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It’s the first Wednesday of December and the mall is relatively empty for the approaching holiday, understandable for the time of week and day. Only a few gaggles of teens playing hooky or mothers getting secret present shopping done are seen in the decked out courtyards and tinsel filled kiosks.
Meaning it’s the perfect time for Shouta and Hizashi to do their own Christmas shopping for the year.
“Okay so we’ve got Ectoplasm his new scarf and got Ken the newest novel to his collection,” Shouta yawns as he trudges beside his husband, hand pulled ahead of him by the fast paced blonde as he scans the scrap of paper in his hands while walking, “Thirteen is done, Chiyo is done, Sekijiro check, Ryo check, Higari }check{…” he pauses, looking up at the store they’re in front of, humming slightly as Shouta leans tiredly into his shoulder.
It’s not that he doesn’t want to be here he doesn’t but he had a long patrol last night that included multiple brawls, a raid, and a subsequent police chase that resulted in Jump getting hit by the perpetrators car just to make it slow down.
He barely got in an hour of sleep before Hizashi had started jumping around the apartment mumbling about the list of gifts he was getting their coworkers.
And, like a good husband who keeps his promises, even when dead on his feet, Shouta got cleaned up and went with him.
And, like the good husband he is, Hizashi looks over worriedly when Shouta yawns again while dozing lightly where he stands. Reaching up to run long fingers through loose black hair, Hizashi turns to face his husband fully, list forgotten in his hand.
“You want to take a break, koneko?”
Shouta hums, leaning into his husbands touch, eyes closed and shoulders slumped.
Taking that as an oh Kami yes Hizashi loops a supportive arm around Shouta’s shoulders and leads him down the pathways until they get to the food court tables. It’s about time for lunch anyways. So, settling his sleepy cat at an empty table by the fountain, Hizashi trots off to the booths to order, keeping half his attention on his sleep-walking partner.
Meanwhile, Shouta rests his cheek against the cool surface of the tabletop, hair draped across his face and fanning around his head to create a curtain of darkness for his burning eyes. Letting the white-noise of the fountain seep into his bones, the hero finally feels the last dregs of last nights’ tension bleed from his limbs. Sleep drifts at the edges of his awareness, and he lets himself drop off into the dim lull of his surroundings, floating serenely in the din…
Only to be rudely awoken by a fucking harpy—
“Put me the fuck down you psycho ass BITCH!”
Snapping to awareness, Shouta lifts his head in time to see a group of kids move past his table, and promptly drop his head back down with a groan.
There were five in total, two females and three males, only one female seeming older than the other four, and it looks like they’re family shopping for Christmas.
…………
At least, he thinks that’s what they’re doing?
The taller female, a blonde girl with amber eyes and sharp canines, grins wildly as she drags a boy with green and red hair across the ground behind her by his leg, and carries a second boy, this one with bright violet hair, over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She chatters away about sales and clothing sizes and popular media goods and other store front things, indicating Shouta assumed correct about them being here for Christmas shopping, but the other two…
A short but sturdy girl with bubble gum pink dreadlocks is also carrying the third male of the group over her shoulder, manic grin splitting her face nearly in two as she keeps up easily with the blonde.
But her passenger isn’t as… compliant… as the other two.
“Let go you cross-eyed freak!” the blonde boy struggles frantically against the grasp of the pinkette, seeming to truly have issue with her arms grip around his waist as he kicks and hits and flails about. To be honest, though, the pinkette is sporting thick biceps and wide palmed calloused hands…
… so…
Undeterred by the cursing blonde screaming in her ear, the pinkette lets out a booming laugh and grins wider as she shifts her grip ever so subtly, “No can do, Aka! You’re not getting away from shopping for baby parts without a fight!”
“Fuck you stop calling craft supplies ‘baby parts’ you fucking weird ass flamingo headed GORILLA LOOKING BITCH—”
The blondes screaming is cut off as the group finally rounds the corner, the other’s still not uttering a sound as the blonde female flashes a manic look at each store window as if she wanted to eat it…
… okay that may be a bit much…
“Shou?” blinking, Shouta turns to see Hizashi standing to his right, tray of grilled sandwiches and hot coffee in his hands as he looks between his husband and the corner the children disappeared around.
“You know them?”
“Never seen them in my life.” Aizawa frowns as he takes the tray from his husband, separating their food and drinks as the blonde settles down across from him, “Why?”
Hizashi hums, leaning his chin on his palm as he observes the ravenettes face, “You were giving them your ‘problem children’ glare, so I thought you’d run into them before.”
Eye twitching slightly in offense, Shouta gives his husband a dead eyed stare as he lifts his coffee to his lips, “I don’t need to know some kids to know they’re problem children, Zashi.”
“True true.” Hizashi chuckles, unwrapping his sandwich and taking a bite. They eat in silence for a bit, Shouta waking up gradually with the food and caffeine entering his system, and once Hizashi deems him coherent enough, he taps the table for attention, “Hey, I was thinking…” Shouta quirks a brow, preparing himself for whatever illogical thing his husband is about to say next, “how about, instead of three plushies each for the twins, we get one }HUGE{ plushy, that way Nem and Ro don’t have to find space for six new toys?”
See?
Illogical.
“And instead give them a giant toy to try and fit in their newly way too small apartment?” Shouta sighs, crumpling up his trash and tossing it into the bin to his left. “Pass.”
The ravenette can practically feel the pout his husband is sending him, “But the twins—”
“Will be fine with one plushy each, Zashi.” He turns just enough to side-eye the blonde with a hint of exasperation in his tone, “They’re barely a month old, they won’t even know what a toy is until they’re at least 5 months.” There’s a pause, then a blink, then Hizashi is grinning smugly at Shouta as he realizes his fuck up. He’d been going four weeks strong feigning disinterest in his friends’ recent descent into parenthood, and now all that hard work just went straight down the drain.
And just in time for Christmas, too.
Shoving his reddening cheeks into his scarf, he grumbles out an embarrassed “Shut up” as Hizashi bounces around the table to tackle him in a bone crushing hug.
“Shooooooo~ You do care~! Merry Christmas you grumpy cat~!”
Grumbling a bit more, for the principle of it, Shouta eventually loops his arms around Hizashi’s slim waist in a return hug, “Merry Christmas to you too, fucking cockatoo.”
To say Hizashi’s responding shriek of glee was ear shattering would be an understatement.