Chapter Text
1
Yamada Hizashi was always one who considered himself a hopeless romantic. When he was young, he had always dreamed of finding his “the one.” The person who walked into his life and just stole his breath and heart away. By the time he started at UA, Hizashi had admittedly started to lose hope. Romance was in the air with the other students and despite a few rather interesting first dates with a few of the other hero students, he never felt that spark.
It wasn’t until the final round of the Sports Festival that Hizashi felt that spark for the first time. It had not been immediate of course. If it had been, he would have been more nervous facing off against the boy in front of him from the start. It was a few moments later, after the boy from general studies had pinned him to the ground, eyes glowing like firelit rubies. Hizashi went to speak and found his Voice gone. Right, the other boy’s Quirk could deactivate anyone else’s that he looked at.
“Do you yield or am I going to have to drag you out of the ring?” The boy’s voice was rough with the exhaustion that he could see in his frame. Shit, that was hot.
Hizashi felt the blush creep up over his face as he nodded rapidly. He faintly registered that the other boy’s victory had been announced but found himself more focused on the now redding face of the boy above him as he deactivated his own Quirk. The boy, Aizawa as he remembered him being called, shifted back and allowed the two of them to rise back onto their feet.
Hizashi grinned and offered Aizawa a hand. “Good fight my man! You really kicked my ass!”
Aizawa just seemed to blink at Hizashi in confusion. “You’re not upset?”
Now it was Hizashi’s turn to be confused. “Why would I be? You won fair and square. I don’t look like a sore loser do I?”
“My opponents from some of the earlier fights didn’t take it well. Most don’t.”
It took a moment for Hizashi to connect the dots. “They got mad that you used your Quirk? How is that fair of them? We were all told to come out here to show what we are made of. It wouldn’t be fair if they were to use their Quirks and you couldn’t use yours.”
Some of the tension in the boy’s shoulders seemed to bleed away at that. “So you don’t mind that a Gen-Ed student beat you either?”
Hizashi shrugged before throwing an arm over the other boys so they could clear the field. “Like I said, why would I? I figured it was a bad matchup for me after I saw you use your Quirk the first time. I mean, sure mine is strong and all, but without my Quirk I’m a bit useless in a fight. You’ll have to help me work on that so next year maybe I’ll be the one pinning you.”
Aizawa ducked out under Hizashi’s arm. “No thanks. I’m not here to make friends.”
Hizashi’s grin grew brighter at the challenge. What he said next was “Oh, Shirakumo is going to love you.”
What he failed to say was, “but not as much as me.”
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
2
The second time the words almost slipped out was when Hizashi and Oboro had been invited over to Shouta’s place for the first time. That had not been the original plan for their afternoon, but shortly after class ended for the day Shouta had gotten a phone call. “I can’t hang out after all. Something came up with work for my brother-in-law so I’m going to have to watch my nephew until someone else can come home to watch him.”
“Do you need any help? I’ve babysat for the neighbors a few times.”
“Yeah, we could help you out as we hang out!” Hizashi’s grin was mirrored by that of Oboro.
Shouta looked between his two friends and let out a small resigned huff. “Let me check with Hisashi that it is okay.”
So another short phone call and a short train ride later, the trio found themselves in a fairly roomy apartment. A tall and slightly imposing man with snow white hair bustled around the apartment before disappearing into a room down the hallway and reappearing with a small green haired child. “I should hopefully not be gone long. If I am, Inko should be back within the next hour and a half.”
“It’s not a big deal, I’ve watched Izuku for longer. Plus this time I have help.”
The man let out a small puff of flame as he sighed. “I know Shouta. I’m sorry but it is hard for me to not worry about you too.”
Shouta rolled his eyes at this. “I’m a hero in training and almost an adult myself. The two of us will be fine.”
The red eyed man looked between Hizashi and Oboro before seeming to make his mind up about something and handing the toddler over to Shouta. “You boys, be sure to help watch over mine.” With that he gave both Izuku and Shouta a small kiss on the head and vanished out the front door.
Shouta shifted his grip on the toddler in his arms so that he could rub at the spot on his head that the man had kissed. “Wish he would stop that.”
Oboro snickered. “I sometimes forget that your sister and her husband are sort of your parents.”
Hizashi flashed a bright grin at the pair of teens. “You have to admit it is kinda sweet though.”
Shouta shrugged as he began to walk over to the couch and sat down. “I guess. I’ve never thought of them like that but with how he acts sometimes I wouldn’t be surprised if Hisashi might think that way.”
Oboro and Hizashi fell onto the couch either side of their friend and the quiet toddler. Oboro eyed the kid slightly. “Quiet kid.”
Shouta shrugged. “He has three settings: quiet, crying his head off, and chattering up a storm. There is no in between. Right now he is focused on the pair of you because you're new.”
And the kid was as far as Hizashi could tell. The kid was staring pretty intently at Oboro, watching his hair shift slowly like morning mist. “I think he likes your hair Oboro.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised by that. He likes watching mine when I activate my Quirk.”
Hizashi couldn’t stop the squeal of excitement that escaped his lips at that. It was too cute. Unfortunately his control over his Quirk slipped as well. There was a rattling of glass around the room at the noise but thankfully the sound cut off before anything could break. Now the poor kid was crying.
Hizashi felt a blush creep over his face as Shouta glared at him, eyes now matching the man who had just left. “Really Hizashi?”
All Hizashi could do was sign “I’m sorry” over and over to the others. Shouta blinked and words rushed back out. “Sorry, my control slipped! It was just so cute! Just like-” Thankfully Shouta had activated his Quirk again before the last word slipped out. ‘Just like you.’
It all went a little downhill from there. Shouta kicked Hizashi out of the apartment so as not to risk his naturally loud presence from continuing to upset his nephew. Needless to say, while Oboro was free to assist in babysitting Hizashi was banned from doing so until he was a bit better with his volume control.
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
3
The next time Hizashi nearly slipped up was years later. Oboro had been lost to them for a few years at that point and Shouta had long since moved out of his sister’s place and into one of his own. They were both new teachers at the school they had all attended together now. The pair, for that was what they most often were, had been hanging out at Shouta’s place when Hizashi let out a noise of frustration in the kitchen. “How do you even live like this?”
Shouta opened one eye to look at his friend from his position on his blood stained couch. “Live like what?”
“Shou, there is nothing in here. How the hell did you move out of Inko’s without her or Hisashi buying you all the pots and pans you could need.”
“I have a pan.”
Hizashi let out a noise of frustration at that. “A pan. One pan.”
“I also have a spatula.”
“Shou, what on Earth are you even eating? There is no way you are getting enough calories.”
Shouta just huffed and threw his arm up over his face to cover his eyes. “Mostly precooked meals from the store down the street. Or I just snack a lot.”
Hizashi paused as he looked at his best friend, the man he was too much of a coward to admit he felt more than just friendship for. His best friend who had been hit hard by the loss of one of the few people he had let inside his defenses. His best friend who would rather destroy himself than admit the truth of how he was really doing. “You're moving in with me.”
Shouta uncovered his face to look at Hizashi. “What?”
Hizashi sighed and ran a hand through his lengthening and currently ungelled hair. “I can’t let you keep living like this, Shou. You are slowly killing yourself and I can’t just sit back and let you.” Hizashi cut himself off with a strangled sob before he could say ‘I love you too much for that.’
Shouta sighed and pulled himself to his feet. Next thing Hizashi knew, the man had threaded his arms around him. “I’m sorry.”
Hizashi felt the tears running down his face as he buried it in the other man’s shoulder. “It's not your fault. I should have spoken up sooner.”
“It is. I should have realized how much this was hurting you too. ‘Boro was your friend first.” And they stood there in a comfortable silence as tears quietly fell. Eventually the pair reluctantly released one another. “Do you even have space for me at your place?”
Hizashi rubbed his eyes as he nodded. “I’ve had an extra room since I moved all my radio broadcast equipment to my agency.”
Shouta hummed lightly in consideration before one of his wild looking grins spread over his face. “I guess I should see about packing.” He moved over to the sink and reached into the cabinet under it to pull out a small shopping bag. He then walked across the kitchen pulling out his pan and spatula from a cabinet near the cooktop before walking over and shoving them into the bag. Looking proud of himself he turned back to where he had left the blonde. “Okay, that’s the kitchen done.”
Hizashi couldn’t have stopped himself from laughing even if he had wanted to try.
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
4
Hizashi watched Shouta stretch in his seat next to him. Hizashi had been using his free period to work on grading since yesterday had been such a train wreck. As much as Shouta was trying to pretend for the outside world, yesterday had been really bad for him. They had just been getting ready to drive back to their apartment when Inko had called Shouta.
That in itself had been concerning, since Shouta and Inko normally only talked once a month unless there was a holiday. Not only that but it was also a Thursday so Inko should have still been with patients at that time. All Hizashi could do at the time was watch as the color drained from his face and listen as he fired off questions about his nephew’s current condition.
But that had been yesterday. Today, even knowing that Izuku would be seen by Recovery Girl herself after the school day ended, Shouta was clearly trapped in a dark place inside his head.
“Shou? Are you okay?”
Hizashi watched as the man he loved turned so that he met his gaze. Shouta blinked before turning his head to check their surroundings and before giving a small shrug. “Not really sure. I told you what happened yesterday and nothing has really changed since then.”
Hizashi frowned at the small admittance of his true feelings about everything before opening his arms wide in an invitation. One that Shouta actually decided to take him up on. Hizashi soon found the brunette’s face buried in his leather jacket. “I don’t know what to do. It was like ‘Boro all over again. I had no idea it had even happened until it was already over.”
Hizashi shifted a hand up to card through the other man’s long hair as he felt Shouta begin to shake in a way that he had long come to recognize as quiet sobs. “He’s okay Shou. You have that picture on your phone as proof of that, yeah? And now there is no reason you can’t go and see the little listener in person.”
They just sat there, Hizashi desperately wanting to say more. Tell the man the truth of how much he cared for him and how he would always be there for him so long as he wanted him there. Then the phone on Shouta’s desk began to ring. Shouta jerked back so fast that Hizashi could only watch as the man turned to pick up the phone.
“Aizawa.” A long pause to listen to the other end of the line. Hizashi watched as the sudden tension in Shouta’s shoulders seemed to bleed away to be replaced with the small sharp movements that Hizashi could associate with the other man’s annoyance about something. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Nedzu?”
Shouta nodded as he stood up away from his desk. “He’s helping with the investigation that Mirai started. Apparently he needs help with his part.”
Hizashi shot the brunette a soft smile. “If you need any help, you know where to find me.”
As Shouta nodded and walked out the door, all Hizashi could do was tell himself that the last thing Shouta needed right now was for Hizashi to dump unrequited feelings on him. It wasn’t his place to ruin their friendship like that while the other man was hurting.
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
+1
Hizashi could feel his brain short circuiting much like it had all the way back during his first UA Sports Festival. Shouta had kissed him. Shouta had kissed him.
Hizashi faintly registered that Shouta was trying to talk to him now that they had separated but Hizashi didn’t hear a word of it. Before he could stop himself, he grabbed Shouta and yanked him back into a longer and deeper kiss. When he released his grip so that they could take another breath, Shouta pulled away with a blush turning his face nearly as red as his eyes when he used his Quirk.
“Shit, Loki is never going to let me live this down.”
Hizashi gave Shouta a suspicious look at that. “Shou, what does your vigilante kid have to do with anything?”
“Shit, sorry ‘Zashi. It is just the kid has been referring to you as basically my future husband since we met.”
That got a laugh out of Hizashi. “Has he really?”
Shouta let out a familiar huff of annoyance. “For some reason he refused to believe that we were just roommates. I believe his exact words were something along the lines of there was no way either of us were straight though he refused to say why he thought that.”
“To be fair, if he is a frequent listener to my show, he might have heard me mention the fact I was bi at some point. My love life gets asked about a surprising amount.”
Shouta snorted at that. “Still that doesn’t explain why the kid was so sure about me.”
Hizashi shrugged before smiling and leaning over to kiss Shouta briefly again. “You have no idea how long I have wanted to be able to do that.”
Shouta smiled sadly. “Sorry it took me so long to realize what I was actually feeling. Romantic feelings are sort of a bit more complicated to figure out when you’re ace.”
Hizashi smiled lightly at that. “Why do you think I never said anything? As soon as I figured that out, all plans that I had made to ask you out went out the window. I honestly thought you might have been aromantic too with how little interest you showed for stuff like that.”
Shouta relaxed a bit. “So you're not upset that I am not interested in being with you like that.”
Hizashi snickered the face Shouta made at the mere idea of sex. “Shou, so long you don’t mind me inviting Nem round from time to time like I have been doing then we should be fine. Sure, I think you are sexy as hell, but I would never want to pressure you into something you would not enjoy. Kisses and cuddles should be more than enough for me.”
Shouta leans into the loose hug that Hizashi had been holding him in. “I supposed those are acceptable terms.”
Hizashi could only smile.