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It was the first time in weeks that Hizashi and Shouta's schedules had happened to line up so they had a night to themselves. With the police's recent investigation into Kurogiri and the League of Villains, plus the discovery of the new Paranormal Liberation Front, pro heroes everywhere had been busy, and the school had upped campus patrols like crazy in order to secure the student's safety, which meant, of course, that every night either Shouta or Hizashi had been put on patrol at some point if not together, along with many other teachers. So it was a staggering relief to view the schedule for the week's patrols, released that morning, and spot a free night on both Shouta and Hizashi's ends that Friday.
"Thank God," he'd said aloud, shutting his P.O. box dramatically.
"What's up?" Hizashi asked, coming up behind him. He was adjusting the cuffs of his jacket as he peered over Shouta's shoulder. The latter could practically feel the change in mood and knew his husband had found what he did.
"Thank God!" Hizashi echoed, at once, and Shouta turned to give him a tired smile. "Ohh, what are we gonna do with a night to ourselves..." Hizashi started, and Shouta kissed him to cut him off.
"Watch it. We'll still have Eri to look after," he warned, and that look in Hizashi's eyes melted into something sweeter.
It was no secret that Eri had become Shouta's ward and, by extension, Hizashi's to care for as well. She had her favorite students, of course, such as Midoriya and Mirio, and she was getting closer with Hado, but of the teachers there was no doubt about it that Shouta and Hizashi spent the most time with her. It was only natural. The school relied upon Shouta to look after her, in case her quirk went out of control, and over time, that responsibility had developed into something less like duty and more like love. Being his husband and naturally affectionate, it would have been practically impossible not to rope Hizashi into that dynamic.
Thus, they'd become something of a little family. Her room was right down the hall from theirs, and they had their own little floor of the teachers' dorms where they could look after her like proper guardians. It became that when Shouta was on patrol, Hizashi stayed with her and when Hizashi was out, Shouta watched her. On those particularly unfortunate (or fortunate, depending how you looked at it) nights when they both were out, she had sleepovers with her favorite students.
Some days, Shouta could almost pretend that his life was just this. Cooking dinner with Eri on his hip after a long day at work, her snuggling up to his chest on the couch, watching her try to match her breathing to his while they watched family game shows. Long weekend mornings with his husband when they didn't have work, when they woke up early to spend time together before fetching Eri from her bed. The three of them, together. That he was a content man with a husband and a child, that his only focus was to raise her well and safe.
More often than not, reality shattered that image, but Shouta could look forward to a Friday night at home where he could indulge in it just a little bit.
Having something to look forward to made Friday roll around that much more slowly, and when it finally did, he was so ready to be done by the end of it that he dismissed his class half an hour early and bolted to where Hizashi was teaching English down the hall. Seeing his husband outside the door, Hizashi followed suit in ending class and joined up with him at once.
"Hallelujah," Hizashi sang, and Shouta let a breath hitch over his lungs, coming out in a big sigh. He felt some of the tension in his shoulders melt away and quietly repeated Hizashi's sentiment. Hallelujah was correct.
When the elevator stopped on their floor of the teachers' dorms, Hizashi was out before the door had even fully opened and darting down the hall to Eri's room. Shouta was close behind, and entered to find Hizashi talking with Midnight, Eri now firmly settled on his hip. A lot of the UA teachers rotated caring for Eri on days she couldn't just attend classes with either Hizashi or Shouta, and Midnight had a free period her last class of the day, so it had been her turn to look after the little girl. Eri seemed wary of her, but it was better than trying to hire a nanny or a babysitter when anyone these days could be a traitor.
"Mr. Aizawa!" Eri cried when she saw him, and Shouta felt his face ease into a small smile as he opened his arm for the girl to be transferred. Hizashi squeezed her one last time before passing her off, and Shouta sat her on his forearm, holding her a bit away so he could see her face.
"Well hello there," he said to her. "And how was your day?"
"It was good!" She said, voice as clipped as ever but just as bright. "Midnight and I made bracelets!" She held up a wrist, which was adorned with four string bracelets of varying patterns and colors. "This one is for you," she said, beginning to worm a grey and yellow one off of her wrist. She held it out to him, and he got her weight safely over to one arm so she could squeeze it past his now freed hand. "I already gave Mr. Mic his."
Shouta looked over to see Hizashi flash a similar black and yellow bracelet at him.
"Matching," Midnight explained with a laugh. "She was very particular about that."
"Sounds like you two had fun," Shouta said as Eri worked on contorting her body to get her head rested snuggly his chest.
Barking out a laugh, Midnight replied, "we sure did! And I wish I could stay, but..."
"Patrols," Hizashi cut in, voice somewhat bitter. "We get it."
She shook her head, a hand on her hip. "It's just getting worse and worse it feels like. It feels like I'm running on steam here."
Eri lifted her head from Shouta's chest to tune into the conversation. He put a hand over the back of her head soothingly, even as he listened, and she swung her big eyes to look at him next. He smiled at her.
"We know what you mean," Hizashi said, gesturing to himself and Shouta. "It's been nonstop. We're just glad to have a night off together for once."
Midnight nodded sympathetically, eyebrows drawn. "Enjoy it. Who knows when you'll get another one next."
"That's enough," Shouta said, disliking the concern and muted wariness on Eri's face. It wasn't her job to worry about these things, and he didn't want anybody going around making it sound any worse than it was in front of her. "Stay safe on patrol, Kayama. We'll see you tomorrow."
Midnight recognized the dismissal for what it was, and turned to say goodbye to Eri quickly, putting a hand over her cheek and patting once, lightly. When that was said and done and it was just the three of them in her room, Eri finally let her worries show.
"Is everything gonna be okay?" She asked the two of them. "What's getting worse and worse? Are bad things happening again? Are you really not going to get any more breaks? Is Midnight so tired because of me?"
Shouta listened to all of her concerns very carefully, and when she was winding down, he knelt, setting her on the floor so he was eye level with her. He held both of her hands between them, cupped carefully between his own. "Everything will be just fine, Eri," he said, as Hizashi knelt with him. He put a hand over her back and smiled softly at her, and she looked between them both fitfully. "There are some bad things going on, but it's the way of the world. You let us deal with it. And there will always be breaks, even if they're brief."
"And of course Midnight isn't tired because of you," Hizashi continued. "If anything, I'm sure she appreciated a moment to make bracelets with our favorite girl!" Eri giggled as he tickled her sides briefly, and she squirmed away, falling back into his chest, where he promptly scooped her up and held her close, squeezing her tight and rocking just a bit. "Things might be rough-going right now, but even if they get worse, it'll be okay in the end. And there's always things to look forward to, like snuggling my bug," he sang, "and holding her close, and making her favorite for dinner, and-!"
"Hizashi, you'll spoil her," Shouta said, but Hizashi only grinned.
"The point is," he continued, sitting Eri up in his lap, "that you have nothing to worry about. Capiche?"
Eri pressed her lips together, not quite satisfied. "But you do."
"And we always will," Shouta agreed, putting a hand on her knee. "But we can manage it. We'll be okay, honey, don't you worry."
"But you're not okay now?"
"We are worlds better now that we are here with you!" Hizashi said, and at once the mood was effectively lightened. He was always so talented at that. "Don't worry about us anymore, Eri. Please. We love you, so we won't lie to you, but it's not so that you'll worry about us. It's so that you'll trust us. And trust me, everything will be okay!"
Eri smiled, and Hizashi bent forward to kiss her temple.
"Now how about we get started on dinner?"
And that was that. Or at least, it was.
For the rest of the night, after they'd changed out of their costumes and gotten settled for the night, Eri was passed off between Hizashi and Shouta, getting all the love and snuggles a child could possibly want, and when she wasn't in one of their arms, she was running between their feet, helping with dinner and running trivial tasks the two of them set her to, like to set the table and put this spoon in the sink. After dinner, they'd curled up to watch a movie, and they watched her favorite, Ponyo, for the eighth time that month. And after that, they bathed her, put her up in cozy pajamas with strawberries on the front and ruffles along the hems, got her hair all brushed soft and smooth, and by 8:30 she was clean and cozy and ready for bed.
They'd carried her down the hall to her own bedroom. Shouta and her picked out a book to read to her while Hizashi got the cat nightlight Shouta had gotten her turned on, and then they were all laying in her bed, her between the two of them and falling asleep with a little stuffed bunny held tight to her chest. She had drifted off to sleep quickly and easily, after which Hizashi and Shouta both stood. They'd shut off the lamp and bid her a whispered goodnight, and had gone back to their own room to spend the rest of the night how they pleased before inevitably surrendering to sleep.
That was supposed to be the end of it. A comfortable, quiet, content way to spend their night off. But it seemed that the young girl's worries had not been entirely soothed. At 4:09 that morning, Shouta awoke to a horrible scream, followed at once by loud sobbing, and he was up and on his feet, capture weapon at the ready, before he really knew what he was doing. He sprinted down the hall, all drowsiness forgotten, with Hizashi close on his heels. But when they opened the door, all they saw was their little girl curled up in the center of her bed, folded up on herself and sobbing thickly into the stuffed animal clutched in her arms.
Just a nightmare. Just a nightmare. She just had a nightmare. With all thoughts of imminent danger out of the way, Shouta let his scarf fall to the ground and entered the room just a bit more fully, heart still thumping with adrenaline while Hizashi made for turning the lamps on.
"Eri," Shouta murmured. "What's the matter, sweetheart? Did you have a nightmare?"
But she only sobbed and curled tighter.
"Shouta," Hizashi said, voice sad. He'd come around to the other side of the bed, and Shouta followed his husband's eyes to where he was staring at the exposed sheets around Eri's frame, where her blankets had been kicked to tangle in her legs.
"Oh, honey," Shouta breathed, when he saw it. The sheets around her were wet, and a closer look showed that her pajama pants were damp as well. At their discovery of her accident, Eri began to cry louder, and shook her head violently when Shouta reached for her. "It's okay. Hey, it's alright. I'm not mad. Let's just go get you cleaned up-" He reached for her again, wanting to get her out of her mess, but this time she screamed, letting it end in thick, coughing sobs that she muffled by pressing her face against the mattress.
"No!" Eri screamed. "No, don't touch me!" She was wailing loudly now, open-mouthed, anguished howls that Shouta just wanted to hold her through, try and soothe away.
There was a brief moment where Shouta didn't know what to do, or even what else to say. He looked up at Hizashi for help, and Hizashi came around to the other side, the side Eri was facing, and knelt next to Shouta. One of his hands disappeared behind Shouta's back, began to rub absentmindedly there in comfort. "Hey, my little listener," he said. "That is one whacky song you're singing. Can you lift up your face for me? We won't touch you, honey, just wanna see your face. Get you to breathe a little better."
"No," she bawled.
"Shh," Hizashi hummed. "Shh, it's okay, sweetpea. Just lift up for me, come on. Can you do that?"
It took another few moments, but finally, she sniffled and turned her head a little to peer up at Hizashi and Shouta. She looked absolutely terrified, and there was a minute tremble to her shoulders that Shouta would rip his own heart out to absolve.
"There you are, baby," Hizashi cooed. "See? It's okay. Nobody's mad. We're right here; we're gonna make it all better."
"I wet the bed," Eri whispered, like maybe they didn't know, couldn't know, if they were still being so kind to her.
"I know, honey," Shouta said, voice soft. "It's okay." He watched the way her tear-bright eyes flicked to him, lower lip trembling. A tear slipped over the bridge of her nose and plunked onto the bed. With a sad smile that he hoped was somewhat comforting, Shouta tried reaching for her again, just an open palm, and stopped before he could make any sort of contact. "Do you want to come get cleaned up?"
Slowly, Eri unclenched her fingers from her bunny's ear and put her hand in Shouta's palm. He curled his fingers over hers and stood slowly, pulling her up and reaching out another hand for her. She gave in and held her arms out to be carried, and Shouta at once gathered her into his arms, ignoring her wet bottom against his forearm and holding her tight to his chest, just rocking her and soothing her. He patted her back slowly as Hizashi started gathering the sheets.
"I'll meet you in there," Hizashi said quietly as he stripped the dirty sheets from the bed, and Shouta nodded, turning from the room and starting towards their bathroom. Eri was still crying quietly into his neck, and he shushed her absentmindedly as he kicked the door open and pushed the light switch on with his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry," she wept, voice high and tight and so, so, so ashamed.
Shouta shook his head, though she couldn't see it, and decided not to put her down just yet. It was no sense trying to get her to cooperate for a bath when she was this worked up. He suspected this might be one of those times she just needed to cry it out. "It was just an accident, sweetheart. It's okay. I'm right here. It's all gonna be okay."
She sniffled, set her cheek back against his shoulder, and he felt her shuddering breaths against his neck while her hands curled into his sweater. After a moment, he sat on the closed toilet lid with her still in his arms and continued rubbing her back up and down. "Shh," he whispered. "Shh, shh, it's okay. Deep breaths." At that, her chest shuddered and expanded, shoulders hitching with the effort of a good breath in. "Hey, good job. That's great, you're doing great," he praised. "Keep on like that. That's my girl."
"I didn't mean to," Eri sniffled.
"I know, honey."
"I had a bad, a bad-," she hiccuped, "dream, and then I woke up, and it was just happening, and I'm so sorry-,"
"Deep breaths," he reminded her, and she quieted as she focused on that again. As he began to smooth her hair back from her forehead, just slowly with his palm, clearing it from her face, Shouta took the opportunity to say, "you don't need to apologize. Nobody is upset with you, okay? I promise, hon."
"I was so-, scaaaaared," she wailed suddenly, "I hadda dream that, that Chisaki was back and he, he-" she inhaled a massive shuddery breath- "made you fight him again, but things weren't okay like you said, 'cause you died, and Mr. Mic died, and not even Deku could save us, and-"
That was when Hizashi appeared in the bathroom. When Shouta listened for it, he heard the washer going, and he looked gratefully up at his husband, even as he held the shaking Eri in his arms, trying to calm her from the recount of her nightmare.
"Aww, sweet girl," Hizashi said, and the sympathetic tone seemed to make her cry harder which Shouta, embarrassingly enough, could understand. He opened his arms for her, but she shied away.
"I'm wet," Eri explained, and then started to cry again plaintively in quick, dry coughs that made her chest cave in and her shoulders jerk roughly.
"That's okay, baby. Why don't we let Sho start the bath? I want to hold you. I was so scared when I heard you crying. Oh, come here, sweetheart," he said, and finally she reached for him, so Shouta stood to do as told. His clothes were damp and now smelled faintly of urine, and he'd probably have to grab a quick shower after Eri's bath, but it didn't matter much to him now. His focus was getting their little girl settled down.
Hizashi's proclivity for dealing with upset children had Eri soothed in moments, and by the time the bath had filled, she was down to sniffling again as he talked her down from the nightmare. "None of that's going to happen, honey. It was just a dream. A mean, mean dream," he was saying as he helped her out of her wet clothes. Shouta gathered up the soaps and then she was set gently into the warm water, where Shouta promptly began scrubbing her down with her pink loofah. As he did that, Hizashi began to scoop water over Eri's head, wetting her hair. He used a cup from beside their sink, filling it with fresh bathwater every time and using his other hand to protect her eyes. He got her hair washed from all the snot and drool and sweat quickly and efficiently, and before long, she was mostly clean again. Shouta took his time washing her face last with his hands, wiping away all of the tear tracks.
"There we are, all better," Hizashi hummed, and lifted her out of the bath just for Shouta to snatch her up in a big fluffy towel.
She laughed quietly in that way that said she still wasn't quite done being sad yet as Shouta scrubbed her dry and Hizashi fetched a new pair of pajamas to get her in. It didn't take long to get her clean and dry and comfy again, and Hizashi changed shirts so he could sit with her while Shouta showered, and then they traded off so Hizashi could as well. Finally, when all was said and done, Hizashi cradled Eri to his chest in their living room, walking her back and forth, bouncing her just a little as he sang quietly.
It was now 5:49am, and Shouta could not be more grateful that neither of them had classes to teach the next morning. He had training with his students later in the day, but he was looking forward to a lazy morning with his family after such a terrible night. Shouta was in the kitchen heating up some milk on the stove, a warm drink to soothe their charge back to sleep. When the milk was done, he poured it into one of Eri's sippy cups and added some honey and cinnamon.
"How are we feeling?" Shouta asked, voice low, and Eri looked over her shoulder at him, which was a good sign. When she was feeling particularly badly, she'd refuse to seek people out, tended to hide her face, so this open gesture made Shouta feel better.
"I think we're doing a lot better," Hizashi said. Eri had twisted her little fingers into Hizashi's hair, long blonde tendrils curling around her fingers, and she yawned sleepily, settling down into his arms again and blinking heavily.
There was a soft smile on Hizashi's face, and Shouta came to stand with him, pressing a long kiss to his husband's temple, and then to Eri's. "I have a warm drink for you, if you want it, Eri," Shouta said, and she turned to hold her arms out for him instead.
Shouta smiled as he got her in his arms and settled down with her on the couch. Hizashi went to fetch her bunny and came out with it moments later. Then, the three of them were down, Eri lax against Shouta's chest, one hand holding her cup while she drank at its contents slowly and the other holding her bunny on her lap. Hizashi got a show turned on, a quiet one, one that was prime for falling asleep to, and Eri watched it blearily, though her eyes would close for longer than a standard blink.
"I don't wanna have any more nightmares," she whispered, at some point, though she looked dangerously close to falling asleep.
"Don't worry, baby. We'll protect you, okay? Bad dreams or no, you'll always be safe here," Shouta murmured back to her, tightening his arms around her. The words seemed to soothe her, and within moments, she'd fallen pressed right up to his heart.
That night, Hizashi took care to fetch Eri's special cat nightlight from her room and move it to theirs, and she slept with Shouta and Hizashi in their bed while her sheets were still being washed. The three of them slept late into the next day, with not another nightmare in sight and when they finally awoke, Hizashi made blueberry pancakes and hashbrowns.
In that moment, Hizashi and Shouta knew that Eri's worries had been settled for good. They couldn't promise that bad things would never happen, but they had promised that they would make things better afterwards and, finally, Eri knew she could believe them.