Chapter Text
“Dad! Pops!!”
There is a large crash in the hallway, as if someone rounded a corner in socks too fast, resulting in skidding down to Shouta’s bedroom door on their ass. Sure enough, a faint tuft of purple can be seen at the edge of the doorway, making Shouta raise his eyebrows in amusement.
“Ow.”
Hizashi can barely contain his laughter, hand trembling on his tea as he observes their son’s painful crashlanding.
It was that time for teenage boys. Shouta supposes, grinning to himself. They are all limbs and no coordination, just a giant mess of angst and impulsivity. God, the fact that he has to teach these kids to be mature heroes at a time like this? It is like he willingly agreed to wrangle baby cats and force them to behave all day.
“Good morning. Nice of you to clean our floors with your butt this morning.” Shouta snickers. Hitoshi peeks his head out to now be visible, scowling at the remark.
“Cruel dad. So very cruel. It just so happens, I was testing my sliding abilities. For you know… hero training. Which! I will be in after break! In three days.” Hitoshi says, picking himself up and now practically bouncing with energy inside the room.
~
Hitoshi has been the most enthusiastic Shouta has ever seen him since his acceptance into the Hero Course, and out of General Education. ‘Zashi and him are extremely proud, and he can’t wait to have his son join class 2A after summer.
That being said… he prefers to keep his problem children separate so he is not outnumbered. However, with Midoriya and Hitoshi in the same place, he is gearing up for an interesting year.
The two have been inseparable since the orientation, meeting each other before the physical exam and remaining friends ever since. Even despite their class separation, they had a knack for getting into trouble. They spent hours hanging out in their apartment, doing schoolwork, gaming, training Hitoshi so he can be moved up to heroics…to the point where Shouta had to practically drag Izuku away so he would go home and get some rest before school.
Initially in Shouta’s mind they were an unlikely friendship. He remembers one Saturday night, after being brutally “puppy-eyed” into agreeing to a sleepover sitting with ‘Zashi and saying just that.
“I mean, he is this ray of sunshine ‘Zashi. The little pipsqueak wouldn’t hurt a fly and is so social. How he and Hitoshi are attached at the hip I don’t understand.”
Hizashi just raises his eyebrows. “Sho- are you serious right now?” His brilliant smile starting to tease his features.
Shouta has never been the best at social cues, and understanding relationships, but it was fine because Hizashi was always 10 steps ahead in these situations. “Yes,” he grunts, “It just seems like an unlikely pairing. I would think he would bond with more introverted types anyways? Like, Todoroki or something.”
At this, Hizashi starts to chuckle mercilessly at Shouta’s clearly incorrect assumption. “Sho! Their friendship makes perfect sense!”
Frowning, Shouta looks questionably at his husband. Realizing that he is still not understanding what is possibly so funny in this situation, Hizashi quiets his laughter, his face blushed from the fit, and looks sympathetically into Shouta’s eyes.
“Sho… look at us. Extrovert,” Hizashi points at himself, “Introvert,” and points back to Shouta. “Golden retrievers always want to adopt their black cats, my love. It just works.”
Shouta, having an epiphany of sorts, nods in understanding. It was honestly pretty embarrassing that he didn’t pick up on that. He is glad that Hitoshi has found such a wonderful friend in Midoriya, like he did in ‘Zashi. He doesn’t know what he would do if he didn’t have him to bring him out of his shell, give him the confidence he lacked, and support he desperately needed. He sees how Midoriya is the same thing for his son, and has seen the steady growth throughout the school year.
Okay, so maybe it won’t be terrible to have them in the same class.
~~~
“Wow. School starts back in three days? And you are joining the hero course?I had no idea. It is not like you have a countdown in your bedroom or anything.” Shouta replies with a straight face, but can’t help but crack a small smirk after seeing Hitoshi’s massive eyeroll at his quip.
“Watch it or they will get stuck up there Sunshine!” Hizashi teases lovingly.
“Yeah yeah I know!” Hitoshi is practically bouncing up and down. What could possibly make him this excited?
Hizashi is clearly having the same question, as they make eye contact and silently wait for whatever news Hitoshi is about to share.
“Zuku is back! I just saw his location change on snapchat so he is back. I texted him, can he come over?”
“I suppose that would be- wait you already texted him yes?” Hizashi starts, eyebrows raising up his forehead, practically situating themselves into his top knot.
Hitoshi rubs the back of his neck, shifting his feet nervously. “Uhm. Well, I mean…you guys like Zuku just as much as I do…so I just assumed you would say yes?”
Shouta frowns slightly, and Hizashi is looking to him for support on the matter. “That’s true ‘Toshi, and we would be okay with it. Just make sure to ask next time? Knowing Midoriya, he is able to get here in five seconds, so we would’ve liked a heads up.”
“Yeah lil’ listener, totally fine, just make sure to ask ya’ dig?” Hizashi nods in agreement.
“Oh! Yeah totally, Izuku never says no to a hangout so I expect that he’ll be here any-” *ping.
Hitoshi looks down at his phone. “Huh. I guess not? Apparently he has some stuff he has to do. Welp, he can come over later then right dads?”
Hizashi nods, “Of course! Midoriya is welcome before school anytime. Where’d he go again this summer? America, right?”
Hitoshi doesn’t answer right away, eyebrows furrowed onto his phone screen. He seems deep in thought, and Shouta can’t help but see the lines of worry start to press into his son’s forehead.
“‘Toshi? You okay?” Shouta asks softly, trying to snap him out of whatever trance he is currently under.
Hitoshi’s eyes snap up, and he nods slowly. He suddenly looks tired, his eyebags deepening with some sort of concern. “Yeah, sorry. Uhm yeah, ‘Zuku went to California for the summer to be with his dad. He didn’t really text much, so I don’t know the details, probably just catching up with him and everything.”
Something about Hitoshi’s tone makes Shouta uneasy. He doesn’t like the uncertainty in his voice, and not knowing what Midoriya is up to? They are like open books to one another. Hesitantly, Shouta asks a follow-up question.
“Does Midoriya go see his dad often?”
The question hangs in the air, as Toshi shuffles his feet with nerves. Huh. That is strange. Hizashi lightly presses his leg against Shouta's, indicating that he caught the change as well. Something is definitely up.
“Well, ‘Zuku actually hasn’t seen his dad since he was four. He left for America, and has refused contact till after the sports festival. It sounds like he saw Izuku on tv, and was shocked to see his powerful quirk. They started talking after that, and he was invited to stay the summer there, so they could reunite and uhm work on his quirk I think? That is what ‘Zuku said at least. He was really really excited…”
There was a slight pause in the explanation. Shouta and Hizashi wait for Hitoshi to continue, knowing that more is to come.
“To be honest though, something about the guy really bothered me. It is weird right? Like, why would a deadbeat dad contact his son after seeing him kill it in a festival? It doesn’t feel right. I just- I just hope this summer really did go well for him. You know Izuku has been wanting family connection ever since his mom-”
Shouta and Hizashi wince. A little bit after the dorm system was set up, there was a serious tragedy in the Midoriya family. Shigaraki went after Izuku, tracking down his apartment. Not realizing the Yuuei students had already made the move to the dorms, he came face to face with Midoriya Inko. That ended up as good as anyone would expect. With Midoriya Inko dead, and Izuku motherless. Yuuei took guardianship of Izuku, with Nezu becoming his legal guardian. However, the staff had taken the Sunshine Boy in as each of their own, and Izuku had gained a large support system. Shouta understands, however, it would never be quite the same for Midoriya.
“I just hope he had a good time in America that is all…”
Shouta frowns, thinking deeply about Hitoshi’s confession. To be honest, it would be good to just make sure Midoriya is alright, and not alone in the dorms before school starts back up anyways. The social butterfly does better with others anyways.
“Toshi, how about I call him, make sure he is all settled in, and then invite him to dinner tonight? He can tell us all about America then.”
Hizashi nods in agreement furiously. Clearly, Shouta had made the right decision. ‘Toshi’s anxiety lightens, and his eyes begin to slowly lighten.
“That’s a great idea dad! Thanks!” ‘Toshi then turns his heels and races out of the bedroom, not as fast however, careful not to slip again.
Once the two hear their son’s door slam closed, Hizashi shoots his eyes at Shouta. “I don’t feel right about this Sho. Something is off. Clearly Midoriya was avoiding Toshi and that is not like him at all…call him now!”
If Shouta was not so concerned about his problem child he would have chuckled at ‘Zashi’s mother-hen urgency.
“I agree, but let’s not make any rash conclusions until we see him.”
~~~
Shouta anxiously paces back and forth on the porch staring at his phone as if it personally offended him. He doesn’t know why he is so anxious to call Izuku. Perhaps it is because something is instinctively telling him his problem child is not okay.
You’re being stupid Shouta. Just call him, and then you can stop thinking of the worst possible conclusions to Izuku not coming over. For all you know the kid could just be tried from the trip. Yeah. press the button. Here I go.
Shouta did not press the button. He stared at it for 5 minutes. Before angrily storming into the kitchen, pouring himself a scalding hot cup of coffee, downing it in one gulp, and only then returning to the porch and slamming the call button next to “Problem Child No. 2” in his contact list.
The phone rang for an abnormally long time. It was haunting and freaking Shouta out. Why did the ringing sound so ominous? Has anyone considered this? Izuku always answered freakishly fast. He was not used to having to wait for a response, what if he is not near his-
“Aizawa Sensei?”
Oh. He picked up. He sounded tired? It is noon, and by now Midoriya was always up and at ‘em, disgustingly chipper. During weekends he had a tendency to drag an exhausted Hitoshi out of bed, having an entire itinerary of things to complete before 10 a.m.
“Hello?” The voice said. The voice was deeper than before the summer, but certainly Midoriya’s.
Finally snapping into attention, Aizawa promptly gets to business. “Midoriya. I hear you have returned from America. Are you settled in the dorms?”
“Yeah. Where else would I be?” There was a slight twinge of irritance on the other line. The response was blunt, like one Shouta himself would give, not the talkative Izuku. He is not sure how to respond. Maybe he was just tired?
“You sound a little tired. Did you have a rough trip back? Sorry if I woke you up.”
“ ‘m fine.”
Okay. Yep something was wrong.
“Okay. Hitoshi said you’re not up for coming over this morning, but we’d love you to come over for dinner? You can tell us all about your trip.”
There was blunt silence on the other line. What the fuck? Aizawa briefly takes the phone off his ear to make sure the line didn’t disconnect.
“Midoriya?” Aizawa questions awkwardly. He is starting to shuffle his feet with anxiety. He himself is not great with conversation, Hizashi is always the conversational one. Midoriya was always the one to carry the talking as well, so he is not sure what to do with this dynamic.
“I don’t know.”
Aizawa furrows his eyebrows. Midoriya sounds exhausted. Aizawa quickly decides that regardless if he comes to their house tonight or not, he will be checking in on his problem child.
“You don’t know?” he pushes lightly, trying to get some sort of explanation out of the kid.
He hears a deep sigh on the other line. “Yeah, I guess I’m tired or whatever. Sorry Aizawa Sensei, maybe not tonight.”
What the fuck?
“Okay problem child, that is fine,” Aizawa silently starts to rub his face in thought, “you don’t sound too great and I- we want to make sure you’re alright. I can swing by tonight if you-”
“No!”
The utter panic in Izuku’s voice has Aizawa jump. He recollects himself, responding in a strong, “What do you mean no? Is there something wrong with me coming over?”
At this, Izuku starts to panic. It isn’t like his usual adorable flustering however, this is territorial and harsh.
“No. No, there is nothing wrong with you coming over. I don’t know why I said that, it is just a little messy and whatever. I can come over for dinner. Tell Hitoshi I say hi.”
The blunt panic has Shouta reeling. Somehow he manages a coherent response, “You can tell him yourself at dinner, 5 o’clock as usual, we are having Soba. See you soon, problem child.”
Similar to the rest of the conversation, he is not graced with a response. And just a gruff snort in acknowledgement.
What the fuck problem child?