of the group’s laughter, smiling to himself. He looked up as Mae entered the room, taking a seat on an overstuffed tacky armchair. “I’m afraid to ask what won.”

“Well, you asked.” Junko grinned. “During sex, I like to think about sweet, sweet vengeance.”

Mae huffed. “Oh my- okay. What do you all want to do about lunch?”

“Oh, man.” Yuu laughed, dragging his fingers through his short hair. “You know we have no idea.”

“I figured.” Mae smiled softly, adjusting the locket around her neck. “‘Oh, I don’t care. Just whatever.’” 

Yamada laughed. “I did the exact same thing.”

“You still do.” Aizawa muttered, prompting a bubbly laugh from Mae and a sprout of bird of paradise blossoms.
“It’s alright, no worries. I’ll come up with something. Aizawa, Yamada, did you want to stay or go get something for yourselves and come back?”

“Oh, wait, you’re courting already?” Yuu grinned, leaning forward. Hitoshi rolled his eyes.
“Don’t call it courting, this isn’t the 1980s.”

“We are- and we can head out somewhere.” Aizawa spoke, cutting off their debate prematurely.

“Gotcha!” Mae grinned, walking off in the direction of the kitchen.

The game continued from there, eventually ending once they ran out of white cards to draw. The couple excused themselves to go get lunch somewhere, and Hitoshi found himself…

Well, saying he wasn’t almost kind of excited about their return would be a lie.

Chapter Text

“Oh, fuck!”

Hitoshi snorted as Yuu missed his cue to enter the song for the hundredth time.
“Sorry, sorry- you’re doing good, just… man, your face.”

“Shut up!” Yuu pouted and tossed a pillow at him.

“Let’s try again.”

The two were more prepared for the day, in proper clothes rather than pajamas. Hitoshi had his hair tugged back into a scruffy ponytail so he could see what he was doing.

Hitoshi restarted the song, going through the motions again. As Yuu finally hit the right note, applause sounded from the back of the room and had Hitoshi whipping his head around. Mae waved apologetically to him.

“Sorry, kiddo! C’mere for a second.”

Hitoshi nodded, pausing the music before hopping off the bed to join Mae. “What’s up?”

“It’s interview time.”
“Oh- wait. I thought we were gonna wait?”
“We still are, don’t worry.” Mae patted his shoulder, subtly steering him out of the room. If he wasn’t long used to being herded around, he might not have noticed at all. “I just want to get this ball rolling, you know? It’s exciting!”

“Yeah…” Hitoshi shrugged as she opened the door for him. He uttered a thanks as he stepped out, catching sight of the couple waiting nearby. 

Mae sighed, retracting her hand. “Okay- so!” She clasped her hands together. “You already know names- oh, the office…” She laughed. “Sorry- this way.”

Hitoshi shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants as Mae led the way to the office. He kept his eyes ahead - despite knowing the people this time, this was still an awkward process no matter what.

Mae had never seemed to pick up on that. She kept that bright, oversold smile on like a mask and sat Hitoshi down in her personal desk chair. The ever growing valleys of papers were shoved aside to create a clear path to enable awkward eye contact. The two men sat across from Hitoshi, visibly nervous-

Nervous. For what, exactly? He must have been giving them a strange expression because Yamada shifted awkwardly in his seat. So maybe both parties actually hated this process but Hitoshi had never bothered to pay attention before.

Shit, he was zoning out- Mae had been talking for god knows how long. He tuned back in just in time to hear her excuse herself- damn, just feed him to the sharks, huh? Oh well. He’s done enough of these things to know the basics of what he’s supposed to do.

“Um…”

Or maybe not. Fuck- they already knew him, that was the problem. 

“Hi? Sorry- christ…” Hitoshi pinched the bridge of his nose, laughing quietly. “I’m bad at this, sorry.”

Yamada smiled softly, resting an arm at the edge of the desk. “No need to apologize, kiddo. Do you even want to be doing this?”

“Oh, absolutely not, but legally it has to happen since I’m over twelve. More risk factors or whatever- there are questions I’m supposed to ask, I guess…” He hummed, chewing the corner of his lip. “Come to think of it- I’m not sure who’s the one- ones? Being interviewed right now. It’s weird. Uh…”

Aizawa shrugged. “They can go both ways.”

“Cool- right. Sorry… uh. Words… are hard, gimme a second- or you can ask anything. Like… clarification from the file or whatever, that’s something.” 

“Uh… are you sure that’s okay?” Yamada fidgeted- christ, this was awkward. 

“Yeah, it’s better than sitting here for an hour while I try and think of a way for me to phrase a question in a way that doesn’t sound like I’m trying to attack you- wait.” He was talking way too much- this was awful, nowhere near how it normally went and the visible anxiety from his teachers made it worse. “Yeah. Uh… I’m supposed to ask if you’d have an issue with a foster kid being LGBT but something tells me that’s not a concern.”

Yamada laughed, Aizawa opting for a kind of half-smile. Hitoshi had no idea whether it was out of politeness or if they genuinely thought what he said was funny. He hoped it was the latter.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t think that’s an issue.”
“Cool.” Hitoshi smiled to himself for all of two seconds before he was stumbling over words again. Damn, this would be so much easier in sign but he didn’t want to just… bring it up out of the blue. He couldn’t even remember at this point if he had imagined the subtle sign language coming from his English teacher. “Um…”
“What does it mean when a minor phobia is listed?” Aizawa piped up- and thank god, something he could actually clarify.

“Like… It used to be way worse but now only certain stuff sets it off? Kind of like the difference between entomophobia and arachnophobia. Even though spiders aren’t technically bugs… that was a bad example, sorry.” He shrugged. “I can give specific examples for me personally if you want.”

“I don’t even know what these are- other than the… spiders one.” Yamada looked more uncomfortable.
“Oh- okay. Entomophobia is the fear of bugs… what do they even have listed for me? They update the file on your birthday, I haven’t seen my new one.”

Aizawa shrugged and passed him a folder- wait, since when the fuck did he have that?- and allowed Hitoshi to pull it open. An array of pictures tumbled in his lap. Hitoshi picked one up- that one where they’d brought in some shelter animals and he was swarmed by cats- and raised an eyebrow. “... I don’t even know where they got this one. Christ- okay.” He shrugged it off and shoved the pictures haphazardly into the folder, making a conscious decision not to look at them too much. “Okay… iophobia is the fear of being poisoned, haphephobia is the fear of being touched. Well… they say they’re irrational fears but they wouldn’t be saying that if they saw half the shit I was worried about.” He muttered that last bit to himself, but it did nothing to avoid prompting a worried glance shared between the couple. Hitoshi bit the tip of his tongue way harder than he needed to and passed the folder back across the desk. “Uh… yeah. I can give specifics.”

Aizawa nodded, gaze filtering over the file with an emotion Hitoshi couldn’t even begin to decipher. “The… iophobia, was it?”

Shouta tried everything he could not to stare as his student as he played another card.

The interview had long since finished, Dinau coming by to finally end the thing. Hitoshi had looked uncomfortable the entire time he answered their questions and asked them in return, but had pushed through nevertheless. A part of him wished he hadn’t- seeing the kid stammer over explanations and excuses when he was at no fault was uncomfortable on both ends. 

Now the group was back to the card game from that morning, Hizashi having jumped in eagerly at the first chance he got. 

Torabura- Shouta recognized her name now from Hitoshi’s file- picked up the white cards with a grin, putting on a cheesy announcer voice she had been using for all her rounds and that Hizashi was absolutely egging on. “The CIA now interrogates enemy agents by repeated subjecting them to… getting really high, genital piercings- oh, ouch.” She snorted. “A gentle caress of the inner thigh, and last but not least-” The kid burst into laughter now, nearly dropping the cards with how her hands shook. Pawayai rolled her eyes and snatched the cards from her.

“You’re such a clown- oh, christ.” She laughed as well as she read the card. “My dad’s dumb fucking face.”

The two boys grinned, sharing a look, leaving Hizashi lost. “... Is this an inside joke or am I just lost on something?”
“Oh- winner explains. That one trumps- oh, geez.” Torabura laughed behind her hand as Hitoshi triumphantly pulled the black card into his ever-growing pile. 

“Thanks.”

Yuu wheezed and punched the teenager’s arm playfully. “That’s- man, I was praying that was yours, holy shit-“

Hitoshi snorted, pulling his phone from his pocket. Shouta watched as he opened his photos and scrolled way back.

“So, uh… for the joke. We all kind of have this thing where we completely… Word?”
“Roast.”

“Yeah, that- do that to our parents? Like- biological ones. My dad looks like… help me out here.” He waved a hand to the group, who instantly clamores to come up with something.

“If goth had a child with Doctor Phil.”

“No no no- if Hot Topic had a midlife crisis.”

“He looks like the villain from Sharkboy and Lavagirl.”

“Oh my god-“ Hitoshi laughed as he pulled up a picture. “That one’s new.”

Pawayai hummed in consideration. “He looks like if you hit Eraserhead over the head a couple of times with a baseball bat and then painted it purple.” 

The phone dropped from Hitoshi’s hands as he laughed again- Shouta would have appreciated seeing him look… happy, alive even if the joke wasn’t unknowingly at his expense- and buried his head in his hands.

“No, no, absolutely not, you are not allowed to make that comparison or put that image in my mind. I hate it.”

Yuu snorted and elbowed the boy in the side. “Just show ‘em the damn picture.” 

Hitoshi shook his head, still smiling a bit to himself, and turned the phone screen in the direction of Shouta and his husband. Hizashi immediately burst into nervous, tittering laughter like he was unsure whether it was okay. Shouta raised an eyebrow and looked at the screen- 

And oh, shit- those were accurate. Shouta had to fight back a smile of his own as he gently pushed Hitoshi’s phone back towards him. “Very funny.”

“God- I’m sorry, I can’t believe you came from that fucker.” Yuu snorted and snatched the device. “Where’d you get the handsome from?”

“Ew.” Hitoshi rolled his eyes. “Maybe I’ve got a cool grandpa or something, I only ever knew about the one.”

“Because god knows you didn’t get it from your mom. Fuckin’...” 

Torabura looked up eagerly. “She looks like if Meryl Streep was in a Tim Burton movie.”

“Fuck-“ Pretty much the entire group burst into a fit of laughter at that, save for Hizashi and Shouta. 

Hitoshi pulled his phone back and quickly pulled up another picture before showing it to them. “That’s horrible.”

Shouta looked at the photo- once again, the description was frighteningly accurate- and got in his head again.

This was all fine and good. Really, it was- he was glad the kid could move on and poke fun at something wrong that had happened to him. But coming back from that interview, knowing vaguely what issues had stemmed from these peoples’ actions… made him far angrier than he cared to admit.

Hitoshi pulled his phone back, none the wiser to Shouta’s internal struggle. “Sorry- geez.” He half-muttered and half-wheezed, a decent amount of color to his face from the steady amount of laughter the group had shared over the game of cards and now… whatever this could be called. It was then that Shouta noticed the pale scar that ran across the bridge of his student’s nose and slightly under his eyes, a perfect mirror of those injuries visible from the photograph in his file. 

The tiny smile on Shouta’s face fell.

As the teenager sighed and put his phone back in his pocket, Pawayai looked up. “Oh- hey there, scarface.” So she had seen the same thing.

“Hey there, asshole.” Hitoshi responded without missing a beat, looking over the disarray of cards on the table. “... did you guys want to keep playing, or…”

“No, I’m good. We can count winners.”

There was relative silence in the room as the players counted under their breaths, Dinau reentering the room and leaning against the back of the couch. “Once y’all are done- Kokuna, your mom’s here to pick you up.”

“Cool.” The girl nodded, a cat ear flicking as she set her stack of black cards down. “I’ve got twelve- see you guys!” She grabbed a string bag sitting nearby and gave a two-fingered wave before trotting off. 

Dinau smiled, watching the girl go before turning to the couple. “If I could see you two, I’d much appreciate it.”

Hizashi nodded and set down his hand of cards. “Also twelve.” With that, he stood and offered a hand for Shouta to pull himself up. He took it and stepped carefully between the loveseat and couch to stand by Dinau. The woman waved to the group of kids, a ring of purple and white flowers blooming in her hair. 

“Right this way, then.”

Chapter Text

There was way more paperwork to becoming a father than Hizashi would have ever imagined. And that was saying a lot- he worked three jobs and regularly filled out villain reports. Paperwork was a part of his everyday life, and even still he found this excessive.

Dinau set down another thick packet- another- and pointed to it with her pen. “This is a nondisclosure agreement- we have a specialist with a memory-based quirk come in so parents can get a glimpse of what the child has gone through in hopes of being able to help them better, but you’re not to share whatever you might see with outside parties. Hitoshi would also have to sign off on that, so it might not even go into effect depending on if he agrees. He hasn’t before.”

Hizashi nodded helplessly, fidgeting with the thick-framed glasses that sat on the end of his nose. Shouta spared him a glance and gently rested his hand on Hizashi’s knee for a second before returning to reading over the documents. Bless his heart.

Filled with just a bit more motivation to push through this, Hizashi picked up the stack recently set down and began to filter through it.

It was a lot. The blonde wasn’t even sure if he wanted to experience any of that- it still felt invasive to him, but he reasoned to himself that it couldn’t be invasive if Hitoshi literally gave them permission.

Dinau smiled, closing the desk drawers. Thank god, or Hizashi might have cried on the spot. She took a seat.

“We do like to try to familiarize the children with fosters before completing the move- just to get a feel for the routine. So you’d probably have Hitoshi for a few odd nights before he officially moved in with you two. And that can go the other way. We have a pull-out couch you could stay on tonight if you’d be interested. It can be good to get an idea of each other’s routine and sleeping habits so you can adapt- because heaven knows he doesn’t sleep.” She laughed flatly to herself. “Which does remind me-“ 

Hizashi could hardly hold back a groan as she pulled out another stack of papers from a drawer.

Hitoshi looked up as Mae entered the room with his teachers in tow. 

“Great news!” 

Yuu laughed and folded his arms over the back of the couch. “Oh no- I’m not giving up the couch.”

“Oh, yes you are. C’mon.” Mae teased as she pulled the lever to extend the futon. Yuu shrieked in mock fear as he leapt up from the cushions, whirling to stare wide-eyed at the couch bed and clutch at his chest.

“My life… flashed before my eyes…”

“Sure thing.” Mae smiled and rolled her eyes. “So, yeah- Aizawa and Yamada are staying here tonight.”

Hitoshi could have sworn he’d agreed with Mae to wait on this process. But fuck if he knew- it was gonna happen no matter what, might as well roll with it.

“Okay.” He shrugged.

Mae smiled, a ring of lily of the valleys circling her head. “Great! Oh- do either of you need anything for the night, then?”

Aizawa nodded. “Yes- Hizashi, I can head back to the apartment?”

The blonde man nodded. “Sounds good! See ya soon, then.”

Hitoshi’s mentor dipped his head once, waving to both him and Yuu before turning. Mae called after him.

“By the way- don’t worry about sheets or anything!”

“Got it.”

Hitoshi fidgeted absentmindedly with his pocket as the dark-haired man walked off, leaving him with… 

Well, he supposed learning more about how to read his other teacher wouldn’t be too awful.

Mae smiled and nudged Hitoshi’s side. “Why don’t you go get some blankets and things? Yuu- I’d ask to make sure nobody’s up too late, but…”

“Bold of you to assume I can control when I sleep.” Hitoshi laughed quietly, stepping aside. “But yeah, I can. ...Come with?” He hesitantly asked Yamada. Just to put the offer out, test the waters-

“Sure!”

Well, that solved that. Hitoshi shrugged and walked off down the hall, the blonde quickly catching up way too close to his side. Hitoshi stepped away a bit and thankfully his teacher didn’t follow.

Shit- he hadn’t actually thought of what to do now. Did he… try to make conversation? That seemed awkward- or maybe he was overthinking things. 

Luckily enough, Yamada broke the thick silence that hung in the air. “Y’know, if you want me to call you Hitoshi then it’s only fair you can call me Hizashi.”

“Only the name thing here- Shinsou at school.” He quickly clarified, thankfully sparking no questioning from… Hizashi? No, no, that was way too weird. At least to be out loud. “And thanks, but I will actually die before I do that. Sorry.”

“Wait- don’t go dying just yet, kiddo.”

“Oh, sh...oot.” He bit back the swear. “Yeah, no, not actually. It’s just… a joke, I guess? Yuu could probably explain it better.” Shrugging, Hitoshi stopped outside of a closet. He pulled the doorknob and stepped aside to let Yamada by. “Just take your pick- I’ve gotta go grab something.”

“Gotcha!” Yamada smiled, shooting him finger guns. 

“Thanks.” Hitoshi nodded and walked off in the direction of his room, blind to the green eyes that followed him for just a second.

Hizashi had long since found enough for him and Shouta, closing up the closet. Unsure of what to do, he had gone off where Hitoshi had trailed to earlier- At least he thought that’s what it was. The door was closed, it was hard to know where he was going without knowing the kid was in the room. 

Eventually the door opened, and Hizashi could see a brief glimpse of fairy lights, scattered colors, and odd furniture before it was closed off again. Hitoshi gave him a puzzled look, but shrugged it off and twisted the handle of the plastic bag hung over his wrist. “Are you good?”

Hizashi quickly put on a smile- not that he had to fake it- and snapped into finger guns. “You betcha!”

Nodding, the teenager walked off down the hallway, Hizashi making sure to stay close by. 

When they got back to the living room, Shouta was back with a duffel bag and a raised eyebrow. “Why did you leave Wrestlemania on for Sugarcube?”

“She gets bored.” Hizashi shrugged and sidled over, sitting on the edge of the couch bed and looking through the bag before pulling out the case that held his hearing aids. “Oh- where’d you find them?”

“In the bathroom drawer, right where you said you looked.” Shouta rolled his eyes- completely unwarranted, the audacity- and sat down. A snort sounded from where the two boys were sat, Yuu’s voice coming a moment later.

“Dang. That’s cold.”

“Like your heart- ask the question.” Hizashi definitely wouldn’t have heard that last bit if he hadn’t just put the devices in. 

“Oh- Sugarcube?”

“Our cat.” His husband sighed, sitting down beside him. “She’s a brat.”

Gasping dramatically, Hizashi clutched at his chest. “She is not! She’s an angel.”

“That angel shoved one of your plants off the table while you were gone. Don’t go throwing around words like that.”

“Just ask yourself-“ Hizashi heard Yuu utter before speaking at a normal tone. “Pictures?”

“Oh, definitely!” 

He had way too many on his phone- the pictures of the elderly cat almost outnumbered the photos he had with Shouta or the music he had downloaded. Key word almost. 

“How do you want me to show ‘em? Text, that fancy Bluetooth thing…”

“You can text me.” Yuu quickly clarified before telling Hizashi his phone number. He quickly made a contact for the teenager before sending over every single picture in the folder. Once he made sure they were sending, Hizashi grabbed the change of clothes Shouta had brought for him and waved. “I’ll be right back.”

There was quiet acceptance among the group, but the tiny smile he could see on Hitoshi’s face as he and Yuu scrolled through the first pictures spoke loud enough to make up for it. 

Hitoshi was in the middle of saying something to Aizawa when Yuu shrieked, latching onto his arm. He flinched on instinct and whirled around, heart rate already picking up. “What?! Are you okay?”
“There’s a spider!”

“Th-” Hitoshi raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry- a spider?”
“You heard me.” Yuu grumbled, scooting even further away from where he was pointing. “Get it?”
“Jeez.” Hitoshi rolled his eyes, chugging a glass of water he had sitting on the table before looking where Yuu was pointing. “... I’m not seeing it.”

“It’s right there!” 

“Yuu-” Hitoshi huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “That is microscopic.” 

Yamada came back into the room now, raising an eyebrow as he sat on the bed next to a bemused Aizawa. “What’s up?”

“There’s a spider.” Hitoshi rolled his eyes and put the cup over the tiny creature. “Why don’t you just treat them the way you want to be treated?”
Crossing his arms, Yuu huffed and leaned back as Hitoshi slid a paper under the glass. “I’ll treat them the way you want to be treated.”

“Which is..?” Aizawa asked, an arm slung around the shoulder of his husband. 

“Killed without hesitation.” 

Hitoshi snorted, picking up the glass and paper. “Damn.” As he stood, he could feel two sets of eyes on him.

“... Should I be concerned?”

And it was sweet, having adults ask after him and generally give a shit, but if he saw one more worried expression or shared look every time he made a disparaging joke he was going to pull his hair out.

“Absolutely not. It’s… what did you call it?”

“Self-deprecating humor.” Yuu chimed in, immediately launching into a ramble. Hitoshi sighed appreciatively and took the chance to put the spider out the window before sinking down in the seat next to the seventeen-year-old.

Eventually, the conversation wound down. Junko had already left for a friend’s house and the twins had long since gone to bed. Yuu huffed as Yamada yawned for the thousandth time- it was loud- and clapped his hands together. “Alright- it’s bed time. Hitoshi, meds.”

“Have you taken yours?” He raised an eyebrow.

“That’s not impor-”

“Go take them.” A now brainwashed Yuu stood, stumbling off into the bathroom. “And don’t dry swallow, dumbass, you’ll choke.” Hitoshi huffed, picking up the bag he had brought earlier and taking out his own meds whilst making a point not to make eye contact with either of his teachers. 

“... That was sweet.”

He blinked- sweet? That wasn’t an adjective anybody had ever used to describe his quirk. Yamada really was pulling out all the stops- and damn. It was… kind of working. It was nice, at the very least.

Hitoshi shrugged and popped one of the Restoril capsules from the package before chugging it with some water. That comment had rattled his brain just enough to make responding verbally a challenge- in fact, he probably wouldn’t have had it not been for the realization that Yuu was still brainwashed. “Thanks- oh, jeez, I didn’t tell him to come back.” Hitoshi quickly muttered for Yuu to snap himself out of the control before shoving the package back in the bag. Footsteps could be heard down the hallway until Yuu returned, promptly tossing a folded-up blanket printed with kitty paws at him. 

“Jackass, you know I would have gone and taken them myself.”

“No, I know you wouldn’t have. And I took mine- with witnesses, so you can hop off.” 

Yuu stuck out his tongue.

“Very mature, thank you.”

Yamada laughed quietly- shit, sometimes it was easy to forget there were other people there- and stretched his arms back behind him. “Well, I’d love to continue this but I’m pretty sure Shouta would skin me if we didn’t get to bed soon.”

“Shou- oh, right.” Names. “Christ-“ Hitoshi pinched the bridge of his nose, grimacing. “That’s already kicking in. I’m gonna stop talking before I say something dumb.”

“But then you’re just being dumb.” Yuu chimed, sitting down on the air mattress they had set up earlier. Hitoshi was taking the love seat. “Ha- get it? ‘Cuz you won’t be talking.”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes and raised his hands to sign. “Very funny.” 

“Thank you.” Yuu grinned, typing something on his phone. “Oh- when do you want an alarm?”
“Whenever’s fine.” Hitoshi shrugged, shoving all the horrible decorative pillows off the love seat. “Why the hell do we have all these?”

Yuu snickered, shrugging. “I dunno, maybe there an adult thing. Is that an adult thing?” He turned to the couple, tilting his head with the question.

“Absolutely not.” Yamada laughed as well-

His hands were moving again. There was no way Hitoshi had imagined it last time now. And Yuu must have seen it as well, because he leaned forward off the air mattress and grinned.
“You sign?! Sweet- take him away. Hitoshi, holy shit-”

Shit, wait, this was going to be made into a big deal. He quickly raised his hands to sign, but Yuu talked over him.

“You are taking him, right? It’d make sense- oh, man. No more fucking… Nakayamas or shitty people who are gonna talk over you and force you to-”
Hitoshi rolled his eyes, croaking out a response. “Like you’re doing right now?”
“Oh- Shit, sorry.” 

Hitoshi shrugged and bit his tongue, switching back to sign language. “All good. Proceed.”

Yuu nodded excitedly and looked back to the two men. “So I’m guessing you’re taking him?”
“Uh… yes?” Yamada’s answer came out unsure, and Hitoshi felt a brief moment of panic before he went back in to clarify. “If we’re approved, that is.”

“Great, great- do you both know it?”

Aizawa nodded, glancing down at Yamada’s phone which was chiming with a signal and raising an eyebrow. He nudged the blonde to read over the notification while responding. “I’m less fluent, but yes.”

Wow. He’d been forcing himself to speak up all those times for literally no reason. 

“Okay, this is- really exciting, shit, sorry, I’m gonna go off.”

Hitoshi shrugged, signing a quick goodnight as he could finally feel the medicine take its full effect before curling up. After a while, he drifted off asleep with Yuu’s voice as background noise.

Chapter Text

Shouta raised an eyebrow as Yuu’s ranting wound down, trying not to let anger fill his system. Not anger at anybody in the room, just at the events and people mentioned. 

He glanced over to the sleeping figure of his… student didn’t seem like the right word at this point, it was far too impersonal. He’d find a better one later. 

Hizashi put a hand on his knee, bringing his attention back to the conversation taking place.

“And I texted you about this earlier, but just thought it’d be better to let y’all ask questions in person. Uh… Hitoshi would kill me if he knew I was telling you all of this, but… you’d find out eventually anyways, might as well give you a warning. He has night terrors a lot, if either of you are light sleepers it’ll probably wake you up. I’m not sure how it is with this new thing he’s on since he’s only been on it for one night. He gets kinda… fighty? That’s a good word, yeah, just… be careful, don’t get too close or he’ll swing. Questions?”

Shouta nodded- he definitely fit the bill of being a light sleeper. “Is there anything I should do?”
“Oh-” A faint yet grateful smile appeared on Yuu’s face. “Uh… just wait for a bit, let him catch his breath. Usually trying to distract him from it works better than talking about it.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Dark eyes glimmering with malice loom over him, garish despite being devoid of color. He claws at his face while struggling to breathe with the terror edging in and the frigid metal bar shoved between his teeth. The unpadded steel simply snaps back and digs fresh lines into his flesh, sickeningly warm droplets flowing freely from the edges. Masami scoffs and crosses her arms, glaring down at her son disapprovingly. 

She was a hulking figure, towering over him like a skyscraper. He could barely read her face, be it from the hot tears welling up in his eyes or the mammoth distance set between them.

“Well? Get up, defend yourself. You may as well learn to fight for yourself if you’re to end up a villain anyways.”

She sighs, running fingers through a tangled web of plum-colored hair. The wooden chair scrapes against the kitchen tile as she sits, reaching for a mug of tea that had long since gone cold and bitter.

“Go to your room.”

He doesn’t need to be told twice.

The door slams behind him as he skirts the corner into his haven- though it isn’t right now. The door is straight and solid against his spine as he sinks to the cold floor, tugging at the too-tight muzzle around his face. The pain is sharp, acute and accurate, the metal far too tight and close to him to warrant any movement. 

He gives up and goes to the window.

Familiar faces pass outside- or, they would be now. Never then. A blonde young man drags another behind him, going on about something he can’t hear through the thick walls of his cell. Royal eyes widen with recognition, desire, jealousy, something that screams at him that he should be out there too. He screams along with it, ignoring how sharp edges tear new valleys and canyons into his skin just for the sake of praying that those outside may hear him. The glass from the window splinters off into his balled up fists as he slams on it, desperate to get their attention.

A fresh wave of tears roll down his cheeks and into fresh cuts, the salt stinging as much as the backhand he had received earlier, as the two men pass by him without a glance. His teeth clatter together painfully around the bar, and he uselessly yanks at the muzzle one last time. The leather straps rooted in his hair- on better days, Masami would stroke the locks and whisper gentle reassurances to him as he drifted off against her shoulder- give a shrill stretching sound, like tendons shredding as he pulled with all the power he had to himself. Another yank comes at his hair, this time not of his own volition, and he looks up to meet foggy eyes that match his own. A chill runs in spirals throughout him as the man clenches his teeth, looking him up and down like a hyena considering its next scavenge.

He swallows fearfully, tongue dry and rough like sandpaper in his mouth, as a vast palm pulls back and fingers dig it into the shape of a crude fist.

Hitoshi jolted to life with a shriek, raising his hands to claw at the muzzle strapped tightly to his face. He did this for a good few minutes, before coming to the realization that his blunt nails dug at soft skin rather than sharp metal. He clutched the blanket tossed around his legs tightly, taking unsteady breaths for a good long while. 4-7-8, 4-7-8...

And repeated until his heart quit hammering against his ribs like a startled bird attempting to take flight. He pulled against his face one last time- yep, still safe and able to speak if he so desired. He didn’t right now, but it was the thought that counted.

Just for security, he looked around the room and tried to get a hold of his surroundings.

The dehumidifier had turned on in the night and now produced a dull humming in the background. Yuu snored quietly, limbs strewn over the air mattress. A faint light came from the window, illuminating Yamada sleeping peacefully and Aizawa looking at him with concern flashing in his eyes-

Hitoshi squeaked, moving back against the love seat and biting down on his tongue. Shaking hands raised to sign out an apology, but his teacher shook his head.

“It’s okay. Are you?”

He nodded, swallowing nervously. The sentence he had been signaling out was halted in favor of cracking his knuckles, readying for a theoretical fight. The more rational part of his brain soothed that it was okay, he was safe, Aizawa wouldn’t hurt him. But the irrational part of his mind could scream louder, bellowing in a shrill tone more deafening than any banshee. 

4-7-8.

Hitoshi caught his breath again, digging his fingers tightly into the blanket as if clinging to this place, this home, this life. He was just about to lay back down and fight his way back into a stilted sleep when Aizawa snapped to get his attention before signing.

“I get offered money while on patrol a lot because people think I’m homeless.”

And it’s such an odd statement- unexpected, especially from a man as stoic and blank as Aizawa- that he has to fight back a laugh. The man smiles- rather, Hitoshi thinks he does. It’s difficult to tell in the low lighting. It’s actually hard to decipher anything with the room shrouded in nighttime and the distance set between him. Hitoshi scooted to the edge of the loveseat, but could still only catch something about Present Mic’s hero costume and summer. Hitoshi smiles like it was funny- it probably was, that seemed to be the trend for this conversation so far. Aizawa raised an eyebrow and scooted a bit to the side, patting the edge of the couch bed. 

It wasn’t technically sign language, but Hitoshi understood it just the same.

The couch bed shifted underneath him as he sat, putting a safe enough distance between him and the man next to him. Aizawa pulled his phone off the charger it was on, powering it up. 

“I have videos if you’d rather not talk.”

“I’m not talking right now.”

He shrugged and opened a folder anyways. “You are, it’s just in a different language.”

Hitoshi felt a pang in his chest at that - it was a sentiment that few people understood. The choruses of ‘welcome back’ every time he broke from a spell were enough evidence to prove that. He nodded, lips upturning in a smile as he turned his attention to the screen.

They watched random home videos in relative silence, the low volume adding to the already peaceful atmosphere. At some point Hitoshi scooted closer to his teacher- he justified it to himself as a way to better see the video playing of Sugarcube tangled up in Aizawa’s capture weapon. The odd glimpses allowed him to vaguely determine what life might be like staying with them for however long they’d tolerate him. 

Yamada dances along between the furniture, singing and holding the broom he pushes like a microphone until he moves it too quickly and accidentally hits himself in the face. The frame shakes as the filmer- presumably Aizawa, it was his phone after all- begins to laugh.

Sugarcube attempts to jump onto a table but falls short, landing on her feet on the floor. That doesn’t stop Yamada from gasping and scooping her up, overdramatic tears welling up in his eyes as he protests. “Shouta, quit recording!”

A woman he vaguely recognizes as Midnight brandishes a pillow, swinging wide and smacking Aizawa in the face. He stands there for a moment before death dropping, causing Yamada behind the camera begins to screech. “You killed him!”

Aizawa sets up the camera on something to film. A letter with a familiar design printed on it sits on the small table, and Aizawa sits on one of the chairs. A door opens in the background and Yamada steps inside, raising an eyebrow at the setup, but sits anyways. His eyes flash with recognition at the sight of the letter and he looks to his husband for confirmation.

A minute and fourteen seconds later, the beaming blonde springs up from his seat and pulls Aizawa into a hug. The acceptance letter for their foster application floats down to the table.

More and more intimate moments played across the screen, flooding his system and drowning away the last dregs of terror that had seized him to his core. The room was cold without the comfort of his resting place and blanket, and as the welcoming ties of sleep tugged on his sleeve, inviting him into a world away from here, Hitoshi found himself slumping against Aizawa’s shoulder and struggling more and more to keep his eyes open long enough to process anything that’s happening around him. So he gave up.

Shouta was no stranger to kids falling asleep at his side, exhausted after a field trip or cried out from a villain attack. It was an odd experience each time, but he always managed to pull himself away with relatively no remorse.

This time, though.

The sleeping boy at his shoulder was fragile, skin like splintered porcelain and royal-toned hair like spun gold in all but the color. He was a sparrow in the hand, soft and brittle yet so trusting. Shouta found himself holding his breath as if the slightest of movements would send him back into the panic that had jolted him awake prior. 

So he sat there, struggling to think of what to do with the teenager resting against his shoulder.

Logically he knew it was because Hitoshi was tired out, brain running on insomnia medication at the dead of night. But there was a smaller part of him, whispering that this was… something special, at least. Like when of all the places in a house your cat could sit, they choose the arm of your chair. And the teen had to trust him at least some to do this, to move in close when Shouta would see him dodge between the students in the hallways and keep his head down most days.
He had worked with children for years, had been going through this process for months now, but this was the first time in his life Shouta had ever felt like a father.

Sighing, he relented and carefully got up to move Hitoshi back to where he had been sleeping. It was only logical- he certainly couldn’t sit there all night and the boy needed to get proper rest. He carefully laid him down on the loveseat, pulling the blanket over him before going back to his own place next to Hizashi.

Chapter Text

A few weeks passed.

Hitoshi went through it mostly as per usual. Wake up, wrestle the twins out of bed for school, rush into the bathroom before Junko spends half an hour doing makeup, joke with Yuu over breakfast, change into his school uniform and head out. Sometimes Yamada and Aizawa stopped by to drive him there, which was nice but he usually liked walking. It was harder to do that once it gets chilly outside, though, and he found himself accepting their offer more and more often. Once he got to school, he’d pull through all his classes the best he can without really talking to any of his classmates. He trained with Aizawa once per week most of the time, sometimes more if they can figure out the schedule. His teachers visited the center once or twice a week, staying over occasionally for the weekends. 

He’d never admit it- it was embarrassing, and Yuu would never let him forget- but he actually liked having them over. They were more understanding than most foster parents that visit, actually interacting with them instead of making awkward small talk. They felt way more like parents than the guardians he’d had in the past. 

It was a Friday, Hitoshi showing up to training as per usual. Mic grinned as Aizawa called to finish, kicking one of the mats up to fold. 

“Want a ride?”

“Sure.” Hitoshi let himself smile just a little, if only to see Yamada return it tenfold. 

The group made light conversation as they packed up, until they stood outside the gym ready to go.

Hitoshi slid into the back seat, setting his backpack off in the one beside him. Yamada got into the passenger seat, now out of his hero costume and into plainclothes, and immediately flicked on the radio. Bass blasted aggressively into Hitoshi’s very core, shaking him up until Aizawa turned down the volume.

“Make sure you turn down the volume next time you get out, hon.”

That was another thing Hitoshi had gotten used to- seeing his teachers outside of the classroom, trading pet names and compliments and joking around like… humans, he guessed. Yamada wasn’t that much different out of costume- a bit quieter at the most- but the difference between Eraserhead and Aizawa was like night and day. 

Hitoshi shrugged when Yamada asked him if he preferred a station, knowing he was going to zone out and look out the window anyways. A soft track with guitar filled the car, a stark contrast to the music from earlier. Content, Hitoshi leaned against the window.

“Wanna stop somewhere, kiddo?”

Yamada’s voice floated into his daydream, bringing him back to reality for a bit. “Oh- no, that’s okay. Mae will freak out if I’m not home when I say I’ll be.”

“Gotcha.” The blonde man shot him finger guns. “Another day, then?”

“Sure.”

He tried after that to zone back out, but it proved fruitless after a few minutes and he settled for conversing with Yamada until they reached the center.

Hitoshi stepped out of the car and slung one strap of his backpack over his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar car outside, but pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he approached the center.

At least until a familiar looking couple came outside, waving to him as they got back in the car. Hitoshi swore under breath, prompting a look between his teachers- not that he could see it. 

The door swung open with more force than necessary

 to reveal a teenage boy sat on Mae’s desk, swinging his legs absentmindedly until he looked up at Hitoshi. Uesato Ssekien beamed, waving both arms in the air excitedly. “‘Toshi! It’s great to see ya again.”

Hitoshi held his head in his hands. “God damnit.”

Shouta raised an eyebrow as this other teenager- he looked to be around Hitoshi’s age, but he had never really been a good judge of things like that- slung an arm around his student’s shoulders.
He really needed to come up with a better relation to the boy than ‘student.’

“‘Toshiiii- Aren’t you listening? Or did you go deaf too?”

Hizashi tensed beside him. Shouta narrowed his eyes. Hitoshi shoved the arm from his shoulders and shot the other boy the hardest glare Shouta had ever seen. 

“I hear you just fine, I’d just rather not be hearing it at all.”

“Ouch. So I’m takin’ it you didn’t miss me?”
“If I missed you I would have answered one of your million texts. Or calls- What was it, twenty seven times now you’ve woken me up in the middle of the night now?”
“Aw-” The stranger clasped his hands together, bouncing on his toes and pulling Hitoshi back in against him. Shouta could see the frustration mounting of the teen’s face. “I’d’ve sworn you would block my number by now.”
“I should have.”

Stepping forward to make his presence known, Shouta cleared his throat. Mustard yellow eyes turned to him in a heartbeat.
“Ooh- ‘Toshi, found yourself a su-” 

“Finish that sentence or touch me one more fucking time and I will break your wrist into so many pieces you’ll have blue balls for the rest of the year.”
Shouta recognized how his voice strained at the end, electing to break this off, but Dinau beat him to the punch as she came out of a side room. “Alright- both of you off each other.” Hitoshi wrenched the boy’s arm off his shoulders and took a massive step back, shoulders tensed and feet spread apart in what Shouta recognized as one of the defensive positions he had taught him. Dinau took a deep breath and continued.
“Ssekien is staying for the weekend while his foster home relocates. Ssekien-” So that was the boy’s name, Shouta recognized it now from Hitoshi’s file. “- I understand you’re excited but you need to remember personal boundaries. Hitoshi, you have a brain in your head and I know you’re further along than resulting to petty threats.” Both boys shared a look, Hitoshi subtly moving further away from Ssekien. Dinau huffed, saturated magenta blossoms springing up from her hair. “Go on, then. You’re both okay to go- don’t kill each other. Yamada, Aizawa, if I could discuss something with you briefly?”

Shouta nodded, nudging a stunned Hizashi’s arm beside him and bringing him back to reality. Ssekien grinned as if nothing had happened, grabbing Hitoshi’s hand and dragging off down the hall. His student planted his feet and pulled his hand back sharply, shoving it in his uniform pockets and stalking off down the hallway ahead of the other boy. Dinau raised an eyebrow. “Ssekien. Boundaries.”
“Gotcha, Mae-day! Don’t you worry.” He flounced behind Hitoshi, calling after him. Dinau sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping for just a moment. 

“Sorry about… that. They’ve never gotten along, I try to keep them far away from each other but Ssekien doesn’t see the issue and Hitoshi goes on the defense immediately. Which does bring up what I wanted to ask you two about…” She walked over to the desk, now just as cluttered as it had been the first day the couple had met her. “Would you be available to host Hitoshi for the weekend? Normally I wouldn’t do this so last minute, but… Well, you saw.” She laughed nervously, producing a stack of paperwork. “You’ve mostly got this filled out already, so it would be quick. I’ll have to ask Hitoshi, too, but something tells me he would do anything to be out of here this weekend.”

Hizashi quickly nodded beside him, grinning. “Yeah! It’s actually a pretty good weekend to be doing this- I’m free and so is Shouta except for a night patrol.”

Shouta nodded when Dinau looked to him for confirmation, prompting a smile as the woman began to shuffle through the paperwork.
“Right on- so, uh… here.” She set one sheet down on a free area on the desk- rather, the only free area- and pointed to it. “That’s the last of it- just a consent form you two and Hitoshi will sign.”
They both murmured agreement, speed reading over it before signing their names in the allocated spaces. Dinau smiled, picking up the sheet and a stray pen before gesturing them towards the hall. “This way, then!”

Chapter Text

Hitoshi was in hell.

And for once in his life, he wasn’t being dramatic. This was actually the worst- Ssekien pressed way too close against his side, yammering on relentlessly, no regard for social cues or the hundreds of times he had already snapped at him to fuck right off. None of it affected him. If anything it egged him on, encouraging to push everything until Hitoshi was gritting his teeth, begging his defenses not to kick in and raise one of the hands he held in fists at his side. 

The incessant yapping was annoying enough, but the fact Hitoshi could just barely notice the door opening nearby was the icing on the cake. He turned around, ready to beg Mae to just put him out of his misery, but instead of seeing his caseworker he came face to face with Yuu. The adults weren’t too far behind him, but Hitoshi decided to focus on one person at a time. It was too hard to do more without letting Ssekien out of his radar, which definitely wasn’t an option at the moment. 

“Hey, scarface.” 

Hitoshi recognized their code instantly- it had been born one late night while they were having a rant circle and Hitoshi had used his voice for the first time in a few weeks to tell everybody how much he hated the question ‘are you okay?’ Everyone had jumped on the bandwagon, going on and slapping each other around with massive, sweeping, and exaggerated hand motions. Eventually Yuu proposed they all used a code question, with responses that would seem normal to anybody listening in. It had been a really clunky system at first but now he, Junko, Kokuna, and Yuu could all use it without batting an eye.

“Hey, fuckface.”

Hitoshi could hear Yuu hiss in through his teeth. Electric blue eyes darted to the unwavering presence at his side before he sighed, moving onto the couch and basically driving a wedge between Hitoshi and Ssekien. And thank fuck he did- The other boy his age was still annoying and he certainly didn’t appreciate being this close to anybody with no way out, but at least Yuu was trustworthy. Enough so that he could turn his attention to the adults without fearing for his safety.

Mae stepped closer to the couch, hair sprouting with anemones. “Hey- can I get you alone for a second?”

“Wow-“ Ssekien chimed in, much to Hitoshi’s dismay. “That sounds incriminating.”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes and stood up, immediately stepping out of the path of his… well, they certainly weren’t friends. “Sure.”

He followed Mae and his teachers off down the hallway, ignoring the sounds of running coming from where he’d left. The woman put a light hand on his shoulder. 

“How’re you holding up?”

Hitoshi huffed, shoving a hand in his pocket. “Honest answer or positive answer?”

Mae faltered for just a second, imperceivable if Hitoshi hadn’t known her for seven years. “... let’s go with honest.”

“I can literally feel time slowing down. This is torture- I’m pretty sure I’m in purgatory.” 

Yamada let out a bark of laughter behind him. Mae sighed- usually that would mean frustration but Hitoshi could see the tiny smile quirked up at the corner of her lips. 

“I’m almost afraid to ask what the positive answer would have been.”
“Oh, definitely.” Hitoshi huffed, running a hand through his hair- he’d have to take it down after this, it was starting to fall all over the place. “Positive answer would’ve been, ‘oh, sure, I still want to light myself on fire but I think I can survive the weekend with the magical powers of friendship or whatever that show Sayama watches preaches.’”

Mae laughed softly, producing a clipboard once they reached her office. “That bad, huh?”
“I mean…” Hitoshi shrugged, combing his fingers through his hair again. He really should have stopped, but he needed something to do with his hands. “I’ll survive. It’s just a weekend.”

“Mhm- and time is slowing down.”
“I’ll just sleep or something.”
“Or, you could…” The clipboard was pushed into his hands, a familiar form sitting on top with two signatures. Hitoshi’s eyebrows shot up.

“Uh-”

“Just for the weekend, don’t worry!” Mae went on. “Because I don’t want you to end up killing somebody. Oh-” She huffed, dragging a face down her hand. “Sorry.”
“You’re good.” Hitoshi skimmed over the paperwork - not that he needed to, he knew he was going to sign. Anything to get out of here. “So… this is okay?” He glanced back to the couple, receiving a flashy grin and double thumbs-up from one and a nod from the other without any hesitation. He considered the paperwork for a few more seconds- can’t look too desperate, after all- before signing on the last blank. 

Mae nodded, taking the clipboard and pen from him and filing the sheet away. “You’re all set, then! Go get a bag packed, try not to…”
“I swear on my heart, no broken bones or concussions this time.”
“Thank you.”

Hitoshi nodded, turning to go back into the living area. He could hear his… guardians, now, just for the weekend- following after him, Yamada whispering, “Broken bones?”

“Oh, that’s a fun story!” 

Ssekien jumped out from around the corner, nearly causing Hitoshi a heart attack. 

“Christ- it’s really not.”

“He punched me in the face!”

“You scared the shit out of me by shaking me awake, it was your own fault.”

“Fair enough!”

Hitoshi ducked under Ssekien’s outstretched arm, carrying off down the hall. He could hear the three sets of footsteps behind him.

It was okay- he could manage a few more minutes. Just get to his room-

Oh shit.

Ssekien had a bad habit of hiding incriminating shit everywhere he could think to put it. And Hitoshi had left him alone for god knows how long…

“Road work ahead?”

The response was instantaneous.

“Uh, yeah, I sure hope-“

Hitoshi huffed as he reached the living room, spotting a frazzled Yuu sitting on the couch. “Have you tampered with anything since I last took my eyes off you? Answer honestly.”

“Just some weird papers in the trash- you wrote a lovely eulogy for yourself.”

Hitoshi dropped his quirk’s control out of surprise, Ssekien jumping back away from him and glaring. “Hey, what the fuck?”

“You forged my handwriting to write a eulogy?”

“Yeah- I was hoping Mae would send your crazy ass back to therapy since you fucking need it. Fucking freakshow.” 

Hitoshi found himself tensing up expectantly as Ssekien stormed off, only brought out of his stupor by Yuu’s nervous laugh. “Good times, right? At least he didn’t shove your head into a table again- for the love of god, Hitoshi, don’t leave me here.”

“Sorry…” He shrugged, relaxing marginally and moving more into the living room. The prick of two gazes on his shoulders was ignored for now. “You could ask to stay at your girlfriend’s house?”

“Ex girlfriend. Turns out she sucked some random guy’s dick in a parking lot because he offered to buy her a burger.”

“Christ-“ Hitoshi laughed softly, running a hand through his hair. The gel was screwed at this point, stray bits of purple falling everywhere. “Sorry, man.”

“It’s cool. I’ve already got my next target- I’ll text you about him, you’ve got shit to do, right?” 

“Yeah.” Hitoshi shrugged, fidgeting with his hoodie strings for a second. “Don’t kill him, don’t let him corrupt the twins, all that fun stuff.”

“The twins are at scouts events for the weekend, so I just have to focus on not killing him. I don’t even think I’m gonna see Junko.” Yuu snorted.

“Yeah, yeah- all set?” 

“You bet.”

That was the good response. Satisfied, Hitoshi nodded and muttered a goodbye as he headed off to his room. 

Chapter Text

Hitoshi slid into the back seat of his guardians’ car for the third time that day, setting a duffel bag and his school things next to him. Yamada looked over his shoulder back at him as he buckled his seatbelt.
“So- do you wanna stop somewhere? There’s a cat café near our apartment.”

An enticing offer. But he had to judge the response- seem too eager and it’ll be held against you, seem too indifferent and they’ll try again with someone more energetic. Hitoshi knew his teachers weren’t likely to come to either of those conclusions, but it was better to be safe than sorry. And after years of potential foster parents, he had the proper response pretty much solid.

“Uh- if that’s okay?”
“Yeah!” 

Hitoshi smiled to himself, running his fingers through his hair, which he had taken down back at the center, as Yamada turned back to the front and dug around in a case of CDs.
“Music? You’ve gotta pick something, I need to know what to play for you when Shouta’s out because he’s boring and doesn’t like showtunes.”
“I’m not boring- I like them, I just don’t like almost dying because I’m distracted from you acting out all of a musical in full while I’m driving.”
Hitoshi laughed quietly, rubbing the side of his neck. “God- if you do that while you’re driving I’m gonna say they’re off the table too.”

Yamada sighed dramatically, practically growing smaller in his seat as he slumped. “Damn. But seriously- you can look if you want, or we could eliminate.”

“Eliminate..?”
“Yeah! Like, I give you two to choose from and you pick the one you like more.”

“Oh. Uh… sure. That works.”

Yamada grinned, visible in the rearview mirror. “Gotcha! Let’s see…”

By the time they had settled for the time being on Bishop Briggs, they had already reached the cat café. Yamada mourned the loss of actually putting the CD in the player, making Aizawa roll his eyes.

“You can play it on the way back, can’t you? Come on.”

Hitoshi smiled to himself, climbing out of the car and turning to wait for his guardians.

God, that was weird to think about. 

Yamada got out beside him, adjusting his glasses before heading towards the building with Aizawa. A sign on the front read ‘Catmosphere,’ the windows tinted and the front door painted with a galaxy pattern and white paw prints. Hitoshi raised an eyebrow. This wasn’t a place he’d ever imagine his mentor being caught dead in, let alone frequenting. Nevertheless, he followed the couple inside.
Yeah- he wouldn’t believe Aizawa would ever set foot in here if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes. Even then, he’d never accept that he was a regular until the woman at the counter waved with a smile.
“Aizawa, Yamada! Good to see you two again. What can I get f- oh!”
He froze in place as her gaze landed on him, sizing him up.
“Who’s this?”

As he struggled with an explanation- what do I call myself? I’m not their son, it’s just the weekend... - Aizawa jumped in and saved his hide.
“This is our charge, Shinsou Hitoshi.”

Charge. That was a good one.
As he came down from that brief moment of panic, Yamada nudged his arm.
“Do you want anything?”
“No, that’s okay,” was the immediate response. Yamada seemed to let it go, thank god, and led him into the sitting area. There was only one other person in there, a caretaker refilling the water bowls. They left just at Yamada took a seat at a low table, surrounded by cushions. Hitoshi sat across from him, setting his schoolwork he had brought with him on the table and making sure not to take up too much space. Aizawa came in a minute later.

Hitoshi blinked at the sound of a mug being set in front of him. Aizawa glanced at him for a second, signing a, “That’s yours,” and never breaking from his conversation with Yamada. 

He hesitantly took the space-themed mug into his hands, twisting it around some- it was not irrational, he told himself- to look for anything off. He found nothing of the sort and convinced himself to take a test sip…

Okay, maybe he could imagine Aizawa frequenting this place after all. The coffee was fantastic.

Hitoshi tried not to drink it all at once, not knowing how long they were going to stay there and not wanting to appear too eager. He was already pushing their kindness as it was just staying there. So instead, he set the mug down and cracked his math book open.

Shouta rolled his eyes fondly as Hizashi tried to coax Hitoshi into singing along with him on the ride home, the teenager barely able to protest over the sheer volume present in the car. He clicked off the stereo as he pulled up to the apartment complex.

“Come on.”

Hizashi kept on rambling excitedly even as he moved, practically dancing around the car as Hitoshi climbed out of the backseat. Shouta smiled, only briefly, and led him into the apartment complex. He could hear Sugarcube meowing inside their apartment even without opening the door, and Hitoshi looked up with interest. 

“You said the cat’s name was Sugarcube.”

“Indeed we did! Open up, Shou, I’m ready.”

Shouta nodded, opening the door. A white blur immediately came streaming from the entry, Hizashi leaning down to catch the cat in his arms.

“The baby has been secured, I repeat- the baby has been secured.”

“Go on, then.” Shouta stepped aside, allowing his charge and husband entry into the apartment. Hizashi set their cat down on the floor, the creature immediately marching up to Hitoshi and meowing. The teenager crouched down to pet her.

“So, um… rules.”

“Rules?” Hizashi parroted, pulling off his leather jacket to hang up.

“I think you have enough common sense to know what is and isn’t appropriate- what, do you usually get a rule book?” Shouta was joking, but the shrug he received in return was serious from all he could tell.

“Kind of. One of my failed placements had a document thing you got emailed- I think I still have access to it if you want to see it.”

“Sure thing, kiddo.” Hizashi smiled softly, walking into the kitchen. Sugarcube ran off after him at the sound of the fridge opening.

“Here.”

Shouta began to read over the list as soon as the phone was passed into his hands. Hizashi joined him not long after, pressing against his side to read as Hitoshi pet Sugarcube. Some of the rules were reasonable- no cussing, certain rooms that were off limits- but others seemed unfair in a sense. What else could it be, really, expecting a kid with chronic insomnia to be asleep at a certain time and listing punishments for if he was found to be awake?

But for the most part they were decent, if not a little strict. Shouta was just thinking about how they could do without explicitly saying any of this when he reached a section that read ‘quirk usage.’ He felt his stomach twist a little as he read what was listed.

Under no circumstances are you to ask questions or activate your quirk. If asking is completely necessary, you are to write the question down.

Shouta felt his husband tense up beside him and activated his quirk just as Hizashi announced his distaste. 

“What?!”

Hitoshi tensed in front of them for a second before looking up, gaze full of confusion. “What- uh, I assume there’s a problem.”

“No-“ Shouta put a hand on his husband’s shoulder and let go of his quirk. “There isn’t. Not with you, at least. Just whoever made this. Were you seriously made to follow this?”

“That’s normal, though. I-isn’t i- That’s what every foster family does when you have a dangerous quirk.”

“Your quirk isn’t dangerous, though, kiddo.” Hizashi protested.

“It- it can be. That’s a risk not a lot of people are willing to take.”

“Well, we are. So ask questions.” Shouta shrugged and passed the phone back to Hitoshi, who took it with an exhale of perceived relief. 

“Okay.”

Chapter Text

As homes went, this was certainly one of the good ones. Hitoshi sat on the couch in his guardian’s living room, listening to Yamada rambling in the background as he pet the elderly cat laying at his side. Aizawa sat across the room, the sound of his fingers typing rapidly on the laptop balancing on his legs adding to the atmosphere.

The apartment was clean and quiet- not uncomfortably so, like one home that he had been considered for where the parents kept everything bleach-shined and chemically perfumed to the extreme. It was comfortable, with old mismatched furniture likely bought second-hand and worn in, to the point where it was comfortable but not delicate. He could see where either of the men had personal details, just… on display, with no concern at all for his attention to them. Three different bags of coffee (Aizawa’s) with little clips on the tops that looked like alligators chomping them shut (Yamada’s), a table near the window covered in plants that all had name tags complete with instructions on how frequently to water them, the expensive-looking stereo and sets of CDs that stood out like a sore thumb in comparison to the rest of the apartment- all far more personal than even the best of the foster homes he had been considered for before. 

Hitoshi was doing his best to take it all in without blatantly doing so. 

Yamada’s constant talking actually helped some- whether it was intentional or not, Hitoshi had no idea, but it was appreciated nonetheless. The place had a good balance of quiet and sound, not enough to cause sensory overload but not too little so as to make him try and fill the void with his own voice. That rarely ever ended well. And it was so warm. Hitoshi could imagine himself melting into the cracks between the couch cushions, a content puddle. Sugarcube was adorable and sweet and definitely an angel, despite Aizawa’s griping. 

It felt too good to be true. Probably was- even if his teachers weren’t likely to avoid the process altogether, he’d probably get sent back within the first few months- if not weeks- of living here once they realized how difficult he could be full-time. So Hitoshi tried not to get too attached, he really did-

But damn if the couch wasn’t comfortable.

Shouta glanced up just in time to see Hitoshi go lax against the arm of the couch, Sugarcube still kneading his leg. He almost freaked out- the kid looked like he’d passed out- but eventually realized he was just sleeping. 

Hizashi’s footsteps sounded beside him, and Shouta looked up to see the light smile that flickered across his husband’s face.

“Familiar.”

“Yeah.” Shouta chuckled to himself, moving so Hizashi could take the place beside him. 

“I swear, the kid’s a mirror image of you. Nemuri talks about it all the time. She swears you’re related.”

Shouta shrugged and leaned against Hizashi’s shoulder, watching their cat hop down from Hitoshi’s side and trot off somewhere else in the house. “Could be, if distantly.” A pause, then- “How’re you feeling?” 

“It’s so much- but, like… in a good way, y’know? Like, a parent. Which is so weird because we’ve barely even started the process. Is that weird? It feels weird.”

Shouta shook his head. After kissing Hizashi on the cheek, he spoke. “No, it’s not weird at all. I’m the same. And the process moves faster than you’d think, from what we learned in those classes.”

“I know, I know. Just let me be sentimental, okay?”

“You’re always sentimental.”

“Hey!” Hizashi laughed, just barely checking his volume so as not to disturb the sleeping teenager across from them. “Not always.”

“A lot, though.” Shouta let a hint of a smile come to his face. “So… those rules.”

“Yike.” Hizashi sighed, running a hand through his hair. “That’s… I don’t know how to feel about that. He acted like it was fine, but… that’s just wrong. Messed up, y’know?” 

Shouta nodded and reached out, catching his fingers in his husband’s hair and combing through it. Hizashi sighed and slumped against him. “I know. Just gotta make sure he knows he’s free to speak here. It’s all we can do.”

“I want to hunt down those folks he was with.” Hizashi have a weak laugh, though it lacked any real humor. “That sounds bad, doesn’t it?”

“No, not bad. Maybe a little unheroic, but you and I know it’s for a good cause. I’d do the same.”

Both men halted for a moment as Hitoshi shifted, but he just sighed contentedly and sank further against the arm of the couch. 

“Maybe if we just happened to come across them…”

“Hizashi.” Shouta chuckled, leaning against him. “I’m pretty sure Hitoshi would protest. He’s the type to not want anyone to fight for his case.”

“Wow. Almost like someone else I know.” Hizashi grinned.

“Alright, I get the point. No need to rub it in.” Shouta rolled his eyes, but the pout was quickly erased as Hizashi leaned over to kiss the top of his head. 

“Not rubbing it in. Just stating the facts, sugar.” 

“Still.”

“Alright, okay. I won’t tease you.” Hizashi smiled before looking across the room to Hitoshi. “... He’s gonna get a crick in his neck if he sleeps like that.”

“Yeah.” Shouta nodded, humming in consideration. “Go on, then.” 

Hizashi smiles softly, turning Shouta’s chin to kiss him quickly before standing. “Will do, sugar. Dinner’ll be ready soon. You get back to your work, okay?”

Shouta nodded and smiled gratefully.

He looked up a few minutes later to see Hizashi maneuver the sleeping teen to be laying down and tuck a blanket over him. The sight brought a smile to his face- a real one, not the half-smiles or Cheshire grins he usually supplied.

The world came back to him in little pieces. 

Something lay rumbling against his legs, though the sense was distant, as if something was separating himself from the object. It was warm, there was a faint light behind his closed eyes, and he could hear purring and the occasional flip of a sheet of paper.

Oh- right.

Hitoshi sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and looked around. Sugarcube lay on his lap, purring like a motor. The comforter tucked over him was new, he didn’t even remember laying down. Maybe one of his guardians had moved him..? Hard to say, for the moment, but it wasn’t unlikely. 

He could already tell they were good. Most fosters would have woken him up and told him to go to his bed if he was going to laze away.

Aizawa hadn’t moved from his post, still attentive to his paperwork, but he could no longer hear Yamada talking. Hitoshi was about to look around when the blonde came into the room and nudged Aizawa’s shoulder. 

“Dinner’s ready, if you wanna w- oh, hey!” The surprisingly soft volume vanished once he was discovered to be awake. “Sleep well?”

“Yeah- Sorry I crashed on your couch, I guess I didn’t realize how tired I was.” Hitoshi shrugged, sitting up and reluctantly removing Sugarcube from his lap. The cat hopped off the couch and wandered elsewhere.

“No worries! C’mon, I made dinner.”

“Do you-“ Shit, bad idea. Even if they’d said he could ask questions, this was pushing the limits. But he’d already started, it was too late to back out. “Do you need help with anything?” 

“Depends. Do you actually want to help or are you only asking because you feel obligated to?”

What the- “Uh… yes?”

Yamada laughed, resting a hand on Hitoshi’s shoulder for a second before gesturing towards the kitchen. “You can help me set the table, then. Gotta learn where the dishes are anyways, right?”

“Y-yeah.” Hitoshi shrugged and followed him.

This was so outside of the norm. It was kind of throwing him for a loop- not that he hated it, it was just way different than anything he was used to. They talked to him rather than at him, and acted like… well, what Hitoshi would imagine parents are supposed to be like. It felt real.

He hoped it was real.

So maybe he couldn’t help but smile a little as Yamada made a tour of the kitchen, showing him where everything was kept as if he wasn’t just an inpermanent fixture in their home. It was nice, after all.

Chapter Text

When Hitoshi woke up on Saturday morning, it took him a bit to remember where he was. 

Not because of any nightmares - he had slept surprisingly well, with some weird dream where he and Yuu were at the beach and found a turtle, except when they picked the turtle up it had turned into a dog. The details past then quickly faded away.

The apartment was so warm- Hitoshi kept forgetting he wasn’t back at the home and would have a momentary panic about the building going up in flames. Not that it wasn’t good, though. It was nice to not have to wear three layers just to avoid shivering. 

He glanced up as the door to the room he was in opened, Yamada’s concerned face appearing momentarily before a smile took his expressions’ place.

“Heya, kiddo! Want breakfast?”

“If that’s okay- Sorry, did I wake you up?”

Hitoshi cringed as the words left his mouth. Not even one day into staying here and you’re already ruining things.

Yamada quickly shook his head. “Nope, I’ve been up for a while! Shou’s still asleep- can’t blame him, though. Did you wanna sleep in?”

“Uh-“ Damn, so many options. Were they trick questions? Well, since I’ve already said yes to one thing I shouldn’t do too much of them. Balance… “No, I was getting up already.”

“Right on! Is it okay if I let Sugarcube in? She’s been antsy, I think she likes the attention.” 

It was easy to return Yamada’s smile then. “Yeah, that’s okay.” 

The door shut after Sugarcube entered the room, a bit of privacy Hitoshi was eternally grateful for. He stretched, arching his back as he lifted his arms over his head and earning a satisfying pop from his shoulder joints in exchange. The little bit of ache afterwards was well worth it. Settling his hand between the already purring cat’s ears, Hitoshi checked his phone lying on the night stand. 

Text from Blank Slate - Yesterday at 5:03 pm

Toshi I would literally kill to trade places with you rn lmao

Anyways

You know you can call me at any time broski, offer always stands :)!

Sorry lmao I’ll go home

Jk I’m already there

Jesus fucking lord he’s trying to duet with me he sUCKS please come back soon

Hitoshi snorted.

Response to Blank Slate - Today at 9:27 am

Yeah, sorry dude I completely crashed

Might call later, things are weird

Not bad weird I think

But yeah

Thanks

Sorry about Suckien

They had a system- while Hitoshi certainly had more time spent with varying families, Yuu was the one who could actually remember what a normal family acted like and oftentimes was the only reference Hitoshi had for what was going on. It worked fairly well as long as he could slip away long enough for a phone call. It was harder to explain things over text.

Sugarcube butted her head against his ribs, meowing in frustration from the lack of attention. Hitoshi giggled quietly, making sure to snap a picture for Kokuna before giving his undivided attention to the impatient cat. “Little baby.” 

After way too many minutes to be acceptable, Hitoshi managed to pull himself away long enough to get dressed. He pulled on the first decent clothes he could find and pulled his hair back into a bun- styling it up would mean risking a trip to the bathroom too early in the morning, and he really didn’t want to limit his vision.

Quit it, you’re being stupid. They’re nice, quit being afraid of them. You’re such an asshole.

Sighing, Hitoshi shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. A minute later he had a cat tucked under one arm and the other reaching to pull the doorknob.

Shouta groaned as he felt the blanket being tugged away from him, reaching out blindly. “‘Zashi…”

“C’mon, sugar. Breakfast is almost ready, you know I love you but if you sleep all day you’ll mess up your sleep schedule even worse.”

Opening his eyes was a mistake, because now he was face to face with his husband’s pleading expression. Which was too cute and pitiful to possibly be legal.

“Come oooon-“

“Fine, you got me.”

The celebratory cheer he got was worth dragging himself out of bed for.

As Shouta trailed into the bathroom to brush his teeth and fix himself into something resembling a functioning human being, he could hear Hizashi calling out in greeting. Presumably to Hitoshi, unless Nemuri had come over uninvited again. God, he hoped it was Hitoshi.

His prayer was answered a minute later when he walked into the kitchen and saw the teenager standing near his husband, listening intently as the blonde walked him through whatever he was making. Shouta smiled and climbed onto one of the stools at the other side of the counter, prompting a grin in return from Hizashi. 

“And he emerges from hibernation! Sleep well?”

“Until you dragged me out of bed.”

“Aw- don’t be like that! I’m tryin’ to look out for you, sugar. Here-“ Shouta looked up as Hizashi slid a mug of coffee across the counter to him, the dark liquid sloshing inside. “A peace offering.”

“Accepted.” 

Hitoshi coughed in the background, fidgeting with a hand in his pocket. “Uh- hate to bother you, but the eggs are about to burn.”

“Ah, shit.” Hizashi cursed in English, turning quickly to tend to the food cooking on the stove. “Thanks, bud.” He reached out to ruffle Hitoshi’s hair, seemingly missing how the teenager froze under his hand.

Shouta’s smile fell briefly. It was something he’d noticed a lot- Hizashi did too, but was generally less keyed into the tiny details like Shouta was. Yuu had signed to them once that it was a sign of trust, somehow, but Shouta always felt a bit guilty when it happened. 

Things quickly returned to normal, though, and Hitoshi leaned over the skillet again to watch Hizashi cooking. 

“Wanna try flipping this one?”

“Uh- sure.”

Shouta smiled as he sipped his coffee.

“Oh, fuck.”

Hitoshi almost choked on the breath he was taking as Aizawa cursed in another room. Yamada looked up from a book he was reading, raising an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re on the last bit of cat food. I forgot to put it on the list.”

He smiled to himself as Sugarcube seemed to understand what the words meant, the cat meowing with displeasure. Yamada rolled his eyes, standing and putting a hand on his hip. “And that’s worth swearing for? Language, Shou. You’ll corrupt Hitoshi.” 

He couldn’t help but laugh at that. “It’s a little too late for that.” 

“Still!” Yamada exclaimed, throwing his arms wide as he walked towards Aizawa. Hitoshi felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

Text from Blank Slate - Today at 12:42 pm

How’s it hanging?

Need to call?

Christ.

Response to Blank Slate - Today at 12:43 pm

Overbearing much 

I probably will when I can get alone though it’s nice here I’m so confused

Whenever you’re good, broski

Ew

He turned his head at a presence beside him, coming face to face with Aizawa.

“We’re going out grocery shopping. Do you want to come with us or stay here?”

Definitely not a good idea to stay unsupervised. If anything went wrong…

“No, I’ll go with you.”

Aizawa gave his approval and Hitoshi stood to go and get ready. A few minutes later, Yamada was leading him out of the apartment, Aizawa in tow behind them.

Shouta glanced over at the group of middle schoolers at the end of the aisle. They kept looking between their phones and Hizashi, chattering among themselves. Sighing, he tapped Hitoshi on the shoulder and gestured for him to follow him to the next aisle. Hizashi tilted his head in confusion, but seemingly got his point once he looked back to the group.

Hitoshi turned to him as they walked to the next shelf. “What’s going on?”

“That group of kids back there recognized Hizashi. I didn’t want to get caught up in anything.”

“Oh.” The teenager blinked, thinking to himself for a moment, but shrugged it off and kept walking. As Shouta considered two brands of detergent, a new voice sounded down the aisle.
“Shinsou?”

“Oh-” Suddenly, his charge was standing ramrod-straight, the slouch out of his shoulders. Shouta raised an eyebrow at the woman who stood there with who was presumably her daughter. “Yamamoto-san, hi.” 

The woman- Yamamoto- smiled, stepping closer to them. “It’s been a while, how’ve you been?”

“Fine, thank you.” 

Shouta took in the palpable tension practically radiating from Hitoshi, the obviously fake smile worn like a mask, and the woman’s daughter glaring daggers at his charge. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he cleared his throat. Yamamoto’s head turned to him, the smile widening somehow. Shouta’s face hurt just looking at it.

“Hello! Are you with him?”

“I am. Aizawa Shouta.” 

“I’m Yamamoto Mikazuki, this is my daughter Akira. We were fostering him for a while- I assume you are now?”

He nodded stiffly, carefully keeping his face neutral as he took a step closer to Hitoshi and settled a hand on his shoulder. The teenager’s eyes darted to him, and he subtly signed.

“Do you need me to make an excuse?”

Hitoshi hesitated only a second before dipping his head in a tiny nod. Shouta nodded in return, glancing back to the woman- who was still talking for whatever reason.

“-and he’s really just a sweet kid, just… didn’t work out with me and my husband, y’know? Too many issues we couldn’t understand- I really do hope you and your wife can do better than we would have.” 

Heteronormativity aside, something irked Shouta with that statement.

“Right- well, I’m sorry to cut this short but we have shopping to do.”

“Oh, I understand! Totally, I do. Come on, Akira.”

She turned and walked out of the aisle, leaving her daughter behind. 

Shouta had heard the phrase ‘glaring daggers’ before, but that was probably an understatement for the look she shot his charge before disappearing behind her mother. Hitoshi let out a breath beside him, the tension visibly melting from him. 

“Thanks.”

“No problem. You know… when you’d mentioned their daughter being scared of you, I thought she would have been… six, at the most.”

The teenager laughed quietly, reaching up and settling a hand on the side of his neck. “Yeah, uh… no idea.”

Shouta made a noncommittal noise, turning back to the shelf and finally picking a detergent. “Think we can go pry Hizashi away yet?”

Hitoshi laughed, Shouta smiling in return, and the earlier encounter practically melted away.

Chapter Text

Hizashi glanced over at the teenager sitting on their couch, Sugarcube in his lap yet again. It was time to execute his master plan.

“Heya!”

Violet eyes turned to him, Hizashi meeting them with a determined smile. “So- mind if I sit here?”

“Uh- sure, wait- god, sorry. Go ahead.”

He smiled, plopping down on the other end of the sofa and crossing his ankles. Shouta emerged from the doorway, decked out in his hero costume. Hizashi grinned.

“Hello, handsome.”

“Oh, can it.” The smile on his husband’s face told otherwise, but he didn’t want to call him out just yet. “I’m heading out.”

“Gotcha! Stay safe, be back soon.”

“Hitoshi-“ The kid’s attention jumped back to them, Sugarcube giving an indignant meow. “Don’t let him do anything stupid.”

Hizashi gasped, clutching at his chest. “Wow! The audacity- how dare you accuse me.” 

“Aye aye.” 

Shouta snorted and was gone. Hizashi sighed dramatically. Leaning against the arm of the couch, he turned to look at Hitoshi. “He’s so mean to me sometimes, I swear. Anyways- I don’t know much about you.”

“Uh… that would be correct.” 

Bless this child- “That should be incorrect! You’re gonna be staying here, lil’ dude, I wanna know about your interests.”

“Did- did you just call me ‘little dude?’” An incredulous smile spread across Hitoshi’s face, and Hizashi almost felt like crying.

He’d been silent for most of the day, only speaking when spoken to or to alert them of something. Hizashi had almost forgotten he was even there a few times. Even then, when he did speak, it was rarely ever a question.

It took everything he had not to just pull Hitoshi into a hug right then and there. Instead, he pressed on.

“Yep! But that’s not the point.”

“Uh- gosh.” Hitoshi laughed weakly, rubbing the side of his neck- damn, he really was a mirror image of Shouta- “This is like when someone asks you what you want to eat and you forget every food you’ve ever experienced.”

“No worries! Here- I can just list stuff if that helps?”

Hitoshi nodded, pulling his legs up onto the couch. Sugarcube meowed happily and stretched out, purring. 

“Musicals?”

“That’s kind of Yuu’s thing, but I definitely don’t hate them. I actually would have gone to the theatre school Yuu goes to if I hadn’t made it to UA.”

“Wait- seriously? I never would imagine you as the type to want to go on stage.”

Hitoshi laughed, running a hand over the cat’s back. “It was mostly peer pressure, but yeah.”

This was off to a good start, then. “So you sing?”

“Not well.”

“Aw, don’t say that! We should duet some time. Shouta gets too embarrassed to.”

“I wouldn’t offer that so quickly if I were you.” Hitoshi huffed. “If you really want to subject yourself to that then I’m sure I could convince Yuu to drag me into something.”

“I’ll see to it! If it’s really that bad, then-“ Hizashi took out a hearing aid, the laughter that came from Hitoshi afterwards sounding muddy. 

“Nice save for yourself. Aizawa would probably be miserable, though.” The teen signed as he spoke.

“Nah, he’s way softer than you’d think. You’ll see.” Hizashi shot finger guns with one hand as the other put his hearing aid back in. “Rock or metal music?”

“Uh, kind of. I like a few bands, though.”

“Right on! Wanna sing any of those?”

“Dang-“ Hitoshi snorted, covering his mouth with his palm. “You’re dead set on this, huh.”

“Of course I am! But we’ll move on- fashion? Clothes, makeup, whatever.”

“Nope, but Junko would definitely have you believe it. She drags me into modeling for her a lot.” The teenager shifted, jostling the cat in his lap slightly. “I can get her to show you the pictures sometime.”

“So she does photography?”

“Design, actually. She’s got a friend who helps her take the pictures.” Hitoshi dug in his pocket briefly, producing his phone and unlocking it. “I can try to find them now if you want.”

“No, that’s fine. But neat!” Hizashi grinned. “I wouldn’t take you for the type to like makeup, either. No judgement!”

“Oh, god no. I hate it when she does it, but she gets excited about it so I just grin and bear it.”

Bless his soul- “Dang. That’s commitment, huh?” Hizashi’s smile softened. “You all seem pretty close?”

“Y-yeah.” Hitoshi smiled in return- and damn him, Hizashi was far too soft about it. “It’s kind of hard not to be. Y’know?”

“Yeah, totally! My siblings and I are super close- it’s a big family, I’ll try to introduce you to one at a time instead of just dragging you to a reunion. Those get chaotic suuuper quick.” 

“I could imagine.”

“Mhm! Hey- mind if we switch to sign? I wanna take out my hearing aids but if you’d rather talk then I can wait!”

“ No, go ahead.” Hitoshi shrugged, scratching Sugarcube under her chin.

“ Right on.” Hizashi turned the devices off, carefully pulling them out of his ears and setting them onto the table. “ Thanks!”

“No problem. Is it weird? Not hearing. Sorry, is that rude?” The kid looked unsure of himself, and Hizashi was quick to shake his head.

“ Not rude! You just want to know, no harm no foul. I guess it would be for someone who hears normally but for me? I’m used to it. I’ve never not been deaf so I don’t know what to compare it to.”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

“Yep! And besides. I’m kind of glad- without being deaf, I might not be able to talk to you now!”

Hitoshi froze, eyes widening slightly, and Hizashi almost backtracked. Until he cracked a smile and looked down to Sugarcube. “ Sorry, god- that’s nice, thank you.”

“Of course!” Hizashi responded without missing a beat. 

“So… reading?”

“Yeah.”

“Great! Any specific genre?”

“Pretty much anything I can get my hands on, but I like those books that kind of make you question everything. Like the d-y-s-t-o-p-i-a-n novels.”

“Dystopian. Means d-y-s-t-o-p-i-a-n. Aren’t a lot of those in English?”

Hitoshi nodded. “ I usually get the translated versions, but my favorite one doesn’t have a translation so it took me a long time to be able to read it.”

Hizashi was instantly transfixed. “What book?”

“It’s called Scythe. I’ve got it with me if you want to look.”

They both looked over to the clock as it struck the hour, Hizashi’s eyes widening. “ Gosh- I’ll have to take you up on that tomorrow! It’s getting late.” 

“Right. Goodnight, then.” Hitoshi made to stand up, but Hizashi stood with him. 

“ Goodnight.” Making sure to telegraph his movements, he put an arm across Hitoshi’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug. 

He was expecting the kid to freeze up like he usually did until he was let go. What he wasn’t expecting, however, was how he almost melted against him, hugging him back- albeit briefly. He took a step backwards and Hizashi let him go.

“Goodnight.” 

Hitoshi wheezed quietly as he sat on the bed, immediately taking his phone out and opening Yuu’s contact. There were a few new texts, which he quickly skimmed.

Text from Blank Slate - Today at 10:47 pm

Toshiii

God I fuckin miss you

Ssekien finally went to bed so I could actually. Chill out

I swear I’ll never take how calm you are for granted again 

Good

Hey I can’t really get away to call you right now but if you’re still up can we talk

Confused right now

Oh hey yeah! What’s up?

They’re so nice

Is that a bad thing?

No no it’s not

I like it

Sugarcube is cute

I got pictures for you by the way

Thank

So what’s the problem then?

If you like it why worry

I don’t know what to do

Yamada is really cool and actually gives a shit about me instead of just trying to psychoanalyze me

And Aizawa is chill and way less intimidating at home than at school and he’s nice

They’re both really nice

Cool!

Not cool

Not cool I don’t know how to react

They’re just so casual

Like

It’s like I’ve been here forever

They don’t even bat an eye

It’s the weird middle ground between being sweltered and completely ignored

Weird?

God this is so hard to do over text I’m sorry

But yes weird

It’s so weird I don’t know how to feel they’re just so calm about everything I’m so afraid I’m gonna mess up and the spell is gonna break

Hey Toshi, can you do me a quick favor?

Take like,,,

A few deep breaths

Maybe a sip of water if you can manage it

Hitoshi sighed, leaning back against the wall and doing as Yuu instructed. After a moment, he picked his phone back up.

Response to Blank Slate - Today at 11:16 pm

Right

I’m back

:)!

Better?

Yeah

Coolio

So!

You like being there?

Yeah

They’re really nice to me

Okay

1.  That’s the bare minimum, please don’t get the idea that anybody who shows you any decency is some kind of savior

Sorry

Don’t be! But just for future reference

Tbh I think this is gonna be your final placement but I know me saying that is gonna freak you out so I’m gonna gloss over it

Wait

What

Anyways!

2.  That’s really good!

Congrats, Toshi, you’ve got yourself a normal, functional family right there

Cool

Very!

What if I mess up though

Aw

You poor dumbass

You’re not gonna

You sound sure of yourself

Because I am!

Listen

Bud

Do they really seem like the types to go batshit over something tiny to you?

No

But you never know

Oh my GOD you’re insufferable

Sorry

Let me just leave you with your new best friend Ssekien then

NO NO IM GOOD

ILY

DONT

TOSHI

Hitoshi snorted quietly, pulling his knees up to his chest. 

Response to Blank Slate - Today at 11:21 pm

:3

Horrible!

Anyways

They’re cool

You’re okay?

Yeah

Can we checklist

Sorry I just like being sure

No worries! :D

Okay

Uhhh checklist

You’re being fed?

Yes

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, right?

Yeah

You have a retreat?

Yeah

There’s a door on it?

Yeah

Nice

No backhanded comments or mean words?

Heavens no

Old lady

Shut the fuck up

They’re nice

:)!

Ily

Old lady

D:

:)

Betrayed by my own brother 

I can’t believe it

Thank you

You’re welcome!

Glad I could help

Dude keep me posted

I will

Wanna chat any longer or are you busy having fun?

We can talk

Yamada went to bed, Aizawa’s on patrol

Cool cool

Meds?

Oh shit

Thanks

I’ll be right back

I’ll be waiting! And I’ll take mine too, so hop off

Hitoshi smiled, standing up and stretching his arms over his head. After taking a pill from the blister pack and changing into more comfortable clothes, he sat back on the bed-

Only to stand once more to let Sugarcube into the room.

He sat down beside her, snapping a picture when she crawled into his lap for Yuu and sending it to him.

Text from Blank Slate - Today at 11:37

ASHDKHFHKSKHD

OH MY GOD

/)TwT(\ I love her

Kiss her forehead for me

Done

:)!!!!

So

Anything cool happen?

I got to go to a cat café

!!!

Pics?

No, sorry

Damn

Next time

You owe me >:((

Understood

:)!

Anything else?

Uh

It’s really warm here

Niiice

Bet your cat ass appreciates that

Yeah

It’s so nice

God sorry I’m just going off

No no please continue

Listening to you happy makes me happy

Old lady

Shut UP

GOD

“Please continue”

“Shut up”

Sgjshdhahsdshhshhhhhhh

Let me have this

Okay

Anyways

Yeah it’s really warm

Sorry in advance if I fall asleep

No you’re good

I should probably actually sleep too

Got a whole day of dealing with Ssekien tomorrow :/

Ouch

Going to my room rn brb

Hitoshi hummed to himself and ran his fingers through Sugarcube’s fur as he waited.

Text from Blank Slate - Today at 11:43 pm

Back

Want a lullaby?

God

What am I

Ten

Always in my heart :3

Ew

…

But sure

:)!!!!!!!!

I’ll call

Ily

Ew x2

But ilyt

:0!!!!!!!’1!1!1!!!!!

You literally had to reach across the phone keyboard to do that

Why

Why not? :)

Calling rn

Okay

He yawned, pulling the bed’s comforter over himself as he picked up Yuu’s call. Sugarcube settled on his chest, purring away, and Hitoshi eventually fell asleep to the sound of his brother’s voice and a budding excitement for tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Fuck.

Hitoshi woke up and immediately regretted it.

There was no doubt what the splitting pain that took hold of his skull meant. 

Fantastic.

He’d had headaches on and off ever since he developed his quirk, but when he used it more than he was used to, then those headaches would evolve.

Hitoshi winced as a ripple of pain passed through his head. He fell back against the mattress, pressing his head into the pillow. He faintly registered Sugarcube’s paws kneading at his side. Muttering apologetically despite the fire it sent rocketing in his head, he tried to push her away. This only succeeded in making her meow loudly, and Hitoshi cringed. Sighing, he reached out blindly and pulled her into the crevice left when he curled into a fetal position and clutched at his hair. Satisfied, the cat purred and curled up. 

The relative bliss- if throbbing pain, nausea, and a cat counted as bliss- lasted for about thirty seconds before the room flooded with light. Yamada’s voice sounded from the doorway, sending a whole new world of agony spiraling through Hitoshi’s head. He gritted his teeth and took a moment to decipher what had been said. 

“Good morning!”

He sat up with his best smile, forcing his hands to leave his head and instead curl tight on the comforter laying across his lap. “Good morning.”

He’d been hiding these bouts from Mae for years. He could manage it for one day with his teachers.

His two highly smart, highly observant teachers.

Shit.

He didn’t even manage to try and hide it- as Yamada carried on, a wave of queasiness washed over him, and he winced, grabbing at his hair again and quickly praying to any gods that might be listening and begging them- please don’t let me get sick I can’t mess up this early-

“Whoah- hey, kiddo, sorry. Was I being too loud?” 

Hitoshi shook his head, quickly forcing that smile back on. “No, sorry- you’re fine. What’s-“ He sucked in a harsh breath, his words choking off halfway through. He vaguely registered the bed dip beside him and a hand settling on his back.

“You alright?”

“Yeah- sorry, headache. I’m fine.” 

“No need to apologize, bud. Are you sure it’s just a headache?”

Hitoshi wasn’t stupid- he knew it wasn’t, but his placement here could be riding on his answer for all he knew. 

“Pretty sure.”

The headaches were manageable. He could survive them, so they stayed off his file. It was one less thing wrong with him. It was worth its weight in gold.

The migraines weren’t. If any of the people who worked on his case knew, it would go on his file. Another defect. So he made sure none of them knew. The only people on Earth who knew were Junko, Kokuna, and Yuu. Yuu was the only one to ever witness one, except for that one day he had had to go to school with one. He was lucky he made it through that day without any teachers prying.

Shit- Yamada had been talking. 

“S-sorry, what?”

He looked up just in time to see his green eyes light with concern, and panic began to rise in his chest.

“You sure, kiddo? I’m not gonna be upset, I just wanna know what I need to do to help, okay?”

Yamada had never lied to him before, as far as he knew. Taking a deep breath, Hitoshi shrugged.

“I- uh-“ He bit his bottom lip as his head surged, tears pricking in the corners of his eyes. “Short answer or dramatic one?”

Yamada laughed quietly, the sound cutting off as Hitoshi winced. Faintly he felt the hand on his back move in slow circles. “Let’s go with the dramatic one.”

“It feels like my head is a pressure cooker and like someone’s flipping my stomach like one of those bingo machines.”

The blonde man sighed. “Mhm- you’ve got a migraine, bud. Here-“ Somewhere in the distance, an arm was tucked under her shoulders, supporting him as he was lifted to his feet. Hitoshi took a few wobbly steps before his eyes widened slightly and he stumbled back.

“Whoah- hey, I’m just moving you to the living room, kiddo. I need to be able to watch over you.”

“I- is Aizawa here?” He hated how choked his voice came out. 

“No, actually.” Yamada’s voice was soft as he steered him back to the bed, allowing him to sit down. “Are you okay?”

“I-“ The short answer was no, but something told him the man would want more than that. “I don’t want him to see me like… this. Weak.”

Yamada took in a crisp breath in front of him, and Hitoshi almost retracted the words until he saw-

Shit. “Uh- sorry.”

Yamada shook his head, the tears that had been welling in his eyes fading away. “It’s okay- hey, no, I get it. He’s your mentor, right? You don’t want him to think you’re not capable.”

And Hitoshi let out a breath, wheezing because he got it, thank god. Yamada smiled softly, reaching to support him again. “I promise he’s not here. If you’re still hurting by the time he’s on his way back, what do you want me to say?”

“I… don’t know, sorry.” Hitoshi cringed as the light from the living area hit his eyes, sending off fireworks in his head. 

Yamada frowned, whispering an apology. “Sorry- I should’ve turned off the lights before getting you in here. We’re almost done, I promise. Let’s see…” Hitoshi felt something solid underneath him- probably the couch. Soft footsteps echoed in the room, the lights dimming soon afterwards. Hitoshi breathed a sigh of relief.

“Alright- If you’re not feeling better by the time Shou’s on his way back, I can stall him or warn him.”

“Uh- just warn him, I guess? It’s not like… I mean, I don’t live here, I can’t stop him or anything.” He shrugged, pressing his fingers against his temples as a fresh wave of agony crashed over his head. 

“Alright, but- just for future reference, just because the apartment is under our names doesn’t mean we’re going to make it rough on ya, okay?” 

He nodded, making sure to smile a bit as well. Yamada returned it before standing. “I’m gonna go get you some painkillers- you get comfy, okay?”

He nodded again, sighing as he rested his back against the arm of the couch. He was really thankful that Yamada was cool about this, instead of freaking out.

Hizashi was freaking out. Seriously, not even three days into having Hitoshi at their apartment and he was already in pain. 

He dug around in the medicine cabinet for the bottle of painkillers he and Shouta kept constantly stocked, tapping a few out for their kid once he had them.

Their kid. Hizashi knew it was maybe a little too early to go that far, but he couldn’t help it. The kid reminded him of Shouta- and maybe a little of Oboro- and it just felt natural. His husband had come home last night to him on the verge of happy tears because Hitoshi had hugged him. And it was so damn small and he knew he was just being overemotional like usual but it was so so important and just…

He was ready to adopt this kid, and he’d only just begun the process of fostering him. 

Distantly, he managed to pull himself together enough to get a cup of water and take the pills to Hitoshi. After making sure he took them, he smiled softly. “Need anything else?”

“No, but thank you.” 

“You said you were nauseous, right?”

Hitoshi nodded as he took the medicine, and Hizashi went back into the bathroom for a trash can and a washcloth. While in there, he shot a quick text to his husband.

Text to Hubby - Today at 11:03 am

Hey, sugar

The kid’s got a migraine, thought I’d let you know ahead of time

I’m taking care of it though dw

Competent time! B)

Love you, text me when you’re coming home

Satisfied, he ran the washcloth under the tap and returned to Hitoshi. Sugarcube had joined him in his absence, making herself at home in their kid’s lap and purring up a storm. Hizashi smiled to himself, carefully setting the bin next to Hitoshi on the couch. “Here- just in case. Need anything else?”

“Uh- I can get it.”

“No, I’ve got it for you. What’s up?” Hizashi quickly prevented him from standing, steering him to sit back down.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay, uh… there’s a book in the bottom of my duffel bag.”

“Gotcha! And here-“ He folded the cloth over and offered it to him. “This should help some.” 

After making sure Hitoshi was settled, he walked into his room and checked the bag laying on the floor. The book he had mentioned was right where he said it would be- Hizashi recognized the title from their conversation last night. 

He made the executive decision not to mention the raggedy plush of a siamese cat stashed on top of it, despite how adorable it was. Instead, he grabbed one of the pillows off Hitoshi’s bed and went back to the living room. 

The kid was right where he left him, smiling weakly with a rumbling Sugarcube curled up on his chest. Hizashi carefully tucked the pillow behind him, narrowing his eyes playfully when he saw the wet cloth not where it was supposed to be. After stepping around where Hitoshi could see him, he pushed him gently back to lay down.

“You need to actually rest, kiddo.” Hizashi cut in before the teenager could protest, taking up the washcloth and folding it over. A quick press of the back of his hand to Hitoshi’s forehead confirmed that yes, he was lowkey feverish and this wasn’t unnecessary. “Got it?” Hitoshi nodded, reluctantly relaxing back against the couch. Satisfied, Hizashi handed him the book and placed the cloth gently across his forehead. 

As soon as he sat down, his phone buzzed in his pocket- he had made sure to put it on silent the moment he had realized their kid was hurting- and he pulled it out to look.

Text from Hubby - Today at 11:14 am

What?!

Don’t worry sugar, your man’s got this B)

But yeah

It’s rough

I thought I’d accidentally quirked him but nope

Is he okay?

Hizashi smiled at that. Damn worrywart.

Text to Hubby - Today at 11:15 am

Yes, geez Shou

I’ve got this fr

Sorry, wish I was there to help

What did I just say? >:((

Jk ily

But fr sugar he’s fine, he’s chilling with SC on the couch rn

It’s taken care of

Don’t worry your pretty little head about it

I am very worried about it

Dang

That’s tough

Oh christ I’ll be back Emi is here

Tell her I say hi!

Text me if anything changes, okay?

Of course

Love you!

Love you too

Hizashi smiled, pocketing the device and looking up just in time to see Hitoshi wince and grasp at his hair. He felt his heart sink a little at the fine tremor in the kid’s shoulders. Taking in how he nearly bit his lip bloody, Hizashi could guess that Hitoshi was still trying to keep quiet and out of the way. Sighing, he gave up on trying to keep boundaries and made his way towards the opposite side of the couch. After getting Hitoshi’s approval- whether or not he actually wanted him there or just said yes to appease him was up in the air- he settled down again. 

“Flip around?”

“Uh- are you sure that’s-“

“Yes. C’mon, bud, just lean on me-“ He sang softly, mentally high-fiving himself for it when it got a tiny smile in return. Hitoshi cradled Sugarcube to his chest and turned over, resting his back on the pillow now propped up against Hizashi’s side. After a moment, he fully relaxed and opened his book.

Hizashi smiled, pulling out his phone to check through his work email. They were content to sit like that for a good while, the only sounds being Sugarcube’s soft purring and the occasional flip of a page. Once in a while Hitoshi would tense up again, and Hizashi would rest a hand on his shoulder and mutter reassurances to him. After one particularly long wave of pain, Hitoshi reluctantly closed the book and set it on the coffee table.

“I think that’s making it worse…”

Hizashi gave a one-shouldered shrug, careful not to jostle his kid. “Maybe. You wanna try and nap?”

“Yeah. Uh…” Hizashi waited patiently as Hitoshi fidgeted with the collar of his shirt, worrying the fabric between his fingers. “... what was that song you were singing earlier?” 

Oh my god- “It’s an old camp song. Shou likes it- hold on one sec and I’ll sing it for you?” 

Hitoshi nodded, and Hizashi carefully stood, making sure he was still comfortable before taking the now dry cloth from his forehead and making his retreat.

Text to Hubby - Today at 1:42 pm

DKHDHKSHKSHKD

SHOUTA

HDHDKSHODOHEKHSAAAAAHKSGKAHKA

I CANT I CANT HES OUR K I D SHOUTAAAAA

DDHKDBDHLDKTJEHHJHREHEHRH

That was adequate enough for how he felt. Satisfied, he ran the washcloth under the tap again and returned to the living room. 

Hitoshi looked over at him, tilting his head in a silent question. Making sure to smile- not that it was difficult- Hizashi sat down once more and ran a hand through the teenager’s hair. 

Hizashi definitely wasn’t about to cry when he felt Hitoshi slump against his shoulder a few minutes later, the tiniest of smiles on his face. Definitely.

Chapter Text

Shouta left work bone tired, ready to go home and see his husband and kid. He was already in overdrive and protective knowing Hitoshi was hurting without him there, and checking his phone to see a string of keysmashes from Hizashi did nothing to appease his worries. 

Text to Sunshine - Today at 2:34 pm

What?

Are you okay?

SHOUTA HELP

[image attached]

He snorted at the picture his husband sent, showing Hitoshi crashed out against his shoulder. Hizashi was very obviously ‘geeked’ over it, judging by the tiny bit of his smile visible in the frame and the slight blurriness of the photo, likely taken with a shaking hand.

Text to Sunshine - Today at 2:34 pm

Welcome to parenthood

AAAA

Smiling, Shouta felt his shoulders grow lighter as he set out for home. He reached their apartment not long after, preparing to catch Sugarcube from making an escape attempt. No such thing came, and he quickly found out why.

Hizashi was right where he’d been in the picture- the dork probably hadn’t moved for a while, bless his heart. Hitoshi still slept soundly propped against his side, and Sugarcube curled up on his lap. Shouta would have been betrayed at how quickly she gained a new favorite, but he couldn’t really blame her, either. Smiling, he kept his steps light and made his way over to his husband. Hizashi immediately reached out for him, meeting halfway for a quick kiss before Shouta collapsed into an armchair with a sigh. 

“Aw, sugar- rough day?”

“You have no idea.” Shouta half-laughed, unwinding his capture weapon from where it sat heavy on his shoulders. The weight was comforting for hero work, but at home he preferred to stay light. “My co-workers are so goddamn stupid…” He mourned softly. The laugh that bubbled from his husband still managed to make his heart flutter in return like it did in high school.

“Well, you’ve survived another day without strangling someone, right? That’s something.”

Shouta hummed noncommittally, stretching his arms over his head and coaxing a pop from his shoulders. He felt his capture weapon lift from his lap and looked over to see Hizashi taking it to its rightful place hanging by the door. 

“Proud of ya, sugar. Wanna go get a shower? I’ll start dinner early, we can watch a movie or something tonight. Take it easy, y’know?”

Shouta got to his feet and stumbled over to his husband, wrapping his arms around him and resting his chin on his shoulder. “Can I marry you again?”

That laugh sounded again, and he was being hugged back before he knew it. “You know I would’ve long ago if I could. But seriously, go on. You’re stinky.”

Shouta rolled his eyes, but obeyed nonetheless.

There was a paw batting his face.

Hitoshi hummed as he coaxed his eyes open, registering Sugarcube standing on his chest and swiping at him. Smiling, he sat up and gave the cat a scratch behind her ears.

The pain in his head had mostly subsided, leaving just a dull ache. Nothing he couldn’t handle. Sighing, Hitoshi kept one hand on Sugarcube while the other propped himself up more to look around.

Aizawa was dead to the world in an armchair. There was a folder in his lap like he had been getting ready to do work, but it sat unopened. Hitoshi made a mental note to stay quiet so as not to disturb him.

Yamada, on the other hand, was in the kitchen. Some American pop song played on a speaker set on the counter as he flipped through a recipe book, dancing in little circles around the room. How he could focus on so much at once was a mystery to Hitoshi.

He reluctantly stood after giving Sugarcube a farewell pat. As much as he’d have liked to fall right back asleep, he needed to burn some energy if he was going to get any tonight. So, mind made up, he walked into the kitchen and cleared his throat, making his presence known. Green eyes turned to him, the man reaching to pause his music.

“Hey! Sleep well?” 

Hitoshi nodded, raising his hands to sign. “Yeah. Shouldn’t we be quiet? So we don’t wake Karasensei.”

Yamada blinked. “Who?”

“Oh-“ Hitoshi bit his tongue despite not having spoken initially. “Sign name. Aizawa?”

“Oh. My. God.” Yamada grinned, eyes practically sparkling behind his glasses. “Okay- that aside, no worries. That man sleeps through just about anything.”

Hitoshi nodded, standing up a little straighter. “Okay. What time is it..?”

“Around six.”

Oh shit. He’d been out for that long? “Oh- sorry, I didn’t mean to sleep all day.”

“Hey, no worries!” Yamada shrugged it off- he made it look so easy, what the hell. “Lord knows you need it, kiddo. But if you really feel bad about it, you can tell me about your sign name..?” His voice had an upwards lilt to it- he was obviously asking a question.

“Sorry, it’s kinda weird…”

“No! Come on, kiddo. I would’ve expected you to be one of those people who just sign letters- bo-o-oring- but seriously. I’ll give you an eye for an eye.”

“Keep your eyes, please.” 

“Figure of speech! Argh.” Yamada laughed, picking up his recipe book again. 

“Can I help?” 

Hitoshi wasn’t a novice at cooking. He’d been making meals for the group home ever since Yuu nearly burnt it down trying to make udon when he was thirteen. But the blonde man had gotten ridiculously hyped over showing him how to fry an egg yesterday, and Hitoshi figured that asking him to ‘teach’ him further was a good way to change the subject.

“Yeah! C’mere.” 

Success. Hitoshi smiled, stepping over Sugarcube to look at the book alongside Yamada. 

As Hitoshi fetched ingredients as directed, Yamada kept attempting to pry the information from him. So maybe his attempt wasn’t as successful as he thought.

“Seriously, no judgement! I’ll tell you my name for him in exchange.”

That was intriguing… hm.

“Karasensei.”

“Wait, I didn’t see!”

Hitoshi repeated the sign for him again before returning to the fridge, hunting for the peppers Yamada had sent him for. When he turned, the blonde was repeating the sign to himself. 

“What’s it mean? I figure it’s a pun- I mean, the teacher part is obvious enough but…”

“Uh… crow teacher.” Hitoshi muttered, feeling his face turn pink.

“Ooh, spooky!” Yamada nudged his side, accepting the peppers from his hands.

“Um… more for the intelligence aspect, but yeah.”

“Oh!” Yamada smiled, reaching to ruffle his hair. Hitoshi found himself surprisingly unbothered by it. “Dang, you make mine sound lame in comparison.”

“I can’t exactly judge that if I don’t know it.” Hitoshi shrugged, waiting around for his next instruction.

“Right- here. Aika,” he signed, smiling. 

“Okay, I like yours better. You’ve got a pun.”

“You have one too! Oh- the rice noodles are in that cabinet.” Yamada pointed, and Hitoshi followed. “You should show him sometime, he’d totally freak out.”

“That’s kind of what I’m trying to avoid.” Hitoshi laughed, rubbing at the side of his neck as he reached for the noodles. 

Yamada laughed too, his hand hovering over the phone sitting on the counter. “Fair enough- hey, want music?”

Hitoshi shrugged, and the pop song from earlier resumed where it had left off. Yamada grinned. 

“Right on! Now, let’s get started.”

Shouta, despite his husband’s claims, was not a heavy sleeper by any means. But even running on nothing, his brain could determine what was and wasn’t important enough to drag him out of his sleep. 

Which meant he heard most of what was going on around him. Which meant he was, as Hizashi had predicted, ‘totally freaking out’ over Hitoshi’s sign name for him.

He had almost dropped dead when they were seventeen and Hizashi had called him love song of all things. And even though this was less personal, it still hit the same.

Hizashi had made fun of him endlessly when they had gotten home after their first weekend spent at the center and Shouta had recounted how Hitoshi had fallen asleep against his shoulder. It had evolved into a full on battle of teasing each other over simply domestic things while simultaneously having crises over their own moments. Shouta had thought for sure he was going to gain some leverage from this weekend, but it seems they were back to being even. 

After catnapping for an indeterminate amount of time, Shouta woke up for real to the smell of something cooking and music- he recognized the song from one of Hizashi’s hundreds of playlists for every specific emotion imaginable. Sighing, Shouta surrendered himself to the waking world and went to sit at the counter. 

Hizashi seemed to brighten even further when he loaded himself onto one of the bar stools and leaned on the counter, Hitoshi instead just waving and returning to the green onions he’d been cutting. 

“Hey, sugar. Sleep well?”

Shouta nodded, crossing his arms on the table. Sugarcube hopped up on the counter next to him. He begrudgingly scratched under her chin, muttering. “Don’t act all innocent, you’re a traitor.” 

Hitoshi laughed softly and offered a hand, their cat immediately betraying Shouta for attention. Hizashi crowed with laughter at Shouta’s expression. 

“Aw, grumpy cuz she’s got a new favorite?”

Shouta sighed, not responding in favor of resting his head on the counter again. Sugarcube didn’t even bother to check on him, damn traitor.

Hizashi laughed again, and Shouta felt his fingers comb through a section of his hair until the kitchen timer went off. Not much longer after he left to tend to the food, Shouta felt a paw batting at his arm. “So you’ll try to get love from me when Hitoshi’s busy, huh?” He muttered, smiling despite himself. 

He was willing to suffer cat withdrawal if it meant Hitoshi would keep laughing every time he brought it up. That was his only solace in all this- maybe his cat was betraying him, but at least his kid was happier for it.

Hizashi rolled his eyes, a hand on his hip. “You’re so dramatic.” 

Shouta simply shrugged.

“Fine-“ his husband huffed, standing on his toes to reach a jar they had carefully stashed in one of the few places Sugarcube couldn’t get to. “Hey, Hitoshi, ever heard of catnip?”

“Yeah- it‘s like… cat drugs, right?”

“Pretty much.” Hizashi took one of the cat treats from the jar and passed it to the teenager before stashing it back. “Can you give her that for me?” 

Hitoshi obliged, and Sugarcube accepted the treat from him happily, once again ignoring Shouta. “Dare I ask why?”

“That’s got catnip in it.”

Hitoshi blinked, staring as Sugarcube crunched the treat. “... Did I just give your cat an edible?”

Hizashi barked out a laugh. “I guess so, huh? Just wait ‘til it hits.” Then, to Shouta- “She won’t keep her paws off you.”

Shouta hummed, reaching over to pet between her ears. “I can’t believe we have to drug her for this now.”

“You’ve been vibe checked, Shou.”

“Don’t say that.” Shouta rolled his eyes. “It smells good- what’d you make?”

“Yakisoba. It wasn’t all me, though! Hitoshi helped with a lot of the prep work.”

The teenager practically glowed under the praise. If Shouta had been any slower he would have missed it, Hitoshi quickly ducking his head and paying attention to Sugarcube. 

Smiling, Shouta stretched his arms over his head. “Sounds good.”

Chapter Text

Hitoshi groaned as his alarm went off, blinking the sand from his eyes as he sat up. “Wh…” 

After turning the alarm off, he sat up and rubbed his temples as he struggled to draw up any memories. He certainly didn’t remember going to bed, and a quick check of his blister pack confirmed that he hadn’t taken any insomnia meds. The last thing he remembered was sitting down for dinner with Aizawa and Yamada, the latter playing some old movie he didn’t recognize. They’d eaten in comfortable silence, Sugarcube purring like a motor on his chest and doped up on catnip. The cat in question was curled up at the foot of the bed now. Resigning himself, Hitoshi stepped out from under the covers.

He changed into his school uniform within fifteen minutes, with the exception of his tie- coming up on four years of wearing one regularly and he still couldn’t quite tie it himself. Yuu took endless joy in teasing him for it. With that, all he had left to do was style his hair and get his shoes on. He glanced at the clock. 6:45- was it okay to be up that early? Would his guardians still be asleep? Or maybe he had overslept already and Aizawa was cursing himself for choosing such a lazy, good-for-nothing kid as his apprentice. Maybe they’d left without him.

Hitoshi shook his head, cursing at himself. Idiot, they’re not like that. They’re nice. If you really were behind, they’d have woken you up.

So either he was early or on time. Only one way to find out for certain, though.

Yamada waved at him as he looked out into the rest of the apartment, setting down his phone. “Hey! You’re up earlier than I thought- ya conked out last night.”

“Yeah.” Hitoshi shrugged, leaving the door cracked behind him. “Sorry about that.”

“No worries! Glad you could get some sleep. If you need the bathroom, I’d recommend getting in there before I have to do my hair.” He laughed softly, Hitoshi returning it with a smile.

“Okay- thanks for the heads up.” 

He emerged not much later, hair styled up and teeth brushed. Yamada grinned from the kitchen. “Wanna come help?”

Hitoshi nodded, silently wondering how long he could keep the illusion of being a novice chef up before he was found out. “What are you making?”

“Alright, have a good day! I’ll see ya in class, alright?” Hitoshi nodded, smiling to himself as he stepped out of the car and slung a strap of his backpack over his shoulder. Aizawa apparently came to school later than Yamada typically did, so Yamada had driven him to school and dropped him off. Hitoshi walked through the school gates, looking up as he heard his name called.

One of his classmates flounced over to him, grinning. “Hey, Shinsou. Have a good weekend?”

“Mhm.” He nodded, carefully putting his usual mask back on. “I’m guessing you did too.”

“Yep! Went on a date. You ready for that group project in Midnight-sensei’s class?” 

Hitoshi was content to let her ramble on, adding his input from time to time in short quips. For the most part, though, she carried the conversation.

They finally reached class 1-C, and he held open the ridiculously massive door for her before entering and taking his own seat in the last row. The girl who sat in front of him turned around.

“Hi, Shinsou.”

“Hey, Suzuki.”

He found himself allowing a bit of his blank expression to slip away, returning the shy smile she gave to him. Suzuki was the closest thing to a friend he had in his class- he’d let her borrow a pencil once and he’d help her from time to time with their literature class. Beyond that, though, they didn’t know each other. 

Hitoshi was content to sit and half-listen to the conversation of his classmates around him, doodling idly in the margins of his notebook until their homeroom teacher came in to start the day. 

Mondays started with their English class, and it could either be a blessing or a curse, depending on the mood. Mic-sensei was fantastic, but loud- it was good for staying awake when he was running on a cup of coffee, but if he absolutely needed to nap then there was no hope of doing such. Luckily, he had slept well, and was only slightly taken aback as his teacher gave a joyous shout in greeting.

Looking back on it, it was kind of hilarious comparing Present Mic to Yamada Hizashi. The man who had taught him to chop up bell peppers the night before was now yawping in their faces about direct object pronouns. What a concept.

Hitoshi took one of the worksheets passed back to him, reading over the instructions.

Write about your weekend!

Huh. Simple enough.

Shouta raised an eyebrow as he walked into the teacher’s lounge to spot his husband at his desk, looking to be on the verge of tears.

“Are your students really that bad at English?”

“No- look!” Hizashi practically shoved a paper in his face. Shouta blinked as he read it.

Yamada-

I can’t tell if this is an attempt to get information from me or if this is actually part of your lesson plan. Whichever it is, hopefully this is satisfactory.

After checking the name at the top - Hitoshi, not that he had doubted it- Shouta read the rest. Basic stuff, talking about how his weekend had gone. Maybe his vocabulary was a little higher than the average student, but beyond that it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

“What am I looking for here?”

“Gosh-“ Hizashi quickly took the paper back from him  and rolled his eyes. “It’s sweet!”

“Yeah, sure. I think I’m winning in our battle, though.”

“You keep telling yourself that, crow.” 

“Christ-“ Nemuri rolled her eyes from the doorway. “You two are ridiculous. Just kiss and make up.” She turned on her heel, muttering to herself. “Whipped.”

“That’s not what that means!” Hizashi called after her, but they were answered with the sound of the door shutting.

Chapter Text

Hitoshi crouched on the floor of the apartment, saying his goodbyes to a forlorn Sugarcube. Yamada laughed in the background. 

“You’d think she’s never gonna see you again, huh?”

“Yeah.” Hitoshi smiled halfway, standing up. “I’m ready to go now, though.”

“Alright, c’mon.” Aizawa scooped the cat up and carried her into their room, Yamada ushering him outside at the same time. His mentor appeared a moment later, locking the apartment door behind him.

There was light conversation made during the drive back to the center, mostly carried by the adults. 

Mostly carried by Yamada, if he was being honest.

They arrived after listening to a few songs, Hitoshi stepping out of the car and bringing his bag with him. “Are you coming in or dropping off?”

“We’ll hang around for a bit, if that’s okay!”

“Yeah.” Turning, he walked inside, his teachers behind him. Yuu immediately greeted him.

“Oh my god in heaven, he’s back-“

“You treat him like he’s the second-coming of christ.”

“Hey, Yuu. Hey, Junko.” Hitoshi rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. 

“Mae’s out right now. She took the twins.”

“Shocker. How long?” 

“Said she’ll be back tonight and we’re supposed to fend for ourselves for dinner.” Junko rolled her eyes, getting off the desk where she had been sitting. How she managed to find a perch among all the cluttered paperwork never failed to amaze him. “I did all your shit over the weekend and I put up with Ssekien, so you’re doing it.”

“I would’ve done it anyways, jerk. Let me put my bag up first.”

Yuu nodded, gesturing Aizawa and Yamada forth. “C’mon- we meet up in the kitchen. You’re staying, right?”

Hitoshi didn’t hear any responses past that, as he left for his room to put his things from that weekend away.

Hitoshi made his appearance in the kitchen after a few minutes. Yamada and Aizawa were seated on two of the stools surrounding the table, Junko off to the side doing homework and Yuu leaning against the counter scrolling on his phone.

“What do you guys want?”

“Whatever.” 

“Okay- good lord.”

“Actually,” Junko piped up, “what I want is to know how to do this bullshit math test tomorrow without bursting into tears.”

Yuu laughed, looking over to her. “Who do you have for math?”

“Hirota-sensei.”

Both boys winced in sympathy.

“Sorry, you’re doomed.” 

“Don’t tell her that. Here-“ Hitoshi leaned over her shoulder. “Polynomials?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I can do those. I’ll walk you through later, move on to your next class for now.”

“But Mae says w-“

“She’s not here right now, it doesn’t matter. If she really still cared about homework that much then she’d keep staying around the table with us. I’m making soba unless anyone has anything to say about it.”

Yuu grinned. “Sounds good, broskiiii-“

“You call me that one more time, see what happens.” The seriousness of the threat was seriously dampened as he tried to reach something in one of the top cabinets. Luckily, Yuu helped him out.

“Need any help, kiddo?”

Hitoshi blinked at Yamada’s offer, silently begging his siblings not to mention anything.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Why would he need help?” Yuu asked.

“I’m not saying he isn’t competent!”

“That’s totally what you’re saying.” Junko grinned, her homework forgotten. 

“Anyways-“ Hitoshi quickly tried to change the subject. “Uh… music?”

“Only if you’re Seymour.”

“Sorry, looks like we’re going to be stewing in uncomfortable silence because Yuu is being anal about his show that isn’t for another month in a half.”

Junko snorted. “Oh my god, Yuu, give it up.”

“Can’t knock me for trying.” Yuu huffed, crossing his arms. “Just play one of your playlists or whatever.”

“Actually-“ Junko cut in, chin resting on her palm. “Can you guys just play Animal Crossing music or something? Stuff with words splits my brain up.”

Hitoshi nodded, having already pulled up the video. After a quick car insurance commercial, they were off on each of their tasks.

Shouta idly drummed his fingers on the table, listening to the chatter taking place around him. Hizashi was silent beside him - a rarity, but the kids conversed so easily with each other it made it difficult to find your way into the conversation. Shouta didn’t necessarily want to do that, but he could tell his husband was chomping at the bit to involve himself.

He reached for the blonde’s hand under the table and leaned on his shoulder. He could see Hizashi smile from his peripheral vision, and he smiled a bit in return.

Their quiet moment didn’t last for long- finally, a window in the conversation opened and Hizashi cut in.

“So, y’all are pretty close, huh?”

Yuu nodded, beaming. “Thick as thieves.”

“Thicc.” Pawayai added, a grin on her face.

“You’re gross.” Hitoshi rolled his eyes, chopping a pepper with more force than was needed. Shouta idly wondered how he had gone from doing prep work to cooking by himself in the span of a day. 

“You’re the one who knew what I was saying, so that makes you the gross one.” The girl at the end of the table pointed out.

“Okay-“ Hizashi laughed. “That kinda brings me to my point. Do you all ever argue?”

“Yes,” Hitoshi muttered, at the same time his foster siblings said “no.”

“Yuu, don’t tell me we don’t argue.” 

“But we don’t! Not recently, anyways.”

“We’re literally arguing right now.” Hitoshi pointed out, gesturing with the kitchen knife in his hands. “Plus, like… middle school.”

“That’s different!” Yuu exclaimed. “We were both stupid teenagers.”

“I was twelve, but go off.”

“Actually,” Junko chimed in, “I’m changing my answer. We definitely argue. Maybe not to the severity that we argue with some other people…” She murmured, casting a pointed glance at Hitoshi.

“Wow.” The teenager rolled his eyes. 

Hizashi raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
“Hitoshi and Mae,” Yuu answered. “They go at it, like… constantly.”

“I don’t think that means what you think it means.”

“Shut up, Junko, I know what I’m doing.” The older teenager laughed, tousling his foster sister’s hair. She swatted at his arm.

“Jerk.”

“I don’t mean to argue,” Hitoshi protested. 

“But you still do.”

“Do your English, Junko.”

“This is literature-“

“Do your literature then! God.” Hitoshi laughed. “The second I come home and you two are already on my case.”

“We wouldn’t have to be on your case if you could learn how to shut up and hold your tongue.”

Shouta fought back a laugh when he saw his husband’s face, caught in between frustration from being booted from the conversation and worry for their kid.

“No! God, I’m so tired of being shut up.” Hitoshi groaned, dumping the now sliced vegetables into a skillet.

And damn if that didn’t sting- those casual phrases hinting at his upbringing made Shouta want to drag out his capture weapon and kick the everloving shit out of everybody who had ever hurt this kid. His kid.

He glanced over to his husband, who had that resting murder expression on his face as well.

Their kid.

“Christ, that got dark,” Yuu spoke after a brief silence.

“Yep.” Hitoshi shrugged. “Anyways- stuff’s cooking, so we have time to kill.”

“Kill me,” Pawayai groaned, slamming her forehead on the table. “Whoever invented math, I just wanna talk.”

“Is math even real? Or did humans just come up with it?” 

“Hitoshi, I swear to god. Don’t start this, my head hurts enough doing this garbage as it is.” 

“Sorry,” Hitoshi laughed, sitting down next to her and pulling the papers closer to them. “I’ll help.”

Shouta squeezed his husband’s hand under the table again, content to sit back and allow himself to be swept away in the conversation.

Chapter Text

“Fucking finally!” Pawayai grinned, pushing herself away from the table. Hitoshi caught her chair just as it threatened to tip over.

“Watch what you’re doing.” 

“Absolutely not. I finally… get it! It’s a miracle.”

“What’s a miracle is that Hitoshi managed to understand math enough to explain it to you,” Yuu laughed, nudging his foster brother’s shoulder.

“You seriously think that you all never argue?” Hizashi couldn’t help but laugh. “This seems… I don’t know the word.”

“No, they’re always like this.” Hitoshi shrugged. “I don’t really care anyways.”

“Then why the hell are you so argumentative?” Pawayai asked, pulling her papers together and shoving them into their respective folders. 

“I don’t care when I’m insulted. Just, like… Junko, cuss me out.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, ki-“

“You’re a royal dumbass- I mean that literally. It’s so fucking enfuriating how much confidence you lack- I could kill myself by jumping from the height of your stupid troll doll hair to your self esteem.”

“Ha, right,” Hitoshi responded without missing a beat. “See, like- it doesn’t bother me. I don’t care. I argue with Mae because she trash talks the people I care about right in front of my face. It’s like she thinks I’m emotionless.” Hitoshi huffed, standing and pacing a circle around the room as he spoke. Hizashi was reminded of Shouta yet again. 

“Wait, she shit talks us?” Pawayai cried. “What the hell.”

“Dude, you think that’s bad? Listen in to the wires once in a while, some of the shit she says is crazy.” Yuu snorted. 

“The wires?” Shouta asked suddenly at Hizashi’s side, raising an eyebrow. 

“Oh- Mae’s desk is like… hella bugged. It’s the only way we know what’s going on, lmao.”

“Did- did you just say lmao out loud?” Hitoshi turned to Yuu, an incredulous expression on his face.

“Yep! Don’t worry about it.”

“... I’m not going to ask,” Shouta murmured.

“It’s probably better that way.” Hitoshi looked up as the timer on the microwave went off, standing to tend to the food cooking. Hizashi smiled.

“You learn quick!”

“What?” Yuu laughed. “Dude, hate to burst your bubble, but Hitoshi’s been cooking since he was like… thirteen.”

“Oh my god,” Hitoshi groaned, burying his head in his hands.

Hizashi blinked. “You let me teach you how to fry an egg.”

“You seemed excited about it!”

“‘Toshi, oh my god.” Yuu started laughing, snickering behind his hand. “You’re such a dork.”

Hizashi’s heart almost melted. God, this kid was going to be the death of him - who gave him the right to be that nice? It was preferable to him being a moody jackass all the time, like some teenagers Hizashi was familiar with, but god if he wasn’t geeked about it. 

They had a pretty great kid.

Hitoshi leaned against Mae’s desk, watching as his teachers gathered their things to leave.

“We probably won’t be able to come tomorrow or Wednesday- Hizashi has patrols and my agency wanted to call me in on a case. I’ll see you for training Wednesday, though.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. You don’t have to be here every day.”

“I know, but we like to be! Oh-“ Yamada turned. “What was that band called again?”

“Which one?” 

Hitoshi had put on one of his playlists after dinner, after the discussion had turned to music somehow. He had a feeling he knew which one the blonde man was asking about, but it never hurt to check.

“ Rise Against, ” he supplied, after Yamada sang a few notes from one of their songs.

“ Rise Against, got it!” He grinned, reaching out to ruffle Hitoshi’s hair. 

“Wednesday,” Aizawa reminded him as he opened the door.

“See you then.” Hitoshi smiled, blowing a rogue lock of purple hair from his face.

He sighed as the door closed, stretching his arms over his head before making his way over to his room. He had homework he hadn’t started on - UA didn’t give scholarships out easily. He couldn’t afford to fall behind, especially since Aizawa was scouting him for the hero course.

He was just finishing the last of his math work when a series of knocks came at his door. Hitoshi smiled, setting his textbooks aside. “Come in.”

Yuu leaned against the door frame, arms crossed. “Can I sit?”

“I said come in, didn’t I? Close the door behind you.”

The bed dipped beside him not much longer, and Yuu ruffled his hair. What was with that lately?

Not that he minded.

“What’s up?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I wanna hear about your weekend.”

Hitoshi only raised his eyebrow further.

“... and maybe I need boy advice.”

“There it is.” He laughed, pulling his knees up to his chest. “You never told me about him.”

“Oh shit, that’s right! Here-“

As Yuu launched into a ramble about his latest crush, Hitoshi leaned against his shoulder and shut his eyes. He felt fingers settle in his hair and begin to comb through it, his mouth quirking up into a smile. Maybe he could fit in a nap- Yuu certainly could go on for a long time.

“Hey, are you falling asleep on me?”

Damn.

“No…” he muttered, dragging his eyes open once again. “Keep talking, I’m fine.”

“If you fall asleep then you have to help me practice tomorrow.”

“That’s fine. Keep going, I’m listening.”

He definitely wasn’t, but Yuu didn’t need to know that. He already knew what the boy would be like - funny, loud and boisterous. Well, at least when around Yuu. In public he’d be mellow. He probably had some sort of piercing, or maybe a quirk that changed his appearance past the ‘norm.’ Hitoshi didn’t understand having a type, but at least he could appreciate Yuu having one. It made it easier to zone out while his brother talked about his crushes. 

“I’ve been talking about Pokémon for three minutes, ‘Toshi.”

Except when he did that.

“Who’s to say you aren’t madly in love with Pikachu?”

“Wow.” Yuu pushed his shoulder gently. “Y’know what, maybe I am. He’s kinda got the voice for it.”

“Can I guess where he’s pierced?”

“Oh my god!” Yuu snorted. “How did you know he’s pierced?”

“Because every boyfriend you’ve ever introduced me to looks like he had a slinky explode in front of his face. I’m going with snake bites this time. Or maybe a septum ring,” Hitoshi mused as he fidgeted with his mechanical pencil.

“Right in one. I’ve never kissed a guy with a lip piercing- wonder if it feels funny.”

“Probably. What if it’s cold? You’d be putting your lips on cold metal.” 

“Oh- ew, don’t put that image in my head. Besides, I don’t even know if he likes me.”

“And that’s why you’re here.”

“Exactly.” Yuu laughed, glancing at him out of the corner of his eyes. “You should let me dye your hair.”

“No.” Hitoshi answered without hesitation. “I like it like this.”

“Fair enough. Anyways, I’ve talked for a while. It’s your turn.”

“I really like it there.” Hitoshi started easily. “They’re just… really nice. I don’t know how to word it. I feel like I’m setting myself up for heartbreak.”

“You aren’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’ve seen how they interact with you,” Yuu answered without pause. It still could almost make Hitoshi cry despite having known Yuu for half his life. “‘Toshi, they care about you. They’re not jerks who are gonna lead you on a wild goose chase only to dump you back in the center when the process gets frustrating.”

“I know.” Hitoshi blinked, surprised by how easily he admitted it. “They’re good.”

“They are.”

“Holy shit- they’re good.”

“You’re just now realizing this? I thought you were the smart one.”

“Shut up- oh my god.” Hitoshi laughed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m an idiot.”

“Yeah. But it’s okay! I’m glad you’re getting your shit together.”

Hitoshi laughed, burying his face against his brother’s shoulder. He could smell the detergent on his shirt - despite the fact that literally everybody in the house used the same detergent, he only associated the scent with Yuu. It was weird. 

“I can’t believe I- I really am stupid. God, I feel like I owe them an apology.”

“You don’t.” Yuu returned to petting his hair. “It’s fine, you’re just goin’ through it.”

“Yeah. But still.”

“It’s okay, ‘Toshi. Seriously.” 

“I know! Just… tell me about your boyfriend again or something.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Yuu squawked. “Well, not yet at least…”

He continued to ramble on softly as Hitoshi relaxed in his presence. Junko had made a joke one time about Yuu being his security blanket, and as much as he had laughed it off, he really was. He could feel the remaining dregs of anxiety practically melting away with every second he spent here.

“Hey, Yuu?” With anybody else, he would apologize for interrupting. Here, though, it was safe.

“Yeah?”

“You’re cool.”

“Wh-“ His brother pushed his shoulder gently, scoffing. “You’re a dork.”

“Maybe I am, but you’re cool.”

“Dork. You’re cool too.”

Chapter Text

Hizashi cringed as Hitoshi fell to the mats in front of him. He immediately crouched to offer the kid a hand, smiling when he took it.

“We can keep working on your stance. Good job holding your own, though. You’ve been improving.” Shouta passed a bottle of water to the teenager, who accepted it gratefully. 

“Thank you.”

Hizashi grinned, putting a hand on their kid’s shoulder. “Good job! I thought you were gonna have me beat there a few times?”

“Wait- really?” Hitoshi blinked.

“Yeah!” He hadn’t, actually- the kid still had a ways to go before he could even think of taking down another pro hero- but a little white lie never hurt. Besides, if Hitoshi could get by pretending to not know how to cook, Hizashi could sell himself as a little less competent.

Shouta nodded. “That’s it for today- I’ve got work at my agency, and Mic has his show, but we’ll definitely be able to be at the center tomorrow.”

“That’s fine. You don’t have to be there every day.”

“We know! But we want to.” Hizashi winked before helping his husband pack up the gym. “Oh, by the way - you should try and tune in tonight, if you can.”

Maybe he had slipped a few of the songs Hitoshi had played on Monday night into the playlist for that week’s show. Only a few, though.

“I’ll see if I can. Thank you for helping today.”

“No problem, kiddo! Do you need a ride home?”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you, though.”

Shouta tapped his shoulder, pointing to the time on his phone. “You’re not going to get your vocal warmup in if you don’t leave now.”

Hizashi blinked owlishly. “ Shit- Thanks, Eraser!”

The sound of muted laughter as he booked it from the gym made it worth having to rush.

Hitoshi made a beeline for his room the second he got home.

Most days, he did the opposite - only retreating to his space when curfew called. But Wednesdays were different.

He would absolutely crawl under a rock and decompose if Yamada ever found out, but he’d been listening to Put Your Hands Up Radio since he was eight. A foster sibling had introduced it to him one night in an effort to fill the heavy silence between them, and he had been hooked ever since. He’d missed a grand total of seven shows in history- two because he was in a new home and didn’t have his headphones, one because he was in the middle of a stressful group project and didn’t have time, three because Yuu had invited him out somewhere and the offer was enticing enough for him to skip, and one because he had had a migraine. Hitoshi had never found the courage to call in- phone anxiety was a bitch- but nevertheless, he listened every damn week. He wasn’t about to miss his eighth show today - especially since the host himself had asked him to listen in.

Technically, the show didn’t start until seven, so Hitoshi took advantage of the time he had left to get a head start on his homework. So he sat, half-focused on his English homework as he waited for the clock to strike.

And strike it did.

Can I get a heyyy? What’s up, you guys? Welcome back to this week’s ep of Put Your Hands Up! I’m your humble host, Present Mic, and lemme tell you all- we’ve got some bangers coming your way. First up, we have…

Hitoshi rolled his eyes. Just because he was a regular listener, that didn’t mean he was completely blind to how cheesy the hero persona was. Especially now that he actually knew the person behind the mask - well, behind the sunglasses. 

He settled in as the music played, content to lay on his stomach, work on homework, and get lost in the music.

Welcome back! If you’re just now tunin’ in, that was Tragedy and Time by Rise Against! And now it’s time for some fan calls. Welcome to P- 

Hitoshi was going to die.

When Yamada told him to tune in, he didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t every other fucking song being one of the ones he had played for his teachers. 

Maybe that was an exaggeration. But still- that was absolutely uncalled for and Hitoshi absolutely should not be grinning like an idiot because of it. He was being ridiculous. 

After quickly standing to get a drink of water, he settled back down on his bed and crammed his earbuds back in his ears. 

Thanks for calling! Up next, let’s take a call from-

Hitoshi winced as the audio crackled, quickly going for the volume button. What the hell is going on?

There was indistinct yelling in the background, until Yamada’s voice cut over it all.

Sorry about this, listeners, but it looks like we’re gonna have to delay this program. Seeing as some baddies decided it would be a good idea to raid the recording booth!

What the fuck?

That was Hitoshi’s final thought before the audio exploded in a burst of bass and siren sounds.

Shouta was going to finish those villain’s job.

He had warned Hizashi for years- years- about how bad of an idea it was to have a known pro hero in a regularly scheduled location.

Villains will take advantage of it, he said. But did the idiot blonde ever listen? Of course not. He’d insisted on having his show, and now it had finally happened.

Shouta hated being right sometimes. 

His chokehold on the steering wheel turned his knuckles white as he pulled the car into the hospital lot. He barely had to stay in the lobby before he was redirected towards Hizashi’s room. The staff had probably taken one look at his expression and decided not to even attempt crossing him.

The doctor exiting the room gave him a curt nod before stepping aside, allowing Shouta to storm through. All his anger melted away, however, when his husband flashed him those stupid goddamn puppy dog eyes that turned him soft every damn time.

“You’re in trouble.”

“And you look handsome.”

That was all it took before Shouta collapsed into the chair by Hizashi’s hospital bed, burying his head in his hands. He felt a hand on his shoulder, immediately snapping.

“I should be comforting you right now. What the… what the fuck, Hizashi.”

“It’s only a broken arm, sugar. Chiyo’ll have it fixed up by tomorrow evening.”

“That’s not the point!” Shouta hissed. “It’s a broken arm this time, but what about the next one? Don’t pretend there isn’t a villain out there who’ll hear about this and figure that ‘hey, they did it, what’s stopping me?’”

“Hey, no,” Hizashi said, voice soft. God damnit. It was so hard to be mad at him. “Sugar-“

“Hizashi.”

“Look at me? Seriously- I broke a hearing aid, this is getting difficult to do without sign.”

Shouta grudgingly looked up. He hated showing his face when he was emotional, as a rule, but he could trust his husband. 

“I’m fine, Aika.”

“Don’t you fucking ‘Aika’ me.” Shouta sighed heavily, shifting from his chair to the bed at Hizashi’s side. “I’m supposed to be mad at you.”

“Supposed to be. But you aren’t. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay. You’re hurt.”

“Aika, it isn’t the end of the world. I’ll be right as rain tomorrow. They barely even touched me. You’ve gotten more hurt than this, and I never yelled at you.” His husband rolled his eyes, smirking. “Hypocrite.”

“I was scared.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“I know you are. I’m sorry for getting mad.”

“And I’m sorry for making you worry. But seriously, Aika, it’s okay. I promise.”

“I love you.”

Chapter Text

“Hey, Hitoshi. Dinner’s ready.” Junko leaned against the doorway, arms crossed.

“Tell Mae I’ll eat later- kinda flaring up right now.” He cringed at the lie, already knowing how stupid it sounded. Junko took it at face value anyways, though, and left without a fight.

With that, Hitoshi went back to scrolling. He had gone from having one social media account to seven in the past hour, if only to follow the radio station’s page and ensure that he got any notification possible about the attack.

For all that he’s listened to Mic’s shows, he’s only ever cried twice. Once when he’d taken a call and said without an ounce of sarcasm that anybody can be a hero if they have the drive and endurance. And once tonight.

After refreshing Twitter for the thirteenth time, he gave up and scrolled through his contacts. It took him about three seconds to find Yamada, despite his name being towards the bottom of the list.

The call button displayed innocently on his screen, taunting him.

Phone anxiety was a bitch. Hitoshi’s life would be so much easier if he could just… press that button and not immediately start having a heart attack, because honestly how are you supposed to talk on the phone when you can’t see the other person’s face and you have no idea what they’re thinking of you and-

He couldn’t even think about dialing without freaking out.

Sighing, Hitoshi went back to Twitter. He was stupid for even thinking it- he could always text, but it would look stupid if Yamada was actually really hurt and all he did was send a text message. 

Yamada could be hurt.

Hitoshi shook his head. His teacher was way more competent than that, he knew-

He’d said it himself, Hitoshi could have had him during training earlier. Hitoshi, with the figure of a damn string bean and who barely knew how to throw a punch when Aizawa dragged him off his sorry ass to properly train him.

If Hitoshi had a chance, what about the villains?

No, he told himself. Don’t think like that-

He still had homework to do. He could put his phone on the highest volume and work the rest of his English homework- at least Mic could have something decent to grade when he was back in class.

If he ever makes it back to class, his brain supplied.

Hizashi sighed as they made it home, immediately sinking down on the couch. Shouta huffed in distaste behind him.

“At least change out of your hero costume.”

“I still can’t hear you, sugar.” He signed, watching as his husband stormed off to find his spare hearing aids.

The case was shoved into his hands, and Hizashi carefully put them on.

“Are you angry at me?”

“No, just frustrated. Hitoshi might be angry, though.”

Hitoshi-

“Oh my god.”

“What?”

“Fuck, I told him to listen!” Hizashi reached for his phone, scrolling through his contacts.

“At least eat first…” Shouta murmured. Hizashi felt his husband’s chin resting on his head. 

“Are you sure?”

“He’s probably doing the same. And you need to take care of yourself or you’ll be stuck with that arm for more than a day.”

Hizashi gave one last hesitant glance to his screen before shutting the phone off. “Okay- I’ll call after dinner.”

“Dinner and a shower,” Shouta added, narrowing his eyes.

“Dinner and a shower,” Hizashi agreed, sighing.

Hitoshi was going to cry again.

He had decided that social media was fucking useless after three hours worth of frantic cycling between apps and refreshing news pages.

He’d finished his homework, at least. Though finished barely meant anything- he didn’t even know if he was writing words anymore.

The plate of microwaved casserole Yuu had forced him to take earlier sat untouched on his nightstand, long since having gone cold. It was fine. Food could wait, knowing Yamada was at least alive couldn’t.

Why hadn’t anything been released?

Maybe they’re preparing a eulogy-

Hitoshi bit his tongue despite not having spoken aloud. He couldn’t think like that, he’d go crazy. Aizawa could at least message him with something.

Unless he’s too busy grieving his fucking dead husband.

Yamada’s not dead, he told himself, slamming his head against the wall. He got a displeased shout from Junko in return. The noise grounded him more than he would have thought, and Hitoshi gripped the blanket on his bed tightly to keep from drifting off again.

This was hell.

At least he hadn’t cried again- Hitoshi had no idea what he would do if he finally found out Yamada was dead and he was too cried out over being fucking unsure to feel anything.

Hitoshi sighed, checking Twitter again. Nothing. Nothing, just like the last three hours.

Isn’t it fitting that he died while doing something for you? Don’t you just ruin everything you touch-

Hitoshi groaned, standing up. Stupid fucking teenage brain.

His mind was going off the rails, and he wasn’t about to let himself lose control over something as stupid and unimportant as himself.

His eyes scanned over the medicine cabinet- Tylenol, ear drops, Ibuprofen, Celexa, Restoril, Xanax- there. He fumbled with the childproof cap for a second- Yuu would make a Heathers joke- before taking out one of the halved bars. Junko called him a coward for only ever taking half tabs, but she would probably do the same if she had read the lengthy list of side effects.

He took the pill with some water from the tap before returning to his room. Hitoshi flopped down on the bed, feeling exhaustion seize him to his core but knowing he wouldn’t be able to sleep until he knew something. All he could do at this point was refresh through social media and wait for the meds to kick in.

Why weren’t there any updates?

Hitoshi squeaked as his phone started blasting his ringtone. He felt any words die on his tongue as he read the contact name.

Yamada

He can’t talk on the phone- he can’t talk at all right now.

But what if it’s important?

Maybe it was a misdial.

What if it wasn’t?

Hitoshi bumped his head against the wall again, chewing his tongue. Finally, he picked the call up, listening.

“Hey, Hitoshi. Sorry I didn’t call sooner- Shouta was mother henning me, you know how it is. Anyways- are you okay?”

Apparently that was all it took before the floodgates opened and Hitoshi devolved into choked tears.

Chapter Text

Hizashi’s eyes widened as he listened to Hitoshi. He couldn’t even find anything to say- his kid was fucking crying and he couldn’t even say anything.

“I’m f-fine, sorry.”

That clearly wasn’t the case, but Hizashi wasn’t about to call him out on it and potentially make things worse than he already had.

“No need to apologize, bud. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Are y-“ 

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line.

“Would you rather sign? I can turn on video if it’s easier that way,” Hizashi offered, ignoring the fact that his arm was in a cast.

“N-no, that’s- I’m, uh- not g-good to look at right now. I’m waiting for some medicine to start working, uh…”

“Appearances don’t matter to me, but if you’d rather stay off then that’s okay.” Hizashi bit his lip- he didn’t want to force Hitoshi to talk, but he didn’t know what else to do. Unless-

“Would you rather text?”

“No- um. Please don’t hang up.”

“Are you sure? If it’s easier to text-“

“No- I kind of just need to, uh. Hear your voice- sorry, that’s creepy, uh-“

“No! No, it’s not, I promise,” Hizashi quickly soothed, heart shattering a little. “I can definitely talk- that’s my specialty, y’know.” He laughed softly. 

“Okay.”

Hizashi launched into a ramble immediately- he had no idea what he was even saying, just thinking. How long had Hitoshi been upset like this? He’d asked him to listen-

Hizashi had stalled in calling, reasoning that Hitoshi could manage. Fuck, he was kicking himself for that decision now.

“Um- Yamada?”

“Oh, sorry!” Hizashi laughed. “Kinda got lost in thought- can I help you?”

“Are you hurt?”

“Only a little. And Recovery Girl will have me as good as new before we know it, so you don’t need to worry about it! Shouta’s doing that enough for the three of us. Why ask, though?”

“Uh- I kept checking the news and your station’s social media, I couldn’t find anything.”

“Ohhhh.” Hizashi snapped, nodding in understanding. “Yeah, you usually won’t see any posts being made about a hero’s status until it’s all blown over anyways. Don’t wanna let the baddies get the wrong idea, y’know?”

“Oh.”

Hizashi cringed- he could feel himself unintentionally pulling on his persona. It was like he was making up for the lost air time, but Hitoshi deserved to talk to him like a person.

“Yeah. Sorry, bud, I really should have thought to at least text you.”

“No, it’s okay. You had important stuff you had to work with.”

Hizashi winced. “No- I mean, sure, I had to dodge a certain husband’s wrath, but I also neglected something else important. So that’s my bad.”

“What did you neglect?”

“You.”

There was a pause on the other end until Hizashi heard Hitoshi crying again.

“Oh, geez, kiddo, I’m sorry-“

“No, it’s okay, I’m sorry, I’m just being… teenager brain.”

Hizashi snorted. “Yeah, that’s a good name for it. Are you sure, though?”

“Yeah.”

Shouta looked over to Hizashi as he climbed into bed. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. We talked for a while- I feel bad for not calling sooner.”

“Why?”

“He was crying before I called him. Or when I called him- I don’t know.”

Shouta hummed, pulling Hizashi a bit closer to him as they sat in silence.

“You didn’t have to wait up for me, by the way,” Hizashi added.

“I can’t sleep if I don’t.”

“Aw, sugar.”

Shouta flushed, head turning to the side in order to not see whatever lovey expression Hizashi had on his face.

“Don’t say it.”

“Say what- you’re a softie?”

“Yeah.” Shouta huffed. “You’re not supposed to sleep on your side with a cast.”

“I know that,” Hizashi protested, sounding offended. “I’m not sleeping yet, though. Just want cuddles.”

Shouta raised an eyebrow. “How worried about him are you?”

“Very.”

“Well, stop.” Shouta cut his husband off before he could protest. “He’s fifteen, Hizashi, I’m pretty sure he can handle himself for one night. And you can make it up to him later if you’re really worried about it, but right now you need to rest or Chiyo will skin you alive when she sees you.”

Hizashi laughed softly. “That sounds counterproductive. And make it up how?”

“We could ask Dinau if he could stay with us again this weekend.”

“Oh- right! We didn’t get to most of the stuff I had thought of anyways.”

“We’ll call and ask tomorrow, then. I’m tired, though-“

“Right, sorry! I’ll stop talkin’ your ears off- here.” Hizashi sat up, and in the minimal lighting Shouta could see him taking off his hearing aids.

“Goodnight, Aika.”  

Shouta smiled, tucking himself against his husband’s side as they laid down for bed.

Hitoshi couldn’t sleep.

He tried everything- counting, listening to music, counting backwards, reading, just lying still.

Despite the medication overwhelming his system, he still saw flashes of nightmares every time he closed his eyes. 

Yamada had stayed on the phone with him until he could feel his meds kicking in- he should be fine. Usually he was drugged out enough to fall into a dreamless sleep and wake up with a vague memory of whatever had triggered his anxiety in the first place. But his brain was still fighting against him. And it was almost two in the morning. Hitoshi would be useless tomorrow, no doubt, and it was already embarrassing enough for anybody- much less his teacher, his idol- to hear him blubbering and stuttering like an idiot. He didn’t want Yamada to have to deal with the aftermath of all that as well.

Why are they even trying with you? You’re just troublesome.

Shut up.

You’re making things harder for them.

Stop.

You made someone who just got attacked by villains feel bad for not calling you. You don’t even like talking on the phone, why do you care?

Hitoshi groaned, smushing his face into his pillow. Why couldn’t his brain just turn off? It was stupid, he was being irrational. He was being stupid over something so little.

He didn’t want Yamada to call him.

Why was he upset that he didn’t?

He did, though. And then you made him feel bad for it.

Hitoshi huffed, turning over again. He wasn’t upset. He didn’t care.

He cared so much. And it fucking hurt- he wanted Yamada to stay safe but he also wanted to be in contact with him and more than anything he just wanted to sleep, to shut off his brain and go to bed and forget all this annoying teenage angst and self doubt by the time he got up in the morning.

But that wasn’t happening- the room was stifling and cold no matter how many blankets Hitoshi buried himself under and it’s too open. He can’t fit under the bed any more- he hadn’t been able to in ages- and there was nowhere for him to hide. He was completely exposed. 

Reluctantly, Hitoshi pulled up his phone and opened his texts. There was a new one from Aizawa that just read, ‘hope you sleep well,’ which Hitoshi laughed at. The irony wasn’t lost on him as he texted his brother.

Text to Blank Slate - Today at 1:47 am

Are you awake

Yeah actually

Was about to text you

Can you sneak over?

Hitoshi sighed in relief. He kept one of the blankets from his room tucked over his shoulders, and, after a moment of debate, grabbed Suzu as well. He hadn’t clung to the cat plush like this in ages. It was embarrassing, but so was sneaking through the hallway to go sleep over in his brother’s room. 

Yuu was waiting for him as he entered the room, silently shutting the door behind him.

“Are you okay?”

Hitoshi nodded, finally free to stop talking and stay safe here. “Can’t sleep. Dream?”

Yuu winced. “Yeah. Guess it’s a good night for it, huh? We lucked out.”

Hitoshi shrugged as he tucked himself beside Yuu, pointedly ignoring the smug yet soft expression his brother held.

“You’re soft.”

“I’m tired.”

“Yeah, I know. C’mon.”

Hitoshi complied, burying himself under any blankets within his reach. That, combined with the warmth of his brother’s presence, was enough to dispel the last of his chills. Having Suzu with him was just an added bonus.

Yuu lay on his back nearby, staring at the ceiling. “Can I tell you about it?”

Hitoshi nodded, shutting his eyes. 

“I was back in the car.”

He pressed himself against Yuu’s side, humming in the back of his throat. He didn’t talk about his parents a lot, and he talked about the car crash even less, so he was obviously shaken up.

“I don’t know. It’s so weird- it’s been, like… ten years and I still remember it like it was yesterday.”

“Yeah.”

“I miss them.”

“Yeah.”

“You know that already, though. What’s your trouble?”

“You talk like a tavern lady.”

“Shut up,” Yuu laughed. “Seriously, what’s wrong?”

“Just overthinking. The medicine didn’t help, I don’t know what else to do.”

“I heard about the radio station thing. Is Yamada okay?”

“Yeah, just a broken arm. I was freaking out and he called me and then I started crying, and I think I made him feel bad. And now I feel bad for making him feel bad.”

“You shouldn’t feel bad.”

“I feel bad about that too.” Hitoshi shrugged, turning to stare at the ceiling. 

“Aw.” Yuu huffed and pulled Hitoshi against his side. “Maybe we should both just sh- stay quiet and try to sleep. We can go all therapy mode later.” 

Hitoshi nodded, letting out a squeaking laugh. Yuu laughed as well, nudging his side.

“Squeaky toy.”

“You’re dead to me.”

“Noooo- whatever shall I do. I’ll have to flee the country- change my name, dye my hair-“

“Good night.”

“No name?”

“I thought you hated your sign name.”

“No! I like it.”

“I still need to come up with a better one.”

“Nooooo-“ Yuu whined. “I like it. ‘Toshi, please?”

“It’s so stupid.”

“It’s not! I like it.”

“I’m making you a new one, Hakuyuu.”

“Nope. I’m not answering to anything other than that. You’ve already solidified it.”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes, smiling slightly. “Good night.”

“Night.”

Chapter Text

“Hello! Sorry I couldn’t get back to you earlier- I’ve been understaffed as per usual. Can I help you?”

Hizashi grinned, nudging his husband to get him to speak up. 

Shouta rolled his eyes, but spoke anyways. “Right- we were wondering if we could get Hitoshi back here for the weekend?”

“I’d be happy to work that out for you! I’ll send the paperwork over for you- it’s the final preliminary version, so you won’t have to sign off every time after this.” 

Hizashi smiled even wider as the phone call ended, leaning against Shouta’s side. “There we go!”

“I don’t want to touch it.” Hitoshi dug his heels into the ground, eyes narrowed as Kokuna pushed him forward towards whatever this contraption was.

“Come on! It’s the weekend, ‘Toshi, you’ll have two and a half days to recover if you get a little tazed.”

“You built a taser?”

“Good lord- what did I just walk into?”

Hitoshi sighed in relief as Mae’s voice sounded, using Kokuna’s distraction as a chance to put as much distance between himself and the taser as possible.

“It’s not a taser, it’s, uh… an electrical output receptor.”

“So a taser.”

“Can I get you in the office, Hitoshi?”

“Yes- thank you.” Hitoshi skirted around the edge of the room, keeping away from the taser as he made to follow Mae down the hallway.

“Okay! I need you to sign something for me- if you’re willing, at least. Aizawa and Yamada wanted to take you this weekend.”

“Again?” Hitoshi blinked.

“You heard me! I forgot to ask- how was it last time?”

“It was good.” 

“Good, good. Are you okay with going back so soon? I know normally there’s more time between visits at first, so I totally get it if-“

“No, that’s fine,” Hitoshi cut in. “I sign here?”

“Same as always,” Mae said, raising an eyebrow.

Hitoshi shrugged as he signed the paperwork. “It’s worth checking.”

“Sure. So- anyways, they’re coming by later to pick you up, so make sure you have anything you need put together, okay?”

“Same as always,” Hitoshi responded bemusedly.

Shouta huffed as their cat ran up to Hitoshi with the bell on her collar jingling. The teen barely had enough time to pull off his shoes by the doorway before Sugarcube was weaving between his ankles, meowing loudly for attention.

“Shameless.” 

Hizashi snorted as he closed the door. “You had her all week, Shou, you can learn to share. Hitoshi- do you wanna go ahead and take your stuff to your room?”

Hitoshi smiled and scooped the cat into his arms before straightening up. “Yeah.”

They watched him go off after that. Shouta could practically sense the excitement radiating from his husband.

“What did you have planned, anyways? You never told me,” he murmured.

Whatever Hizashi had to say was interrupted by his phone ringing. The blonde cursed under his breath, pulling the device from his pocket.

Shouta took off his shoes by the door as Hizashi talked- judging by the tone of his voice, it was someone from his agency or radio station. The latter turned out to be true as he hung up with a sigh.

“It’s the station- they want me in to do some publicity thing.”

“Go, then.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. God- I work with teenagers, Hizashi, I can handle one for a few hours while you’re gone.” Shouta laughed.

Hizashi sighed. “I know, I just feel bad for having to dip. We just got home, and…”

“I know. But we have all weekend,” Shouta reassured him, “and it can’t take you too long.” 

“Okay…” Hizashi huffed. “And I guess it’s only fair- you only ever spend time together in training.”

Shouta bit the inside of his cheek, saying nothing. He’d had the same realization a few days ago- Hitoshi seemed to warm up to Hizashi fairly quickly, but they both were at a loss for how to interact with each other. 

“Sorry- Hey, Hitoshi! My manager just called, I’ve gotta run real quick.” Hizashi called to him as he emerged from his room. “You’re in charge, alright? Don’t let Shouta do anything stupid.”

Hitoshi laughed softly. “I doubt that would happen anyways.”

“Oh, believe me, if I told you about half the trouble he got into in high school-“

“Just go, Hizashi,” Shouta muttered, face pink. 

“Right- sorry, sorry, you know I’m teasing. But I probably should run now, huh? See ya both! I’ll text you, Shou.” In a flurry of leather and blonde hair, Hizashi was gone, leaving the two of them alone.

The second the door closed, Hitoshi came to an epiphany.

He had never actually talked all that much with Aizawa.

To be fair, it was his own fault- Yamada was more approachable in the first place, even without the threat of somehow offended his mentor that constantly hung over Aizawa’s head. So when given the choice, he just gravitated more towards the former.

That was coming back to bite him in the ass now- there he was, perched on the couch with an overjoyed Sugarcube in his lap and an overwhelming silence hanging over his head.

Well, not completely silent. The cat was still purring, at least.

He was just about to get up and retreat, using homework as a lame excuse to get out of… whatever this could be called, when Aizawa surprised him.

“Have you ever played chess?”

What the f- “No,” Hitoshi answered, making sure to keep the confusion out of his voice.

“Would you like to learn?”

“Uh- okay.” 

Aizawa nodded and left the room, leaving Hitoshi to stew in mild confusion until he returned with a chess board.

“Right- so first we set up the board.”

Hizashi sighed dramatically as he closed the apartment door behind him. “I’m finally home! Honestly- your radio station gets raided one time and you’d think they’d have a little sympathy for the guy who got the brunt of it. But nope.”

“I’m taking that it took longer than you expected?” Shouta asked.

“It’s blasphemy. But that’s behind me now- I’ve got both my boys here and I’m going to enjoy my weekend, radio station willing.” Hizashi grinned as he hung up his jacket by the door. “What are you two up to?”

“Chess,” Shouta answered as he walked into the living room. 

“I’m losing spectacularly,” Hitoshi added.

“I could kind of tell,” Hizashi laughed, eyeing the mass of white pieces that had been captured.

Hitoshi shrugged, narrowing his eyes as he hesitantly moved a rook forward. Shouta immediately moved his queen, taking the piece and falling back against the couch. “Check.”

Hitoshi groaned, carding a hand through his hair as he stared at the board. Hizashi rolled his eyes, sidling up on the couch next to his husband.

“Brutal as ever, sugar. Would it kill you to lay off on him?”

“This is the best way to learn,” Shouta said, raising an eyebrow as Hitoshi made to move his king over. “Are you sure?”

Hitoshi froze, eyes sweeping the board before he set his king down. “Yes.”

“Good choice.” Shouta moved a knight, blatantly ignoring the opening he had for checkmate. Hizashi raised an eyebrow, but decided not to call his husband out on it. 

“Well, I’m gonna start on dinner. Do you wanna help or stay here?” he asked Hitoshi, standing up.

“I’ll stay- if that’s okay?”

“Yeah! Of course.” Hizashi grinned, leaning over to kiss Shouta on the cheek before heading to the kitchen.

Chapter Text

“You’re going easy on me.”

Shouta blinked- so he had been discovered after all.

“It’s good for you to notice, that means you’re learning.”

Hitoshi fixed him with a look.

“Fine, if that’s what you want-“ Shouta sighed before moving a bishop up the board. “Checkmate.”

“Oh,” Hitoshi said simply. “Maybe I should have waited until I was in a better position to call you out.”

“No- this is perfect timing, actually,” Hizashi calles, suddenly behind the couch. “Dinner is ready!”

Hitoshi made to pack up the board, but Shouta gently pushed his hands away. “I’ve got it- you go get food, I’ll be there in a second.”

He looked like he wanted to protest, but after a second he followed Hizashi off into the kitchen. 

Shouta smiled to himself as he packed up the board. The light conversation from his husband and son floated in from the kitchen, gradually drawing nearer until Hizashi was pressing a bowl into his hands. 

“Thought we could all watch something over dinner. Does that sound good, sugar?”

Shouta nodded, settling back on the couch as Hitoshi appeared in the corner of his vision. He took a seat in one of the armchairs, and Sugarcube immediately hopped up beside him.

“Looks like we’re in for some rain later.” Hizashi sat beside Shouta and pulled him in against his side. Shouta sighed, already prepared for a long night.

“How can you tell?”

“... the weather report,” Hizashi said slowly.

“Oh.” Hitoshi looked at his lap, seemingly embarrassed.

His husband snorted. “How did you think I knew?”

“I don’t know, maybe you could impart some wisdom on me. Like, ‘if the clouds look yellowish, it’s about to snow.’”

“That can’t possibly be right.” Shouta raised an eyebrow.

“I know, it’s just something I’ve heard before.” Hitoshi shrugged.

“No old man wisdom here, kid. Sorry to disappoint.”

The teenager laughed quietly at that. “It’s not disappointing, don’t worry.”

Hizashi almost melted at that- he was a damn sap, not that Shouta was much better. “Okay, then. Let’s eat.”

Hizashi yawned, shifting himself out from against a sleeping Shouta. “Well, it’s getting pretty late.”

Hitoshi nodded in agreement. “How could you tell, the clouds?”

This kid- Hizashi laughed, watching his volume so as to let his husband rest. “The clock.”

“That too.” Hitoshi was smiling as he stood up, picking up his dishes and taking Hizashi’s and Shouta’s as well.

“Hey, I can get those,” he scolded gently. 

Hitoshi raised an eyebrow, making no move to give him the dishes. “Your arm is broken.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time. Seriously- you’re a growing boy, you need your sleep!” Hizashi put a hand on his hip.

Hitoshi shrugged, walking towards the kitchen. “A few minutes aren’t going to kill me, Yamada.”

“You don’t know that.” Hizashi grinned, following him. “There could be a quirk that sweeps the apartment complex, and it only affects conscious people, and you’d get hit with it because you stayed up.”

“If that’s going to happen, then maybe you should be worried about going to sleep,” Hitoshi retorted. “I’m fine, though, for real. I’m used to not sleeping.”

Hizashi frowned, impulsively reaching out with his good arm to ruffle his kid’s hair. “Fine, I can see you won’t be convinced. Can’t even put an old man’s mind at ease.”

“You’re not old. You’re, what, twenty five?” The teenager scoffed.

Hizashi laughed. “You’re my favorite now- tell that to Shouta, please, he’s not convinced.”

“You mean I wasn’t your favorite before? Rude.”

“You-“ Hizashi rolled his eyes, ruffling the teenager’s hair again. “Go to bed soon, please. I’ve gotta go haul the very sleepy caterpillar off the couch and into a proper bed.”

Hitoshi laughed and put a hand over his mouth. “Alright- goodnight. Good luck with that.”

Hizashi smiled fondly, fighting the urge to reach out and hug him. He ultimately failed, pulling Hitoshi against his side for a brief moment, before retreating to the living room to retrieve his husband.

Hitoshi tried to sleep, he really did.

He didn’t want to let Yamada down. It’s just that, some nights, he knew the insomnia medication wouldn’t be of much help, so he didn’t take it so as not to waste a dosage.

The rain that the man had been referencing earlier in the evening had finally started pouring down, pounding on the walls and making the air painfully humid. Hitoshi couldn’t deal with it- the rain always made his older scars ache, and it was better not to try and sleep it off.

He was sitting in the room he’d been given, regretting the fact that he’d forgotten to let Sugarcube in. The long nights were more tolerable with someone. Normally, he’d try and call Yuu, but he hadn’t been sleeping well lately and Hitoshi preferred not to bother people when he could help it. He was about to surrender himself to reading until the sun came up when he heard the soft falling of footsteps outside.

He could ignore it- just play some classical music on a low volume in one earbud and crack open a novel- but part of him didn’t want to. He was somewhat thirsty, and it would be a good excuse to go outside of the room.

Hitoshi held his breath while he opened the door, his shoulders falling in relief once he realized the hinges wouldn’t creak. He stepped out into the rest of the apartment, keeping his footsteps as light as possible.

He could see the outline of someone in the living room, and the pale light from one of the windows showed that it was Aizawa. Hitoshi raised an eyebrow and ventured out further.

His mentor turned to face him- apparently Hitoshi hadn’t been as quiet as he should have been. He found himself shrinking under Aizawa’s gaze.

“Um-“

“I think Hizashi would raise a fuss if he knew you were awake this late.”

“He’d do the same if he knew about you being up,” Hitoshi said, defensive. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Neither could I. We’ll keep it between us, then.”

Hitoshi’s heart pounded in his chest- he knew Aizawa wasn’t outwardly cruel, but he still didn’t have a good reference for what was and wasn’t okay there. He didn’t have a solid curfew, though Yamada had encouraged him to go to bed around 11 for every night he’d been there. Maybe walking around afterwards was a bad idea.

“Do you want tea?”

Aizawa’s question snapped him out of his own mind, and he nodded without thinking about it.

“Okay.”

Unsure of what to do with himself, he followed Aizawa into the kitchen and sat on one of the stools. He swiped at the scars under his eyes with his palm and sighed softly.

“We have mint, chai, and chamomile.”

“Uh- chamomile.” Hitoshi dropped his arms to the counter. Aizawa nodded, his face blank as he put water into the kettle. 

“What’s keeping you awake?”

“I just couldn’t make myself fall asleep,” he said slowly. “Wh- you?”

“Chronic pain.” Hitoshi blinked- he hadn’t expected anything like that. His teacher continued. “It’s to be expected in heroism, but Hizashi deals with it a lot better than I do. The weather makes it worse.”

Hitoshi nodded, smiling slightly as Sugarcube hopped onto the counter near him. “Sorry.”

“Why?” Aizawa raised an eyebrow, turning when the kettle boiled. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

“I’m sorry it happens.”

“That isn’t your fault. I’ve gotten used to it, it’s just a hindrance, if anything.”

Hitoshi shrugged. “That doesn’t make it any better.”

“Speaking from experience?” A mug of tea was passed across the counter to him.

Hitoshi chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment, debating how to answer. Aizawa had been honest with him, he could at least do the same. “Yeah.”

He looked up as his teacher sat beside him, setting his own mug down on the table and turning to look at him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He shrugged. “Not really. Like you said- it’s a hindrance.”

Aizawa nodded and dipped his drink. “Fair enough.”

They sat in silence for a bit, drinking their tea. Hitoshi pulled his hoodie strings uneven to let Sugarcube bat at one. 

“... do you want a hug?”

Hitoshi froze for a moment, fighting the urge to laugh. “I feel like you would hate it just as much as I would.”

Aizawa sighed. “I offered.”

“No, that’s fine.” Hitoshi laughed.

“Sorry- Hizashi is better with that than I am.”

Hitoshi nodded. “It’s not a problem.” As much as he appreciated Yamada, he’d go crazy if Aizawa were like that too. They balanced each other out nicely.

“You said you’d hate it- I can tell him to stop doing it if you can’t.”

“No, that’s not-“ He stopped, gathering his thoughts into a coherent sentence. “I don’t hate it, I just can’t initiate it. If that makes sense.”

“It does.”

He nodded, drinking the last of his tea. He stood up with some difficulty, what with having to pry Sugarcube’s claws from his hoodie, but eventually managed and took his mug to the sink. “I should probably try sleeping.”

“Hizashi would agree.” Aizawa smiled- it was still crazy, seeing him like that when he was so closed off at school- and stood. “I would too.”

“Maybe you should, too,” he murmured.

“I’m going to. Try, that is.” Aizawa put his mug into the sink. “If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know, okay?”

He nodded. “I will.” There wasn’t really anything he could do, but the offer meant a lot. “Thanks.”

“Goodnight, Hitoshi.”

He smiled, returning the words as he retreated into the bedroom. Sugarcube followed after him, the promise of company making the night seem a bit less daunting.

Chapter Text

Hitoshi woke up to a paw swatting his face. He pushed Sugarcube off his chest gently and sat up, rubbing under his eyes.

The fact that he’d managed to fall asleep at all was a miracle- not an unwelcome one, but it was surprising. He supposed he eventually wore down enough to pass out, and the pain under his eyes was practically forgotten- reduced to a dull ache he could easily ignore.

He got himself ready, taking time that he usually wouldn’t to stretch out and wake up fully. Something just felt right about the day, and he was content to enjoy it.

Walking out into the rest of the apartment, he found Yamada in the kitchen. Aizawa was nowhere to be seen.

He waved as he sat at the counter. Yamada grinned, waving back. Hitoshi noted that the cast on his arm was gone.

“Hey, kiddo! Did you sleep well?”

“Better than I thought I would. Your arm isn’t broken.”

“Yep!” Yamada stretched his arm out to confirm it. “I went to go see Recovery Girl earlier, and she fixed me right up.”

Hitoshi nodded. “Makes sense- can I help you?”

“If you want! Shouta’s still down for the count, I thought we could surprise him.”

He stood up and joined Yamada, leaving Sugarcube to sit on the counter. “What are you making?”

“We’re making tamagoyaki.” Hitoshi fought a smile as his hair was tousled, succeeding in hiding it for the most part. “And fruit, but that isn’t really cooking.”

“Sounds good.”

Yamada beamed, beginning to list off ingredients. Hitoshi went around the kitchen for him, stopping every once in a while so he could be guided to wherever something specific was.

“Okay- could you start whisking the eggs while I measure out the seasoning?”

He nodded, yawning softly as he began to crack the eggs into a bowl. He could see Yamada cast him a glance, but the man didn’t say anything.

About five minutes later, the eggs were cooking. Yamada put a hand on his shoulder, smiling. “Thanks for the help, bud! Do you wanna go sleep a little more or help me cut up some fruit?”

“I slept fi-“ he betrayed himself with a yawn. “Fine.”

“Sure you did.” Yamada looked him up and down, hands on his hips. “Hitoshi, I’ve lived with Shouta for twelve years. I’m honestly a little hurt that you think I can’t tell.”

Hitoshi laughed tiredly, combing a hand through his hair. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it- here, I’ll cut you a deal. If you promise you’ll sleep for… let’s say half an hour, I’ll steal the sleeping bag for you.”

Hitoshi blinked in confusion. “Sleeping bag?”

“Oh my god- you don’t know. Be right back- roll the eggs for me?” 

He nodded, turning to hover over the pan and turn them once they had cooked. Yamada came out of the larger bedroom, a bright yellow monstrosity draped over his arm. Hitoshi raised an eyebrow.

“I kind of don’t want to know.”

“Shouta could probably explain it better than I can, but… if you hear people at school calling him the very sleepy caterpillar, this is why. And you’re not allowed to tell him that I’m the one who started that trend.”

Hitoshi stifled a laugh. “I think I won’t tell him for both of our sakes.”

“Because you’re a good kid.” Hitoshi fought the urge to tear up as Yamada ruffled his hair for the dozenth time that day. “But do you want it?”

“Not if Aizawa is going to have my pelt for it,” He said slowly, eyeing the sleeping bag.

“He won’t, I promise. It’s for a good cause, anyways,” Yamada promised him.

“... okay,” he agreed. Yamada passed him the sleeping bag and all but steered him off towards the couch, patting him on the shoulder before returning to the kitchen.

Hitoshi lay down on the couch and pulled the material over himself. He didn’t let the hood go over his head, instead folding it over and closing his eyes. He felt a weight settle on his chest- probably Sugarcube- and gave a slow sigh, letting himself fall asleep again.

Shouta dragged himself out of his and Hizashi’s bedroom. He could smell coffee already, a sure sign that his husband was awake. Not surprising, considering that he was the early riser of their family.

He was greeted with a kiss as he sat down at the kitchen counter, a mug of coffee following a moment later. Hizashi smiled brightly down at him.

“Morning, sugar.”

“Good morning.” Shouta sipped his drink. “Where’s Hitoshi?”

Hizashi gestured to the living area. “I convinced him to nap for a little while. I borrowed your sleeping bag, by the way.”

“I had wondered why you came in but didn’t drag me out of bed.” He glanced where Hizashi had motioned, catching a limited view of their son asleep on the couch.

“Sorry- did I wake you up?”

“Hardly.”

Hizashi sighed in relief and sat down across from him. “He was out like a light- might have to steal that from you more often.”

“I wouldn’t mind. As long as he’s sleeping.”

Hizashi laughed, reaching out to push some of Shouta’s hair from his face. “What would you do at school, then?”

“You had better not encourage him to be sleeping in class.” He raises an eyebrow.

“What? I thought you’d be all about that! He takes after you anyways.” Hizashi grinned- Shouta would shove him if he didn’t love him so much.

“It’s not a good habit to get into.”

“Alright, sourpuss.” His husband chuckled and stood, passing him a plate of tamagoyaki and fruit that was cut to look like hearts. “Get eating, I’ll go see if I can get him up.”

Shouta shook his head. “Let him sleep- he was up last night.”

Hizashi sighed. “I warned him!”

“I don’t think he could have helped it, ‘Zashi. Just let him sleep.”

The blonde nodded, taking a plate for himself and moving to sit by him. Shouta leaned against his shoulder slightly as they ate.

“... his breakfast is gonna get cold, though.”

“Hizashi.” Shouta laughed under his breath. “We own a microwave. It’s fine.”

“Okay, you win.” Hizashi pouted. “What’s your plan for today?”

“Not sure- I don’t have any work until patrol tonight, so I can do whatever you’re planning to drag me into.”

His husband gasped in mock offense. “Shouta! How dare you accuse me of such things.”

He just stared for a moment before taking another sip of coffee.

“If you really must know,” Hizashi continued, “I have patrol around 12, since my arm is all healed.”

“They’re getting you back out there already?” Shouta raised an eyebrow.

“Oh- don’t you even start about that, hypocrite.”

He rolled his eyes. “I didn’t even go into hero work.”

“You were teaching in a full-body cast,” his husband protested.

“I was fine.”

“Sure, and I’m fine now. So you don’t get to complain.” Hizashi huffed, nudging his side with his elbow. “But that means you get the kid for a while.”

Shouta nodded. He already had a few ideas for things to do.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Chapter Text

Hitoshi woke up just in time to see the front door shut. He blinked slowly, swiping the sleep from his eyes while being mindful of the cat sleeping on his side. The apartment smelled like coffee, and distantly he wondered how long he had slept.

However long, it was worth it- that was probably the best he had ever slept. He had thought the apartment was warm before, but it paled in comparison to the sleeping bag. Aizawa had it figured out.

Speaking of, he could see his mentor sitting at the kitchen counter with a laptop open in front of him. Hitoshi transferred Sugarcube off of him before sitting up, hesitantly pulling himself out of the sleeping bag. Aizawa called to him, not looking up. “Sleep well?”

“Yeah- Yamada?”

“He had to leave for work.” He shut the laptop and turned to look at him. “There’s breakfast for you.”

Hitoshi nodded, stretching his arms over his head and walking into the kitchen. 

“It’s in the fridge- you might want to heat it up.”

He found the plate quickly, setting the fruit off to the side before putting it in the microwave for a minute. Aizawa nodded approvingly. 

“Coffee?”

“Sure,” he answered. “I can get it.”

“That’s fine.” Aizawa stood up. “I was going to get another cup anyways.”

Hitoshi nodded, staying out of his way as he made their drinks.

“Did you have any homework?”

“Some English, but I can get that done quickly.”

Aizawa nodded. “Good. Would you want to go out somewhere?”

“We don’t have to.”

“But do you want to?”

“If you want.”

His teacher nodded. “Okay, then.”

Hitoshi sipped his coffee as soon as the mug was passed into his hands. Aizawa did the same and leaned against the counter.

“You should work on getting a better sleep schedule.”

Hitoshi sighed softly. “I know- I try to, it’s just hard.”

“I understand. It’s important for hero work, though. You don’t want to be caught in the field without enough energy to take care of yourself- that’s how accidents happen.”

He glanced up as the man spoke, taking in his solemn expression, and decided it might be better to change the topic. “Yeah- I’ll try.”

“Good.” Aizawa reached out to pet Sugarcube, who had just hopped up onto the counter.

Shouta quietly thanked the woman at the counter as he took their bag. Hitoshi stood by the door, joining his side when he made to leave the store.

“Didn’t you get cat food last week?”

“For Sugarcube, yes.” He didn’t offer any more information- Hitoshi was a smart kid, he’d figure it out in a minute or two. 

His son looked around some as they walked, until Shouta put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him to point down an alleyway. “Down there.”

“... this seems illegal.”

He rolled his eyes and nudged Hitoshi forward. “Just trust me.”

The teenager nodded, ducking into the alleyway. “What am I looking for?”

“That.” Shouta crouched down in front of a cardboard box and motioned for Hitoshi to do the same. He folded the flaps back, sighing heavily when a tuxedo kitten poked its head from the box.

Hitoshi’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

Shouta nodded, reaching into the bag and taking out a can of cat food. The kitten was old enough to not have to be bottle fed- he silently wondered how long they had been out here by themself.

“There’s two,” Hitoshi called quietly, pointing inside the box. Shouta looked more closely and, sure enough, a black kitten was hidden against the shadow of the other.

“Take them out- we’ll feed them and take them to a shelter.”

The teenager nodded and lifted the kitten carefully from the box. Shouta took the other one and set the opened can of food between himself and his son. He could feel Hitoshi watching him as he took a spoonful of food and lifted it for the kitten, and he quickly copied after Shouta was done.

“How often does this happen?”

“Too often,” he answered with a heavy sigh. “I try to do this as much as I can.”

“That’s good.” Hitoshi looked down at the kitten in his lap. Shouta could see the tiny smile flickering across his face. Maybe we should be thinking about getting another cat.

He’d bring it up with Hizashi later.

Hitoshi passed the kitten off to the shelter worker, saying goodbye in his head. Aizawa nodded beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you ready to go find more?”

He nodded, and soon they were walking on the street again. Not for long, because Aizawa steered him into another alleyway.

Hitoshi spotted it sooner this time- a cardboard box, soggy and falling apart from the rain, with bleeding ink on one side. He could barely make out the writing, which read free to pick. Damn whoever was just dumping animals on the street.

Aizawa seemed to share the sentiment, as he crouched down and opened the box with a scowl. Three kittens this time- although they looked more like full grown cats. How long have they been out here? he wondered.

He settled on the ground beside his mentor and followed as they had done before, lifting a ginger kitten from the box and waiting for Aizawa to open up the cat food. He pet between their ears for a bit, frowning at how soaked they were.

“Here.” Hitoshi blinked at the jacket that was pressed into his arms. “Dry them all off while I get this settled,” Aizawa told him without looking up.

Hitoshi nodded, taking the other two and wrapping them within the fabric. The kittens meowed and tried to squirm away from him, but he held them alright.

His teacher set another can of cat food between himself and Hitoshi. “I can take one to feed while the others dry off.”

He nodded and passed the ginger one to Aizawa, who took them and began feeding them. Hitoshi could see him out of the corner of his eye, looking over to him once and a while like he wanted to say something.

“A-“

“I w-“

Both of them stopped, and Hitoshi fought back a laugh.

“You can go ahead.”

“I was just gonna ask if you wanted to say something.” Hitoshi shrugged.

“I think I owe you an apology,” Aizawa started.

He froze save for the drying of the kittens. “... I don’t think you do,” he said hesitantly.

“I do. I told Hizashi to take care of himself before calling you, and you suffered for it.”

Hitoshi frowned and shook his head. “You were just taking care of your family, you don’t have to apologize for that.”

He could see Aizawa watching him, and for a moment he thought he had said something wrong and considered backtracking. That was, until his teacher said, “but you’re part of our family too.”

Chapter Text

Shouta watched as his son opened and closed his mouth like he had been robbed of everything except for air.

“I-“ His jaw snapped shut, and he stared at the cats that were still drying in Shouta’s jacket. The teenager finally seemed to settle on signing. “You don’t have to apologize.”

Shouta shrugged. “Maybe not- but I made a decision that ended up hurting you. That’s not okay, and you deserve an apology.”

Hitoshi shrugged as well. “It’s okay.”

He knew full well that it wasn’t, but he could see that it was making Hitoshi uncomfortable, so he would drop it for now. “I can take the next one,” he said as he passed the ginger kitten back to Hitoshi.

The silence between them was heavy instead of comfortable now, and Shouta cursed himself for ruining what would have otherwise been a good moment with unnecessary sentiment.

As they were taking the latest group of kittens to the nearest shelter, the sky opened up again and it started to rain once more. Shouta tugged on his patch-wetted jacket and settled a hand on Hitoshi’s shoulder. “We can take a train back,” he half-told, half-suggested.

Hitoshi nodded, still signing. “That’s fine.”

Shouta watched his son staring out the window on the way home, and wondered what he could have said wrong.

Hitoshi had never regretted leaving his anxiety medication at home as much as he did then. He could already tell he was overthinking, and something told him he wouldn’t be stopping any time soon. 

Aizawa was silent on the way back, aiding to the storm of anxiety brewing in his head. Hopefully getting inside and in a place where he might be able to slip away long enough for some time to think would help. If he could manage that.

His teacher had to all but steer him inside, Hitoshi being caught up in his own head. Yamada was there when they got inside, and Sugarcube rushed up to him.

“Oh, geez- I was hoping y’all wouldn’t get caught up in the rain. No luck, I guess.” He shrugged, smiling towards Hitoshi. “Do you wanna go ahead and dry off?”

Hitoshi shrugged. “I’m fine.”

If Yamada found it strange that he was suddenly silent, he didn’t say anything about it to his face. “Well, you should probably at least get changed. Wouldn’t want you getting sick, right?”

He grasps onto the excuse to get away for a little while, signing some kind of agreement- he isn’t paying attention enough to know what- and promptly retreats to the spare bedroom. 

He already knew he would mess up somehow- he was honestly surprised that it had taken him this long. Yuu had promised him that it wouldn’t be a big deal when he did, but, then again- Yuu was an optimist. Hitoshi was a realist, and the reality of this was painfully clear.

Of course they wanted him to be their ‘son’- well, at least Yamada did. Aizawa was still unclear to him- it would at least be logical if Hitoshi was around, for the sake of training. Even if he was only ever really welcome on behalf of one of them, they clearly wanted him to play a bigger part in their home than he already was.

He didn’t know if he wanted that for himself- Aizawa and Yamada were nice, but Hitoshi had this convenient ability to somehow push away practically everybody who ever cared about him. He couldn’t afford that if he was relying on Aizawa to move into the hero course- and it would probably be just as bad if he lost Yamada in the same way. As much as he’d like to stay, despite Yuu’s reassurances that it wouldn’t happen, he couldn’t realistically stay here forever. Everybody had a breaking point, and if Hitoshi didn’t hit it today, he would some other time. It happened eventually no matter what, even if he didn’t want it to in this case.

And the matter still stood- he couldn’t be whatever they were looking for. He hadn’t been a part of anything like that since he was eight, and even then it was a bastardization of whatever his teachers were probably imagining. Hitoshi had no idea how to be anything like that.

But he knew somebody who did.

Hizashi watched as his husband slumped into the chair next to him, running a hand through his hair that was still wet. He’d convince Shouta to not drip on the floor one day, but today was not that day.

“Alright, what happened?” he sighed, keeping his volume down.

“I tried to do whatever it is you do, but… I don’t think I did too well.” 

“Whatever I do?” Hizashi raised an eyebrow.

Shouta shrugged, his shoulders slumping. It was just miserable enough to make Hizashi pull him into his side, despite his husband’s rain-soaked clothes. 

“The way you talk, whatever you do- you get him to open up to you.” 

“That’s just me being myself. If you’re trying to personify me, that’s your pro-“

“I told him he was a part of our family and he stopped talking.”

Hizashi cut himself off. “Shouta-“

“I was probably pushing him too much, I knew he was uncomfortable but I said it anyway.”

“Shouta, he’s probably just thinking. He’s been in foster care for, what, eight years? He needs time to come around before we dump all the paternal instincts on his lap.”

Shouta frowned, still lost in thought. Hizashi sighed  and leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. 

“Just give him a little bit, alright? We took those classes, you can’t force his hand.”

His husband sighed. “I guess you’re right.”

Hizashi laughed softly. “I always am.”

Chapter Text

Hitoshi lay on the bed, waiting for a response to his message. It had been ten minutes- he had a feeling that his borrowed time would be running short soon. Yamada would inevitably check up on him.

He did his best to calm down until then, reading Scythe and checking his lockscreen every other page. Finally he got a text back.

Text to Nekori - Today at 12:19 pm

Message me when you can

Yo

Are you okay????

Wtf I turn my phone off for one minute and you get kidnapped or something

I can and will call you

Anxiety nothing

You have one minute >:{

Hitoshi’s eyes widened as he scrambled to message back.

Text to Nekori - Today at 12:42 pm

Don’t you dare

Kokuna

Oh good!

Hi ^•w•^

Stop

What did you do when you got adopted

YOU’RE GETTING ADOPTED??!?!

No

No stop

Why ask then bitch

I don’t know

Don’t make me think more than I already am just

It’s kind of like that?

Awww :}

Are you going to help or not

Calm down omfg

Hitoshi has dads :} it’s cute

Shut

What did you do

What’s in it for me

You are. Impossible

Thanks :}

Stop making that face

:}?

:(

Wait no

God fine

First of all

What happened??!! Tell me everything 

I don’t have time for that I can tell you later

Just. How did you rejoin that kind of thing

Well it was easy for me, they’re my parents

Well mom was at least

Okay then your stepdad

How do you do that

Do what :3?

You know exactly what I’m talking about

Have parents??? :3?????

Yeah sure okay

How

You kind of already do

You have Mae

No.

Okay okay geez

“Hama”

That means nothing

Hitoshi wanted to burrow under the blankets and waste away- his sister was the only one who had managed to figure out his sign name for Mae so far and she loved to tease him about it.

Text to Nekori - Today at 12:45 pm

Stop

Okay okay

Just be nice

Thanks, Einstein

>:{ You asked

Listen to me

Be sociable

If they want you to be that way to them then you’ve gotta trust them

Hitoshi made to message her back with a protest, but she beat him to it.

Text from Nekori - Today at 12:46 pm

Shinsou Hitoshi I See You Typing Some Self Deprecating Depressing Nonsense

As your favorite sister I decree that you cut that shit out

They want you to like them, I know you do but you’re really bad at showing it sometimes

Especially when you’re putting on your teenage angst face

You’re a big soft lovable idiot when you let your guard down

So just. Do that!

Boom you’ve got dads

You say it like that’s easy

Oh my god oh my god

Oh my god

Shut up

Just hang out with them it’ll happen

Let them do their thing, don’t hole up in your room all day

Chill out for once

You’ll be good

You’ve got this!!!!! :3!

I believe in you

I don’t

Well then I guess I’ve gotta believe in you for you!

Get out there

I assume you’re hiding rn

Yeah

Well stop

>:{ Dummy

You asked for my advice so you better TAKE IT

I will

Thanks, Kokuna

Npsi

What

No problem, stupid idiot

Wow

For real though go

You owe me more information later >:{

You’ll get it, I’ll tell everyone

Cool now get out 

Mom is letting me back in the garage

Hitoshi smiled, sending her one last message asking that she stay safe- well, as safe as you can get when you’re working with explosives in a garage and you have a bad luck quirk- before standing up.

He could do this. He did it almost every day with his siblings, he could manage it here too. Yuu used to be a stranger to him too, so this could be the same, right?

He pushed down the anxiety brewing within him, tucked his book under his arm, and opened the door with baited breath.

Neither of the adults so much as looked up when he left the room. Still, he could feel his pulse jump when he entered the living area.

Don’t be weird, you do this all the time. It’s not any different.

Hitoshi surveyed the room for a moment- Aizawa was in one of the worn armchairs with a folder of paperwork scattered across the table in front of him, while Yamada was sitting at one end of the couch on his phone. The latter looked up at him after he’d stood there for a moment, and Hitoshi fought not to jump. 

“Are you alright?”

A wave of relief crashed over him at the sign. 

“Yes.” He tucked the novel under his arm to free his other hand. “Is it okay if I read out here?”

Belatedly he realized how stupid of a question that was, but Yamada took it in stride. “Of course! Take a seat.”

Normally he would have gone for the other armchair, further away from the group, but what Kokuna had told him flashed in his mind. So he swallowed his pride and took the other side of the couch, next to Yamada, and cracked the cover of his book.

Shouta had felt a wave of relief crash over him the moment Hitoshi made his reappearance.

He knew Hizashi was right to tell him not to worry, but he couldn’t really stop himself. He wasn’t really sure what he was writing on this paperwork any more- which hadn’t happened in a long time.

Hizashi, despite his insistence that Hitoshi was alright, looked just as relieved. He kept glancing over at him like he was afraid he’d disappear again.

Shouta considered breaking the silence for a while. But if Hitoshi was signing, then he probably didn’t want to be spoken to, and Shouta still wasn’t sure enough with his sign language to try holding a conversation. So he decided against it, eventually settling into the quiet that was only broken up by the occasional turn of a page.

It suited them surprisingly well.