Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku stares up at the building that will be his new home with no small amount of awe.

UA really does go plus ultra for everything, huh?

The trial dormitory is less typical dorm and more of a small western-style mansion. It’s absolutely gorgeous, with what looks like a large balcony on the second floor suspended between the two huge white-painted curtain walls that frame the building. The bricks on the parts of the building that aren’t curved are a soft and creamy yellow that just ooze cheerfulness and welcome.

Izuku loves it.

Beside him, Uraraka’s mouth is slack as she stares up at the building as well, her luggage dropped carelessly on the ground. “Oh wow,” she breathes.

Izuku can relate. This is a far cry from the small apartment he’s lived in since he was six.

His mother steps up beside him and picks up Uraraka’s luggage with her quirk, giving his friend a fond look. “It’s rather impressive,” she agrees. “Let’s go in, shall we?”

Izuku grins widely at his mother, absolutely delighted that she’d taken to his first real friend since he was four so well. He’d offered his help to Uraraka with moving everything from the hostel she was living in to UA and she’d accepted gratefully. Apparently she’d been nervous about taking all of her belongings on the train as her parents couldn’t make it on such short notice to help.

What Izuku meant by ‘his’ help was actually just dragging his mother along so she could drive them to UA at the same time.

Aside from Uraraka and Shouto, Izuku has no idea who else has been offered the chance to participate in the trial dorms, but he’s excited to find out. Although he’s not sure if Shouto is here yet after he’d left early that morning to pick up his own belongings from his house. Izuku is almost dizzy with relief that his friend will be away from Endeavor.

A small mew draws his attention downwards and he cooes soothingly at the kittens that are currently in a carrier looking very disgruntled. Izuku had been right about Aizawa-sensei teaching them bad habits, because the little ones absolutely despised any form of transport that didn’t involve them being perched on someone’s shoulder or tucked right up against their neck. It’s cute, but inconvenient, and as all three of them needed their hands free, cat carrier it was, much to the kittens’ displeasure.

Sharing an excited smile with Uraraka, Izuku eagerly covers the distance to the front door and shoves it open, making sure to hold it for his companions. The inside of the building is just as impressive as the outside although -

“Why is everything green?” Izuku asks, baffled. He could understand green things, but literally all the furniture, walls and floor are green. Different shades yes, but it looks...

“It looks like you, Midoriya-kun!” Uraraka chirps, punching him lightly on the shoulder and he turns bright red.

“Uraraka-chan!” He protests but his mother heard the comment and is laughing at him, one hand over her mouth.

“It is... an uncanny resemblance,” she admits and Izuku gives her his most betrayed expression. She has green hair too, this isn’t fair!

Shouto materialises behind Izuku and he can’t help but jolt in surprise. “Shouto-kun,” he gasps, hand on his chest, “you scared me.”

“Oh,” Shouto says. “Sorry. You do match the decor, however. You can use it as camouflage and scare me in return.”

He says this with the most deadpan expression and tone that Izuku just stares blankly at him while his mother and Uraraka start full on cackling.

“Shouto-kun,” Izuku says plaintively. “Why?”

When everyone has finished setting up their rooms, and Izuku’s mother has finally managed to leave - only after a lot of crying by both of them, and lots of hugs and head pats given to a baffled Shouto and a delighted Uraraka, ‘call me Ochako if we’re living together!’ - the three students end up in the lounge. Nekouta and Nikko are sleeping soundly in Izuku’s room, exhausted from the stress of being moved. Izuku can relate.

“This is so cool,” Ochako says happily bouncing in her seat on the couch. Izuku grins excitedly at her as well. Even though he’s here for less than pleasant reasons involving being hunted down by an immortal boogeyman, it is pretty cool to be living on the UA campus.

Shouto hums quietly in agreement, and Izuku can see the relief dancing in his eyes. He’s so glad that Aizawa-sensei is helping his friend - maybe he can talk to Shouto about telling their teacher the truth? He’s already aware that something is wrong with the Number Two hero’s family, that much Izuku knows, but unless Shouto talks he won’t have specifics.

And then the front door slams into the wall with a bang, as Aizawa-sensei kicks it open. He looks absolutely exhausted, carrying large suitcases in each hand. Yamada-sensei is nowhere to be seen but Izuku assumes he’s probably still teaching at this point. “Sensei!” Ochako says happily, “Are you the supervising teacher?”

Aizawa-sensei looks even more exhausted. “Yes,” he mutters, and then yells over his shoulder for... the UA bots to hurry up? Almost immediately he’s pushed out of the way by two robots carrying stacks of suitcases forcing themselves through the door and zipping into the separate unit for the teachers. Aizawa-sensei glares after them with a disgruntled expression. “Petty bastards,” he mumbles under his breath and then gives his students a flat stare. “What?”

“You have a lot of clothes,” Shouto says honestly, taking his life in his hands and Izuku strangles down a laugh. He highly doubts that more than two of those bags were Aizawa-sensei’s.

He’s proven right instantly. “They’re not mine,” Aizawa-sensei says darkly. “They’re my husband’s.”

The room is so quiet you could hear a pin drop and then an excited squeal comes from behind Aizawa-sensei. “You’re married?”

Wait, Izuku knows that voice. “Hagakure-chan!” He calls excitedly, jumping off the couch, and he sees Aizawa-sensei slump slightly in relief at the distraction from his personal life. “You’re here too!”

“Hi, Midoriya-kun!” Hagakure cheers, “and Ochako-chan and Todoroki-kun! How fun!”

Aizawa-sensei rolls his eyes, much to Izuku’s amusement as Ochako and Shouto say their own excited and quiet greetings respectively. “Well done,” he intones. “You all know each other. As you four will be living together, that’s a good thing.” And then the pro hero slinks into his and Yamada-sensei’s private rooms, leaving his students to themselves.

“Do you need a hand, Hagakure-chan?” Izuku asks, and gets sleeves waving at him in dismissal.

“No, no, I’m fine, thank you! I won’t be long,” Hagakure tells them peppily, and then disappears up the stairs, lugging her bags as though they weigh nothing. Huh, she must be stronger than she looks, Izuku thinks which - to be fair, it’s very difficult to know seeing as she’s literally invisible.

“I wonder who Sensei is married to,” Ochako whispers conspiratorially to Izuku and Shouto in the quiet after Hagakure’s exit. “He’s so... Sensei that I can’t imagine him with anyone!”

Izuku very diligently keeps his mouth shut. While his friends will surely find out about it being Yamada-sensei pretty soon, he sure as hell isn’t going to be the one to tell them. Shouto and Ochako give Izuku suspicious looks and then smile creepily at him in unison - did they practice that? Izuku thinks slightly hysterically as he edges away from them.

“You spend a lot of time with him, Izuku-kun. You know who it is,” Shouto states and his eye contact is intense. Izuku sputters out denials but his two friends are clearly not convinced and he’s saved only by Hagakure bursting back into the room.

“Let’s do a tour!” She yells excitedly and Izuku leaps at the out.

“Yes,” he agrees somewhat desperately. “That sounds great, Hagakure-chan!”

Ochako and Shouto glare at him again. Thankfully, Hagakure breezes past the tension and pulls his brown-haired friend up happily. “Let’s go!”

By the end of the tour, the four of them have covered every inch of their new home, except of course for the teacher’s apartment where Aizawa-sensei is still very obviously hiding from his new responsibilities. That’s fine, Izuku will lure him out later with kittens - if he can pry them off of Tooru. His fellow student had insisted on them all being on a first name basis even though they really didn’t know each other that well, but Izuku gets it. He doesn’t want her to be the only one who’s not calling everyone by their given name.

And besides, Izuku has the feeling that he’s going to get along really well with Tooru who is surprisingly and almost lethally hilarious. Especially once he gets his kittens back - it turns out that because of the way her quirk works, constant passive light refraction - her skin is constantly warmer than the average person’s. Which basically just means that Tooru is a living cat magnet. Izuku makes a mental to note to never let Aizawa-sensei become aware of this - he has visions of poor Tooru wrapped in a capture weapon being used to lure alley cats into his teacher’s waiting arms.

Fortunately, at this point it’s nearly 11AM, which means all four of them have to go back to their internships for their final half day. With a devastated sigh and a sulky posture - as much as Izuku can tell from just Tooru’s clothing, she relinquishes Nekouta and Nikko.

Ochako and Shouto watch with jealous eyes as Izuku puts the kittens back in his own room and closes the door. Shouto in particular is staring at Izuku, and he recognises exactly what that predatory gleam in his eyes means - even if for once he has no idea as to what theory his friend could have come up with now.

It’s with his own sigh of relief that Izuku shoos his friends off back to their internships and slumps down on one of the gigantic window seats that’s built into the curtain wall. He can already tell he’s going to be having the best naps right in this spot, where the afternoon sun will be nice and warm. Kayama-sensei had texted him earlier to say she’d swing by the dorms at 12:30 to take Izuku for lunch and a ‘debrief’.

Aka, Izuku was going to have to relive that awful night.

Izuku has been trying really hard to not think about it, even though he knows logically that repression isn’t the healthiest way to deal with things. But, he reasons with himself, it had only been a few days, and he’s already promised his mother that he’d speak to Inui-san about it.

And cuddling the kittens helped a lot.

Actually - Izuku checks the time and is instantly racing up the stairs to his dorm. It’s simple enough, with a bed, desk and some shelving, with enough space for a corner he can dedicate to being an exercise area. He’s already set up his yoga mat and weights there, and has plans to beg Aizawa-sensei to allow a punching bag. Or maybe Yamada-sensei, especially if he can weasel some shootboxing lessons out of his teacher...

Either way, Izuku has just over an hour and he has an excellent plan on how to spend it.

So Izuku sets a timer for 50 minutes, and curls up on his bed with Nikko curled up on the hollow of his throat, and Nekouta nestled in his curls, and takes his first nap in his new room.

Chapter Text

Nemuri sits across from her intern - her trouble intern, she’s never understood Shouta more - and waits patiently as he pokes at his udon with his chopsticks. Midoriya is clearly working up his courage to ask her something and by gods she isn’t going to rush him.

It’s clear that he’s already been rushed through too many things already - through his childhood, through his first villain exposures. So Nemuri can and will be patient. It’s the least she can do for her student considering - considering how close the kid had come to dying while on her watch.

Rationally, and Shouta has told her this several times already, Nemuri knows that Wednesday night was a shitshow of epic proportions, and that no one could have predicted the League and Stain to attack the same place simultaneously. That it wasn’t Nemuri’s fault that Midoriya ended up in the middle of the mess.

Knowing that logically doesn’t stop the guilt that burns through Nemuri’s stomach as she looks at the damage done to Midoriya’s ear. It’s not awful, in fact it’s mostly cosmetic, despite still being bandaged right now - Stain’s katana had nicked a vertical slice through the cartilage at the top of his ear. It’s tiny, in the grand scheme of things. It’s also that cut that nearly resulted in Midoriya’s death.

What doesn’t fill Nemuri with guilt, however, is the way that Midoriya had kept moving the menu to be able to read it properly - because there’s a damn hole in his vision as a result of Endeavor’s negligence. That just fills her with rage.

Midoriya slurps up a mouthful of udon, chews thoroughly and then hesitantly meets Nemuri’s eyes for the first time since she dragged him into the restaurant for lunch. “Kayama-sensei,” he says quietly enough that she has to strain to hear, “are - are you angry with me?”

Nemuri blinks, baffled. The kid thinks she’s angry at him? No, god, she’s angry at everyone but him - Endeavor, Stain, herself and even Tenya but - “No, Midoriya-kun,” she says firmly. “I am not angry with you. It’s definitely not right that you got caught up in that mess on Wednesday but you’re a student and you did your best to listen to my instructions and keep yourself safe.”

Midoriya looks back down at his food, and Nemuri sighs. She reaches over the table and pokes him firmly in the forehead, getting a startled yelp and an adorably confused glare in response. Damn, Shouta is onto something with the kitten comparisons. “You’re fine, kiddo,” Nemuri insists. “You’re still learning. And,” she tacks on faux-lavisciously, “you’ve still got my interest. So keep up the good work, alright, Dekiru?”

As expected, Midoriya burns red at the use of his hero name and Nemuri pats herself on the back for getting him out of his rut. She’ll make sure Shouta knows to keep an extra close eye on him for the next little while - even though he and Zashi already are. An extra reminder never hurt anyone. The teen digs into his lunch with renewed enthusiasm, so Nemuri does the same, and for a little while there’s just soft clinking and the sounds of two people trying not to splash broth everywhere as they eat.

Once they’re finished eating, the hard talk begins. Nemuri hates to do it, to bring up trauma so fresh but it has to be done. She gets Midoriya to give her an in-depth recollection of his night - and she’s extremely pleased with how he’d handled that little girl with the electric hair - right up until he got attacked by the nomu. And god, Midoriya’s a good kid because he does so without a fuss, and with soft admissions that oftentimes he knew he wasn’t prepared but that he had to persist anyway just to survive. Once he’s finished, Nemuri gives him a broad smile, and reminds him that he did good.

And then of course, she analyzes every reckless choice he made, no matter how desperate, because even if there was no other option at the time, she wants him to act differently in the future.

Nemuri doesn’t want to see Midoriya crushed under his potential. Never again does she want to see a broken teenager buried under the rubble of their dreams.

But, Nemuri thinks as Midoriya tentatively starts offering his own suggestions, it seems to be helpful for the kid to go over what had happened and break it down. He’s amazing with quirks, she knows this, so it’s good to see his analytical capabilities are applicable to more than just one area. And, it’ll be reassuring for him to have a plan for if something similar happens in the future.

There’s something else troubling her however, and so it’s only when they’re walking back to the UA campus that Nemuri broaches the topic. “Midoriya-kun,” she says to get his attention, and he looks at her almost immediately as he half skips to keep up with her long strides, “You know you can go see Recovery Girl to get your injuries healed.” Because aside from the ear, he’s still covered in mottled bruises, the ones on his face from where he’d been slammed into the alley floor particularly prominent.

Midoriya stumbles and would have fallen if Nemuri wasn’t quick enough to grab his elbow and stabilise him. Any cheer on the kid’s face is gone, and Nemuri pulls them both to a stop on the sidewalk instantly.

She doesn’t know why Midoriya reacted so badly to the suggestion of seeing the school nurse but like hell is she going to let it slide.

Midoriya’s breathing is starting to become erratic, so before all else Nemuri has to deal with that. “Midoriya-kun,” she soothes, “follow my counting.”

Thankfully it only takes a few minutes to get Midoriya steady again, but that has the unfortunate side-effect of the kid looking absolutely humiliated. Well now, Nemuri won’t stand for that.

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about,” she tells him before Midoriya even gets the chance to open his mouth and he looks startled. “Panic attacks happen to the best of us.” Nemuri’s use of ‘us’ is deliberate - a subtle message to the kid that she gets them too. She’s rewarded with the kid slumping his shoulders in relief that she’s not upset.

As if she’d ever be upset with a child having a panic attack.

What kind of adults has Midoriya interacted with before that he expects her to be upset with him right now? Her thought that Midoriya acts like the wounded teens Zashi and Shouta had been haunts the edges of Nemuri’s mind as she gently pushes the teen to start walking again. Whatever caused his reaction could wait until they were safely inside the UA gates.

Instead, Nemuri breathes in, reminds herself to be patient, and chatters away about her opinion on the latest documentary tracing the history and inspiration behind heroics costumes. This turns into an enthusiastic lecture about the importance of colour theory behind costumes, which she then subtly turns into a casual mention of her art elective class that starts in the second trimester. Midoriya brightens ever so slightly, and relaxes further as they make their way back into the school.

Hook set to lure Midoriya to the art side, Nemuri guides him over to a bench away from prying eyes and settles him there, and sits cross legged on the ground herself, leaning back on her hands to keep her posture loose and casual.

Surprisingly, Midoriya is the one to break the silence, even as he tugs a fidget from his pocket. “I... I don’t want to see her,” the kid says softly and Nemuri can’t help but frown. Before she can ask why, Midoriya rushes out, “after the sports festival she said she’d stop healing my injuries so I - I don’t want to see her.”

Nemuri hisses instinctively even as she forces her body to remain loose and relaxed. “I see,” she says. And she does, because things are clicking into place in her mind. Such as - “I believe there’ll be new staff starting on Monday. Would you be comfortable seeing them? Otherwise, I’m happy to arrange for you to see a doctor outside of UA.”

Midoriya blinks and then finally smiles again. “I can wait for Monday,” he tells her. He seems pleased but a little surprised by the news of there being new medical staff.

Nemuri nods in acknowledgement and then tilts her head back. She’d brought Midoriya here to calm him down but this particular bench always gets the best afternoon sun, and she can’t resist basking a little. From under her lashes she can see Midoriya almost melting into the bench, and she knows the warmth is also soothing him. So she gives them both a little longer in the sun, until her skin starts to get uncomfortably warm and she knows she’ll start burning soon.

“Alright, Midoriya-kun,” Nemuri says as she pulls herself off the ground and gives him a wicked smile. “It’s time for training!”

The look of despair on Midoriya’s face is priceless.

And if Nemuri tries to shove two days worth of training into the last evening of their internship to make up for lost time, so be it.

Exhausted as he is, Midoriya has nailed her thigh throw by the end of it.

Trouble intern he may be, but Nemuri is so incredibly proud of the progress he’s made over the last week that she’s almost tempted to try and steal Midoriya from Shouta.

Almost. The deaging incident still sends shivers down her spine. So she settles for stuffing him full of dinner she procured from Lunch Rush, a very delicious tonkatsu with an indulgent tiramisu for dessert. Midoriya of course is flustered and denies needing such indulgences but she just pulls out Shouta’s raises eyebrow trick and he sits down fast.

Absolutely adorable. Maybe she’ll steal him after all.

Chapter Text

Shouta wakes up on Saturday morning with a deep sense of impending doom. The metaphorical end in this scenario, of course, being his private life with Hizashi being kept from the students.

Hizashi, blonde bastard that he is, had only snuck into the dorms after curfew had already started and thus had avoided any and all questions. Shouta, on the other hand, had been forced to field questions left and right from three of the four brats he was now responsible for about who exactly it was he was married to. Midoriya, the little shit, had just smiled beatifically the entire time, but Shouta recognised that particular gleam in his eyes as the same one Inko frequently had. He was enjoying his teacher’s suffering.

That said... Shouta rolls on his side so he can eye his sleeping husband and can’t help but smile at the sight. Hizashi’s hair is splayed across the pillow, with one clump caught in his mouth. Gently, Shouta brushes the hair out of his face, softer than he’d be with a kitten.

Hizashi deserves only the gentlest of touches.

Then, Shouta remembers that he’d mentally promised himself to be out in the main dorm area today in case any of the kids had any issues and were too nervous to come and knock on his and Hizashi’s door. He’s sure that’ll change when they find out it’s ‘Yamada-sensei’ living with him, but for now fear of the mysterious husband keeps them away. Unfortunately, that means Shouta has to leave Hizashi to sleep instead of curling up with him like he wants to.

Damn.

He slumps his way through his morning routine, and then with no small amount of reluctance slips out the unit and into the main dorm. At this hour - just past 8AM on Saturday - only Midoriya is awake and up so far, sitting at the kitchen counter and clutching a coffee like his life depends on it.

Oh now that’s a huge mood. Midoriya brightens slightly when he sees Shouta - which is honestly still a weird thing to get used to, one of his students being happy to see him - and points towards a corner of the kitchen where there’s a pot of coffee waiting.

Shouta takes back every critical thought he’s ever had about Midoriya, he is an angel child. He resolutely ignores all the problems caused by said child going up against fucking Stain, and reminds himself to be glad his students are alive.

He grabs the entire pot and brings it with him to the kitchen table where he sits only a few seats away from Midoriya, who grins brightly at him again. Shouta resists the urge to squint.

He’s tying his hair up in a loose bun when Shouta sees it. He holds out his hand expectantly once his hair is tied, and the brat has the audacity to laugh.

He does hand over one of the grey kittens that was on his lap though, so Shouta will forgive him. “Which one is this?”

Midoriya beams. “That’s Nikko, he has a little patch of white behind his left ear!” Shouta holds the kitten up to his face and stares it down, and doesn’t smile when the little creature flails and then starts purring like an engine even as he dangles in the air. Sunshine indeed.

So. Fucking. Cute.

With a fleeting glance around the open plan living and dining area, Shouta confirms none of the other students are up yet. Good. “We found out that one of the quirks you’ll develop is called smokescreen,” Shouta comments idly and then sips his coffee with his free hand. “We haven’t been able to identify who it might have belonged to however.”

Midoriya looks incredibly thoughtful for a moment and then starts muttering rapidly under his breath in what’s fast becoming soothing background noise for Shouta.

Yikes, that’s a realisation to shove into a mental box and not think about until later.

Eventually Midoriya stops his mutter storm and looks unsettled. “I don’t know of a particular pro hero using a quirk called smokescreen,” he says with frustration. “I’ll do some research, because this would have been at least half a century ago so there’s possibly no surviving records.”

Shouta is privately glad that he didn’t suggest the fucking ghosts again, as they had all decided that was a problem that could wait for the new week. He shrugs at the kid. “If you want. Just don’t push yourself.”

Midoriya flushes slightly and returns to his breakfast - looks like plain rice. Shouta eyes his food and decides that in payment of coffee, he can give the kid advice. “If Zashi sees you eating that, he’s going to insist on feeding you,” he tells Midoriya, who looks startled.

“O-oh?”

“Mm,” Shouta hums as he slurps down his coffee. “He’s a mother hen.” As if Shouta isn’t also concerned that all the teen is eating for breakfast is rice - wait. “Can you cook?”

Midoriya instantly nods his head rapidly, hands flapping in protest. “Of course I can! Mum taught me really well! I was just tired.”

Shouta narrows his eyes but Midoriya seems genuine enough so he lets it slide for now. He won’t hesitate to set his husband on Midoriya if this keeps up though.

Shouta’s hero senses alert him to a shadow slipping down the stairs and he instantly snaps his attention to it only to relax at the sight of floating clothes. It’s just Hagakure. The usually bubbly girl is eerily silent as she beelines into the dining area and shamelessly chugs the last of the coffee in the pot directly from said pot as Midoriya and Shouta stare in bewilderment.

“You are going to wash that before you make a new pot,” Shouta tells her tiredly. He gets a vague muffled noise in response, and is once again frustrated that he can’t see his student’s expression. It’s always unsettling that he can never know for sure how the girl is feeling at any time. For now, going off of the slumped shoulders and general exhaustion that seems to be filling Hagakure’s clothes, it seems she’s just very tired.

“Good morning, Tooru-chan,” Midoriya cheers with far too much energy, and it seems that she ruffles his hair in greeting as she heads to the sink.

He tamps down a shudder as he recalls his Thursday evening visit to Hagakure’s foster home to offer her a place in the dorms. She’d absolutely leapt at the chance with a horrifying statement. “No one ever sees me here,” Hagakure had said so softly and quietly Shouta’s heart had hurt. “So I might as well be at school.”

Yeah, Shouta was glad the teen was now in the dorms. And being with Midoriya’s friend group would do wonders for her confidence. Not to mention being in an environment where she was actually seen as a person and not a pay check.

Christ, his students this year...

Shouta covers a deep breath by taking another sip of his coffee and reminds himself that the kids are safe now, under his and Hizashi’s watchful eyes.

Todoroki and Uraraka stumble down separately in the next ten minutes, all of them drained from their internships and moving into the dorms. Hopefully, they’ll have recovered by Monday, but if he privately makes a note to lessen the load of his ethics class that day, then no one but him has to know.

Shouta sips at his new cup of coffee, courtesy of Hagakure who seems to be perking up the longer she’s awake. He’s privately extremely relieved that it seems all of the kids know how to make at least basic breakfasts, even if it’s just rice, toast and eggs.

At 9AM on the dot, Shouta hears his unit door open and smiles into his mug, caught only by the annoyingly observant Midoriya. The damn kid bounces slightly in his seat, but manages to keep a hold of Float.

Hizashi slumps down beside Shouta and rests his head on his shoulder, and he has to jerk his cup out of the way to avoid blonde hair being dunked in it. All three of his students currently unaware of his relationship just stare. Shouta delicately ignores them in favour of stroking Nikko’s nose, where the little kitten is curled up in his capture weapon.

“Morning,” Hizashi mumbles into Shouta’s shoulder, and he holds in a snort. His husband must have slept very well to be this out of it. He doubts the blonde has even noticed that they’re not alone. He tucks a strand of hair behind Hizashi’s ear - good, he’s got his aids in at least. Shouta isn’t sure if any of the kids know sign, although he’s pretty certain Midoriya would, overachieving brat that he is.

“Uh,” Uraraka says, “This is your husband?”

Obviously.

He doesn’t even bother with a verbal response, his judgemental eyebrow raise seems to be enough. Uraraka flushes in embarrassment but doesn’t seem too upset. And to be fair, it’s still early, and a Saturday to boot.

So Shouta sighs and jostles his shoulder, getting a disgruntled huff from his blonde. “Say good morning to the kids,” he says sternly. Hizashi stiffens immediately and Shouta smirks. Yeah, he definitely hadn’t noticed them.

Hizashi reluctantly sits up properly, stealing Nikko as he goes, much to Shouta’s disgust. “Get your own cat,” he hisses but then Midoriya is laughing and putting Nekouta in his hands instead, so Shouta can’t be too mad.

“Good morning,” Hizashi says brightly to the students, and Shouta thinks he’s masking his embarrassment extremely well, even though Midoriya looks incredibly amused. Todoroki narrows his eyes and stares intently at Hizashi’s face for a moment before scowling and whipping out a wallet, shoving a clump of notes to a beaming Midoriya.

Oh, those little shits.

Shouta glares at Midoriya who pointedly ignores him. “Thanks, Shouto-kun,” he chirps. “I told you they were married!”

“They don’t wear rings,” Todoroki sulks, as Uraraka looks baffled and presumably Hagakure does as well.

Shouta snorts softly. “They’re on chains,” he informs his dual-haired student who frowns slightly with a muttered, ‘have to remember that for next time’

“Uh,” Uraraka says again, and Shouta prays it won’t be something as blatantly obvious as her last statement. “Can you introduce us?”

Todoroki and Midoriya creak their heads around to stare at her in eerie unison. Hizashi just shakes with muffled laughter. “Ochako-chan,” Midoriya giggles. “It’s Yamada-sensei!”

Cue the shrieking.

It’s too early for this , Shouta thinks, and slumps forward to face plant into the table. Why did he sign up to be dorm supervisor again?

Chapter Text

It’s Sunday afternoon when Shouto finds Izuku sitting on one of the excessively large window seats built in a curve along the curtain wall. He beams up at his quiet friend and gets a tiny smile in response.

The previous day had been spent quietly as Izuku and his friends settled into the dorm. It’s... weird to be in a new place after living in an apartment for so long, but it’s not bad. Izuku’s room is bigger than his old one, but is... a little lacking in personal decor, he’ll be the first to admit that. But with everything that’s happened this year, Izuku wants his private space to not be saturated with hero memorabilia. So most of that was sitting in boxes back at his Mum’s apartment, and only a few choice pieces had come with him. Izuku is definitely going to have to go shopping at some point. Maybe Ochako would like to go with him...

Shouto settles down close to Izuku, jolting him out of his thoughts, and tilts his head slightly at his sketchbook. Izuku obliges and flips the book around to show his friend his drawing of the living room. Shouto nods and smiles again. “It’s very good,” he compliments and Izuku feels his cheeks turn pink.

Then, Shouto straightens slightly, so Izuku puts his sketchbook aside and gives him his full attention. Rarely does his friend look so serious, so he wants to make sure his friend knows he’s being heard - he’s had so little of that in his life.

“Izuku-kun,” Shouto says sincerely, “as we’ve been friends for a while now, I hope you can be honest with me.”

“Of course!” Izuku confirms. He makes sure that Shouto meets his eyes and gives him an encouraging nod. “What do you want to know?”

“I realise now that my question at the Sports Festival was preemptive and based on incorrect information. But now, I have to know; is Aizawa-sensei your father?”

“Eh?!”

“Is Aizawa-sensei your father? You’ve had lots of meetings with him, he knows your mother well, and that warm milk makes you tired. You also have the same cats. You’re not subtle, Izuku-kun.”

Izuku buries his face in his hands and whimpers. He is absolutely regretting how seriously he’d approached this conversation because this is not worth the humiliation he’s feeling. “He is not my dad,” Izuku hisses out half-heartedly. It’s absolutely irrelevant to the conversation that the man is, however, the best male role model in his life at the moment, with Yamada-sensei a close second.

Izuku takes a moment to be incredibly relieved that he’d changed to drawing the common room just before Shouto had joined him. The page before that was a sketch that would’ve just added fuel to Shouto’s conspiracy fire.

Because what it shows is a soft, gentle scene outlined in pencil. A small green-haired child with a huge grin sits on the lap of a dark-haired man, a blonde man crouching in front of them with a gentle smile and keen eyes. If Shouto had seen that particular drawing, Izuku may just have spontaneously combusted out of sheer embarrassment. Especially because he has definitely not mentioned that particular incident to anyone and has absolutely no plans to, either.

It’s then that Izuku gets a sinking feeling in his stomach, and he unburies his face just enough to  make eye contact with Aizawa-sensei who is standing behind Shouto and has very clearly heard every word. He raises a single, unimpressed eyebrow, and Izuku immediately hides in his hands again, whining quietly at how the hell this is his life. This has gone from embarrassing to mortifyingly humiliating in an instant.

Shouto seems to sense something is wrong and looks over his shoulder, only to whip back to stare at Izuku, deathly pale and posture stiff as a board. Why, why couldn’t Izuku’s friend keep his traitorous conspiracy theorist mouth shut?

“Thank you,” Aizawa-sensei says in his flattest voice, “for ensuring that I’ll never look Inko-san in the eye again.” Izuku wilts and screams internally, all that escapes his mouth being a high-pitched whine of despair.

Yamada-sensei pops up beside Aizawa-sensei and slings an arm around the dark haired man’s neck with a cheshire grin. “Not that you did that anyway,” he adds cheerfully. “Seeing as she’s so scary and all.”

Aizawa-sensei pointedly ignores the blonde hero and adds, “Also I’m very much happily married to this menace.” He sighs loudly while Yamada-sensei laughs and pokes him in the cheek.

“He’s a softie,” Yamada-sensei says confidingly and Izuku can’t help but emerge to nod enthusiastically. His homeroom teacher really is very gentle and kind, even if he hides it behind an emo costume and messy hair. It gets him a nasty stare from Aizawa-sensei, but Izuku knows there’s no malice in it, just resignation and reluctant (not to mention well-hidden) amusement.

Shouto just looks absolutely mortified, wide eyes staring desperately at Izuku for help. Izuku pointedly ignores the plea - his friend did this to himself. Any mysterious extra laps Shouto has to run during afternoon homeroom are his own fault.

Instead, Izuku beams up at Yamada-sensei, and gets a blinding smile in return. “Yamada-sensei,” Izuku chirps, “I have an idea for a support item - can I talk to you about it?” It’s a desperate conversation change, but thankfully Yamada-sensei takes it in stride with only a sly, teasing wink.

Aizawa-sensei groans and wisely flees, and Shouto takes the opportunity to slip upstairs as well. Izuku strongly suspects he’s using his cold side to stop himself from turning bright red and he’s only a little jealous of that ability.

Yamada-sensei plops down where Shouto was and Izuku launches into his idea about improving Kayama-sensei’s whistle that she’d told him to keep even after the internships. Izuku had very enthusiastically agreed - the small electronic device had very much saved his life, and he can see many uses for it in the future.

But, he thinks that if Yamada-sensei can make a recording at a particular tone, Izuku can make it have another setting that will work extremely effectively as a sound attack! The way Stain hadn’t expected even the more regular noise of the whistle had helped save Izuku’s life - so one using Present Mic’s Voice could be incredibly useful.

Yamada-sensei is super excited about Izuku’s idea, and more than happy to lend his voice to a good cause. He even gives Izuku a gentle head pat and makes plans to go see the support department later in the week with him!

Izuku makes his way upstairs an hour later thoroughly satisfied with his plotting, and another gentle hair ruffle from Yamada-sensei that nearly sets off Float again, but he’s getting better at control! He has lots of ideas for quirk training and combining his three! quirks, but he’d promised his mother and Aizawa-sensei to at least wait until Monday before experimenting.

And frankly, Izuku is still absolutely beat after Kayama-sensei’s training the previous day. She’d been cautious of his injuries of course, but no less intense in her teaching, which Izuku was sickly grateful for. He knows his internship had been unusual in more ways than one, so that she was trying to get him the same amount of experience as his peers was really nice of her!

By the time he’s crashing into his new bed - extremely comfortable and just the right firmness - Izuku is mumbling to himself a more thorough analysis of Kayama-sensei’s quirk. She’d confirmed to him that due to her quirk she didn’t need as much sleep as the average person, because her natural resistance to melatonin - a major component of her quirk - is incredibly high. Not only that, but her sleep-wake cycle is heavily skewed towards wake, and Kayama-sensei can function on a mere two hours of sleep a day! Izuku is only a little jealous.

All in all, Izuku thinks as he rolls off his bed and gets ready for dinner downstairs with his friends, living in the dorms isn’t too bad at all.

He really misses his mother’s hugs though.

Chapter Text

Izuku walks into class on Monday with Shouto, Ochako and Tooru, all still giggling at seeing Nikko tangled in Yamada-sensei’s hair at breakfast. Aizawa-sensei had been mysteriously absent, but Izuku suspects he was actually having an early-morning meeting with Iida. His suspicion of this deepens when they see that Iida, normally in the class half an hour before it starts, is absent.

Which reminds him, Izuku is going to have to try and talk to Iida today about everything that happened. He’d texted his friend a few times, but while the messages had been delivered, they hadn’t been opened. And every time Izuku thinks of his friend at the moment, all he can see is the cold anger in his friend as he bowed in apology from his hospital bed, or the betrayal in his eyes as Izuku hit the pressure point in his neck to knock him out.

Yeah, he really needs to talk with Iida.

It’s ten minutes before homeroom when a subdued Iida marches into the class and goes straight to his desk. He doesn’t make eye contact with either Shouto or Izuku, but Ochako at least gets a small glance.

Ouch.

Izuku clenches his fists under the table, and makes himself take in several deep breaths. With deliberate movements, he relaxes his hands, and once again latches onto the gifted fidget from Yamada-sensei - the thing really is a life saver.

Then, Kaminari bursts into the room, and bee lines straight for Izuku. He jumps back reflexively as the blonde slams his hands down lightly on his desk and stares intently at him.

What?

Izuku is a little confused - he’s friendly with the vivacious blonde but this is something new for them.

“Midoriya-kun,” Kaminari says very seriously, still making intense eye contact.

Izuku gulps.

Then, in a shocking move, Kaminari leans back off the desk only to snap into a formal bow worthy of Iida. “Thank you for saving my little cousin!”

Huh?

“I - you’re welcome?” Izuku says questioningly, more than a little flustered to have his pretty classmate bowing to him. Kaminari straightens and beams at him.

Wow is this what it’s like when Izuku smiles at people?

“Yes,” Shouto says bluntly, and Izuku ignores him in favour of taking the paper suddenly being waved right in front of his nose by the excited blonde.

It’s very clearly a drawing done by a child, but Izuku can make it out well enough. It’s suddenly very clear which person he saved is Kaminari’s cousin. The picture shows buildings on fire in the background, but in the middle with huge smiles is a hero with green hair and a green costume holding a little blonde girl with lightning bolts coming off her head. There’s messy writing at the top that says “Thank you, Dekiru!” and is signed by a Kazashi-chan.

Izuku bursts into tears instantly, and clutches the precious drawing to his chest. Kaminari grins broadly and pats Izuku gently on the head. “She wouldn’t stop talking about you all weekend,” he says cheerfully. “You’re her new favourite hero! When she found out I knew you she wouldn’t stop nagging me for stories!” He doesn’t sound put out at all, to Izuku’s surprise. In fact he sounds - proud that he knows Izuku?

That thought just makes him bawl even harder, and Kaminari giggles brightly. “I’ll let her know you like the drawing, yeah?”

He gives the blonde a frantic nod, tears still streaming down his face. Kaminari’s little cousin is so sweet! “I love it so much,” Izuku manages to say. “And I’m so glad she’s alright!”

“You’re a good one, Midoriya-kun,” Kaminari tells him as he slips over to his own desk.

It’s then that Tsu, who’d appeared at some point during all this, starts to speak in her usual blunt way. “Izuchan,” she croaks, “if you keep crying like this the classroom will be flooded. Not that I’d mind, because I like being damp, but others might.”

Izuku hiccups a small laugh at that. But Tsu isn’t done yet. “It’ll be super comfy for me, though. Do you think Aizawa-sensei would let me bring in lily pads?”

There’s a small hint of a smile on Shouto’s face at this point, even as Ochako and Kaminari listen in with huge grins. Izuku gives them all a half-hearted glare but honestly, he really can cry rivers.

Jokes on them though, because Aizawa-sensei materialises at the front of the room, slouching exhaustedly. “Asui-san, if you require some dampness to be more comfortable, we can arrange for a special desk to be made for you,” he says dryly. “Speak to me after class about it.”

Tsu looks pleased with the idea and ribbits quietly, even as everyone in the class snaps to attention, Izuku included.

It’s debrief time.

Except, after Aizawa-sensei takes the roll, he pins Izuku down with a look and sends him off to the infirmary to get his injuries checked. A cold shiver goes down his spine, but Izuku tamps it down brutally. Kayama-sensei had said there were new staff, and he knows Aizawa-sensei wouldn’t make him deal with Recovery Girl, and definitely not on his own.

When Izuku gets down to the infirmary, he’s surprised to see Yamada-sensei waiting there, casually leaning against a wall. He gives Izuku one of his customary huge smiles and a gentle hair ruffle. “Let’s get you checked out, huh?” He says cheerily and Izuku can’t help but relax immensely in his English teacher’s presence. He and Aizawa-sensei must have planned this just to make Izuku feel safer.

It takes considerable effort for Izuku to not cry immediately at their easy kindness.

They enter the infirmary and a cheerful, “Good morning!” is called to them by a man with shiny blue hair that looks vaguely familiar to Izuku.

“Oh, Midoriya-kun!” The man says, and he scrambles across the medical bag eagerly. “It’s good to see you again, kid.”

Izuku blinks. “Uh.”

“Oh right, you were pretty out of it,” the man says lightly as he manoeuvres Izuku onto a bed. Yamada-sensei stays close by, but pulls out his phone and starts tapping away to give him some privacy. “I’m Nurse Inoue Akihiro, previously of Musutafu University Hospital. You came in a few weeks ago with a broken wrist.”

Ah, yes that incident. Izuku flushes lightly. “Sorry for not remembering you,” he mumbles and Inoue-san laughs easily.

“Nah, I’m not surprised you forgot, you were in a lot of pain. I take it it’s all healed up alright? No residual wrist pain?”

Izuku shakes his head. “No more than what I’m used to,” he says quietly. “I have chronic pain in my arms because of my quirk.”

Inoue-san hisses through his teeth in sympathy as he prods gently at Izuku’s wrist. “Alright then. I’ll have a check of your remaining injuries, and then bring Doctor Hirayama Utano to heal you if needed.”

“Doctor Hirayama?”

Inoue-san nods absently as he gently tilts Izuku’s head to the side to unwrap his ear. He can’t wait for that to be properly healed so he can wash his hair properly again. “This is healing well,” Inoue-san comments. “How’s your vision going?”

“Annoying,” Izuku says honestly. “Reading is a pain because I have to keep moving my head.”

“Mm,” Inoue-san hums. “Doctor Hirayama should be able to fix that with her quirk.”

Izuku has to forcibly hold himself still as Inoue-san switches to holding a penlight up to his eyes and checks them. He’s bursting with questions about what the new doctor’s quirk is!

“How about I tell you about mine?” Inoue-san offers. “Blazer off please.”

“Ooh yes please!” Izuku says enthusiastically. He’s noticed a few dancing lines across Inoue-san’s face, and is eager to know more.

“My quirk is called Living Tattoo,” Inoue-san tells Izuku with a soft smile as he pokes gently at his healing bruises with cool fingers. “I can draw images on my skin and then make them move across it.”

“That’s so cool!” Izuku gushes. “Does it tickle?”

Inoue-san actually laughs at that, teeth bright as he grins. “Only a little,” he says, humour in his voice. From there he explains more of the intricacies and Izuku memorises them all because it’s so cool, and then - he notices there are constellations swirling across Inoue-san’s face now!

Even when Doctor Hirayama comes in and uses her quirk on Izuku, he can’t stop watching the stars on Inoue-san’s face. It’s soothing and takes away from the nerves Izuku would normally be feeling.

That said, Doctor Hirayama’s quirk is also very fascinating - when she sings at a particular pitch, she can quicken the healing process immensely, although the drawback is that it only works once on each particular wound. So she basically has to have an incredible lung capacity and the ability to hold a note for as long as possible. It’s very cool, and surprisingly painless as Izuku’s bruises and scrapes disappear swiftly. It must’ve taken her a lot of training to reach this level of skill, and Izuku is very excited for her to have joined the UA medical staff.

He’s also very relieved he won’t have to see Recovery Girl again if he doesn’t want to.

“Definitely not,” Inoue-san chimes in. He’d stayed after the doctor arrived, and Izuku is grateful for that, even with Yamada-sensei’s presence. “Withholding medical treatment is illegal, particularly when it comes to minors.”

Izuku nods absently. Doctor Hirayama nods as well, even as she leans forward slightly to catch her breath. The red-haired woman gives Izuku a kind smile, and pats him softly on the head. “I’ll be your primary physician,” she tells him firmly. “So if you have any health concerns, come straight to myself or Inoue-san.”

Huh.

For the first time since he was four, Izuku thinks he might actually try and trust these medical professionals.

It’s a weird feeling. But not a bad one.

It’s belatedly but slowly sinking in for Izuku that maybe UA as an institution really is different, and not just the staff. That’s - that’s a very comforting thought, actually, and Izuku is beaming as Doctor Hirayama starts singing again and his vision finally clears. 

Chapter Text

Hizashi absently types out his lesson plans as he keeps half an eye on Midoriya’s check up. At the first sign of the kid being uncomfortable, he’ll intervene but he has to hand it to the new staff - they’re handling the normally skittish teen very well.

He’s actually somewhat impressed.

Of course, while Hizashi is here primarily to be moral support for Midoriya, Nedzu-sama also wants a report on how the newbies are going. And so far, Hizashi has no complaints.

Inoue is a nurse he vaguely recognises from a few weeks earlier, and Hizashi isn’t that surprised to see Nedzu-sama had hired him. Apparently, the man had also filed a report against Recovery Girl after overhearing Midoriya and Sho’s conversation at the hospital, which was how he piqued Nedzu-sama’s interest in the first place.

Hirayama on the other hand, Hizashi has no previous knowledge of. But, she seems gentle and kind, with a hint of steel in her spine, and the way her eyes had flashed when Inoue mentioned medical malpractice, well... Hizashi thinks she’ll do well at UA.

Once the checkup is done, Hizashi walks Midoriya to his physics class, giving Snipe a wave as he drops the kid off. The whole way there, the teen had been happily breaking down the specifics of Inoue’s quirk - which is adorable and Hizashi picks up that he’s focused on the ‘weaker’ quirk over Hirayama’s objectively more impressive healing one. Not that he minds at all, but it’s adorable to see how much love and enthusiasm Midoriya has for quirks of all kinds. He even comes up with a proposal that the nurse could write down a series of letters and then rearrange them with his quirk to use as communication with hard of hearing or deaf patients so he could still use his hands to treat patients instead of signing, in much the same way most medics talked to their patients to explain what they were doing as they went.

Yes, Hizashi doesn’t mind Midoriya’s rambles at all. He gives the kid a broad grin at the 1-A door, and encourages him to tell Inoue his ideas before waltzing off to his own class that he has to teach.

By the start of lunch, Hizashi is desperately craving a nap. He loves his students, but gods he wishes that they’d actually study rather than just quickly reviewing notes before class. English is hard to learn, but only a few kids from each class really put in the effort.

It’s then that Hizashi gets a text, with the buzzing pattern that indicates it’s from Sho. He shamelessly whips it out as his last few students trail off to lunch, and grins when he reads the message.

The warrant is here.

With a cackle of delight, Hizashi immediately tracks down his tired husband, who’s in the middle of teaching Shinsou how to use a capture weapon. He walks into the training room just in time to see the kid trip himself spectacularly, face planting into the training mats as Sho watches in amusement.

What an evil man Hizashi is married to.

He sidles up to said evil husband, resolutely not laughing as poor Shinsou groans loudly before dragging himself up. His 1-C student waves tiredly at him in greeting before focusing on his capture weapon again.

Sho, in comparison, actually gives Hizashi a tiny, barely there smile, that tells him that the underground hero is actually very pleased right now, despite his haggard appearance. Before launching into the warrant situation, however, Hizashi has to know - “How did Foundational Heroics go?”

Shouta groans and rolls his eyes to the heavens. “Fine, once I managed to stop Midoriya-kun from talking about those essays I gave Shinsou-kun. He’s apparently read most of them for fun. Tired child over there was a little overwhelmed.”

Ah, so Shouta had had to resist the urge to laugh at his personal student’s plight. Hizashi grins at the thought. “At least there’s no broken bones this time,” he says teasingly and Shouta just nods as he sinks into his capture scarf. Shinsou stacks it again in the background but Hizashi politely pretends not to notice.

“So, when are we dealing with that student?” Hizashi asks after a few moments just basking into Shouta’s presence.

Shouta hisses into his capture scarf. “Immediately after classes finish,” he says firmly. “I’ll hold him back after homeroom.” He sighs then. “I’ve already told Midoriya-kun that there’ll be no training this afternoon.”

“Aww,” Hizashi says. “How’d he take it?”

Shouta snorts rudely. “He told me to have fun, the little shit.”

Hizashi pauses for a moment and then chuckles. “Of course he did. I thought I saw him eavesdropping the other week.”

“He’s sneaky,” Sho admits grumpily. “When Scrap goes underground, no villain will ever sleep well at night again.”

Hizashi can see it now, even if Midoriya has only used his Dekiru persona so far. He forces down a tremor of excitement - that kid is gonna go far.

Still, Hizashi is incredibly glad Sho had discouraged an underground internship for the kid’s first year. Midoriya is, after all, just a child, and the things that underground heroes see... Let’s just say that Hizashi has a permanent booking with his therapist every two weeks for a reason and leave it at that. Shouta, he knows, goes less regularly, but tends to average out a few every couple of months.

He turns his mind back to the issue of the warrant and the student that had required it.

Mineta Minorou who has, according to Shouta, been sexually harassing the 1-A girls since day one of term. Shouta had tried to expel him that first day, but to his disgust had found that his mother is in the upper echelons of the Hero Public Safety Commission, and wouldn’t hear a word against her son without a warrant. This wouldn’t have been an issue, but for the fact that Mineta Rikona was part of the department that oversaw hero school’s licensing. Her subtle threat had not gone unnoticed by Nedzu-sama, but Hizashi knows the Principal had also closely noted the specific wording of requiring a warrant.

So, Shouta had applied for a warrant - many times, actually, since term had started, but it was only today that a judge finally had the balls to stand up to a high ranking HPSC officer. Of course, over that time, Shouta had pulled aside his female students and quietly told them to avoid Mineta as best they could, that he believed them, and that he was working to get rid of the troublesome student. Hizashi thinks it says a lot for the trust Class 1-A has in their teacher that the girls had unwavering faith in their teacher and determined glints in their eyes after that meeting.

“Oh,” Sho says absently, just as the hell signalling the end of lunch rings and Shinsou starts to unwrap himself from a tangle and head to get changed. “Midoriya-kun and Todoroki-kun had their first meeting with Nedzu just now.”

And then the dark-haired hero strolls off casually leaving Hizashi to process his shock at that revelation.

Hizashi takes a movement and then grins, and it’s a good thing he’s alone in the room because he knows it’s his sharpest one, all teeth and no laughter. The world won’t know what’s hit it now Nedzu-sama has both Midoriya and the youngest Todoroki on his side.

The end of the school day comes, and Hizashi shoos off his class with a smile that doesn’t let slip his tiredness. He and Sho have a serial assaulter to deal with.

As promised, Shouta is waiting for him with a disgruntled Mineta in the 1-A classroom when Hizashi strolls into the room, hands tucked casually into his pockets. He’s not smiling, and pervert the kid may be, he picks up on the tense atmosphere immediately.

Hizashi would say he’s smart, but well. He’s not. And Hizashi is glad of that in a sick way, because if Mineta had used his brain, had been more subtle in his lusting then he may have managed to slip under the radar a bit longer.

But only a bit. UA is a school full of trained heroes.

“So, Mineta-san,” Hizashi starts, and his voice is icy, a tone he knows none of his students have ever heard before. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

The whole situation is a clusterfuck, Hizashi thinks once it’s all said and done. Mineta is out of UA and handed over to police custody along with the arrest warrant, and several bulging folders of information and evidence. It’s disgusting the kid made it this far into the school year, but strings pulled in high places can have far-reaching power. Even if Nedzu-sama and Hizashi suspect that Mineta Rikona was equally disgusted by her son, but constrained by higher-ups wanting to prevent a scandal being associated with the HPSC.

Once their distasteful job is done, Shouta and Hizashi stand together in the dark outside the UA building, and take comfort in each other’s quiet presence. Neither of them enjoy dealing with sexual assaulters, particularly not Shouta, who had been considered a ‘pretty’ teen when in high school, and was ‘easy pickings’ before he shifted into the hero course. His lacklustre outfits are, unfortunately, a remnant of that awful time.

Which is why Hizashi was there and handled the bulk of dealing with the now former student. “You alright, sunshine?”

Shouta sighs, and turns so he can hide his face in Hizashi’s neck. “I’m relieved,” he murmurs, lips soft against his skin, “the girls are safe now.”

Hizashi hums gently, with the barest touch of his quirk so it’s a soft, quiet rumble. Sho calls it a purr. Whatever it is, it works like a charm in draining the tension from his husband’s shoulders. “C’mon,” he says into dark hair, “Let’s get to the dorm before the kids burn it down.”

“It’ll be Hagakure-san and Uraraka-san,” Sho says with a hint of humour and Hizashi grins. Yeah, he can see that. Midoriya and Todoroki, on the other hand, were the type to not even notice the building burning down around them if they were engrossed in something.

Hmm. Definitely a good idea to get back to the dorms, actually.

Especially as it’s early evening now, the sun low on the horizon behind swollen clouds. Hizashi had promised the kids at breakfast to make them a fettuccine carbonara that would knock their socks off.

He gives Sho a gentle smile and grabs his hand, entwining their fingers. It gets Hizashi a sweet, subtle blush from his husband and he smirks in response.

Sho always has loved the small gestures the most, after all.

A few hundred meters from the dorm building, lightning flares brilliantly across the sky and thunder snaps loudly moments later. Shouta sighs and the heavens open to dump rain on him and Hizashi as they walk hand-in-hand. Neither of them make any attempt to rush out of the rain - they’re both already soaked anyway, and a little extra time alone together is worth a little extra water.

So it’s with splashing footsteps they step into the dorm building, looking like twin drowned cats, and come face to face with Midoriya. The teen looks at Hizashi and Sho, blatantly clamps down a laugh and darts to the store room just under the stairs to grab spare towels.

Hizashi would ask how the brat knew they were there, but he’d heard from Shouta that all four of the students tramped up and around the dorm on Friday for well over an hour. No doubt they’d stuck their teen noses in every nook and cranny they could find. And right now, it just means that a very soft and fluffy towel is being shoved into his hands and he didn’t have to track water all over the floor. Shouta grunts out his appreciation as he roughly dries his hair and removes his shoes in the genkan. Hizashi is much more polite, and gives the kid a cheery “thank you!” as he does the same.

A quick change of clothes later and Hizashi is happily clattering around the student kitchen. Four pairs of wide eyes stare at him from the stools at the counter, but years of spotlight exposure have made Hizashi numb to that sort of attention, and he studiously ignores the students as he whips up a quick carbonara and some easy side dishes.

Although it’s very sweet of Uraraka to say she thinks his hair is pretty, even if Hizashi is certain he wasn’t supposed to hear the whispered comment. That particular child could definitely benefit from some stealth training. He’ll tell Sho to move up that class...

So the day ends with two teachers and four students sitting around a dining table, delightedly gorging themselves on Italian-style pasta, garlic bread and bruschetta. The six of them are warm and inside, protected from the elements by a state-of-the-art security system and solid walls, even as the sky tears itself open with heavy sheets of rain.

He laughs brightly as Hagakure pokes fun at his dark-haired husband who rolls his eyes even as his lips quirk up in the tiniest of smiles. And in the cheerful evening, something inside Hizashi is soothed on a visceral level.

Damn. Maybe Sho had been right to call Hizashi broody. But it’s not like he has room to talk, with the way his husband dotes on Midoriya. Not that Hizashi will mention that aloud, he values his ability to breathe and Shouta, when deathly embarrassed, has been known to try and smother him with the nearest pillow.

But either way, despite everything that’s happening, and the looming threat of All For One, Hizashi is content tonight to just be. And from the soft look on Shouta’s face as he keeps an eye on the kids as they do the dishes with minimal laughter and shoving, he knows his husband is happy too.