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Hizashi is excited to get some one-on-one bonding time with his husband’s problem child. Shouta’s gotten plenty of bonding time with him through patrols and training, and he and Hitoshi have played video games and trained together, but the only time Hizashi’s gotten to spend with the kid so far has been whole family time. Not that there’s anything wrong with that — whole family bonding is important, of course — but Hizashi wants a chance for the two of them to get to know each other better. He just hopes Izuku has better luck in the kitchen than Shouta and Hitoshi.
Hizashi is the only one home — his husband and son are training with Hitoshi’s capture weapon at one of the UA gyms — so when there’s a knock at the door, he hurries over, a big smile on his face. “Hey, Izuku,” he says, opening the door to see a mop of green. “Come on in.”
Izuku offers a small smile. “Thanks for having me,” he says. He slips off his shoes to put on the slippers they got for him. When he straightens up, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a folder, looking at Hizashi shyly. “I, um, finished writing up your analysis, if you want to look through it.”
“Yeah!” Hizashi exclaims in excitement, louder than he means to. Izuku flinches back slightly, and Hizashi smiles sheepishly. “Sorry, listener. I’m just excited.”
Izuku shakes his head. “No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting it.” He holds the folder out to Hizashi.
“Will you go over your notes with me before we start cooking?” Hizashi asks.
Izuku blinks. “Oh, um, sure. If you want.”
Hizashi grins at him. “Would you like tea first? I’ll put on the kettle.”
“Oh, um, you don’t have to…”
“It’s no bother at all, listener. It’s okay if you don’t want any, but I’m going to make some for myself anyway, so it’s no more work to make you a cup.”
“Oh, right, then, sure,” Izuku says.
Hizashi nods and moves toward the kitchen. “While we’re waiting, what have you been up to? Anything besides work? Any interesting cases?”
Izuku shrugs. “I made it to the library this week, which is nice. It can be hard to go when they’re open, especially since I have to go so far.”
“Isn’t there a library in the area you patrol?”
“Oh, yeah. I can’t go to that library, or the one in Aldera. I have to go to the other side of town.”
Hizashi frowns, watching the way the boy’s shoulders are hunched in slightly. He considers not asking, since Izuku didn’t offer the information, but he can’t help himself. He is careful to keep his voice gentle as he asks, “Why’s that?”
Izuku looks up at him, blinking. “Oh, well, they don’t, um, like quirkless people very much. Lots of places are like that.”
Hizashi frowns and opens his mouth to say something, but changes his mind. He knows from his own experiences, from Shouta’s, from raising Hitoshi, that explicitly confronting others’ discrimination now won’t do any good. Izuku knows that it isn’t right. He doesn’t need Hizashi to point that out. Doing so could make him defensive, or make him feel patronized, or like Hizashi is looking down on him. Before Hizashi can decide what he should say next that won’t do more harm than good, the kettle starts whistling. “Looks like I should pour the tea. Is green okay?”
Izuku studies him for a long moment, then says, “Yeah, sure.” Hizashi has a feeling the long look had nothing to do with his question about tea.
Instead of saying anything, he pours the hot water into the pot and brings it, along with two cups, to the dining table. “So,” he says, sitting down, “where should we start?”
Izuku sits next to him, and though he starts hesitantly, he is soon rambling about Hizashi’s quirk quickly enough that it takes all his focus to keep up. “So, obviously, you have a vocal mutation. I’m pretty sure it’s always active, mostly, because of the mutation, and amplification is only part of it. You also seem to have a lower and higher vocal range than humans without vocal quirks, based on videos I’ve seen of you. Have you ever tested your low and high pitch limits? The right frequency at the right volume can do all kinds of interesting things. Like, shattering glass is as much about frequency as volume. But your voice has a vaguely hypnotic quality to it, too, kind of like Hitoshi’s, but different. His quirk relies on response, so it makes you curious and makes you want to please him, in a way. Yours just makes you interested, so people want to listen to your voice because it has a quality to it that their brains really like or something, and I think it makes what you say seem a little more trustworthy, which would be really helpful for a politician but is good for a hero too, because civilians will trust you to know what’s best when you need them to evacuate or go with you. I’m really curious if there’s any way to measure it and figure out what it is about your voice that does that, maybe by comparing it to your voice when Eraser is cancelling your quirk, and if we can figure that out, maybe we could find out whether your quirk is active when you make other sounds too, like humming or even sneezing. I was also wondering if you have any scans of the mutation to your vocal cords so I could maybe see how they’re different, but only if you’re comfortable with that, of course.” Izuku pauses, taking a deep breath, and Hizashi pushes a freshly poured cup of tea toward him.
“I’m sure we can look into some of that together sometime, little listener. I’ve never thought about most of your suggestions,” Hizashi says as the boy takes a drink of his tea. “Is there anything else you’d like to tell me, instead of having me read about it by myself? I appreciate getting to hear you explain it, while I’ll have the report to reference later.”
“Oh, yeah. I included some ideas for ways I haven’t seen you use your quirk that I think you could? Some of them might not work, and you’ve probably tried some before, but Eraser appreciated when I included suggestions for him, so I thought I might as well,” Izuku says. “Well, we talked about your quirk being active through humming before, and any time you use your voice. If my assumptions are right, you can’t control the area of effect for your quirk, so you have to be careful about bystanders and even structural supports in buildings. I was wondering if breath control techniques, like ones that control the stream of air, might let you change the area of effect to an extent, or even using different vowel sounds to change the shape of your air. Also, have you experimented with frequencies at all? Because there are certain frequencies that can calm people down or make them feel uneasy, or even make them feel ill in some cases.”
“I’ve heard of that, but I never focused on frequency specifically. And I’ve always thought that the area of effect was just a limitation of my quirk — do you really think those techniques could help?”
Izuku shrugs, hunching in on himself slightly. “It’s possible, but there’s no way to be sure without testing it.”
“I guess I’ll just have to test it, then.” They sit in silence for a few minutes. Hizashi notices that Izuku seems to have shrunken in on himself slightly, retreating into his shyer body language that he has when he isn’t in “work mode.” He decides it is probably time for them to move on. “Well, thank you for all of your suggestions, little listener. Are you ready to start cooking now?”
“Oh, um, yeah, sure. What are we making?”
“We’re going to start with curry because it’s pretty easy. If you enjoy it, and show more promise than Shouta or Hitoshi, we can try something a little more complicated next time.”
Izuku smiles a little. “It’s been a while since I’ve had curry.”
Izuku trails Mic into the kitchen. “So the first thing you should always do, before you even start cooking, is pull your hair back and wash your hands.” He looks at Izuku for a moment as he pulls his hair into a low bun. “Well, your hair is short enough you probably don’t have to, but if I leave mine down, I’ll end up getting food in it or burning the ends on the stove.”
Izuku shakes his head and pulls a hair tie out of his pocket, glad he has one. “It’s long enough to get in my eyes. I usually pull it back to keep it out of the way.” His hair isn’t long enough to all reach one ponytail, so he just puts the top half of it in a bun. His hair is a lot longer than it was a few years ago, mostly because it means he doesn’t have to get it cut as often since he doesn’t really have the money for it. He wants one of those cool, partially-shaved styles he’s seen on other teenagers, but it would be way too expensive to maintain, so long hair it is. Once his hair is out of his eyes, he goes over to the sink to wash his hands before Mic feels the need to remind him.
“Alright, next we need to gather and prepare our ingredients. It isn’t really important which vegetables we use, because there are a few different recipe variations, but I usually use onions, carrots, and potatoes, if that’s alright with you, little listener? Oh, and I was planning to use chicken.”
Mic looks at Izuku like he wants an answer, so the boy says, “That’s fine. I’m not picky.”
A sad look crosses Hizashi’s face, but before Izuku has a chance to wonder about it, it’s gone, replaced by a grin. “Then let’s get started.”
Izuku watches closely as Mic shows him how to cut each ingredient. He focuses intently on keeping the motions of his knife precise as he copies Hizashi’s example as exactly as he can. He’s slow, only getting through about half the amount Hizashi does in the same amount of time, but the man doesn’t seem to mind. Izuku just doesn’t want to mess up and waste any of the ingredients, and he doesn’t have enough practice to keep from messing up if he goes any faster.
Izuku is just pouring the chicken broth into the pan with the onions and chicken when he hears the door open. A minute later, two sets of soft footsteps come toward the kitchen.
“Hey Shou, Toshi, how was training?” Hizashi says, looking over his shoulder to smile at them. In a quieter voice, he tells Izuku, “Here, go ahead and add the apple and honey, I’ll get the soy sauce.”
“It was fine. What are you making?” comes Hitoshi’s tired voice.
Izuku carefully adds the two ingredients, being sure to get every bit of both of them into the pan, before he turns to look at Hitoshi. He feels a small smile tug at his lips as he takes in Hitoshi’s more tired than usual face, his messier than normal hair, and his sweat-stained shirt. “Curry,” he says. “Did you forget to change clothes?”
Hitoshi glances down at himself, scrunching his nose. “Forgot to bring clean ones, actually. Imma go change. See you in a few.”
“And maybe brush your hair, too? You look like you lost a fight with a tornado,” Izuku says, then immediately feels his cheeks burn. He can’t believe he just said that! And in front of Mic and Eraser, too! He’s just been getting so much more comfortable around Hitoshi than he remembers being around a kid his own age since he was four, and Hitoshi tends to be sarcastic and snarky. Maybe it’s wearing off on him?
Luckily for his dignity, Hitoshi has already turned to walk away, so he doesn’t see Izuku’s blush. He just flips him off and keeps walking. Izuku turns back to the pan on the stove, hoping that maybe the adults didn’t notice him being an idiot. By the suppressed smile on Hizashi’s face, though, he wasn’t that lucky.
Mic doesn’t say anything about it, luckily. Instead, he says, “You can go hang out with Hitoshi when he’s done if you want. I can finish up.”
Izuku shakes his head immediately. “I’ll stay. I can’t learn if I don’t. Maybe… maybe we can hang out after dinner? If you’re okay with me staying that late?”
“Of course, listener. You can stay as long as you like. You’re always welcome here.”
Izuku ducks his head, not sure how to respond to that. After a moment he says, “So, um, what’s the next step?”
“Potatoes and carrots. Could you grab them from the counter?”
“This smells great,” Eraser says as they all sit down at the table, the curry Izuku and Hizashi made in front of them. “Thank you both for cooking.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Hitoshi says. He smiles, lazy and lopsided, at Izuku, then turns to Hizashi. “You haven’t banned him from your kitchen, yet? What’d he do that’s so much better than me?”
“Izuku actually listens to instructions. And he didn’t almost fall asleep over the hot stove,” Hizashi says.
Izuku snorts involuntarily. “You did what?”
“I’d had a long night, okay? And the warmth made me feel more tired than I already was.”
“If you were that tired, you shouldn’t have been trying to cook,” Hizashi scolds, but it’s playful.
“Why aren’t you allowed to cook, Eraser?” Izuku ventures, looking to his mentor.
Izuku can see Hizashi smirking out of the corner of his eye while Shouta sighs. “I was sixteen. It shouldn’t count,” he says tiredly. Izuku waits for further explanation, but none comes.
Izuku pouts at his mentor, hoping that the cuteness factor will get the man to give him what he wants. It works more often than not with Eraser, in his experience. “Oh, come on, Shouta. Please tell the story?”
Shouta’s cheeks go faintly pink as he frowns at Izuku. “No.”
“There’s no point,” Hitoshi says, drawing Izuku’s attention back to him. “I’ve been trying to get that story out of them for years. Papa will just tease Dad, and Dad will refuse to say anything more about it.”
There are a few minutes of silence while Eraser resolutely ignores Izuku’s continued attempts at making a pleading face before he tactlessly changes the subject. “Have you finished packing for your work study yet, Hitoshi?”
Hitoshi blinks slowly at the man and says simply, “No.”
“Hitoshi!” Hizashi says in a lightly admonishing tone. Izuku is aware that he is typically pretty sensitive to anything that sounds scolding coming from an adult, but Mic’s relaxed posture and the teasing note in his voice manage to keep him from flinching on instinct. “You only have one day left before you leave. If you rush through packing, you’ll end up forgetting something!”
Hitoshi sighs and reassures, “I’ll be fine, Papa. It’s not like you would let me forget anything.”
Hizashi opens his mouth to say something else, but before he gets the chance Izuku says, “I forgot you’re starting work studies soon! Who did you pick to work with?”
“Nightshade.”
“Nightshade,” Izuku repeats under his breath, trying to place the name. “Oh! She’s an underground hero in Tokyo, right? I’ve of her, but we’ve never met. Why’d you pick her?”
“It can be hard to get work studies with underground heroes,” Hitoshi says, shrugging. “Not many put in offers, but I did get one from Nightshade. And I talked about it with Dad, and she focuses more on misdirection, so I think working with her could help me with ways to keep my quirk hidden or trick people into responding.”
“That’s a really good idea! You’ll have to tell me all about what you learn when you get back. Work studies sound so cool, getting to learn about different aspects of heroics from a mentor, instead of all just in the classroom.”
“Maybe you should do a sort of work study with me, problem child,” Shouta says casually. It makes Izuku feel suspicious, though.
“I’m not a hero student,” he points out. “Besides, I have way more field experience than a first year going into a work study.”
Shouta studies him for a moment. Izuku trusts Eraser — he was the first adult he could trust — but right now, that look is making him uncomfortable. He slouches down in his chair, his shoulders curling inward, as Shouta says, “You haven’t seen a lot of the behind-the-scenes parts of being a hero, though. It’s more than just the field work.”
Izuku has a bad feeling that he knows where this is going, and he doesn’t like it. “I can’t be a hero, Eraser, you know that. I don’t need to see behind-the-scenes.” His voice comes out sharper than it should. It’s a tone he wouldn’t have dreamed of using with an adult — with anyone, really — just a few years ago. It really shows how safe he feels with Eraser that he can talk to him like that without completely freaking out or running away afterward. He feels bad about it, though, because Shouta doesn’t deserve it, even when he is being annoying about trying to trick Izuku into going legit. It isn’t possible for Izuku. The Commission would never let there be a quirkless hero.
Izuku sees Shouta open his mouth to respond, but then Hizashi puts a hand on his shoulder. Shouta glances at his husband and the blond man shakes his head minutely before smiling at Izuku. “There’s no pressure, Izuku. We’re not going to try and make you do anything you don’t want to. You did say work studies sounded cool, though, so if you wanted to have a different kind of experience, shadowing Shou off the field might give you that. Or you could always come shadow me if you wanted. Even if you just wanted to come see how my work at the station goes out of costume. But like I said, only if that sounds like something you would be interested in.”
Izuku studies Hizashi for a moment, then looks between the two men. He can tell by the way that Shouta has relaxed slightly, no longer leaning forward in Izuku’s direction, that he isn’t going to push any more. And honestly, getting to see behind the scenes at Put Your Hands Up Radio sounds pretty cool. “Alright. Thanks. I’ll think about it.”
“Alright, listener,” Hizashi says, smiling brighter. “And I didn’t just mean this week. Any time you want to come see the station, just let me know and we’ll set something up, okay? So there’s not even pressure to make any decision about it right now.”
Izuku nods once, offering Hizashi his own hesitant smile.
Conversation stays lighter for the rest of dinner, and they avoid any more tense moments. When they are all done eating, Dad shoos Hitoshi and Izuku off to Hitoshi’s room. Izuku tries to argue that he should help clean up, but Dad won’t hear it.
“Come on, let’s go play a game,” Hitoshi says, leading a reluctant Izuku toward his room. Lower, he adds, “Dad probably just wants Papa all to himself.”
Izuku’s nose wrinkles, but Hitoshi doesn’t know why. “Oh, ew. I do not want to think about that.”
It takes Hitoshi a minute to realize what he means, and then he feels his own face scrunch up in disgust. “That isn’t what I meant. Gross. I just meant he probably wanted to be sappy without an audience.”
“Oh, sorry. I don’t know why that was my first though,” Izuku mumbles, and not his face is bright pink.
“It’s fine. I could have phrased that better. Let’s just play Mario Kart and forget we had this conversation.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Izuku wins their first round. He’s ahead in the second round, both boys jokingly smack talking each other, when his phone chimes and he automatically reaches for it. He drives right off the track as he checks his messages, and Hitoshi ends up passing him and speeding through the finish line. He looks over to see Izuku looking at his phone with a light pink flush to his cheeks, the corner of his mouth pinched between his teeth.
“So, who’s that?” he asks in a light, teasing tone. As light as he can make his typically monotone voice, at least.
Izuku’s face goes from pink to bright red. “No-no one,” he says. Hitoshi raises an eyebrow, and Izuku corrects, “Just a f-friend. Wanted to know if I’m patrolling tonight.”
“You don’t have to tell me, you know, if you don’t want to. I was just teasing,” Hitoshi says, hoping he didn’t accidentally pressure Izuku into telling him something he wasn’t comfortable with.
“No, it’s fine, I’ve just… never had friends to tease me before.” Izuku shrugs, looking away.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, we can just go back to the game. But if you do want to, now or another time, I’m here,” Hitoshi offers. He understands not wanting to talk, and he understands wanting to talk about something but not having anyone to talk to. He’s been there. So, whichever way Izuku is feeling, Hitoshi will be here.
“There’s not much to say,” Izuku starts, glancing at Hitoshi. Looks like he does want to talk, then. “I’ve known him for a few years, and we became friends. He asked me out a while ago, and we’ve been on a few dates, but I’m not really sure if that means we’re dating, you know?”
“I haven’t been there, but I get what you mean. It can be hard to know where you stand with someone. Do you want to be dating?” Hitoshi’s felt that way with classmates, for sure. Now that he’s at UA, he has classmates that don’t hate or fear him for his quirk, but he never really knows where the line between being friendly in class and hanging out and actually being friends is supposed to be. Probably because of his fucked up childhood. Izuku seems to have a similar background in that respect, so it makes sense that he would have similar uncertainties.
“Yeah,” Izuku admits quietly. “But I don’t want to say anything, because what if he doesn’t want that? I’d rather get to be friends than scare him away by wanting more.”
“I don’t think you have to say anything. Not that I think it would make you lose a friend, but I think it’s okay to just see how it goes for a while.
Izuku smiles, small and shy. “Thanks, Hitoshi.” He glances back down at his phone. “It’s getting late. I should get going.”
“Or you could stay,” Hitoshi offers. He knows his dads want to convince Izuku to stay with them, even if it’s only some of the time, and they’ve asked him to see if he can convince Izuku to stay over. He likes Izuku and fully agrees with their plan to integrate him into their family, so he agreed to see what he could do. “We have a spare room, or we could roll out the futon in here. It could be like a sleepover. I never got to have those when I was younger.”
“Me either. But I wouldn’t want to impose. And what about your dads?”
“They’d be fine with it,” Hitoshi assures him, “but I can go ask, if you want.”
“Okay. If-If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure. I’ll be right back.” Hitoshi stands, leaving his bedroom door open as he goes down the short hallway back toward the living and dining rooms. “Dad, Papa?”
“What’s up, Toshi?” Papa asks, smiling at him from where he and Dad are sitting on the couch. Dad just hums, seemingly half-asleep with his head in Papa’s lap.
“It’s already pretty late, so is it okay if Izuku stays over tonight?”
“Of course, kiddo. Just make sure you two don’t stay up too late. You really need to finish getting ready for your work study tomorrow. And let us know if you need us to get out the futon or anything, though the guest room would probably be more comfortable. The sheets are clean.”
“Okay, thanks.” He heads back to his room to relay Papa’s instructions to Izuku. They play video games for another hour before getting ready for bed. Izuku opts to sleep in the guest room — his room, once he accepts it. Hitoshi feels happy that Izuku is staying the night, because maybe he’ll be more willing to stay over in the future after he’s done it once. Hitoshi quite likes the idea of having Izuku as his brother, after all, and this feels like progress toward that.