Chapter Text
The halls of UA never failed to perk Izuku up. He’d had a groggy morning after not sleeping well. It had been a late night, with Izuku talking with his mother for hours both during and after dinner.
He had then ended the evening by thrusting a piece of paper with his dad’s phone number written on it at his mum, before promptly going to hide in his room, exhaustion from the emotional day hitting him all at once.
Lying in bed saw him struggling with the sound of all the traffic that had been absent for two years, and the distinct absence of his dad’s breathing. Why it hadn’t bothered him the night before, he wasn’t too sure, but what he did know was that dragging himself out of bed to go to UA early in the morning was among his top 10 accomplishments.
Nonetheless, walking the halls of the beloved hero school brought a special kind of joy and pride that always brought his mood and energy up as he arrived for the school day. Usually, he would have to dodge a crowd of students but, like yesterday, he had come early.
Izuku slowed his gait as he approached the door to the staff lounge. Sensei had said it was okay, but what if he decided that his old life was better after the second day and didn’t want anything to do with Izuku anymore?!
Izuku, maybe, needed a bit more sleep, but it’s not like Shota had been his dad so openly in the past (future?) either. It was new.
Actually, maybe that wasn’t the case. Izuku had spent some time thinking in the solitude of his room, and realised that the way he and his dad were acting now, even after receiving the new, formal, address, was exactly the same as how they’d acted in the future.
He thinks that, maybe, they had both only summoned the guts to put name to their familial feelings towards each other because they thought they were about to lose the other. It was the quickest way to put all the unspoken things into words. I see you as you see me. I wish we could stay together. I love you.
Izuku relaxed his shoulders which had unconsciously hunched up in his self-deprecating spiral, and moved to knock on the door. Before his fist could connect, the door sped open to reveal his perpetually exhausted father. He froze as his eyes locked on to Izuku. Izuku froze in response.
They stared at each other for a few moments before Shota reached down and picked Izuku up. Izuku let out a squeak in mild horror and intense embarrassment. He could hear Midnight and Mic laughing from further in the staff lounge. He elected to ignore the ongoing squawks that Vlad King and Power loader were letting out (he thinks it was them at least. He’s never heard the sound of a mental breakdown so clearly, much less from the pro heroes).
“My child.” Izuku hid his quickly reddening face in his dad’s capture weapon. Clearly his earlier worries were unfounded, but he is understandably Very Confused. And very embarrassed. Why is he being carried like a three year old?! In front of all his teachers no less.
“Awh but Shoo~” Hizashi dragged out.
Izuku was beginning to think that he was missing something.
Shota closed the door with his foot and carried an embarrassed green bean to the other side of the room, all while ignoring his gawking colleagues. He plopped on the couch and held Izuku close, one hand curled around his head, and the other around his back. Izuku felt more than saw some of his teachers approach, and then back off, likely due to the force of an unseen glare supported by Shota’s grip tightening around Izuku.
“My. Child. Go get your own.” Mic and Midnight laughed again - Vlad and Powerloader hadn’t even stopped doing… whatever they were doing. “We’re going to nap right here until class needs to start. Come within thirty metres of us and die.”
“Shota the room isn’t even that big.”
“I know.”
Izuku’s head was still tucked into his dad’s capture weapon, but he could very much get behind a nap before class. He wondered if his dad had the same issues sleeping without Izuku, in a much louder world than they were used to that Izuku had had.
He leaned back to look at his dad’s side profile, which was caught in a quirked glare still aimed at his friends. Izuku smiled and curled into his dad’s hold, head resting on his shoulder, not completely hiding his face this time, and lightly fisting his shirt.
In a move unseen to Izuku, but very seen to the gawkers, Shota ceased his glare in favour of smiling at his child.
Mic shook his head unbelievingly. “If you had told me I’d see my best friend being openly affectionate to any degree, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
“Usually you’re meant to put a time frame on statements like those.” Sounded Cementoss, who appeared to be refraining from cooing at the duo on the couch. A smart choice, considering Aizawa’s threat.
“There is no time. This is a never event. I wouldn’t believe.”
Midnight, Vlad King and Powerloader nodded sagely along.
They ceased their teasing to smile at their friend, who had also relaxed alongside his kid, and actually seemed to be settling into a nap. Well, they supposed they shouldn’t have been surprised about that.
Nemuri’s smile went particularly sappy. “Who would have thought that out of all of us, it was grouchy ol’ Shouta who got himself a kid first?”
A bunch of the other teachers laughed lightly. Shota sensed the respect (fear) level from the other teachers dropping in his half-asleep state. He quickly rectified that.
“Thirty. Metres.”
They all paled. “Right, we’re going now!”
Thirteen and Snipe were already out the door.
~~~~~~
Izuku towards class 1-A a bit later than he did the previous day due to the impromptu nap session with his dad. He had never been more well rested after a nap than what he felt now, he thought happily as he opened the door to his class. He distantly wondered if it was some kind of Dad power. The hug that his dad gave him before sending him on his way to class certainly helped.
He entered the room with a pep in his step, and was met with a bit over half the class already present.
“Hey Midobro! How are you feeling?”
Izuku sent a brilliant smile to Kirishima. “I’m good! I feel really well rested!”
Kirishima clutched his heart. “Too bright.”
Bakugo, who had been sitting quietly let out a “tch” while Aoyama piped in. “Oui c'est magnifique.” His glitter surrounded the numerous victims of the smile.
Izuku, of course, missed all that as he turned to face Iida, who had a hand up in greeting.
“Midoriya-kun, I trust you feel well?”
“Hi Iida!” Izuku couldn’t resist and bypassed his wave to give one of his best friends a hug again. Iida stiffened before quickly relaxing and returning the hug with a smile.
Uraraka appeared behind Iida and similarly returned her own hug from Izuku. “Hey, Deku! Glad to see you’re feeling okay.”
Izuku stepped back to grin at his two friends just as Kaminari and Jiro entered the room. He noticed slight tension fall from their shoulders as they saw his happy demeanour. He got a “Hi Midoriya!” and a “Yo.” from them respectively.
“Good morning, Kaminari, Jiro!” Izuku jittered with the happy energy he felt. He turned to face Iida and Uraraka again before noticing a certain explosive teenager and speeding over.
“Kacchan! How are you? Are you okay?” Midoriya fretted over Bakugo, who was growing visibly agitated.
“Fuck off shitty Deku! Why wouldn’t I be fine? Go take your pity party somewhere else.”
Izuku paused for a minute to frown at the wording of Bakugo’s complaint, before his attention was taken by Aizawa entering the room. He quickly shifted to take his seat, noticing that the remaining members of his class had entered the room as he was focused on Kacchan.
Normally the class would have silently waited for Aizawa to speak first, but yesterday’s events were clearly still fresh on their minds as they chose to greet him instead.
“Morning Sensei!”
Shota grunted out what could be interpreted as a greeting in return, sounding relatively noncommittal. However, Izuku knew that the sound was actually a mix of appreciative and fond, and that he was hiding a small smile in his capture weapon. He smiled at his dad who noticed, and huffed fondly, relaxing out of his hunched position, resulting in his small smile becoming visible to the class. Collective giddiness spread throughout the room at knowing they got a smile out of their normally stoic teacher.
“Morning you hellions.”
Excited chatter broke out at the return of their greeting, before the thoughts weighing on the class's mind reigned it back in.
Asui placed a finger on her chin wonderingly. “Are you and Midoriya-chan both feeling okay today, kero?”
The class went slightly too quiet as they awaited a response. Aizawa sighed, and moved to stand beside the podium instead of behind it. “I won’t run a normal homeroom today either. Let’s talk instead.”
Izuku could feel his classmates hesitate a little bit, before looking back to pay attention to Yaoyorozu. She glanced at their other classmates, reflecting their worries. Based on their reactions, Izuku wondered if they had talked about his and Aizawa’s situation with each other already.
She seemed to find her confidence, and spoke for the class as a whole, confirming Izuku’s suspicion. “We all want to try really hard to avoid talking about topics that may be hurtful or invasive towards you two,” She gestured at Izuku and Aizawa. “So please, if we say or do anything that is hurtful, or even just not something you want to think about that day, please, let us know.” She finished her statement with a bow, to which Izuku shook his hands frantically, while Aizawa nodded in thanks.
They sat in silence again for a few seconds before Uraraka gently spoke, attracting the class’s attention. “It… must’ve been hard.” Quickly, she added. “I mean- that’s obvious right? But I was thinking more about the less obvious things. Like… for you both individually there was only one other person for a whole year and a half. Obviously it would have been lonely and hard at times, but… it must’ve been hard for you both in other ways too. Like, touch starvation, or moments where you maybe didn’t want to be around the other?”
Both Izuku and Shota took a moment to think, before looking at each other. Uraraka wasn’t wrong, but by the same score, she wasn’t entirely right either. The class was probably thinking that Aizawa had still maintained a boundary of teacher and student, when in reality, it had begun to fall three months in, and really shatter by the time there was only five people left in Japan.
The class didn’t really give them a chance to think about it more. Sato piped up with a “Yeah, Midoriya at least has been super tactile since he came back, so we know he’s definitely been missing hugs!”
Izuku pouted embarrassedly while Sato gave him an enthusiastic smile. “Don’t worry Midoriya, it’s not a problem or anything!” He rubbed his hand on the back of his head sheepishly. “We weren’t- or at least I wasn’t expecting it was all. You were just still kind of nervous around us in bigger groups only last week, and some of us haven’t spent much one-on-one time with you yet so the hugs were a very big surprise!”
Izuku’s eyes widened. “Oh, I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t make any of you uncomfortable or anything! I’ve been trying really hard to separate the future versions of you all from the way you all are now, but I might mess up a bit because I’m closer to you all than you all are closer to me.”
He could feel some sad gazes on his back, but he was still facing Sato at the back of the class. The teenager was quick to appease Izuku. “Don’t worry Midoriya, like I said it was just unexpected. I can’t speak for the others, but I’d be really honoured if you came to me for anything you needed, even if it's just another hug. We’re all training to be heroes, right? It’s the least we can do.”
He got enthusiastic agreement from all other members of the class, except for Katsuki. Izuku laughed tearfully, and pointed accusingly at Sato. “You all just want me to cry again, don’t you?” Short laughter rang around the room.
Kaminari hummed. “He has a point though, if you need hugs feel free to come to us! You were stuck with Sensei after all!” Kaminari shivered at the deadpan look he received for that comment.”
Jiro rested her chin on her hands and laughed at Izuku with her eyes at the class’s agreement. Their teacher was very stoic after all, but she knew better. Izuku playfully narrowed his eyes at her in return, only flustering a little bit at the memory of his slip up yesterday. He’d have to remember there are ears everywhere again.
By now the class was openly chatting, and people had moved from their seats to easier access to Izuku or their teacher. Izuku decided to make it easier for them by moving to stand by Aizawa instead, instinctively leaning his head slightly towards the man, before pausing, and giving him a sheepish look. Aizawa sent him a tired one in turn.
It was funny that the class was talking about the lack of physical affection considering that exact thing was so ingrained that Izuku had come to expect a hand in his hair every time he approached the man. Judging from his dad’s tired look, he had to stop himself from doing just that. Oops.
Uraraka, who was one of the closest to the two now perked up. “Oh yeah! Deku, what was the whole reintroduction thing with Mic-Sensei and Midnight-Sensei all about yesterday?”
Izuku felt Aizawa still from his place slightly behind him. Izuku had forgotten about that. He floundered, trying to think up something to say.
Sero chimed in. “Yeah, Midoriya, they said they knew your dad and told you to call them Aunt and Uncle didn’t they? But you seemed really surprised, like this hadn’t happened before which is kind of weird considering they seemed to know an actual family member.”
Jiro, the only person in the room in the know, began to positively cackle as she watched their teacher’s passive face shift to one of mortification. Everyone else was too focused on Midoriya to notice.
Bakugo walked past grouchily, grumbling. “I don’t know what they were on. Nerd doesn’t have a dad.”
Todoroki’s eyes twinkled. Izuku paled.
“Todoroki, please, no.”
Izuku felt Shota look at him in confusion. Izuku had wanted to take this conversation to the grave. He hadn’t told anyone. Not even his dad. He could only pray that Todoroki would take pity on him and not say-
“So you are All Might’s secret love child.”
…
He did not remember the Todoroki of this time having that much sass.
The room exploded. Izuku thinks Jiro nearly passed out due to lack of oxygen. He risked glancing back at his actual parent (thank you very much Todoroki), to see his fingers flexing agitatedly as he stared off into some unseen distance.
Izuku chose life and averted his eyes, slumping resignedly as his classmates shouted questions and exclamations over each other.
He wanted another nap.