Chapter Text
Two weeks had passed since the eventful dinner. Shouta went ahead and made sure his and Hizashi’s information was on all of Izuku’s paperwork, just in case. Things have been awkward, though. Izuku wasn’t avoiding him by any means, but their conversations were stilted. He trained with Shinsho and did quirk training with Hizashi. He spent a lot of time with his friends. Shouta did ask him about it, once, and he was just told that the boy wanted to make sure he was completely caught up in his classes. Hizashi mentioned that he overhead their son admitting to his friends that he hasn’t talked to his mom since their dinner, and Shouta felt a twinge of guilt. Izuku and Inko would normally chat two or three times a week, even if it was only a few minutes to say hi and check in with each other.
There wasn’t time to dwell on this, though. Nedzu had told the teachers, much to Shouta’s chagrin, that first year students would be allowed to take on work studies. He was helping Vlad with vetting the list of likely pros that they would work with. He was actually a bit excited to see how Izuku responded to this, even if he didn’t want him (or his classmates) to participate.
Izuku frowned when his alarm went off after a night of fitful sleep. The last two weeks had worn on him and left him feeling like he didn’t know how to act around anyone. At the same time, however, he just didn’t care. The part of depression/anxiety combo that is often forgotten about, the apathy put a shade between himself and everyone, everything else. He was going through the motions, but nothing seemed to matter. The part of him that felt guilty about his Mom? Muddled like listening under water. The part of him that was crushing on a certain classmate? A whisper of a breeze. The part of him that wanted to get to know his fathers more? A distant birdcall. He sat through delicious dinners and hilarious movies, but didn’t feel a thing. Even as he skimmed over the recent hero news, nothing sparked his interest.
It had taken days, but the hero-in-training’s classmates had finally settled down about the questions concerning his relationship to his teachers. He spent time with Present Mic working on his quirk, starting with mindfulness, meditation, and yoga. He joined his father and Shinsho in practice. He laughed, he joked, he teased, but the entire time it felt like he was watching himself do it. There were moments of reprieve, moments where he could truly feel, but these were as ephemeral as a rainbow.
He shoved his belongings into his bag and trudged to class, glancing at the brightly lit sky above him. It really was a beautiful day, and he found himself envious of the three older students laughing by a tree. On the verge of becoming full-fledged heroes, yet able to be so carefree. It was a mystery to him. Little did he know that those same three students would soon be explaining work studies to his class.
Mirio had taken a liking to Midoriya, it was clear to most of the teachers. The blond’s demonstration and explanation of how he turned his quirk into something strong with the aid of a pro-hero was both inspiring and traumatizing to the kids. Shouta had only taught the boy once, but he knew about him from the teen’s quirk lessons with his husband – no one better than the voice hero to help you increase your lung capacity.
Later in the day, while they had some free study time, he noticed the boy making pro/con lists for various heroes. There were five in all – Sir Nighteye, Ms. Joke, Midnight, Gunhead, and Gang Orca. “If those are for your work study, unfortunately you will need to cross off Gunhead and Midnight. Gunhead doesn’t qualify for the restrictions placed on first years,” he heard Uraraka’s dismayed exclamation at that statement, “and Midnight isn’t doing any this year given the increased security on campus.”
“That leaves three options… They each have their own strengths to consider… Mirio said he’d recommend me to Sir Nighteye, so I should probably start there… Plus, he worked with All Might for several years.” He devolved into his muttering and Shouta moved on to talk to Kirishima, who was struggling with his math assignment.
It only took two days for Midoriya to be cleared to meet with Sir Nighteye. Shouta noticed over breakfast the boy’s anxious determination as he rushed around to make sure he was prepared for the meeting. He had agreed to help a couple of students in their third year with an ethics assignment, so he finished his coffee and texted his son to let him know how things go, leaving Iida in charge of the dorms.
It was two hours before he heard back, unsurprisingly considering the commute to Nighteye’s agency. What was surprising was the content of the text. Not accepting offer after that meeting. There was no further explanation and Shouta only hoped the boy would talk to him that night about what exactly had occurred. The boy’s fake smile was in place all evening, even as he told his friends that, “The offer was nice to receive but after considering various aspects of his style of work and what I hope to improve on, I decided there are other heroes I’d prefer to ask.” The boy slipped away before he could be pressed for more.
Two days after the mysterious meeting with Sir Nighteye, Shouta returned from his patrol and found three boys sitting on the kitchen counters, wearing pajamas, and drinking what was hopefully tea. They had yet to notice that he’d entered the building, so he took a moment to listen in on what they were discussing.
“I really am surprised that you aren’t taking up Sir Nighteye’s offer. Obviously, Gang Orca and Ms. Joke would have a lot to offer, but a guaranteed work study with the one guy All Might worked with? It seems like something you’d die for.” Shinsho stared down the other boy, who sat cross-legged.
“I would have. But then that meeting… it was just awful. I couldn’t bring myself to go through that type of thing again.”
“How so?” Shouto’s monotone voice was quiet but clear.
“First, he gets mad that I can’t make him laugh. Then, he tells me that he doesn’t think I should be a hero or trained by All Might. Then tells me, I have three minutes to take the approval stamp from him and stamp the paper myself. But his quirk is foresight! How am I supposed to, in three minutes, out-think that? He makes fun of me until he realizes that I purposefully didn’t harm any of his All Might merchandise, only to tell me that he’d take me on as a student to prove that I didn’t deserve it. That I wasn’t worthy of All Might’s attention.”
“You definitely deserve better than that jackass.” Shinsho’s dry tone voiced the thoughts that Shouta had. “I’m proud of you for not going along anyway.”
“What did All Might have to say?”
“He’s barely said anything since Mirio mentioned to us that he wanted to introduce us. And then when I asked him if he knew that was how Nighteye felt, he said yes. But why didn’t he say anything? After everything, does he not trust me? Maybe he even agrees.” Shouta strained to hear the last sentence but easily heard the noises of disapproval from the other two teens.
“Then fuck them both. They don’t deserve you.”
“If Shinsho and I weren’t doing the remedial classes to get our licenses, I’m sure I could use some of my father’s connections. But he is not happy about the classes to begin with.”
“I appreciate that, Shouto. But it’s okay. I’ll just try asking the other heroes.”
“Why did you pick the five that you did? I know that two were dismissed and now Nighteye is out, but I am curious.” There were few people Shinsho felt comfortable asking questions around, but Midoriya was one of them. Once he had discovered that Midoriya had had a less than pleasant experience growing up, he opened himself up to friendship and found they had a lot in common. The trio in general bonded in late night sessions about bad childhood experiences.
“Oh! Well, honestly, I like the idea of being kind of a grey-space hero. Like, I don’t want to be underground completely, but I also feel like that is where heroes can make the most impact, and Ms. Joke and Midnight both straddle the line between limelight and underground. Uraraka learned so much from her internship with Gunhead in hand-to-hand combat, and Dad’s been great about teaching me that, but it would be beneficial to learn someone else’s style. I don’t want to become predictable. Gang Orca is one of the highest-ranking heroes, but at the same time, he is frequently discriminated against. He also does a lot of charity work in conservation and education, but that tends to go under the radar. I think I could learn a lot about dealing with the public from him.”
“I could ask if Gang Orca is taking on work study students. He is doing the remedial classes, so he might not be right now.”
“That is a good point. He’s been really helpful, though.” Shouto mused. “I would keep him in mind for future opportunities, though.”
“Thanks, guys.”
Shouta decided it was time to interrupt. “Is there a reason you three are out of bed?”
Todoroki deadpanned, “There is a reason for everything.”
“Shouto! Hi, Dad, how was patrol?”
“Fine. Answer the question.”
“We’re the insomniac club. Designer eyebags and all. You could be our leader.” Shinsho smirked.
“Or you could dissolve and actually try to sleep.”
“Nah. There’s coffee to replace sleep.”
“Please tell me you aren’t drinking coffee.” All three boys stared him down as they took large gulps from their mugs. “Right. I don’t care whose but go up to one of your rooms.”
Shinsho took the opportunity to quote Edgar Allan Poe, “Sleep, those little slices of death — how I loathe them.”
Todoroki grinned. “To sleep – perchance to dream.”
Shinsho’s Cheshire smile grew as he drew on Bram Stoker, “How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads, to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.”
“And you call Tokoyami emo.” Izuku shook his head at his two friends.
“Problem children. All of you.” He hid his smile while he waited for the boys to wash their mugs and head upstairs. At least they’re well read.
The following afternoon, Shouta was supervising quirkless sparring between his son and his protégé. Neither were afraid to fight dirty and Shouta smirked when Izuku used his small size to his advantage, pinning the taller boy down. “Shinsho. What happened here?” Although blunt and curt, the question was not judgmental, but seeking genuine reflection.
“I was expecting more traditional attacks, but Midoriya utilized movements often associated with women’s self-defense, making my height a disadvantage.” Shouta nodded approvingly.
“One more round, then the two of you will take me on together.” Both boys grinned at that and shifted back into their starting positions. A grueling thirty minutes later, both boys were flat on their backs, gazing up at their smirking teacher. “Not bad. You lasted two more minutes than last time.”
“Two whole minutes. Hooray.” Shinsho panted out.
“I’m starving.” The green-haired teen commented from the mat. “But eating requires getting up and that sounds miserable.”
Shouta rolled his eyes. “I did promise you two that you could come over and have Hizashi’s gyudon. Go shower up and meet me over there.” Shouta left the boys, headed back to his apartment to shower himself before eating.
On his way in, however, Hizashi excitedly grabbed his arm, peering over his shoulder for any teens. “Shouta! It’s finalized!”
“What’s finalized?”
“We’re completely approved to try for fostering and adopting. If we want to. They just called an hour ago.” Shouta’s neutral face relaxed into a soft smile.
“That’s great, Hizashi.”
The man grinned before kissing the other’s forehead. “It really is! But you stink, go shower!” He playfully pushed his husband toward the bathroom and went back to the kitchen to finish up with dinner.
The quartet enjoyed their dinner, the conversation mostly being carried by Hizashi and Izuku but punctuated with sarcastic comments from the other two. As they were wrapping up and the boys offered to do the dishes, Shouta paused before calling to his son. “Izuku, do you mind hanging back a bit before heading to your dorm?”
“Sure! Hitoshi, you don’t mind, do you?”
“How will I ever find my way back to my dorm. Which has a common room literally two doors away.” Izuku hip-checked him with an eye roll. They finished drying the dishes and Shinsho left, leaving the small family in the living room.
“What’s up?”
Hizashi and Shouta shared a glance before Hizashi started speaking. “You remember at dinner the other night, when you commented about wanting a big family?” He waited for Izuku to nod. “For a while, Shouta and I have considered fostering or adopting a child; it never felt right without you knowing us…” He trailed off.
“I’m going to have a sister? Or brother?” Izuku’s eyes widened.
Shouta gazed at him, taking in his open body language. “Is that something you’d want?”
“Sure! It could be fun! I remember asking Mom for a little sibling when I was a kid. She always said no, of course, but I would see families on TV with brothers and sisters and it always looked kinda cool!” He finally paused to take a breath. “Have you started looking? Do you have a kid in mind? Are you looking at younger or older kids?”
Hizashi couldn’t help but let out a relieved laugh. “Well, we did actually have someone in mind, assuming that he wants to be adopted.”
“Really? A brother? How old? How did you meet him?” Izuku was a bit surprised that he didn’t feel jealous at all about the prospect of his fathers adopting, and he felt excitement boiling under his skin.
“It’s actually Shinsho.” Shouta caught the boy off guard.
“Hitoshi?”
“He’s in the foster system. I know he’s had a tough time with homes in the past, and although the dorms help a lot, they aren’t a permanent fixture for him.”
“I would love for him to be my brother! We’ve gotten really close since he transferred into the class.” Izuku grinned.
“We haven’t talked to him yet, so please don’t say anything, okay?”
“Of course, Papa. I know how to keep a secret.”
Shouta huffed. “I’d say. Half a year without telling me about your quirk.”
Izuku flushed and looked at his lap. “Sorry, Dad.”
“Well, bunny, if you’re really okay with it, we’ll talk to Shinsho sometime this week.”
“I am. He deserves to have parents as great as you two.”
Hizashi cooed and practically pulled Izuku into his lap with his hug, and Shouta wrapped his arms around the two of them, letting his head rest on top of green curls.
“We love you.”
“Love you guys, too.” They stayed like that for a moment longer, before breaking apart and stretching. “I should probably head back to my dorm. Thanks for dinner and I’m excited about the news.” He gave them a blinding smile before heading out the door, leaving the two adults to collapse from relief in his wake.
“We’re doing this. We’re adopting another teenage boy.” Hizashi breathed out the words. “Two sons.”
“Two sons.” Shouta caught the other man with a drawn-out kiss, packed with emotion. Things were finally coming together.