Work Text:
Change comes quicker than most people think.
It started with a single feather. Hitoshi had rolled out of bed and watched as one fell to the floor. Sad and frayed looking, the end cut flat. He’d stared at it for a long moment. He’d molted feathers before, but this was different. They would never be cut again. This was final. One feather at a time, the past would leave him.
One by one over a few months, the feathers would fall away. And new ones would grow, brighter and stronger than their predecessors. Life went on, but in the background this essential regrowth continued.
Hitoshi couldn’t help waiting for the other shoe to drop at first. Things couldn’t be allowed to be this good for him. He had sort-of-parents who supported him. Friends who hadn’t run off at the sight of his wings. But they were unwavering, and eventually even Hitoshi had to accept they weren’t going anywhere.
He was moving forward, but the past was a desperate enemy. Sinking its claws in deep, leaving scars no one could see. Hitoshi often woke with a start, tearing himself away from an enemy that wasn’t there. Clawing his way out of a dark basement. His feathers grew strong and shiny. Beautiful like his friends’ and guardians’ feathers were. But he couldn’t shake the feeling his wings still weren’t good enough. Like they were still wrong somehow. Like he was still wrong.
Summer break came, and with it the summer camp fiasco that led to the Kamino Incident. Somehow, despite Aizawa being the only one actually involved, it seemed to haunt all of them a little. Aizawa was tense, keeping his little flock within his eyesight whenever he could. And his tension seemed to leak into the other two. It was a flock instinct, when one member got noticeably nervous the others did too. The apartment was tense and uncomfortable, full of wings fluttering like they were debating taking off.
It was Yamada who snapped first, slamming his hands on the table at lunch one day and declaring, “I can’t take this anymore! We need to do something to make it stop!”
“I’m sorry” Aizawa apologized, and Hitoshi was caught off guard by it.
“No! No blaming yourself either! You have every right to be completely fucked up by what happened! We just need to distract you so these stupid flock instincts quit setting everyone off!” Yamada insisted.
Hitoshi just kind glanced between the two adults. Yamada looked almost manic, leaning heavily over the table, wings fully stretched. Aizawa seemed to have physically withdrawn into himself as much as possible while sitting in a chair. His wings were clamped tightly to his back.
And Hitoshi? He had no idea what to do. His wings fluttered restlessly, and Yamada’s eyes shot to him before lighting up like he’d had the greatest idea.
“Come on, family! We’re going out!” Yamada decided, clapping his hands to get their attention.
“What?” Aizawa and Hitoshi said at the same time.
“We’re leaving. Right now. Come on! Get some shoes on!” Yamada repeated.
Hitoshi had to hold back a laugh as Aizawa slowly looked down at the pink sweatpants he was wearing.
“Hizashi. I’m in pajamas”
“Then change ! And do it fast!” Yamada barked, running off to get his own clothes.
Hitoshi and Aizawa stared at each other for a minute.
“Is he ok?” Hitoshi asked.
“Who knows. He won’t take no for an answer though. Go get dressed” Aizawa sighed, dragging himself up from his seat and following Yamada towards their bedroom.
Hitoshi went and threw on the first outfit he could find, not really caring that it was what he wore yesterday. He was fairly sure from the muffled conversation he was picking up from the hallway that Yamada was practically throwing clothes at Aizawa. Soon they made their way outside to be the most dysfunctional family on the sidewalk with Yamada leading the way while the other two trailed behind, still confused.
They were led to UA of all places. Aizawa grumbled something about being led to work after all that, but Yamada shut him up and dragged the group to the roof. He leaned over the railing on one edge, stretching his golden wings wide to enjoy the wind. Hitoshi and Aizawa exchanged one last glance before settling on either side of him and waiting to see what happened.
“Are you going for a nostalgia angle then?” Aizawa questioned.
“Not really! It just seemed like the right spot! You know how there’s always an updraft right here with the concrete below when it’s hot?”
“I’m well aware. Oboro insisted on jumping off here constantly” Aizawa sighed.
Hitoshi had no idea who that was, but the fondness in Aizawa’s voice told him it was someone important.
“Exactly! Means it’s perfectly safe to do this!” Yamada chirped.
Hitoshi had barely a moment to register the hand on his back before he fell, toppling over the railing and straight off the building. A million different words he would never say to his teachers/guardians ran through his head as he realized he’d been pushed off the roof .
He’d practiced his gliding plenty over the summer, so he relied on his instincts to right himself as his wings snapped out to catch the wind. This time was different though. His feathers were full, and the air was rising upwards. His descent halted entirely and then reversed, as the updraft carried him back up towards the roof. Aizawa suddenly appeared, halting his own fall with a powerful surge of his dark wings. Yamada was circling above them, laughing like a maniac.
“Can I swear at him? Just once?” Hitoshi deadpanned as Aizawa leveled out beside him.
“Yes. Absolutely. I already did” Aizawa agreed.
With the sudden panic over and Aizawa settling in to fly just beside him, Hitoshi realized exactly what was happening.
“I can fly !” he gasped.
“I was going to teach you soon” Aizawa huffed, but even he was smiling slightly.
They caught up to Yamada, who drifted to settle on Hitoshi’s other side with a grin.
“Fuck you!” Hitoshi called out, redeeming his one swear.
“Hey! You can’t swear at your parents!” Yamada gasped.
“He can. I gave him permission” Aizawa called.
“How could you?” Yamada continued his theatrics.
“Maybe because you pushed our son off the roof !” Aizawa growled right back.
“I wouldn’t have pushed him if I didn’t know he could fly!”
Hitoshi hated to interrupt their banter, but he had an important question, “Uh, how high are we going?”
The casual loop they’d settled into within the updraft had carried them high into the clouds.
“As high as you want! Just be careful, if you go too high you’ll struggle to breathe!” Yamada answered.
“When you want to stop going up, just move out of the updraft. Your wings are sensitive to the wind, you should be able to find a current going wherever you want to go. Stay on UA grounds though, the barrier might react if we go over it” Aizawa added.
He was right. Hitoshi could feel the feathers on the ends of his wings brush against other wind currents when he moved to the edge of the updraft. He ended up picking a current moving towards the training grounds and slipping into it. The change was immediate, with no new effort on his part the air started carrying him in that direction instead. All he had to do was keep his wings locked wide and flap occasionally if he shifted downwards. It felt entirely different from the gliding he’d been doing. That was just slowing a fall, this was floating in open space. Suddenly up and down were directions he could go, it was like he was completely untethered from gravity.
It was freeing . The past had always been on the ground. Up here, it couldn’t reach him. Even the scars deep within him felt far away. He could go anywhere. The sky was finally within his reach. He idly dipped a wing into a cloud and watched it come out decorated with beads of water that the wind quickly stole away. The world whisked by below, suddenly seeming so small. All of UA’s campus stretched out around him. It was beautiful. It was surreal.
UA’s campus was large, and he’d only managed to reach and pass over all the training grounds before his wings started to ache. Aizawa and Yamada were with him the whole time, occasionally offering tips if they felt he needed them. He held out until they were back near the main building before deciding he had to land. Landing was easy after all the practice he’d had gliding, and he shifted his wings to let the air spill out until he’d touched down the ground.
He just stood there breathing heavily for a long moment, wings spread wide.
“Good job” Aizawa told him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Yeah! Great work listener! You’re a free bird now! Get it? I should play that on the radio this week…” Yamada practically leapt forward to ruffle Hitoshi’s hair.
That was enough to snap him out of his daze and let him slowly fold his wings to his back.
“I can really fly,” he muttered.
And then he started to cry. For some reason. It seemed so surreal somehow. He’d known he would fly eventually. Thought about it with every clipped feather that molted out. But it had felt so distant. Like something he wouldn’t see for years. It hadn’t been a long flight, but he’d done it. Right here and now. He could finally fly. It was like the shackles he’d spent his whole life in had finally been removed. For once absolutely nothing was wrong with him, or his wings. He wasn’t a villain and his wings actually worked.
And then before anyone could say anything, he started laughing through his tears. Yamada had pushed him off a roof! He’d flown because he’d been pushed off a roof !
“Do… do people normally… push their kids… off a roof?” Hitoshi managed to stutter out between laughs and sobs.
“No. Usually schools encourage them to jump off small ledges” Aizawa said, shooting Yamada a glare.
“It worked didn’t it? He flew, and we’re all feeling wayyyyy better now! Besides, you jumped off one when you were six!” Yamada defended.
“What?” Hitoshi questioned, eyes shooting to Aizawa.
Aizawa sighed deeply, “My mother didn’t believe I was ready to fly yet. I knew I could”
It took an embarrassingly long time for Hitoshi to curb his laughter after that. Yamada just grinned knowingly the whole time. It was enough to stop the tears at least. Hitoshi’s emotions kept bubbling up though, a chaotic swirl of warmth and love like nothing he’d ever felt.
“Thank you. Not for pushing me off a roof but… for everything? You’re both good dads” he choked out.
Two wings draped over his back, one from each side.
Yamada cried, but a massive smile formed on his face even as he sniffled. Aizawa’s eyes stayed dry, but they’d widened in surprise before a small smile formed on his face. Far gentler than the scary one he used on his students.
Somehow, Yamada’s plan had worked. The tension and anxiety they’d been sharing was gone, replaced by warmth and affection. They were a family now, a flock. Whatever came next, they’d face it together.