Work Text:
Izuku accompanied his blond father out shopping, chattering to him about a recent rescue done by some Australian heroes. He had no idea why they were shopping; he simply assumed it was because Hizashi enjoyed it (which he did). However, he guided Izuku to an animal shelter instead of a store. “Why are we here, Papa?” Hizashi still smiled each time he heard the name, one that his daughter had picked up on as well.
“Well, your father and I’s anniversary is around the corner. I talked with Nedzu, and he gave his approval, and your father has wanted a cat for a long time. So, I thought maybe you could help me pick one out for an anniversary gift.”
Izuku’s eyes lit up. “That’s exciting!” The woman at the counter of the shelter led them into the back room, past rows of dogs, and into a smaller room filled with cats of varying ages, sizes, and colors. “Hm. Were you thinking of a kitten because then the cat would be around longer? Or an older cat that is hard to adopt and that Dad would love anyway because he’s secretly a big softie?”
“That’s why I wanted your help, bunny!” Izuku went around the room, pausing at each cage door. He found a cat that seemed just right for his dad. The kitten was blind but sweet and soft. Izuku fell in love immediately and knew his dad would love it. It was a creature more difficult to adopt because of its disability and yet still young enough to be a long-term family pet. Yamada went ahead and made arrangements for the adoption. He whispered to his son that Midnight would take care of it until their anniversary the next month.
The evening, armed with new information and his sketchbook, Izuku set to work on a gift for his parents. He wanted to make a family album of sorts, since his fathers had gotten all of them at different ages. He brainstormed a line up of picture ideas and went to his brother’s dorm room to talk about what he looked like as a child. It would be a challenge, but he was determined to make a beautiful book for his dads.
With All Might as his chaperone, Izuku went home for the weekend. He let the adults talk while he gathered his supplies and spread out along the coffee table, working diligently on his drawings. “What’re you doing, Izu?” His mom had noticed the array of drawing utensils.
“Oh! It’s Dad and Papa’s anniversary soon. I know this has been a really hard year on them, so I wanted to make them something special.” He frowned a little. “I wish I could give them a night off, but between their jobs and Eri and Hitoshi and myself… I don’t think that’s possible. Plus, they live on campus! So even if they had a date night, they’d still be coming back to all of us.” He shook his head to get back on track. “Anyway, I’m making them a family album but it’ll all be drawn pictures instead of photos. Especially since we can’t get photos of when Hitoshi was younger.”
“That’s a very sweet gesture, my boy.” All Might rested his large hand on the boy’s curls. Above Izuku’s head, Yagi nodded towards the kitchen at Inko. The two retreated to check on dinner and have their whispered conversation. Izuku was oblivious to it all, fully invested in his sketching. The weekend passed before Izuku realized it. He had spent most of it working on his project, spending hours into the night on his arrangements and plans. It was nearly finished, well ahead of schedule. The teen figured he’d have time to relax before the anniversary and was contemplating making them dinner when his dad showed up in the doorway of his dorm.
“Hey, dad, what’s up?” He tried to be subtle about glancing around his room to make sure nothing gift related was sitting out; Shouta raised an eyebrow at his actions anyway.
“I need your help.” The man slunk into the room and dropped on the bed beside his son, back to the wall.
“What’s wrong?” Izuku’s entire demeanor changed, determination flaming in his eyes.
His dad chuckled. “Nothing dangerous or anything. I just don’t know what to get Hizashi for our anniversary. And I know he enlisted your help for his side of things.” The kid blushed and stammered out sounds before his dad placed his hand over his mouth. “He’s always been great at gift giving. With everything that’s happened the last few months, I want to show him how much I appreciate him. But I’m not good with things like that.”
“Your love languages are acts of service and physical touch, not gifting.” Izuku hadn’t even realized he spoke until his father agreed with him. “Papa’s are physical touch and quality time, right? But if we ranked them, gifts would be higher on his list than on yours.”
“That makes sense to me.” Shouta couldn’t help the small smile on his face as his son devolved into his muttering storm. He only caught a handful of words here and there, but the moment the boy’s eyes lit up, he knew that his kid had something great.
“Okay, so.” He paused to take a deep breath. “I have an idea, but we would need to bring a handful of people in on it.”
“Like who?”
“Mostly Jirou. Hitoshi and Kacchan and Tokoyami would be helpful, too.”
“What do you have in mind?” Shouta couldn’t deny that he was intrigued.
“A homemade album of songs you associate with him.”
“Like a mixtape?”
“No. Like you singing and playing guitar. With the rest of us as backup if the song needed it.” The kid was sketching on notebook paper that spontaneously produced. “Plus, Papa loves bad jokes and puns. So maybe you could have the cover be this!” He held up the sketch – a square with two spoons on it with the phrase ‘Spooning Since 2XXX’ and grinned. Shouta groaned at how awful it was.
“Hizashi would love that. But would we be able to pull off an album?”
“If we organize an off-campus trip to Jirou’s home, assuming they’re cool with it, we’d have access to all the necessary equipment. Otherwise we can probably bribe someone at the radio station… And if we do,” he paused for a moment, “ten songs, that would be enough to really send a message and you can do little explanations in between, kinda like he does on his show!”
“I can’t just ask a student or her parents to use their recording studio.”
“No, but I can!” His son beamed at him. “If you want to do this, that is. I can come up with another idea if you’d like.”
“It’s a good idea. I just don’t know about logistics.”
“You brainstorm the song list, I’ll tackle logistics. And practice time.” Shouta pressed a kiss to the wild hair of his son. “Love you, Dad.”
“Love you, too, Problem Child.” The father-son duo ended up chatting for nearly an hour about things that came to the boy’s mind. Izuku grinned once Shouta left. He had a plan to put in action.
Izuku had secured permission from Jirou (and her parents) for his father to use their recording studio to make his gift. Once his dad gave him the list of songs, he passed it along to the three he was permitted to include – Hitoshi, Kacchan, and Jirou. The four of them practiced the parts they would need to play in each song. There were some that his dad could do acoustic and alone, but others would benefit from an extra instrument or two or an additional voice.
It was the weekend before the anniversary and the group of five were on a crowded train headed to the Jirou household. None of them were really talking – Izuku was the only extravert of the group. It felt like it took forever to arrive. Izuku glanced at their small group, grateful that only he and his father were bringing their own instruments.
The plan was pretty simple once they entered the studio. His father would be singing all the songs and playing lead guitar. If he needed them, Hitoshi would be backup vocals; Jirou would be keyboard and saxophone; Kacchan would be drums; Izuku would be guitar. Jirou’s parents were very kind and willing to help operate the technical side of things and assured Shouta that they would send the kids out before he did any personal speaking, which soothed his discomfort at having students hear how enamored he was with his husband.
Izuku didn’t know exactly what order his dad wanted the songs in on the album, that was something he would work out with the Jirous’ help post-recording. However, they decided to start with the songs that the kids were involved in; the adults could send them out of the house to hang out without causing distractions from boredom.
Izuku loved listening to his father play and sing. It was one thing they did to bond together, but it was also incredibly soothing on its own. Even his classmates were mesmerized by his talent. His voice rumbled out the lyrics as the man’s fingers deftly moved along the guitar’s neck. Izuku absentmindedly wondered if he’d get to hear the finished album. Even if Dad’s reluctant, I bet Papa would love to show it off. The boy smiled at the thought and watched his father finish the song with Jirou’s help. It wasn’t until after lunchtime that the kids were dismissed to wander around town with the express command of avoiding trouble. The three other students looked at the greenet in their midst, who pouted at being called out.
The quintet caught one of the late trains back to campus, all thoroughly exhausted. Jirou’s father promised to put the final touches on the CD and print the case with the requested pun on the front before their anniversary on Wednesday; he agreed to Izuku’s private request of having it done for Tuesday for their family dinner. Since he would watch Eri for his dads to go out to dinner on Wednesday, he wanted to be able to give them their gifts (and watch their reactions to what the other got) as a group.
Family dinners were cramped when the family was as unconventional as theirs, especially around an important occasion. In addition to Shouta and Hizashi and their three kids, Inko and Yagi would join them, as well as the Bakugo family. Hizashi teased Shouta as the noise increased around them. “Just wait until the boys start dating and bring their significant others to these things.”
“They will not.” Hizashi just laughed at his disgruntled face and kissed his nose.
Dinner was a fairly calm affair, all things considered. Shouta wasn’t even suspicious until the kids insisted on watching a movie and having dessert – not a typical family dinner night activity. He narrowed his eyes at the teens, but they gave nothing away. Izuku maintained his smile, Hitoshi had his calm visage, and Katsuki was as grumpy looking as ever.
Towards the end of the movie, there was a knock at the door before Nemuri entered with several bags on her arms. “I brought dessert!” She announced cheerfully with an exaggerated wink. She lifted up a cake, large enough to feed them all. Once she had served it and everyone was relaxing in the living room with a piece, she clapped her hands. “Present time! Don’t worry, Zashi, I brought yours.”
“And I have yours, Dad.” Izuku grinned at his father.
“Guess we’re exchanging gifts tonight, huh?” Hizashi chuckled and tilted his head upward to smile at his husband from his seat in his lap. (“It’ll conserve space, Sho! There’s so many people here after all.”)
“Guess so.”
“I want to go first.” Izuku was nervous, but he knew that Hitoshi and Eri would be too shy to start things off and that Hizashi’s gift should be last. He handed the couple his wrapped gift and twiddled his thumbs, staring as they unwrapped it. His eyes were finally drawn upward when he heard a loud gasp.
“Bunny, this is amazing!” Hizashi exclaimed. Izuku’s eyes darted to his father, whose eyes betrayed the flood of emotions he felt at receiving it. The two spent a few minutes flipping through it before the blond demanded a hug (during which time Nemuri snatched it to flip through and coo at). The adults whispered their thanks into his ears while they held him close. “We love it.”
Hitoshi and Eri followed suit; Hitoshi smirking as he handed over his card first. The two men pulled it out of the envelope and Shouta looked like his soul had finally withered whilst Hizashi guffawed. The card, which had testicles on it, read “Even though I’m not from your sack, I know you’ve always got my back” on the front, something that the adults carefully shielded from their little girl. Nemuri cackled at it, Inko huffed in amusement, and Yagi coughed up a little blood in surprise. Hitoshi then handed over their gifts – mugs in coordinating colors that read “Go ask your (other) father.”
Eri nervously pushed over a fairly large box and fiddled with the ruffles at the bottom of her shirt. “I wasn’t entirely sure what to get so I asked Kacchan and Shouchan for help…” The couple smiled at her and pulled her in for a hug before they even unwrapped it. They were astounded, as were all the others - including gift advisor Kacchan. It was a top-of-the-line deluxe coffee machine that had a programmable drip coffee maker and an espresso maker in one, as well as a bean grinder. “D-do you like it?”
“It’s wonderful, sweet girl.” Shouta was the first to recover. “You said Kacchan helped you pick it out?”
“Kacchan suggested I do something with coffee since you two ‘never get any damn sleep’ and,” she was cut off by the gasps of language and scolding of the blond teen. Izuku encouraged her to continue. “But Shouchan said that we could look up different things and if I saw one that you guys would like, he’d order it for me.”
Izuku couldn’t help but chuckle. “He does enjoy using Endeavor’s credit cards.”
“Thank you, sweet pea.” Hizashi finally found his voice. “We’ll put this to good use.” She smiled up at him before sitting in Izuku’s lap with the tension draining out of her small body.
Katsuki handed over an envelope. Inside the card was a very Bakugo-way of saying happy anniversary with a handful of ridiculous pictures of Izuku from all ages. His parents also gave them a card with well wishes. Nemuri handed them a box that they promised to open later; in past years, the things she has given them were not family friendly. Finally, it was time for the two to exchange gifts. Izuku did give his mother an odd look with furrowed eyebrows, but she just winked at him.
Shouta went first, so Izuku handed him the carefully wrapped item. “Zashi, I love you.” Hizashi opened the wrapping paper and laughed at the cover. He planted a kiss on the dark-haired man’s cheek. He flipped it over and saw his husband’s scrawl.
Hizashi, my sunshine, I’ve always found it difficult to describe just how much I am in love with you. So, I borrowed the words from some professionals. Yours always, Shouta.
“Please wait to play that.” He mumbled the request.
“Of course, moonbeam.” The two kissed for a long moment, lingering in each other’s breaths. “I suppose that means it’s time for my gift. Nem?” The woman went to her plethora of bags and lifted a small basket. She carefully approached the couple. “I couldn’t exactly wrap your gift…” Hizashi trailed off as Shouta’s eyes grew wide at the kitten nestled in the basket. “Izuku helped me pick him out.”
“I love him. I love you.” His eyes briefly glanced to his husband before settling back on the small animal now purring in his lap.
“I figured since we have two teens to help us take care of him, it was time we got you a cat.” He rested his head on the other’s shoulder, watching the gentle way he was petting the newest member of their family. Things were relatively quiet for nearly ten minutes as everyone took in the baby. The children all came over to pet it, and Izuku explained to his family that the kitten was blind.
“Um, we have a gift for you also.” Yagi coughed into his handkerchief, breaking the trance. “When we were talking to Izuku about his gift for you, he had mentioned that he wished he could do more for you two given the stress of the last few months. And while it may have been out of his reach, I was able to use a little influence and um,” he stumbled over the last bit and Inko picked up in his stead.
“This coming weekend is a long weekend. We took the liberty of contacting your workplaces and requesting it off. Toshinori rented the two of you a cabin with natural hot springs. Aside from workers that live on property about two kilometers away, it will just be the two of you. You can contact them if you want food delivered to you or they can prep the kitchen and you can cook your own meals.” Inko gave them a smile. “You two deserve the time off to relax properly.”
“They are very discreet there, too. Although you two aren’t as recognizable, they’ve never caused any problems for me.” Yagi blushed a little. “It’s one of the only ones I’ll visit because they take privacy so seriously.” The couple being celebrated didn’t have words. Hizashi eventually managed a flustered thanks, and Shouta was able to communicate his appreciation to Inko with just his eyes. A long weekend for just the two of them? It was unimaginable.
With that final note, the kids began to clean up from their desserts and gifts. Nemuri helped Hizashi bring all the kitten supplies into the other room to set up while Shouta said their good-byes to the adults, whom Yagi would escort off the campus. It seemed like no time at all before the boys had Eri tucked into bed and left for their dorm rooms. Shouta collapsed in bed and curled up against his husband, a curious critter sleeping by their feet. “That was a lot.” Shouta spoke into his husband’s pale shoulder.
“It was. But it was also lovely.”
“A whole weekend to ourselves.”
“With no one around.” Hizashi chuckled. “You might not have to use your quirk.”
“Zashi, I love you dearly, but if your quirk slips through than the workers will hear you, even at that distance.” The blond chuckled. Shouta pressed his cold nose into the other’s neck. “Besides, if that were the case, I’d need to wear ear plugs.”
“True, true.” He rolled over to look the other in the eye, legs tangling together. “I haven’t slipped in ages. And if, for whatever reason, I do, I know you can take care of it.” He settled his lips over the other’s. “I love you, baby.”
“Love you, too.” They held hands together as Morpheus claimed them for the night, only to release them by the early alarm for work the following day.