Work Text:
Shouta awakes to a loud banging in the hallway. He sneaks a glance at the clock before grabbing his capture weapon and dashing out into the hall to confront the hellions who are making this much of a racket at three in the morning.
"What the hell are you doing?" Shouta exclaims as he opens the door. "It's three in the morn- problem children."
"Good morning, Aizawa-sensei!" Midoriya greets cheerfully, like he wasn't balancing an abnormally large couch on his shoulders.
"Ah, sensei! What are you doing up at this late hour?" Iida inquires. He's sitting on the aforementioned couch.
"Someone woke me up," Shouta seethes.
"I'm sorry to hear that, sensei. Who was it?" Midoriya asks curiously.
Shouta blinks in shock. How is Midoriya still this dumb despite being a graduated Pro? "You're the ones who woke me up, problem children."
"Sorry about that, sensei," Todoroki calls out as he walks down the hallway. "To be fair, we didn't know you live here."
Shouta sighs, "What are you three doing here anyways? Unless there's a fourth one hiding around here somewhere?"
"It's just us, sensei," Midoriya says. He tilts his head to the side slightly and asks, "Isn't it obvious what we're doing here?"
"Do enlighten me," Shouta rolls his eyes.
"We're moving in!" Midoriya exclaims.
Shouta's breath catches. "You're doing what now?"
"We're moving in, sensei!" Iida repeats.
Shouta takes another second to process that, then says the only thing he can: "No."
"What do you mean, 'no?'" Iida asks indignantly.
"We've already paid for the house in full," Todoroki interjects.
Shouta shakes his head again and says resolutely, "No. You are not moving in here."
"Give me one good reason why we shouldn't move in here," Todoroki demands.
"Tell me that you didn't get attacked on the way over here," Shouta challenges. The three boys suddenly duck their heads and look sheepish. "Well?"
"The moving truck got attacked," Midoriya admits. Shouta smirks, and Midoriya flusters. "That doesn't mean we shouldn't move in, though!"
"So you're saying that villains attacked you while you were in a moving vehicle and you still think it's a good idea to move in here?" Shouta asks doubtfully.
"Where else would we go, sensei?" Todoroki pipes up. "It's not like anywhere else is safer. Plus, with you, there are four heroes here. I think we're prepared enough to handle a few villains."
"Five," Shouta corrects. "Hizashi shares the apartment with me, he's just out on patrol now."
"Hiza-oh," Midoriya is the first one to remember Present Mic's civilian name, and he whispers to the others, "It's Present Mic."
"Oh." Bluntly, Todoroki says, "I didn't realize you two were friends." Shouta shrugs.
"Well, we can argue more in the morning," Iida interjects after the silence continues. "But it is rather late, and I would like to sleep. I imagine that Izuku must be getting tired as well."
"Not really, actually," Midoriya exclaims, far too cheerfully for the early hour. And he's holding a couch with a young man in his early twenties on it like it weighs nothing.
Shouta wishes he was on whatever strength training program Midoriya uses- it's clear that his quirk is inactive.
"Good night, Aizawa-sensei!" the three boys chorus. Then, with an eerily rehearsed turn, the boys continue down the hall to the door that presumably leads to their new apartment.
"Goodnight," Shouta calls after them, though he's too late. The door has already slammed shut.
After that, they fall into a routine of sorts.
Every morning Shouta runs into one or more of the problem children in the front lobby, and they bicker for a bit over why the kids should or should not leave the apartment. The kids win every time, with increasingly ridiculous arguments.
It escalates from, "Villains are going to attack either way; might as well have a hero around," to, "If we aren't here the space aliens are going to get you," in a matter of days. That last argument was from Todoroki, surprisingly enough. Midoriya, who'd been with him at the time, had only sighed like this was an everyday occurrence. For all Shouta knows, it is.
After that, Shouta and whichever problem child shows up head to their respective rooms to get ready for the day.
They realized early on that their commutes lined up near-perfectly, so whoever was on duty that day ended up traveling together. Shouta to his agency, and Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida to their own.
For safety, of course.
After the work day was over, they'd travel back home. Separately, since their jobs ended at different times every day.
Midoriya brings Shouta a mug of coffee and a warmed heating pad every night at seven. Shouta doesn't ever say how grateful he is aloud, but he's certain that Midoriya knows. Why else would the boy keep doing it?
And that's how their routine goes, for a while. Sometimes Hizashi will crash their morning coffee meetings, but more often than not he's sleeping.
One of the negatives of working at night, Shouta supposes. At least he doesn't have to work late during the summer. During the school year is a different story.
After a few weeks, the routine shifts.
It's Friday night when it happens. It's been a long day at work, and Shouta is tired. He knows he should cook, but his limbs feel heavy. Weighed down. Hizashi's sleeping, so Shouta can't ask him to cook.
So Shouta just sits there. He doesn't fall asleep though. He's just... sitting.
And then someone knocks on his door. Shouta stands up with a groan and meanders his way over. When he swings the door open, he's shocked to see that the problem children are all there.
"What are you lot doing here?"
Midoriya, who is standing in the center, pushes a casserole dish into Shouta's hands. "We brought you a casserole, sensei!"
"I can see that," Shouta says drily. The trio turns to leave, but before they can Shouta manages to ask, "Why?"
"Why what, sensei?" Iida takes a curious step forward.
Shouta looks down at the casserole and whispers, "Why did you do this for me?"
"We thought it'd be a nice gift," Todoroki supplies an explanation. "We hope you like it."
Shouta hesitates a second, then invites, "You should come in and eat with me."
"What?" Midoriya blinks in shock.
Shouta sighs, "You took the time to cook this meal, right?" Iida nods. Shouta continues, Then it's only logical for you to enjoy it as well. It wouldn't be right to eat it without you here." After a moment's hesitation, the trio shrugs and follows Shouta inside.
Shouta takes a moment to wake Hizashi, who rushes to get ready as soon as he hears that the problem children are here.
Five minutes later, and everyone is gathered around the kitchen table. Shouta has never been more thankful for Hizashi's tendency to over decorate.
As they eat and talk about all sorts of things -from how their days went to their plans over the weekend- Shouta can't help but relax. He wouldn't have thought it possible to be this comfortable with his former students, but it is.
The casserole is delicious too. It’s cheesy and delicious and Shouta can taste just a hint of onion sprinkled in there somewhere. Iida brought breadsticks too, and Shouta enjoys those as well.
A glance over at Hizashi easily reveals that he feels the same way.
So as they sit and joke around the dinner table, Shouta can't help but think that this feels like home.
When the Friday night dinners become a regular thing for Shouta, Hizashi, and the kids, none of them try to fight it. Why would they?
This means that Shouta and Hizashi have front row seats into the kids' lives, and vice versa. It's nice, oddly so, for Shouta to have some else to talk to besides Hizashi. Someone else he can rely on.
When Midoriya gets promoted from Sidekick to Junior Pro, everyone is there to celebrate his achievement.
When school starts up again and Shouta is promoted to Vice Principal, everyone is there to help him.
When Hizashi learns that Iida doesn't know how to cook and takes it upon himself to teach the boy, Shouta, Midoriya, and Todoroki are there to laugh and offer their help wherever they can.
After a bit, the five of them begin to call each other by first name. It's slow going at first, a bit awkward, but after a while they get the hang of it. It makes their weekly dinners feel homier than ever.
It makes them feel like a family.
Eventually, this year's hero rankings come out, the first one since Class 3-A graduated. Shouta and Hizashi expect their kids to leave for the celebratory party 3-A is throwing despite the fact that it's a Friday.
They're pleasantly surprised when Izuku, Tenya, and Shouto show up anyways.
As time goes on, their routine stays the same for the most part, and all of them enjoy it.
They finally have somewhere they belong, after all. What's not to love?