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“This is irrational. We should just text him.”
“But that would ruin the surprise!” Shouta rolls his eyes at the rather weak puppy dog eyes and small pout on his friend’s face. He sidesteps Oboro and keeps walking. The other appears by his side a moment later. “C’mon, you know he would enjoy it!”
“I don’t doubt that .” He replies. “I doubt he’d like us showing up at his house, unannounced .”
Hopefully he’s gotten his point across. It’s something they’ve come to know about Yamada. He’s loud, a talker, and prefers to meet them at places that aren’t his house. Every time he or Oboro suggests meeting him there, he gives them plenty of reasons why they can’t. It didn’t take long for him to stop suggesting it, but Oboro always left the option open to their friend.
“We’ll only be there for a few minutes, besides, I remember where his bedroom window is!”
A deep sigh leaves him. “You’re not using your clouds to get his attention.”
Oboro tosses a big grin in his direction. “ I’ll be getting his attention, Aizawa.”
He doesn’t fall for it. “You’re not getting his attention while on your clouds.”
Oboro skips a few steps away from him and calls, “We’ll see who gets there first then!”
When Oboro starts to skip faster, he breaks out into a run.
They’ve only been to Yamada’s house a handful of times. The first was when both his and Oboro’s parents picked them up after spending a decent time at the arcade. Yamada had suggested it when both Aizawa and Oboro’s parents called. After sending the address to their overly worried parents, the three of them spent the rest of their evening walking over to the house.
He’d never admit it outloud, but he was just as curious about Yamada’s house as Oboro. The three of them had been hanging out for months now. At that point, the blonde had been over to the Aizawa and Oboro residence multiple times. The three have had multiple study groups turned into procrastination sessions together. Usually ending with them trying something dumb.
They arrived at the Yamada’s at the same time their parents did, so there wasn’t any time for parent chit chat. He didn’t get a good look at the building. Only that it’s multi-story and painted a dull color.
The second time is the first and only peek they got of the inside. Yamada needed to grab a sleepover bag for the night as they all planned to study for finals at Oboro’s house. Upon realizing he grabbed the wrong bag, they had to make the stop. As they got closer, their friend seemed weirdly anxious.
“You alright man?” Oboro had asked. Despite being the one guiding them, Yamada hung in the back.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Yamada said through a gritted smile. “My siblings are just really rowdy so it might take a second to grab my stuff.”
That was all they were told. They knew Yamada had quite a few siblings- evident from all the names he would throw around and complain about from time to time- but never went into detail about them. Which is reasonable. All Shouta’s friends need to know about his older sisters is that they exist. Only that.
“I’ll be quick.” Yamada says after telling them to wait outside. “The gremlins will latch onto me if I’m not.”
Yamada opens the door, and Shouta glimpses three things. A coat rack hangs on the wall, seemingly overflowing with jackets. Underneath it is a shoe rack, equally overwhelmed with how many shoes there are. The ones in the shelves are buried under smaller shoes. The only ground space is equally as messy. Finally, he spots an abundance of sticky notes on a whiteboard that, from the looks of it, hasn’t been used for writing in a long time.
That's all he sees before Yamada closes the door. It does little to muffle the sudden shriek they hear come from the house. Several other cries follow it, all distinctly being made from children. Considering the fact that it was well into the evening when they last were at Yamada’s house, the children must’ve been asleep. Yamada appears a minute later with an additional bag. He slams the door closed and locks it with a speed they’ve never seen before.
A few screams sound from the house, one distinctly sounding like ‘Hizashi’. Their friend runs down the walkway, picks up his backpack that he left with them, and doesn’t stop running until they’re at the bus stop. As much as they wanted to ask, Yamada seemed amped up about their sleepover again on the bus ride. So they didn’t.
From then on, they hardly ever stopped at Yamada’s house. On the very few occasions they walked their friend home, he’d wave goodbye and quickly disappear inside. Or the time he and Oboro got off one bus stop too early and ended up walking by on their way to school. Shouta had texted him they were on their way, and Yamada was waiting on the sidewalk outside the front. Like he couldn’t wait to leave.
The last time they were at Yamada's house was to give Yamada his school bag. He’d forgotten it at Oboro’s after their sleepover, and since Shouta was staying another night, he tagged along. Despite sneaking out being highly irrational. The only difference is that Yamada knew they were coming. He specifically requested Oboro fly it up to his bedroom window, which apparently overlooks the street on the side of the house. Oboro had quickly flown the bag up to Yamada’s window, wished their friend good night, and sank back to the ground. Their friend waved them goodbye, and the two got back to Oboro’s place without being caught.
“He didn’t have any decorations on his walls.” Oboro says when they’re in his room. Usually he’d dismiss a comment made and fall asleep immediately after, but this grabbed his attention. He rolled onto his back and looked up at Shirakumo’s bed.
“I think I saw a bookshelf in there but it hardly had anything on it. There wasn’t anything on his desk either.”
When Shirakumo rolls on his side, he sees his friend’s worried expression.
“His bed only had gray blankets.” Shirakumo says as he stares at the wall. “I thought he hates the color gray.”
There’s silence for a few minutes. Then-
“Maybe those are hand-me-downs.” His voice cracks in the way it does after not speaking for a long time. “I have some from my sisters. So we didn’t have to buy new bed sets every year.”
The worried look doesn’t disappear from his friend’s face. He knows Shirakumo understands despite not having any siblings himself. His friend’s hair looks darker than usual. More gray than blue.
For Yamada’s birthday, Shirakumo buys him a set of blankets that have all of Hizashi’s favorite colors.
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The spring sun is beaming down on them when they get to the Yamada house. Shouta squints up at the surprisingly small three story that sits on the corner. Its pointed roof stands out from the houses surrounding it. That and the fact it’s painted a fairly light shade of gray with white accents. He can see windows lining the side of it, the top middle being Hizashi’s bedroom.
He’d given up trying to change Oboro’s mind the moment they got on the bus. He debated sending Yamada a warning but decided he didn’t want to hear Oboro whine and complain about ruining the surprise. He’d apologize by paying for Yamada on their next trip to the arcade. Actually, he’ll make Oboro pay for their next trip to the arcade as an apology.
The amount of child screams they hear when walking up to the house is abhorrent, but must be normal for this household. Seeing as it is four in the afternoon, all of Yamada’s siblings must be home from school. Including Yamada himself. Their friend had left school early for something he’d explain later. He seemed unworried about it so Oboro figured it must be a minimal issue.
As they walk up, he takes notes of the two new cars parked around the house. The two on the side he assumed just belong to Yamada’s parents, though what job someone could work while taking care of 3+ kids is lost on him. He gets a better look at the two parked in front of the house while Oboro knocks. One is a smaller car, with someone’s bag sitting in the front seat. A few boxes sit in the back, all packed and labeled. Though he can’t read the writing. On the other hand, the second car is a bit larger and loaded with stuff. Boxes, bags, and he spots a laundry hamper sitting on the floor behind the passenger seat.
“It could be the neighbor’s cars.” Oboro says, following his gaze. “Remember when Yamada said they park in front of the house sometimes.”
“Mm.” He definitely doesn’t remember that. They wait for a few seconds before Oboro knocks again. The screaming, surprisingly, dies down for a few deceiving seconds before a child shouts something in English. At least he thinks it’s english. All he understands is a name and “door.” He does remember Yamada mentioning learning English from a young age. On top of JSL.
A cacophony of noise happens within the house. Both he and Oboro take a few steps away from the door. After a few moments of worrying noises later, they hear footsteps approaching.
The door swings open a few seconds later. “Sorry about that, this house is pretty loud if you couldn’t tell, I hope you weren’t waiting long.”
To tell the truth, he expected Yamada’s mother to open the door. Though this woman is too young to be that. If it wasn’t for fact that her blonde hair and vibrant green eyes is a perfect match to Hizashi’s own, then he would’ve guessed she’s the babysitter.
“Oh no, we weren’t.” Oboro, always quick to recover, says. “We aren’t interrupting anything, are we?”
The woman flicks her hand at a rapid pace, the same way Hizashi does. “Not at all- we’re finishing up here anyways- oh right, what can I help you with? You two aren’t selling anything, are you?”
He isn’t ashamed to hide behind Oboro a bit. The more they interact with this Yamada, the more deja vu he gets of Hizashi. Even Yamada’s clunky, normal glasses he wears when studying are the same as her’s.
“Oh no no no- we’re actually here for our friend. Yamada Hizashi? He left school early and we just finished finals so we wanted to invite him out!”
The woman freezes. “Yamada…Hizashi?”
Pushing past the awkward reaction, Oboro smiles and gestures between them. “I’m Oboro Shirakumo and this is Aizawa Shouta. We’re Hizashi’s friends from school. If he’s not here we can-”
“Oh Kami.” The woman says, eyes growing wide. “Oh Kami, your Hizashi’s friends ?!”
As off putting as it sounds, she says it in a very endearing way. Her hands curl up into half fists and find rest on her chin. A big smile spreads across her face.
“Oh Kami, Hizashi made friends ?!” A high pitched noise sounds and practically pops their ears. “Oh Kami, this is great! I’m so happy that he made- that you all- ah this is exciting!”
“What about Hizashi and friends?” A deeper voice asks from down the hall. A man with black hair and green eyes appears behind her. “Coco, breathe. What's happening? Who’s this?”
Tattoos line the man’s arms and neck, and multiple piercings litter his face. His eyes narrow as he looks at them, but before they can feel intimidated, the woman grabs his arm and starts to rapidly shake it.
“They’re Hizashi’s friends!” She exclaims. Seeming unbothered by the shaking, the man’s face morphs into one of surprise.
“Wait really?!”
Oboro waves, and then promptly elbows him in the chest to do the same.
The woman stops shaking the other and reaches an arm out towards them. “This is Oboro and Aizawa, Hizashi’s friends from school!”
“Holy shit!” The man says in english. He has a pretty good guess where Hizashi learned all the English curse words now. “Oh that's awesome, great to meet you! I’m Hizashi’s older brother, Yamato. Yamada Yamato.”
The woman gasps. “Oh Kami I forgot to introduce myself- I’m Yamada Caroline, but people just call me Coco since Caroline is such an American name! I’m Hizashi’s older sister!”
Hizashi never mentioned anything about older siblings. He follows Oboro’s example and replies “it’s nice to meet you” back.
“Wait- you were here for something, what can we help you with?” Yamada Coco says.
“Uh, we wanted to invite Hizashi out since we passed all of our finals last week. We meant it to be a surprise, but if he’s not home-”
“Aw, thats so amazing of you two to do.” Yamada Yamoto says, eyes softening. His sister jerks, as if just realizing what they said.
“Oh shoot- well he isn’t here but he is home.” She says, as if it makes any sense. “We were just getting the rest of his stuff- oh oh, you should come over! To surprise him still! Putting together his room can wait!”
“I’ll grab Kone and Hinata, then we can head out.” Yamato checks his phone and slowly starts to turn down the hallway, but a voice stops him.
“No need, let's get the hell out of here.” Two people walk down the hall. The person who spoke blazes forward with a box in their arms. “Whoever these two are, bring them along.”
The second person quickly follows behind them, but leans in towards Yamada Caroline and whispers, “they may have pissed her off, lets go.”
For a brief second, he panics and thinks their presence actually upsetted someone, but Yamada Caroline groans and says “Kotone.”
“It’s not my fault she’s being a prissy bitch!” Kotone, the one who walked out with a box, yells from the sidewalk.
“Alright, I’ll run damage control, you get the cars started.” Yamada Caroline says and tosses her keys to the second person that walked out. She turns to the two of them and says, “You’re free to come along if you want to see Hizashi, just hop in my car. Hinata, get them settled.”
A shriek sounds from the inside of the house, and the other two Yamada’s shuffle them towards the cars.
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The car ride to Yamada Caroline’s home is…enlightening.
Apparently, Hizashi is the fifth sibling out of eleven kids. Or at least, out of the ones that aren’t step-siblings. Shouta wonders why they made the distinction.
Caroline, or Coco, as she insisted they call her, is the oldest out of all the kids. She’s twenty-five, a full ten years older than Hizashi, and their friend’s new guardian. Her words, not theirs.
“We originally intended for him to stay with Yamato since he lives closer to UA.” Yamada Coco explains. Yamato, a newly minted twenty-two year old and college graduate. “But with him paying off his student loans and working two jobs to cover it, the social worker decided he would stay with me.”
“He would’ve gotten Zashi if he agreed to let me move in.” Yamada Kotone pipes up from the front, arms crossed on top of the box sitting on their lap.
“He still gets Zashi on weekdays, he just won’t live there.” Yamada Hinata, who hadn’t spoken since they got in the car, says from Shouta’s right. “Besides, you still have roommates and a lease to take care of.”
Another thing they learn about the Yamada siblings. All of them are really fucking smart .
The older four all graduated college years early. Hinata, who is seventeen , is going for her Masters in engineering. Kotone, who is twenty, is already working on their Masters and is almost done. Coco got all her certifications and two degrees done within five years. And apparently, Hizashi is taking college classes alongside his high school courses. He’s half way to a fucking Associates Degree already.
“You know you don’t have to move out,” Yamada Coco says as she gets off the freeway. “I’m sure Hizashi would want to have you around.”
Yamada Hinata shakes her head. “I’ll be fine with Yamato. Besides, I’m sure the budgie wants his space after all this time.”
“Budgie?” Oboro blurts out. His hair starts to wave faster at his embarrassment.
“Budgie is my nickname for him.” Hinata replies, staring out the window as they drive. “We used to be with each other all the time and we practiced copying noises together. His nickname for me is Polly.”
Silence fills the car as they drive. He hugs his backpack closer when they turn down a residential road.
“Oh I get it!” Oboro exclaims. “Like “Polly want a cracker” from those old cartoons!”
A small smile spreads across Yamada Hinata’s face. “Yeah, exactly that.”
“We’re almost here~!” Coco sing songs after a few seconds. He watches as small houses come into view on either side of the road. Coco turns down a few more streets before parking in front of a house. He notices it’s five spots away from any street corner.
“So the plan was to start on Hizashi’s room but I think that can wait.” Yamada Coco says as they get out. Yamato parks in the spot right behind her. “How does an early dinner sound guys?”
An early dinner is the consensus from the siblings. They agree to stay for the meal. It’s already five in the evening, the sun starting its slow descent in the sky. Thankfully, both Shouta and Oboro’s parents expect them to be out late tonight.
With a few boxes in everyone’s arms, they’re led to the front door of a simple looking house. Brown, wooden walls, some pieces of shrubbery around the front entrance, and black, metal accents act as its decoration. It’s wildly different from the other house. Its small quaintness gives the place a homey feeling.
A small part of him is relieved now that he knows Hizashi is staying here instead.
He freezes when the thought crosses his mind.
…something to think about later.
“We’re back!” Yamada Coco sings songs as she opens the door. He and Oboro share a small smile. It’s so similar to Hizashi’s own greetings.
“Welcome back!” They hear Hizashi call back. Unlike at school, his voice sounds subdued. Softer than usual.
They slip off their shoes as Coco walks down the hall. “Hope you weren’t too bor- Hizashi!”
All heads whip up and look down the hall. Coco strides into the next room but her voice carries clearly to them.
“I told you not to start dinner!”
“I wanted to!” Hizashi’s voice is clear as he defends himself. “Since I couldn’t go with you guys!”
“That's not the point, I wanted to work on dinner together!”
“Not to mention dinner isn’t your responsibility.” Yamato rounds the corner and joins in on the conversation. “Off with the apron, shortstack.”
“But it’s just-”
“Zashi, I love you, thank you, but out of the kitchen.” Coco says. “Hand over the spatula.”
It sounds like Hizashi relinquishes the aforementioned items, and soft footfalls head away from them. A small nudge startles him. Kotone points to where they set the boxes down, and both him and Oboro follow their lead. The third eldest sibling guides them down the hall while Hinata closes the door behind them.
They walk into the kitchen area as they turn the corner. It’s a good size, and the rich brown cupboards keep up the comfortable feeling of the house. Coco is fussing over some pots on the stove, probably checking to see how far Hizashi got in making dinner.
“He’s in the living room,” Yamato says, an apron in one hand. “I’ll come get you guys when dinner’s ready.”
Yamato nods to Kotone, and they follow them deeper into the house. It’s not a far trek. They pass the dining area and the door to the backyard, then immediately into the sitting areas. A wall separates the two rooms, with two small steps leading down into it. The hardwood floors are a light brown, with a large, dark green rug rolled across it. Hizashi sits on a plush brown couch with his back to them.
“Zashi, we picked up some guests on the way.” Kotone announces. Their tone is flat, but not maliciously so. Half their eyes are a green color a few shades darker than the rest. In the car ride over, Kotone explained their eyes change color based on their emotions. Green is apparently their neutral color.
Hizashi looks up. Confusion is written all over his face- until his eyes dart over to them awkwardly waving at him. Hizashi’s eyes widen and his mouth falls open.
Both of them cover their ears when Hizashi lets out a loud, quirk boosted “HUH?!”
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It was instinct to cut Hizashi off, after too many times where a quirk amplified scream nearly blew his eardrums out. Their friend coughs at the loss of his voice and his hair flops back down as he releases his quirk. He steps onto the living room floor and hands his water bottle over to their wheezing friend. Hizashi immediately takes it, downs the rest of it, and hands it back.
“I um, I don’t know how quirk proofed your house is.” He says in an awkward apology. “I didn’t mean to-”
Hizashi rapidly waves his hand at him. “No no, you’re fine. I was just surprised I-” The blonde’s head snapped up, green eyes wide. He honestly expects it when Hizashi turns to Shouta and starts to shake him by the shoulders. “WAIT! How are you here? How did you get here? When did you meet my siblings?! I-”
“We wanted to surprise you with a trip to the plaza since we passed all our finals.” He silently thanks Oboro because Hizashi stops shaking him. “We went to your house to see if you were there but you-”
“-weren’t there.” Hizashi finishes, eyes wide as he puts the pieces together. “But my siblings were.”
“Yamada Coco answered the door.” He says, head still shaking from his friend’s enthusiasm. “We told her and Yamada Yamato we were your friends-”
“And she invited you over.” Hizashi groans, releasing him. “Did she tell you why I live here now too?”
Both of them hesitantly nod their head. Hizashi facepalms into his hands. Shouta instinctively reaches out to grab his friend’s glasses. Pressing them against your face like that has got to be uncomfortable.
His friend lets the glasses be taken but doesn’t remove his hands. He can see Hizashi is getting the tiniest bit red.
“Hizashi?” Shirakumo says after a few seconds. He’s right by Shouta’s side and is looking worriedly at their friend. “What’s wrong?”
The hands move the tiniest bit, but aren’t put down. He looks towards Shirakumo, unsure what to do. He fiddles with Hizashi’s glasses while the taller one thinks.
“We’re not mad, if that's what you think.” Shouta says softly.
“I don’t know why we would be mad about this, but we’re not.” Shirakumo adds. “I’m just glad we found you.”
“I’m glad you’re in a safer place.” He says, equally as soft as before.
Their friend peeks an eye out.
“You’re not mad that I lied?” Is the uncertain, wavery voice that speaks.
Both of them shake their heads.
“I…think we were more worried about us showing up without warning.” Shirakumo admits. “Shouta wanted to text you but I stopped him. I’m sorry.”
“I’m making him pay for our next trip to the arcade as an apology.” He says.
“Wait what- what did I do?!”
A smile appears on the now un-hidden face of their friend.
“I told you showing up unannounced would be irrational. Now Zashi thinks we’re mad at him.”
“Well, it ended up being a good thing!” Oboro claims and throws an arm around each of their shoulders. “Now our friend knows we aren’t mad at him- for whatever we would be mad at him- why would we be mad at you again?”
Hizashi sighs. “Because I didn’t tell you guys about my…situation.”
“You didn’t need to.” He says. “It isn’t any of our business anyways. We just want to know you’re okay.”
Their friend smiles, and a rosy colored blush decorates Hizashi’s cheeks. It’s…cute. In a friendly way. Definitely in a friendly way. He can’t help but smile back.
“Soooooo, now that we know where you live can we go out to the plaza tomorrow?”
Yamada laughs at Oboro’s question while he just rolls his eyes.
“I’ll ask my sister at dinner. She’ll probably say yes. Maybe offer for you guys to sleep over and help me with my room or something.”
Oboro lets out an excited gasp and grabs Yamada by the arms. “Wait, can we?! Can we help with your room?! Oh there’s so many posters I’ve wanted to give you, I got you one of Wind Geyser-”
“REALLY?!” Yamada exclaims. They all wince a bit at the noise, but Oboro nods like nothing happened. Zashi’s quirk use didn’t leave his ears ringing anyways.
Zashi…
He shakes his head and focuses on his friend’s conversation. He can think about that later. Way later. When he’s in his thirties later. Right now, all that matters is being here with his friends.