Work Text:
Shinsou Hitoshi is having a good day.
His muscles ache pleasantly from his workout with Aizawa-sensei and not even the pouring rain can damage his bright mood.
Aizawa-sensei had of course offered to give him a ride home but once Hitoshi had declined his teacher had smirked (that frankly villainous looking smile) and told him to practice ducking in and out of sight the whole way home as a way to stay dry.
Jokes on him though because Sleepy Dad went to great pains to teach Hitoshi how to stick to walls and shadows years ago in case he was ever being followed and needed to shake his tail.
Psych Dad had of course laughed liked Sleepy Dad was being ridiculous teaching this kind of stuff to a literal six year old but that night as he’d tucked Hitoshi into bed he’d told a bedtime story about a kid managing to escape a kidnapper by ducking into an alley and calling his amazing Dads for help with the panic button in his watch while he jumped off the wall and onto a fire escape, so Hitoshi knows that Psych Dad had wanted him to take the lessons seriously.
He only ever makes things sound badass when he’s trying to get Hitoshi to do something.
Like those really old comics he bought when little Hitoshi had refused to eat his spinach.
He laughs to himself at the memory; Sleepy Dad passed out on the couch from his double shift at work and Hitoshi refusing to come eat dinner because Sleepy Dad was just sooooo comfortable to lay on.
Psych Dad had pouted in that mock hurt way he did whenever Hitoshi clung to Sleepy Dad– as if he wasn’t secretly ecstatic that Hitoshi was never mad at Sleepy Dad for his long hours away from the house and the fact he was rarely awake when he was finally home.
Psych Dad had then sighed and announced to the room at large that he would have no choice but to read the new comics all by himself, which he then proceeded to do voices and all.
Hitoshi had not held out long and he’s been eating spinach ever since, though by now it’s because he likes it and not because he thinks it'll give him super strength and a poison resistant stomach.
He ducks under an overhang and takes a second to scan the way forward for places that will provide shelter. His backpack is heavy, stuffed to the brim with the books he’ll need for his homework, but Hitoshi doesn’t let that stop him. He’s a man on a mission and that mission is to be reasonably dry when he reaches his house so Psych Dad doesn’t freak out and burrito bundle him into a fluffy blanket on the couch while he starts making soup ‘just in case’.
Though Hitoshi has to admit, that actually does sound nice. Especially if Sleepy Dad gets stuck in the rain too. They can be burrito buddies while they watch the news with Psych Dad sandwiched between them and Madame Purrfect choosing whose lap to sit on. Hitoshi hopes it will be him but he can’t deny that Madame Purrfect clings to Sleepy Dad almost as much as Hitoshi himself does.
There’s an alley up ahead that’s almost entirely sheltered from the rain by the tiny porches sticking out from the apartment buildings in random intervals and Hitoshi eagerly makes his way there.
His emergency sweatshirt does nothing to protect him from the rain and if his backpack gets much wetter his books will be ruined, but this alley is a straight shot to his street so it’s a win win.
Or it would’ve been if Hitoshi hadn’t straight up tripped on a cardboard box.
It takes everything in him to twist and roll to both absorb the impact as well as avoid crushing the box with his fall. His hands and sleeves are soaked and his backpack feels even heavier than before as rain starts hitting him in earnest– but the box survived and that’s all that matters.
More specifically, the occupant of the box survived.
A gray kitten lays inside mostly unmoving, though pale blue eyes half open in a slow blink when Hitoshi strokes it gently with a finger. It doesn’t make a sound or even move and with a pang Hitoshi wonders how long it’s been here. There are no bowls in the box, not for food or water though as Hitoshi watches it slowly pokes its tongue out to lap at the rain water pooling in the bottom.
Even that movement is slow though and Hitoshi doesn’t even think, just scoops the kitten up gently and cups it on his shoulder by his neck where it will be shielded from further rain by his hood and can warm up with the heat from his skin.
He’s sure he looks weird with his hand by his neck like that but the kitten is too young to safely perch by itself and the big pocket on the front of his hoodie won’t give it enough air.
The game to stay dry is over and Hitoshi moves forward like a man on a mission, slow enough not to jostle his charge yet fast enough to be lowkey rushing.
He makes it to his front door in (relatively) one piece.
He’s soaked to the bone, his sweatshirt beyond drenched and water drips down his face from his hood and now damp hair, but the kitten is fine and that’s all that matters.
Psych Dad clearly does not agree.
“HITOSHI!?! OH MY GOODNESS!!!”
Hitoshi winces at the volume but offers no resistance as Psych Dad bustles around him semifranitcally, grabbing his waterlogged backpack and quickly spreading out the contents on a towel while Hitoshi slowly toes off his shoes and takes a step forward onto the second towel prepared at his feet.
It takes Psych Dad an embarrassingly long time to notice the small bundle of gray in Hitoshi’s palm and Hitoshi braces himself for another shout but his dad instead melts.
“Awwwww!!!” Psych Dad coos, leaning down to get a closer look. “Was the poor little baby stuck in the rain? Hitoshi really is a hero isn’t he? Yes he is, yes he is!”
“Dad stop.” Hitoshi groans, wanting to cover his face or push Psych Dad over but not willing to set the kitten down just yet to free up his hands. He resorts to knocking Psych Dad’s chest with his sock which just serves to remind his father of his soggy state.
“Shower now! I’ve got the little guy! Straight there so you don’t drip everywhere, I'll lay out some clothes for you. Madame Purrfect!! I need you!”
Hitoshi snorts as his dad deftly dries the kitten off with a fluffy hand towel as Madame Purrfect strolls regally into the room like the queen she is.
One of Hitoshi’s bigoted preschool teachers had made a comment about children needing a woman in the house and Sleepy Dad had brought the orange tabby home that very night.
Hitoshi definitely learned malicious compliance from Sleepy Dad.
Psych Dad is great and even has a mental voice-activated quirk like Hitoshi but Sleepy Dad is unquestionably the one that influenced Hitoshi’s personality.
Psych Dad’s quirk is similar to Hitoshi’s in that it too is question and answer based but where responding to Hitoshi lets him take control, his dad’s questions just help you reach the truthful answer, though you can choose whether to then say it out loud or not.
He’s the stereotypical therapist asking ‘and how does that make you feel?’ but thanks to his quirk it actually works.
By the time Hitoshi pads back into the living room the kitten has been fed and is snuggled on the couch with Madame Purrfect who turns her big eyes on Hitoshi unblinkingly before slowly lowering her head again.
Hitoshi can’t hold back a smile as he makes his way over. He’ll never not be amazed at how easily adult cats can adopt strange kittens.
Madame Purrfect is practically radiating ‘mine now’ through her eyes.
Before he can take a seat beside them something warm and fuzzy is draped over his shoulders and the next thing Hitoshi knows his arms are pinned to his sides as the blanket is wrapped around him tightly.
“Da-ad!” he groans halfheartedly. “I’m too old for fuzzy burrito!”
Psych Dad arranges Hitoshi’s now cocooned self on the couch and pops out the footrest for him. “One is never too old for fuzzy burrito.” he intones gravely.
His eyes are twinkling with mirth though and he doesn’t call Hitoshi on his frankly token protest which is why Hitoshi loves him.
There’s a light tap on the door before the sound of it unlocking is heard and Sleepy Dad shuffles in looking like a strong breeze would blow him over. His black eyes blink slowly as he squints at the couch.
“The madame was pregnant?” he mumbles.
“MIRU!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!!”
Hitoshi snorts as Psych Dad dithers around Sleepy Dad while his suit and loose hair slowly drip water onto the floor.
“WHY DIDN’T YOU USE THE EMERGENCY UMBRELLA IN THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT???”
Sleepy Dad blinks at his husband slowly. “Forgot it was there.” he murmurs, too tired to resist the quirk’s effects.
Psych Dad starts manhandling him out of his wet clothes and towards the bathroom. “Shower now! Straight there so you don’t drip everywhere, I'll lay out some clothes for you.”
Hitoshi wonders if Psych Dad practices the lines to have said it exactly the same way to both of them, down to the tone. Then again Hitoshi hadn’t heard the bathroom door open while he was in there so chances are Psych Dad had prepared the clothes before they’d even come home just from seeing that it was raining outside. He’s thoughtful like that.
Within ten minutes Sleepy Dad is wrapped in his own fuzzy burrito beside Hitoshi and Psych Dad is humming to himself while he prepares dinner.
“How was your day Tosh?” Sleepy Dad manages, sounding like he’s fighting off sleep.
“Tiring.” Hitoshi grins, playing up his own exhaustion for the sake of their routine.
“Mood.” Sleepy Dad mumbles, swaying dramatically in his cocoon before flopping over onto Hitoshi’s lap.
Hitoshi struggles to free an arm from the blanket so he can pat Sleepy Dad’s head but if there’s one thing Psych Dad knows how to do, it’s wrap a snuggly burrito.
Hitoshi is not ashamed to say he’s learnt the technique solely for use with his capture weapon in the field.
“So… a kitten huh?” Sleepy Dad stares up at him with amusement lighting up his drawn and exhausted face. “Named it yet?”
Hitoshi grins. “Not yet. Was thinking it could be a process, you know, could be cathartic.”
“Nice.” Sleepy Dad grins back. “pawsitively ameowzing.”
That startles a laugh out of Hitoshi, especially coupled with Psych Dad’s yell of “absolutely not!” from the kitchen
“It’ll be hard to top Madame Purrfect,” Sleepy Dad mock-sighs. “litter-ly.”
“Come on Dad, stay pawsitive. We were fur-tunate to come up with that one but that doesn’t mean we should be feline defeated.”
Sleepy Dad laughs and Hitoshi feels the warm rush of pride at accomplishing it.
They cool it with the puns before Psych Dad makes good on his threats to burn dinner again.
“How was work Dad? You getting time off soon?”
Sleepy Dad sighs. “Hope so. They’ve got me running ragged and apparently I’m up for promotion which should hopefully net me a secretary.”
“Finally.” Hitoshi murumers, knowing full well that the main reason his dad works so hard is that everything needs to be filed in paperwork, forms and summaries after work hours. Every phone call, every meeting, every provisional license exam overseen, all of it needed to be documented and submitted before the day was over.
When he was younger Hitoshi used to dream of one day working for his dad just to make his life easier. Now he’s not so sure he wants to work that hard even if it is for the Hero Commision.
Maybe he’ll freelance part time or something. He’s going underground after all. Nobody needs to know that he’s Mera’s son.
Silence falls but it's peaceful and drowsy and Hitoshi and Sleepy Dad watch Madame Purrfect care for the kitten while the sounds of something sizzling are heard from the kitchen.
“Mister Ameowzing.” Hitoshi murmurs drowsily.
Sleepy Dad makes a sound of approval. “Madame Purrfect and Mister Ameowzing. Nice.”
Hitoshi sinks further into the couch, cozy and warm and so very happy. “Yeah,” he smiles, “it is.”