Chapter Text
If you asked Aizawa directly if he was worried about Mic, he would scoff roll his eyes and deny it. In reality he was more than worried for his Husband, wanting to do anything to understand what was happening with the blonde.
The last few weeks Aizawa had noticed Mic’s strange behaviour, like when Aizawa was on a slow night patrolling, he was listening to Mic’s late night radio show as the supportive husband he is. He couldn’t help but notice the way Mic practically screamed down the microphone, Aizawa was aware that he could be loud on the show and expected his voice to raise in volume but maybe it was the tone or the way he made talking about trivial day to day life seem like it was the most exciting thing ever, whatever it was, Aizawa knew something was off with his husband.
Apparently so did the social media, as the day after there was a few posts questioning the reasons for the hosts strange behaviour. Most brushed it off as his normal personality and others showed more concern for the blonde, the former being the main guess for everyone. So Aizawa just brushed off his worry as him being overtired and paranoid.
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Then a week later he decided to confront Present Mic after coming back numerous times to his dorm empty. He knew Mic had his own that he could stay at which wasn't the problem, he also didn't see the issue in needing time alone everyone needed time alone once in a while, although he also seemed to be avoiding everyone at UA besides the students disappearing off during the lunch and breaks with no one seeing where he went. It wasn't until a segment of his show where listeners phoned in did he decide to hunt down the blonde.
The guy genuinely seemed concerned at first, then it took a turn. “Hi Present Mic, I was just wondering if you were alright? You’ve seemed extra energised the last few days.” The caller had chuckled awkwardly, Mic on the other hand chuckled wholeheartedly, “of course everything is more than fine here listener, don’t worry about it!” Again, his voice was loud almost like he had activated his quirk on a low level.
Before the call had ended, the caller spoke up again. “Well I imagine a guy like you used to party quite a bit in your early years, we also know that about ten years ago you went to rehab over a cocaine addiction. Have you been out partying again Present Mic and just so happened to relapse?”
The call went quiet for a few seconds before Mic answered, “Well listener I can assure you that I have not snorted, smoked or shot up any type of drug in a good few years. Neither should any of you listening at home either, not a good point in my life you can ask anyone who knew me from then, they’d say the same.” He laughed it off, though Aizawa could hear the strain in his voice.
That was probably the darkest point in Mic’s life, it’s wasn’t long after they started dating and only two years after Shirakumo died. Mic’s parents had kicked him out for having a boyfriend then his older sister passed away not long after, in a car accident, Hizashi’s parents didn't tell him until after the funeral. It had lead to Mic falling into a pit he couldn’t get himself out of. Until he was 21 and ended up in hospital because of a drug overdose. Then for 6 months he went to rehab and once he was let out he had to do regular urine testing for another 18 months.
Being a sidekick at a hero agency at the time had made Mic think that he screwed up his chances at becoming a hero, get fired and get his dreams snuffed out. But the hero who’s company it was, who passed a while after, refused to give up on him and helped him when he needed it and then some.
He was initially shunned by the rest of the agency, but after a few glares from the hero it was like nothing had happened and he was just a normal sidekick.
That whole thing started 12 years ago and Present Mic had promised Aizawa that he would become better after the erasure hero found him outside a club with pupils dilated and severe chest pain while wheezing out breaths.
For the most part he was clean and sober, 8 years going at the moment with only one relapse when he was 23.
But now, the guy who phoned in had opened up more questions for Aizawa. It would explain a lot, but he refused to believe that his husband would destroy all that progress. He hoped he had just forgotten to take his bipolar medication again and he was just manic, which in itself isn’t great but would be much easier to talk to the man about.
Aizawa does feel kind of bad, he had been working a lot recently. Barely able to spend much time at the teachers dorms, them both having separate rooms but the majority of the time Mic could be found sleeping in Aizawa’s bed waiting for him to either come back from a patrol or finish grading papers. Now that he thought about it, Aizawa had never been inside of his partners dorm.
Either way, the call with the guy had ended and Mic decided not to answer anymore calls after that personal question and just carried on with the show as normal.
By the time the show had ended Aizawa’s concern had only gotten worse, now able to notice the slight slur to his word that anyone but someone who has known him for fifteen years would miss.
The show always ended a little earlier than Aizawa’s patrol so Mic had always made it home before him. So when he got back to his dorm to find it empty, he was a bit surprised, not totally shocked as Mic could easily have been in his own dorm for once even if it was strange him being there. Perhaps after that garbage fire of a radio show he just wanted some time to himself.
Aizawa decided to go check on him anyway, leaving his dorm and making the short journey up the small corridor to his husband's room. Why would he relapse after so many years? Aizawa couldn't help but think, nothing had happened recently to warrant wanting an escape from the real world, at least that he knew of? Maybe it was just a bad night patrolling and some alleyway dealer had caught an exhausted Hizashi who wasn't in the right state of mind and sold him some stuff. Which in itself would be out of character for the radio show host as he was always careful.
Wait, why was Aizawa thinking like this, it wasn't like Hizashi was sniffing again, he was just tired and needed to rest. The underground hero now stood outside the plain white door, why was he so nervous about knocking on the door. It all would be an understandable explanation on the strange behaviour.
Aizawa knocked on the door, waiting for a couple of seconds. Upon hearing no movement on the other side, he deemed that Hizashi had probably taken his hearing aids out which wasn't strange for him after a day of teaching, patrolling and the radio show, it all could be overwhelming after nearly 14 hours of straight noise and stimulation.
He slowly opened the door which let out a screeching creak, making the dark apartment even creepier. Aizawa was quick to turn the main light on, instantly turning his nose up at the smell that filled his senses. On the coffee table there were numerous alcohol bottles of different types, the main room smelled stale and of rotten fruit. Glancing to the kitchen that was connected soon solved the smell of the rot, sat on the island was a bowel of fruit that had long since passed its 'best by' date.
Eraser head decided to ignore the grotesque situation he walked into and decided to look for his partner. Sticking his head into the first room, which was a bathroom, he found the medicine cabinet open as well as an empty prescription bottle for Hizashi's mood-stabilisers. At first Aizawa had thought the worst before looking into the toilet, finding them floating around in the bowl. That was a relief then, it wasn't the first time his partner had flushed his meds, normally he would if he was having a manic episode, his reasoning being 'Why should i take something that'll take away my good mood?' It had taken some convincing to get Hizashi to get his medication refilled and an even harder battle to actually take them but in the end Aizawa ended up with a sleeping Hizashi a few days after once the medication had kicked in.
Leaving the anxiety of his husband overdosing in the bathroom, no longer needing to worry about that possibility now, he carried on to the last room, being the bedroom. Opening the door he was met with another dark room, quickly finding the light switch and switching it on, he couldn't help but gasp. Sat on his dresser, which of course had a mirror with lights around, was an old business card covered in a white powder, beside it being one line of the same powder and residue from at least two other lines. Some more broken alcohol bottles decorated the dresser as well as the large bed. The mirror that sat on the dresser looked like it had been smashed, whether it was because Hizashi had punched it or a quirk based accident Aizawa had to guess the latter considering the shattered glass bottles that looked like they had exploded.
When building the dorms, it was made sure that Mic's dorm was soundproof and slightly more reinforced than the others as to not disturb the other teachers if he were to wake up from a nightmare or for any reason use his quirk. Aizawa was starting to worry now, his husband was out somewhere, probably manic as well as under the influence of multiple substances, which he knew made his mania worse. He wasn't sure where to look for him first, deciding on trying to call him first hoping that he'd answer no matter how unlikely it was he would. Pulling the half dead device from his pocket, he was quick to unlock it and find his top contact. Putting it up to his ear and listening to it ring a couple of times before it went to answer phone, aizawa cursed to himself before leaving an answer phone message, "Honey, it's just me. Can you phone me back as soon as you hear this, I'm not upset, I just want to make sure you're alright and I know where you are. Love you." Next he decided to try the studio, to see if he was still there. The phone rang a couple times before someone answered. "Hello? We're shutting down for the night and Present mic has gone home feel free to call back tomorrow-" Aizawa cut the person on the other side off, "It's Eraser head, did Yamada say if he was going out after the show?" He asked with an urgency in his voice, the line was quiet for a moment, he could faintly hear the young man on the other end asking his colleague the same question. "Uh, no he didn't. Although he was acting really strange today, he showed up wearing an old T-shirt and jeans, he normally does the radio show either in his hero costume or at least more presentable instead he was just really dishevelled. Before the show started he was talking about a lot of strange things, not stopping. We almost missed our starting time before we got him back on track. I thought it was strange, he's normally the one reminding us when the show begins. He did say something about needing to go home to put his other pair of hearing aids in because his were running low on battery. I hope he's alright." After muttering a quick 'thank you' Aizawa hung up, immediately he decided to hunt around the room, hoping to find a clue. He found Hizashi's hero costume in the wardrobe and his hearing aids were thrown on the bed, as previously stated, probably in need of charging. A quick look told Aizawa that Mic took the spare pair, which gave him a bit of relief, at least he wasn't walking around completely deaf to the world. That at least told him that he had been back to the teacher dorms. That gave him an idea, it wasn't that late at that point probably only around 11pm. Mic's show ended at 10:30pm, meaning he probably didn't get too far. Aizawa was quick to leave the dorm building heading towards the student dorms, hoping they saw something. As soon as he entered though his students were all up looking concerned, "What's happened?" he asked, too tired and worried for his husband to deal with his students at that moment. He did quickly back track on that thought as soon as one of the students opened their mouth, "We just saw Present Mic stumbling around, muttering and smiling to himself." Kirishima was quick to inform, probably the first to see him. "Did you see what way he was going?" Aizawa asked, smiling gratefully for the information. Kirishima didn't answer immediately, seemingly hesitant.
Before he could open his mouth to reassure the younger his phone rang, he scrambled to answer. He sighed after seeing the contact, what would Midnight need at this time of night? "I'm kinda busy right now Nem, can you ring me back later? I need this number open." He answered, probably ruder than he needed to be. Midnight was quick to answer though, seemingly ignoring the others attitude. "I think I found someone who belongs to you. We're only a bit up from the dorms." She quickly informed, in which Aizawa was grateful for. "Is he alright? How did you find him?" He asked leaving the dorms not before giving a reassuring nod to the class.
"He's fine for the minute we're sitting by a tree just chilling, I was just going on a walk for some fresh air and found him stumbling about with a beer. I tried talking to him or at least supporting him so he wouldn't fall but he just shoved past me. I got him to at least sit down so he wouldn't hurt himself, I think he's taken something but I'm not sure what it could be or whether he was drugged." Midnight spoke, clearly worried for her friend. Aizawa sighed, picking up his pace a bit, "Well, he's flushed his medication and I found what I think is his left over cocaine on his bedroom dresser. I'm just coming up now, I can see you both now." That was the last thing Aizawa said before hanging up to greet Midnight and Hizashi who was sat up against a tree playing with the grass.
He smiled gently at him as he crouched down beside his husband. His hair was a mess, the bun that held it looked messier than usual like it hadn't been taken out in at least a day. He wore a plain white t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans alongside his normal boots., "Hey Mic, lets go back indoors. It's really chilly out here." Aizawa tried to convince the other but the blonde just rolled his eyes, "it isn't that cold, plus I have stuff I need to do. I need to get back to the station to finish up some paperwork and stuff." He laughed standing back up to continue his walk. "Hizashi, can you tell me what you've taken tonight?" Aizawa asked, hoping to get some sense out of the taller even if he was aware of what he consumed. "I haven't taken anything, you know I wouldn't break my promise, I'm not the type." He laughed, seemingly convinced that he was getting away with the lie. Mic then proceeded to stand up, surprising the two dark haired heroes at the speed of which he did so.
The blonde carried on down the path humming to himself, the two caught up quickly, midnight taking the beer with little resistance from the other just an offended look. Aizawa stopped in front of him forcing the other to stop too, "What's the deal Shouta, I have important stuff that needs doing." Hizashi huffed, not unlike a toddler. His husband couldn't help but give an endearing smile at the blonde's attitude. "Hizashi, your pupils are incredibly dilated, you can barely walk in a straight line and you attempted to flush your meds. You are high, drunk and manic. Let's head back to the dorms and get you a glass of water." Aizawa offered a gentle smile, hoping that his partner would take his advice. Hizashi only scoffed, "yeah, no. Let's not do that, come on and we can go clubbing. It's Friday night and loads of people are out, it'll be fun! We haven't done that in so many years." The blonde tried and failed to convince the other two, speaking a mile a minute, they just exchanged sad looks. "Honey, you were nearly 10 years sober, what happened? You were so happy being sober. That's why we stopped going out." Midnight chimed in, trying to get the dual coloured eyes to focus on her unsuccessfully, "let's go indoors and talk about." She smiled gently which seemed to convince Mic. "Alright, alright. Just because I don't like disappointing you Nem." The blonde laughed, thinking it was the funniest thing in the world. He was quick to latch onto Aizawa practically dragging the man in the direction of the dorms.
"You know, you two are like my best and only friends. I love you both so much, especially you Shouta." The rest of the short walk consisted of the radio show host chattering, Midnight answering him and asking about his day, trying to keep him focused on the journey. Aizawa held his hand, occasionally adding his own thoughts to the conversation but keeping mostly quiet taking note of the way his husband's body shook, like his body held too much energy to contain.
By the time they made it back to Aizawa's dorm, Hizashi had not stopped his insistent chattering about anything and everything that came to mind. Entering the small apartment was easy enough and getting him to sit on a dining room table chair was just as easy. "Wait, where am I? I thought we were going to my place?" The blonde asked, concerned. "We're in your husbands dorm remember?" Midnight offered comfort to the quickly panicking man. "No, no I can't be here. I promised him I'd stay sober, I'll make him sad or angry maybe both! I don't want him to be sad mad at me because of me. I promise I did try to stay sober." Aizawa was quick to come into view with a reassuring smile and a glass of water, "I promise I'm not angry at you, I know you tried your best. I just want know why you relapsed and flushed your medications." He reassured, gently rubbing the man's thigh while encouraging the other to drink the water.
"I think he's on a come down, he's sweating quite a bit." Midnight informed quietly watching as the other slowly drank the water. Aizawa hummed in acknowledgement, waiting for his husband to finish his drink. "This is the first time I've sat down properly in the dorms in over a week, you know that?" Hizashi stated, placing the empty glass on the table. He laughed as the words left his mouth, "What do you mean?" Aizawa asked softly not taking his eyes off of his partner. Mic sighed, "I've only stopped here like once the other day to take a nap, I just haven't been tired. Because of that though, I've been doing so much, so much paperwork has been sorted through. That's a first for me!" The laugh sounded empty as exhaustion became apparent on his expression.
Suddenly Hizashi stood up, making both Aizawa and Midnight jump. "Sorry, I can't stop for long. I have more stuff that needs doing! Thanks for the drink, I'll see you both Monday." His steps were still unsteady as he attempted to walk towards the front door, which made it easy to stop him from leaving. "Really guys? I haven't had this much motivation to do stuff in weeks. You should be proud of me!" Pretty quickly, his mood switched noticeably becoming agitated. "That's because you're manic, probably because of your relapse. I know you know that Mic, so at least sleep and sober up so we can talk about it properly tomorrow." Aizawa tried to convince Hizashi, who just ground his teeth in annoyance. Then a sullen look took over his face, "Please Shouta, this is the happiest I've been in weeks, just one more night, then we can talk, talk about anything you want. I just need this, please. Not even that much, just a bit."
Aizawa couldn't stop the tears that came to his eyes as his husband practically begged, refusing to let them spill over. "I can't let you fall back into that hole you were in 12 years ago. Last time you said that to me, the next morning I found you half dead in an alley. I don't want you to end up back there again." That apparently wasn't the right thing to say as Hizashi proceeded to punch the wall as hard as he could, leaving a hole in it and bloody knuckles for himself, his face contorting into one of desperation. "Please Sho, I will get on my knees and beg if you want just please, let me have this one. I promise that you won't find me like that. I just want to forget, I don't want to keep remembering all the bad stuff, I don't want to keep feeling so depressed. I just want it all to go away for one more night. Just one. Please.." A sob left the blonde's mouth as he finished, his hands found themselves in his hair, gently tugging at the blonde locks. His legs seemed to give out on him, his body sinking to his knees. Midnight joined him on the floor, easing his hands out of his hair to hold her own hands tightly. "I'm sorry Zashi, but right now I can't believe that you will keep that promise." Another sob ripped itself out of the blonde's chest, soon dissolving into cries and sobs. Soon enough Aizawa joined the two on the floor, taking Hizashi's hands from Midnight, squeezing them reassuringly. Then all of a sudden Mic practically threw himself into Aizawa, sobbing into his shoulder, pleases uselessly falling from his mouth. Aizawa only held him tighter, shushing and reassuring him, "Everything will be alright baby, I love you so much. We can talk about it tomorrow, just get some rest." Soon enough, Hizashi's sobs turned into soft snores.
"Do you want me to stay the night, to make sure you're both alright?" Midnight asked, putting a reassuring hand on his back, Aizawa sighed, lifting the noticeably lighter up. "I think he'll be alright, probably some withdrawal the next few days but he'll live. I'll talk to him properly tomorrow." His voice wavered as a couple of tears fell down his face, "Will you be alright though?" Midnight asked, following Aizawa into the bedroom. He gently placed his husband onto the large bed, slipping Hizashi's hearing aids out. "I don't know, really. It's been so many years since he was this bad, I don't want to lose him again. I love him more than anything, for him not to tell me why he relapsed just made me kind of sad." Aizawa said, turning to face the other who smiled softly. "Alright, just tell me if you need anything, anything at all." Midnight offered, stroking a gentle hand down his arm. Aizawa smiled gratefully, watching her leave the room and hearing the front door shut.
He sighed before getting into bed besides Hizashi and pulling him in as close as possible, hoping for a better day tomorrow. It would be a difficult conversation to have with the blonde but it would be significantly easier to have him sober and coherent, maybe a bit hungover and he would definitely be manic, but he could deal with that more while having the the talk. A trip to their pharmacy to get a re-fill of his mood stabilisers, they didn't need to worry about getting a prescription as they didn't need an updated one for at least another month. It would just be a long journey to the pharmacist and probably a brief explanation. Aizawa couldn't quite fall asleep yet deciding to just lay with his husband who cuddled impossibly closer to him, and think. Their cat soon joined the two, curling up on Aizawa's lap. The black haired man pet the calico gently, she was getting old now, he remembered adopting her/finding her. It was actually the night Hizashi last relapsed when they were 23. Aizawa was practically carrying the blonde home when they heard a kitten crying in an alley.
They had both stopped to investigate, soon finding a small, black, white and orange kitten tangled up in a bag. She was sopping wet and covered in dirt, the two didn't even have to think twice before she was scooped up in Aizawa's scarf and was being taken back to the two's apartment. So much had happened that night, it was nice to end it with that. They had named her Sushi, being found in the back of a sushi restaurant. That was 8 years ago now, she was getting up there in age but she still acted like a kitten.
Aizawa carried on petting the cat with one hand ,while she purred loudly, and the other wrapped around Hizashi, all he could do was think and hope that the next day wasn't going to be as difficult as he was expecting, though it probably would be because god forbid him have a day off where nothing happens and he can relax, especially with what had been happening in recent weeks. He didn't have to dwell on it right now though, his eyes starting to drift shut, feeling like it was impossible to keep them open especially after the day he had.