Work Text:
Izuku sighs lightly as he pokes the arm of the little boy in front of him.
He had volunteered to start child-sitting some of his neighbor's children in the second year of middle school. He was hoping it would give him something useful to do, plus most of the neighborhood children were angels. Spending time with the children made it harder for Kacchan to hurt him (apparently beating Izuku in front of 7-year-olds was too far, even for him).
But, with training for One For All and UA, he didn't have time for his little job. It made him sad but he was going to be a hero and didn't have as much free time as he would have hoped.
But now that he was comfortably in UA and not as overwhelmed with schoolwork he could work again.
That's what he was set to do today, watch over one of his favorite neighbors, Akira Yasei, until 3 pm. The last time he saw the seven-year-old he was six and still without a quirk. Now he had developed his quirk and with it, new confidence. It was a simple dog mutation quirk, but the little boy didn't seem to mind. Izuku was happy for him.
But he also wished the boy didn't become so difficult.
Well, the boy had always been difficult, but differently. He used to be timid, soft-spoken, and easy to spook if you weren't careful. But now (while still soft-spoken) he showed to be very stubborn and not afraid to show his mischievous side. Izuku would never say he was a brat, though.
Izuku stares at the brunette, ignoring the way his golden dog ears were pinned back and his legs swung irritably in the kitchen chair. The kid is sitting across the table with a frown on his chubby face. He leaned back, exasperated," Akira, you have to eat something." He said in a firm but gentle tone.
The boy refused to look at him, eyes closed in disapproval.
"No."
Izuku just groaned and slumped into his seat, pointedly ignoring the snickers coming from his peers in the living room. He's not disappointed over such a small thing, just tired. The greenette motioned to the untouched plate of food in front of them.
"Your mother said you have to eat by 1 pm, it's 12:30. She'll kill me if I disobey her." The boy giggled at his words before trying to school his face, he failed. Didn't he know this was no joking matter? Mrs. Yasei could be terrifying when provoked and Izuku actually values his life, thank you.
"Can we compromise...?" Izuku didn't like the tone of Akira's voice when he said that, but he'd rather face Akira's harmless fun than Mrs. Yasei's not so harmless disappointment. "..I'll bite." He says in defeat. The boy squeals in happiness and his sleek tail slaps against the wood. God, he loves this kid.
Akira leans forward like he's about to tell a secret and Izuku indulges him, doing the same. "How about," he pauses dramatically, "we eat ice cream instead!" The teen almost audibly groans- this kid. But he knows he has no choice (he does, he's just weak to this his companion's antics).
"Hmm.." he rubs his chin like he's considering his words and the small boy stares at him in anticipation. "Well, I suppose. But only if you promise not to tell your mom."
He promises.
Izuku stands up and makes his way around the table to help the dog-quirked boy down (the tables pretty tall for how short he is). Akira grips onto his arms so Izuku can't easily set him down (a calculated move on the kid's part) so he carries him instead. He shifts the brunette on his hip to open the freezer door. The boy's tail "whap"s against his leg energetically "Ice cream!" He whisper-yells to Izuku when he sees the many tubs.
He smiles down at the boy in his arms.
"You can have some of any tub, my friends won't be too upset because you're too cute to be mad at." The boy flushes and covers his face (a habit he might have picked up from Izuku) but moves to look at the flavors of ice cream.
-
After picking out the flavor (chocolate-mint for Akira and strawberry for Izuku) and having a fight with the frozen treat just to get a few scoops out of the tub, they sit at the table again. The little boy sits next to him this time, rambling about school and his favorite heroes. Izuku listens and puts in a comment or two but mainly lets the boy talk.
Soon after Akira's head rests against the table, eyelids fluttering close. His mouth is covered in sticky ice cream and the teen lets out a small chuckle. He picks up his discarded spoon and bops it on the boy's nose. His eyes blink open once more to reveal distant red eyes and when he seems to wake up fully glances from Izuku to his spoon. He pouts, and Izuku laughs at him again. Akira picked up his silver spoon and scraped it against Izuku's like they were swords. They ended up sword-spoon wrestling for a bit after that.