Chapter Text
Izuku opened the door to his apartment and peered in.
“I’m home! Aizawa is here with me.”
“Pardon the intrusion.” his Dad muttered.
He heard his mum put some dishes down, and she appeared at the end of the short hall. “Welcome back Izuku!”
Izuku leaned down to allow her to press a quick kiss on his forehead before she beckoned him and his dad further into the house. “Welcome as well, Aizawa-san. Please come take a seat. I made tea.”
“Thank you.” He bowed lightly, and followed Izuku closely, clearly feeling out of place, and very, very awkward.
Izuku sent him a small smile but honestly, felt the same. He supposes there was no way that the conversation could occur without some awkwardness, at least for the initial meeting period. ‘Hey Mum, meet the man I took in as my Dad when you were dead and want to spend more time with!’ Yeah, no.
Izuku wanted his dad to feel comfortable though. Izuku took a seat at the dining table and gestured for his dad to take the one to his right. The second the man sat down, Izuku dragged his chair over into his personal space with a cheeky grin.
That got him an eye roll, and the minute dropping of tense shoulders. Small wins.
He missed the look his action got from his mum, who had turned around to bring tea to the table.
She placed cups down, earning her two small “thank yous”, and then took her own seat opposite Aizawa.
Izuku got the sense that neither adult knew exactly what to say, so he decided to save them from what would have otherwise become an incredibly long, incredibly awkward stretch of silence.
“Mum,” he began, softly, slightly extricating himself from Shota’s side to reach a hand across the table. His mum gripped his hand tightly. “This is Shota Aizawa, Pro Hero Eraserhead.”
“We introduced each other over text.” She said, faintly. “But it’s nice to see you in person, Aizawa-san.”
Shota inclined his head. “You as well, Midoriya-san. There’s also no need for formalities, Aizawa is fine.”
She nodded.
Izuku could sense both his parents hesitating again. He internally lamented both of their lacking social skills, and was about to speak again when his dad spoke instead.
“You probably know that before everything else, I was your son’s homeroom teacher.”
She nodded.
“You also probably know that it was just us for a year and a half before we came back to the past just under a week ago.”
She looked slightly heartbroken at the reminder of the End. “Yeah.” She gave Izuku a crooked smile. “He’s mentioned you quite a bit since Sunday.”
Izuku felt his cheeks go slightly red and turned his head off to the side in embarrassment, but didn’t stop himself from childishly gripping his dad’s upper arm.
His mum seemed to be eyeing Izuku’s grip and his dad’s face carefully. Izuku never knew what his mum’s impression of Aizawa was before, even when he really just was a teacher, but when she looked to Izuku’s right she seemed to see something that confused her.
Oddly, her shoulders released some tension. “I guess we should get to the heart of the matter then?”
Izuku felt his dad minutely still. He was nervous. He spoke anyway.
“I…” Izuku watched his face carefully fill with determination as he made eye contact with his mother. “Your son- Izuku and I spent a lot of time together. As you already know.” His eyes flicked to Izuku before boring back into his mother’s. “There’s no real easy way to tell a person’s mother that they’ve grown to love their kid as their own, but…” He sighed, and took a moment to look to his left.
Izuku could see his reflection in his dad’s eyes. He tilted his head in slight question. His dad’s body seemed to sag, and, seemingly without thought, a thumb reached up to brush his cheek affectionately.
“Izuku is not my flesh and blood and never will be, but frankly, it wouldn’t change a thing.”
It was the second time that day he’d heard words along a similar vein, but that didn’t stop him from directing wide-eyed awe at the man he’d chosen to call his dad.
Aizawa turned away from Izuku to face Inko’s direction, but didn’t look up at her. “I know this is a big ask from a man you don’t know… but… to spend time with Izuku in that capacity is something I really want to talk about. Is that something that you’re open to?”
When they both finally looked at Inko properly, they saw both her hands up, covering her mouth, and thick tears forming at the bottom of her eyelid.
Izuku’s brows furrowed, and he leaned forward on the table. “Mum?”
Aizawa frowned. "Midoriya-san?"
She sniffled, and pulled a tissue box over with her quirk. “Sorry- just give me a moment.”
She delicately dabbed at her tears, and blew her nose before discarding the tissue. Izuku looked with faint worry, but both him and Shota gave her space to get her thoughts together.
She rested her arms on the table. “Sorry. It’s just been a while since… since I’ve seen someone else care for Izuku in that way.” She looked off to the side pensively. “It’s something I’ve felt terrible about. To have Izuku grow up without a father like that.”
Izuku straightened in surprise. Hisashi Midoriya was not a taboo subject so much as he… just never came up.
She gave Shota and Izuku a morose smile. “Izuku never said anything, but I couldn’t help but sometimes wonder: Would Izuku be happier with two parents around? Should I try harder to enter a profession so that we no longer have to rely on Hisashi’s income from all the way in America? So that he could come back and be a proper father to Izuku?” She shook her head.
“I’ve had these thoughts on my mind a lot more since he mentioned you on Sunday. He didn’t say much about your relationship then, but he didn’t need to.” She bore her jade eyes onto Aizawa, who held her gaze, sensing the seriousness. “I knew that Izuku was no longer just mine the second he said your name with the same stars in his eyes that he had when Hisashi was still around.”
Aizawa took a moment to blink in surprise.
Softly, Izuku said. “I barely remember him.”
A sad look formed on Inko’s face as she turned to Izuku. “I know.”
Finally, a real smile bloomed on his mum’s face as she took in the both of them together. “Izuku probably doesn’t remember half the conversation we had when he came back on Sunday, but I believe that I was the one to first bring up shared custody.”
That had both Izuku and his dad gaping. Her lips quirked. “At the time, I only said it to keep Izuku from running out of the house and hunting you down himself.” She admitted. “I couldn’t stand the thought of him leaving me and getting hurt again. It seemed that ever since he started UA all that he’s been doing is getting hurt.”
She sighed, and her eyes grew watery again. “But I’ve had a lot of time to think about it after Izuku gave me your number. Izuku- he… my baby’s already grown up all the way to be eighteen without me. And I can’t stop the things that have already happened and hurt him. It’s too late.”
Her face filled with determination. Izuku could only watch his mum in wonder at her words. “What I can save him the hurt of, is that of losing a parent.”
Izuku turned at the same time as his dad, and they stared at each other with intermingled shock, and blossoming hope.
Memories of a meeting between his mum and All Might had shaped his expectation of this meeting. Resistance, despite the talk that he’d had with his mum the day prior.
His dad seemed to be of the same mind. “Are you sure? Izuku mentioned that when dorms were built for the school you were very resistant.” He looked slightly desperate, like he needed all doubt to be erased. Izuku felt the same.
She gave them an apologetic smile. “I can only imagine that my misgivings about UA were exacerbated for some reason,” Izuku and Shota grimaced. “But, this is different. This isn’t about me protecting Izuku from danger. This is about his emotional wellbeing.”
Izuku couldn’t stop himself from speaking. “So you’re saying… it’s okay?” At her slightly exasperated look, he rushed to elaborate. “I wanna split time between you and my dad.” She blinked at the title. “Is that okay?” She smiled.
“Well, I’m not going to arrange anything legal at the moment. He needs to be a bit more than an acquaintance for me to consider something like that. I am, however, open to discussing informal arrangements.” She confirmed.
Izuku’s cheeks pulled back into a positively joyous, involuntary grin. He used his quirk to leap over the table and grip his mum in a tight hug, earning him twin scolding cries of “Izuku!” that quickly devolved into laughter.
“Thankyouthankyouthankyou-” Izuku repeated as he continued to squeeze his poor mother.
“You’re welcome Izuku but-” She wheezed slightly and pat Izuku’s back weakly. “Please let me breathe.”
“Right, right, sorry.” He pulled back, still glowing with joy. He whipped around to look at his dad. He was now standing (probably because Izuku jumped over the table-) with hands in his pockets, lips pressed together, and eyes positively shining.
Considering his dad’s usual level of emotiveness, his utterly pleased expression was the greatest display of joy he’d ever seen on the man.
Izuku rushed around the table this time, and gripped the man in a tight hug which was returned with equal fervour.
“I got you, kid.”
“You got me, Dad.” He breathed.
His dad’s grip tightened around him, before they both let go.
He faced Inko, and bowed deeply. “Midoriya-san, the trust you have placed in me is something I will take great care of. The chance to be in Izuku’s life is something I will be eternally grateful for.”
Inko shook her hands frantically. “Please, Aizawa, there’s no need for that. If anything, I should be thanking you for taking care of Izuku when I couldn’t. You’ve clearly done well in my absence, and I couldn’t be more thankful.”
She then bowed at Aizawa, who seemed at a bit of a loss for what to do. Izuku watched the interaction like a tennis match. “Midoriya-san…”
She straightened, and gave a watery smile. “Oh, and please, just Midoriya is fine.”
His dad’s shoulders dropped, and he let out a breath, giving an awkward smile.
A silence fell, with none of the tension that any of the previous silences had.
“...Do you want to hear about all the stupid things Izuku did when he was little?”
“Mum!” Izuku squeaked.
Aizawa visibly perked up. “Yes.” He followed Inko who was gesturing towards the couch.
“Dad!”
Inko pulled some photo albums over with her quirk. Izuku groaned in the background. They grinned at each other. This would be the start of a beautiful friendship.