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As soon as Aizawa Shouta hears his front door swing open, the click clack of heels and the jingling of chains, he knows it’s going to be a very long day.
“Two of my favorite people in the same room!” Kayama Nemuri beams, she stands in the archway of Shouta’s small kitchen, holding her arms out, shopping bags hanging heavy off them. Yamada Hizashi stands behind her, smiling wide.
Across the table from him there’s Eri, who was almost falling asleep face first into her cereal mere seconds ago, shoots up from her chair and squeals as she sprints over to wrap her arms around the two of them.
“PapaMic! Auntie Nem!” Eri says with her face buried into Yamada’s stomach. He smiles wide and leans down to take Eri into his arms and spins her around a few times. He sets her down as she giggles, Kayama crouches to plant a wet kiss on Eri’s cheek.
“How do we feel about going to an amusement park today?” Kayama asks, throwing a questioning glance to Shouta, who stares at her with a ‘Really?’ look. Kayama’s smile widens. Eri perks up.
“What’s an amusement park ?” Eri asks, her big round eyes full of wonder. Kayama and Yamada gasp, Kayama’s eyebrows rising up towards her hairline. Kayama stands back up, plopping down in the empty chair next to Shouta. Pointing an accusatory finger at him, Kayama leans her elbow on the table.
“You've never taken her to an amusement park Shou? That's criminal..” Yamada says with faux offense as he sits at the table. Shouta rolls his eyes at him and waves him off.
Eri chimes in from the floor, where she's peeking into the bags Kayama left on the floor, “Yeah! Criminal!” Kayama nods in agreement. Shouta should've never given either of them a spare key, when they are together, their an unstoppable force that know just how to push his buttons.
In his defense on the whole ‘Not taking Eri to a fair yet’ thing, they just finished moving here, Shouta finally landed the teaching job he wanted and it forced them to relocate. Not by much thank god, but enough to make it so Yamada only lives a few minutes away. The move was hard on them, Shouta had adopted Eri a few years ago, and the first year was a lot of work. Due to her situation before Eri was distrusting of most adults. It took months before she even started opening up to him. Now, she’s a bundle of energy, still a little shy, but with him, Yamada and Kayama she’s just like any other happy child. Kayama and Yamada were there through it all, even though yeah they do get on his nerves and Kayama 100% gives Eri way too much sugar, they’ve been his rock for the good part of a decade.
Eri bounds up and climbs up onto her chair eager for his explanation, Shouta cleans up the remnants of their breakfast as he talks, “It's this big event- park thing that has a bunch of rides and games and gross food.” Kayama butts in with “ Yummy food!” Eri looks back and forth between them. “Lots of people go.” He says as he shuts the fridge.
Eri looks like she's about to combust with how excited she is, her eyes are practically sparkling. Shouta doesn't think he's seen her this excited ever. This will be worth the way his feet are going to hurt later. “Can we go? Please?” She asks sweet as ever, puppy dog eyes in full effect, Kayama turns to him too, squishing her cheeks. Shouta is nothing if not a weak man to his daughter.
“Go get dressed.” Shouta barely has enough time to tell her to wear her tennis shoes before she is scrambling out of her chair and thumping down the hallway. Yamada laughs as Kayama cheers and goes after her, sending the men a thumbs up before she turns down the hallway.
✬✬✬
After a quick shower and just a small amount of mental preparation, Shouta stands in the entryway of their apartment, a small backpack hung heavy on his back, filled with water, snacks and anything they might need. Yamada leans against the wall across from him. Shouta has to mentally stop himself from staring, Yamada is wearing his hair fully down for the first time in a while . The almost 15 year built up crush Shouta has had on the man is actually killing him at this point. The way he brushes it behind his ear with his ring clad hands. The way his adam's apple bobs as he swallows his saliva, Shouta briefly wonders if it tastes like the cigarette he knows Yamada smoked before he got here. Shouta shakes his head to stop his train of thought from going anywhere else . The sound of loud thumping footsteps and the click clack of heels bounces off the walls as Eri and Kayama walk down the hallway. Eri rounds the corner at full speed and skids to a stop, almost ramming into the wall, Kayama giggles behind her.
Eri does a twirl as she talks, “Dad look! Auntie Nem got me a new dress!” She plants her hands on her hips standing proud. Shouta smiles softly and bends down, ruffling her hair.
The ‘Dad’ still tugs at his heart strings, even after it's been so long since she first called him it. Over a year ago at a doctor's appointment the doctor referred to him as ‘Dad’. Eri called him dad for the first time during dinner that night, Shouta almost dropped his chopsticks into his food. He let a little tear of joy wet his cheek that night, texting Kayama and Yamada about it. After that night she almost exclusively calls him it, pardon the times he accidentally sits on a stuffie, then he's ‘butthead’.
“Wow, that is a very pretty dress Eri, did you say ‘Thank you’ to Auntie Nem?” Eri’s eyes widen for a moment before she quickly turns to Kayama, smiling and spewing an excited thank you.
Eri’s eyes light up at the compliment, holding out the ends of it to show the two of them the small apple pattern. Yamada gasps, his hands holding his cheeks in shock, “Isn't that just the cutest thing!” Eri nods rapidly.
Shouta waits patiently as Eri plops on the floor to put her shoes on, he goes through a mental checklist. Keys, wallet, phone, backpack, keys, wallet, phone, backpack. Eri snaps him out of his head as she shoots back up, anxiously playing with the small beaded bracelets on her wrists, a matching one dons Shouta’s. He holds his hand out, Eri takes it quickly.
The walk to the bus station won’t take too long, thankfully it’s a nice day. Not too hot, not too cold, soft warm breeze ruffles Shouta’s hair, he makes a note to get it cut soon. Eri skips over the cracks in the sidewalk between him and Yamada, Kayama in front leading the fray. Eri is talking to Yamada about a stray cat they saw the other day, her words almost jumbling together with how fast she’s talking. Yamada is taking in every detail, nodding along and asking questions. Shouta catches himself looking at the other man a little too long to just be friendly, he tears his eyes back to looking in front of them.
Kayama is looking at him knowingly, he shoos her off.
✬✬✬
The disgustingly sweet smell of amusement park food fills Shouta’s senses before they even step through the gates. The echo of children screaming, adults laughing, and the sound effect of rigged games almost overwhelmed him. Kayama leads them to a ticket booth, quickly buying them all enough for a couple rides. Shouta deadpans, she just smiles wickedly. Shouta will sneak in a few hundred yen in her purse to pay her back later.
Eri’s hand tight in his as they follow Kayama and Yamada, twisting between couples, families and everyone in-between until they stand eye to eye with the bottom of a giant ferris wheel. Eri’s eyes lit up at the sight of it, the flashing lights dimmed by the spring sun but still visible against the chipping paint. Kayama stopped in her tracks and turned to face them with her hands on her hips.
Kayama held her arms out to show off the big ride, “Ta-Da!” She says dramatically, Yamada cheers, clapping loudly. Eri laughs softly, turning to Shouta.
“Can we ride this one first?” Eri asks, tickets held in her hand ready.
Shouta cranes his neck to look to the top of the wheel, “You sure? It goes up pretty high.” Eri looks up to the top, apparently only just now realizing it does actually go that high, she puffs her chest up and clenches her hands into tiny fists.
“I'm a big girl. I got this.” Eri says determined. “And you're here so I'll be fine.” Shouta’s heart tugs again.
He can hear Kayama and Yamada bickering over something to his right, glancing at them Yamada is beet red, Kayama shoos him off to the ride. Shouta flips her off behind Eri’s head.
They got to the fair pretty early in the day so thankfully the lines aren't too long, the short wait for the ferris wheel hasn't cracked Eri’s tough determination. The worker quickly takes their respective tickets, the metal stairs wobble slightly as the ferris wheel turns and stops one of the hanging buckets in front of them. Eri’s grasp in Shouta’s hand tightens even more.
Shouta looks down at the top of her head, she's standing up straight, head held high. He leans down a little for her to hear, “We don't have to ride this Eri, we can get off.”
Eri shakes her head and puffs out her chest again, “Nope! I got this.” Shouta eyes her for a moment before she steps forward and marches into the seat and plops down.
Confidence high and smile wide, Eri motions him to sit down next to her. He follows.
The ride jolts to life and creaks as it ascends, Eri wraps her hands around his arm as it gets higher and higher. Shouta is a grounding weight next to her, solid, sturdy. She squeezes her eyes shut as they get closer to the top. The view to put it simply was breathtaking, the soft blue sky was littered with fluffy clouds. The whole city could be seen from up here, the tall apartment buildings, the shorter store fronts, the park across the street.
Shouta nudged Eri with the arm she was hanging onto. “Eri, open your eyes, You can see our house from here.” With a little hesitance and a nod, Eri cracks one eye open. She shoots her eyes open when she takes a glance at the scenery below. Still holding on tight she slowly rises her head up to get a better look. A beaming smile begins to form on her face as she looks over the edge of the car, her eyes darting in every direction.
“See? Isn't it pretty?” Shouta says, Eri almost standing up at this point, nods excitedly.
They’re stopped at the tippy top when Shouta takes his phone out to get a picture. Eri is leaning on the edge of the ferris wheel car, her smile bright.
Eri gasps suddenly and points to the ground. “Look! I can see Auntie Nem and PapaMic!” She starts waving wildly, slightly shaking the car. Shouta looks over the edge to see Kayama and Yamada waving back just as excited. A small smile forms on Shouta’s face.
The descent down is far less scary for Eri, confidence back in full swing. She still grabs Shouta’s hand as they walk down the stairs. Yamada and Kayama meet them halfway with big smiles.
“How was it?” Yamada leans down slightly to ask Eri. His hair flowing down his shoulders, the triangle shaped sunglasses sit on his nose lightly. Shouta catches himself staring again.
“Kinda scary at first, but it’s so pretty up there!” Eri says brightly. Yamada smiles before Kayama pats both of their heads.
“Okay children, what do you wanna do next? There’s a shooting gallery over there.” Kayama says pointing to a big stall, a lit sign with big western-like letters read ‘Shooting Gallery’. Stuffed animal prizes of varying sizes are lined up on the side. One look from Eri and she's pulling on Shouta’s hand, determined. Yamada cheers as he and Kayama follow close behind.
Shouta hands the worker tickets for a few rounds, “Which one do you want?” He asks Eri, fake gun heavy in his hand. She perks up, looking up at the rows and rows of stuffies.
“That one!” She points to a small white cat sitting at the top of the row, the tag stuck to its tail reads five in bold.
Now, Shouta obviously knows these games are stupidly rigged and knows he’s a good shot, so when he shoots seven times and only knocks down three of the standees on the conveyor belt. His ego does take a little bit of a hit. Kayama giggling like a schoolgirl behind him probably doesn't help.
“Let me try!” Yamada bursts, handing the worker more tickets and picking up the shotgun to Shouta’s right. Before he starts shooting he turns and sends Shouta a wink. Shouta’s heart promptly stops for a moment before the sound of rubber hitting something again and again, snaps his attention to the gallery.
Yamada knocked down every last one.
Kayama and Eri cheer, Yamada looks smug, and Shouta is stunned. So stunned he doesn't realize what's happening until a black stuffed cat is thrust into his face. A full toothed grin on Yamada’s face as he smiles at Shouta and turns to hand Eri the white one she wanted. Holding the dark plush in his hand, Shouta smiles, softly and half hidden under his hair, but genuine nonetheless.
He looks up to Yamada who is still grinning like a man on top of the world, his eyes crinkled and bright. “Really? A black cat?” Shouta says with no real venom.
“Hey! It looks like you.” Yamada chuckles, throwing his hands up in surrender. Eri giggles, shoving her own cat into his hands.
“Look, it's us!” Her face suddenly lights up and whips her head to the gallery. “We gotta get one for Papamic and Auntie Nem!” Kayama laughs behind them. Walking to Yamada and throwing her arm around his shoulders.
“Ready to win two more sharpshooter?” Kayama says to a now wide eyed Yamada. He shakes the shocked expression off his face and determination sets over his features. Yamada hands the worker more tickets.
They walk away with four different colored cats, a white one for Eri, a solid black one for Shouta, a calico one for Kayama and a stark orange one for Yamada.
The warm humid air makes Shouta’s hair stick to the back of his neck as Kayama leads them to game after game after game. Eri’s hands slowly start to fill with plushies of varying sizes, Yamada having to walk behind her picking up all the ones she drops. When they finally plop down onto a picnic table, Eri’s hands are overflowing, Yamada hanging on to a few stragglers. The cool wood of the table on Shouta’s back as he leans against it helps the slight sheen of sweat building on his neck. Yamada throws his hair over to spread out onto the table and slouches down, Eri sits in between the two. After a few minutes, Kayama leans down and whispers something into Eri’s ear, who nods furiously.
Kayama clears her throat as she abruptly stands up straight, “Me and Eri are going to get food! What do you boys want?” She announces, Eri hops off the bench, gently setting all of her new plushies down.
Yamada perks his head up, “Fried chicken!” Kayama shoots him a thumbs up before she stares expectantly at Shouta.
Shouta waves her off and crosses his arms, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. “I have my jelly pouches, I'm good.” Kayama chimed a ‘Okay’ as she took Eri’s hand and took off.
The idle chatter of the park fizzled away as Shouta zoned out, the warm sun beaming down on his face, the seat slightly shaking with Yamada’s knee bobbing up and down. He can feel his eyes on him before he speaks.
Yamada softly nudges Shouta’s ankle with his foot, “You should really eat something that isn't a meal supplement.” Yamada says, his voice light and airy, his head turned to Shouta but still leaned on the backrest of the bench.
Shouta hummed, nudged him back, “You're not much better y’know.” Yamada laughs, Shouta cracks an eye open to look at him. His hair is still draped, his eyes are crinkled shut and the sun is hitting the bridge of his nose just right to where Shouta can see the soft sprinkle of freckles. He’s probably the most beautiful thing Shouta has ever seen. Shouta’s face quickly flushes with the thought, throwing his arm over to hide it seems like a good choice, so he does just that.
“Yeah but at least I'm getting actual food today. Don't worry, I'll share some of my chicken with you.” Yamada says, Shouta can tell he's still looking at him with the way his voice sounds close. He smiles.
“Oh wow such a gentleman, I'm truly in your debt.” Shouta says sarcastically, the words shaped around his still hidden smile. Yamada chuckles, his voice still aimed at Shouta. The light banter they easily fall into is comfortable, familiar. Like a breath of fresh air he didn't know he needed. Shouta cracks an eye open to see Yamada already looking at him, his smile soft, his eyes almost sparkling. Yamada quickly turns his head back to the sky.
Okay, Shouta isn't entirely oblivious. (Despite what Kayama might say) He knows Yamada feels something towards him. And Yamada knows Shouta feels something towards him, they're just… y’know… a little dumb. Shouta is always waiting for the right time and whenever he decides he should… he pussies out and Kayama has said Yamada wants to do this big gesture so Shouta has held off a little. But the small moments like this where Shouta really just wants to grab Yamada’s face and plant a smile ridden kiss onto his lips… he really wishes they'd just get along with it already.
Just as Shouta leans forward and opens his mouth to let his guts spill, Eri’s shrill laughter snaps his attention in front of him. Eri is bounding with an almost comically large brown paper bag in her arms, Kayama is lagging a little behind, walking carefully trying to balance four drinks in her arms. She glares (pleads for help) at the two of them, Yamada, whose face is flushed, quickly stands and takes his and Shouta’s drink. Their fingers touch when Yamada hands it off to him, he tries really hard to not get even more flustered, it doesn't work very well. Kayama eyes the two of them for a bit before smirking, walking to the bag Eri just sat down on the bench and fishing out their food.
✬✬✬
The few rides and games they did were fun, thankfully not any Eri could win more plushies that Shouta has to find space for. As they were walking towards the entrance to leave, Eri spots a carousel, and immediately turns to Shouta.
“Can we do this one last? I still have a few tickets!” Eri pleads, puppy dog eyes in full effect, holding up said tickets. And again, he is a weak man.
Shouta nods, “Of course, You gonna go on alone?” He asks Eri, whose eyes light up at the confirmation. Her eyes flickering between the three adults in front of her, she decides to grab Shoutas hand, Yamada’s and Kayamas with her littler one. All three of them hanging onto her by a finger. Yamada’s loud laughter fills Shouta’s ears as Eri leads them to the carousel, their shoulders squished together. Shouta can smell the cologne Yamada put on this morning, the mint undertones of his shampoo. He doesn't remember the last time he was this close to the other man. Shouta makes a mental note to change that. He also makes a mental note to get on with the whole ‘I've been in love with you for like 15 years’ thing.
Eri lets go of their hands and holds up the rest of her tickets for the worker, and climbs up the stairs. Running around the carousel to find the perfect horse. She picks the tallest one and calls Shouta to come help her up. He buckles her in and turns to find one for himself before a small hand grabs the end of his sleeve.
Eri points to one of the seats behind her own horse, “Look, sit in that one! It's big enough for you and PapaMic!” Shouta snaps his head to the seat that is without a doubt not big enough for the two of them and opens his mouth to say just that.
“Yeah Eri, I don’t think-'' He is interrupted by Yamada hopping over the seat and plopping his ass down in it, patting the space beside him. Smile wide and toothy, his knees are hunched up almost to his chest. Shouta sighs and tries to sit comfortably. It doesn't work very well, his legs aren't even in the seat, kind of just dangling out of it, one of his shoulders is squished by the plastic, the other is leaned so hard onto Yamada’s chest he can actually feel his heartbeat. He regrets ever wishing to get close to him more often. This is torture. He hears Kayama giggling on the horse next to Eri. He shoots daggers into the back of her head and hopes she can feel his wrath. She looks back and giggles even more .
The ride creaks to a start and Shouta is totally not freaking out internally or anything. Yamada is just so close and warm and there .
Shouta is definitely freaking out.
The ride spins once, then twice, then three times. It genuinely feels like it's never going to end and with each spin Shouta feels like he and Yamada are getting closer and closer. Shouta briefly wonders if Yamada can feel how flushed he is. Shouta keeps his eyes locked in front of him, not even risking glancing to his right. Yamada softly exhales and hooks his chin over Shouta’s shoulder, resting his head there. Shouta bristles, electricity shooting throughout his body, Yamada breathes out of his nose with a soft laugh. Shouta can feel it on his neck, the ride finally skids to a stop. Kayama helps Eri out of her buckle in front of them as Yamada tries to scoot out of the seat. Planting a warm hand atop Shouta’s thigh to hoist himself up, Yamada swiftly stands and holds out a hand to help Shouta up.
You think with Shouta’s thirty years experience of being alive that his reflexes would be at least decent. But no, they're not, when Shouta clocked back into reality and took Yamada’s hand, he miscalculated where his legs were gonna go and tripped hard. So hard that the sole reason he is still upright is because of a strong arm holding him by his waist. He snaps up to look at Yamada who looks like a tomato at this point, still holding his hand and his waist. They quickly scramble to let go of eachother, clearing their throats. Kayama is off the ride at this point looking at them like their idiots. Which is not far from the truth.
The walk to the front gates is only a little awkward. Yamada is usually the one filling up the silence for all three of them, but now he's got his arms full of the plushies Eri couldn't carry and his face is scrunched in concentration of his own thoughts. Shouta is hand in hand with Eri, who is none the wiser.
Shouta looks down at Eri, “Did you have fun?”
Eri lit up, “Yeah! I really liked the ferris wheel and PapaMic was so cool at the shooting gallery thing!” She mimicked the action of Yamada shooting the gun as she talked and held up the white cat he won for her, “Did you have fun Dad?”
Shouta nods, a little flushed, “I did, it was a lot more fun than I thought it was gonna be.” He glanced at Yamada at the tail end of his sentence and smiled.
In front of them Kayama slung her arm around Yamada leaning up to whisper something in his ear, his mouth dropped as he pushed her away as she giggled. Shouta looked at Kayama and only got a smug shrug in return. Weird.
✬✬✬
Halfway through their walk from the bus station to Shouta’s apartment Eri started to drag her feet on the concrete. Shouta stopped them and bent down for Eri to hop up on his back. She fell asleep within minutes.
Kayama took the keys out of Shouta’s pocket and walked ahead of them to unlock the door, Yamada almost stumbling as he couldn't see his feet over the tower of plushies he has in his hands. They tiptoed their shoes off, Shouta swiftly slid off Eri’s shoes and padded to her room. Eri was usually a deep sleeper but not even that could save the maneuvers Shouta had to do around toys on the ground so as not to trip.
She raised her head slightly and sleepily rubbed her eyes, “Are we home?” Eri hummed, her words slightly mumbled. Shouta hummed in response, bending down to set her on her bed. Eri stretched her arms over her head and climbed under the covers, too sleepy to change into pajamas. Shouta will let her off the hook this time. He smiled as he tucked her in, probably a little too tight. She giggled, his hair tickling her as he bent down to kiss her forehead.
“Goodnight sweetie, sleep well.” Shouta said as he stood at the door.
Eri yawned, “Goodnight Dad. Are PapaMic and Auntie Nem saying goodnight to me too?” Shouta nodded as he left the door open a crack, walking back into the living room where Yamada and Kayama were laid out, exhausted. He pointed to Eri’s room with his thumb as he slumped down onto the couch. They both got up quickly. Shouta heard Yamada trying to be quiet and Eri giggling.
Kayama came out first, grabbing the shopping bags she brought earlier and leaning down to pat Shouta’s head, whispering ‘Oboro is waiting for me outside’, and to ‘get on with it.’ He waved with two fingers and closed his eyes as she quietly left.
Yamada’s socked footsteps made Shouta crack one of his eyes open as Yamada splayed out on the couch, his head dangerously close to Shouta’s thigh. Yamada’s blonde hair spread out over the couch cushions and draped over hanging off of the side.
Shouta didn't stop himself from staring this time, Yamada must've felt it cause he turned his head up and made direct eye contact with him. Sparkling green eyes stared into Shouta’s soul as Yamada sat up, bringing his legs up on the couch with him, sitting facing towards Shouta.
“Shouta-”
“Hizashi-”
They both snapped their mouths shut. Yamada flushed with the use of his given name and laughed awkwardly. “You go first.”
Shouta internally hyped himself up and opened his mouth. “Okay..” He tried to smile and not look absolutely terrified. “I've been thinking about… us.” Hizashi nodded, probably with too much excitement, waiting for him to continue. “And how you make me feel…”
“And about our relationship…” Shouta almost spat out, “You've… been there for me though a lot… adopting Eri… everything.”
“Shouta..” Hizashi felt like they were tiptoeing around it and it was genuinely going to kill him.
Shouta flushed across his cheeks and all the way down his neck, “Yeah?”
Hizashi held his hand out for Shouta to take and when he did he held it like it was something priceless, and he let the floodgates open. “I am totally in love with you. Since highschool- since i met you. I fell in love with you the day that we met in homeroom and you had this scruffy head of hair and an awful attempt at a beard or whatever you were trying to go for. I fell in love with you when you told me how much of an idiot I was for smoking and I fell in love with you when you saw a little girl in a bad situation and did everything you could to get her out of it, even if it meant you were gonna be a dad so young. I fell in love with how you immediately moved to get a place big enough for the two of you. I fall more and more in love with you every single day, Shou. And oh my god I am tired of not letting you know how much I love you every day.”
Shouta didn't respond- couldn't respond at first, genuinely shocked to the core, jaw wide open eyes big as saucers the whole nine yards. “Did you seriously say all of that in one breath?”
Hizashi laughs, loud and bright. “I've got the lung capacity.”
Shouta smiled warmly and laughed, “Kiss me?” Shouta said, head tilted. Hizashi looks at him with eyes wide like he hung the stars and leans forward quickly, almost bumping his face into Shouta’s. Hizashi chuckles, Shouta feels it on his lips.
Hizashi tilts his head, still smiling and leans in. Shouta meets him in the middle. The first thing Shouta notices is how soft Hizashi’s lips are. Kissing him feels so natural yet so exciting. Shouta wonders how he's gone through life without this. The second thing Shouta notices is the soft hairs of Hizashi’s mustache tickling his upper lip. He pulls away chuckling. Hizashi follows, smiling dopily. Shouta pushes his face away with his palm. Hizashi groans.
“I'm guessing that means you like me back?” Hizashi asks, Shouta deadpans and stares at him. Shutting him up with another kiss, then another, then a few more. Shouta pulls back and sees a very frazzled Hizashi.
“I love you too.”