Chapter 11: Start with the basics
Izuku grumbled sleepily as the sun shined into the warehouse, waking them up rather abruptly, it seemed that they'd slept in, not a common occurrence, but last night had been an exhausting time. Izuku almost believed that it had been a dream, but the half burnt notebook pages that lay next to them proved otherwise. Honestly, they still couldn't believe it, Eraserhead knew they were quirkless, and instead of abandoning them, he'd still cared, he even thought that they could be a hero if they worked hard enough, he offered to train them! Part of them still wondered if this was a cruel trick, if after all this Eraser would still turn his back on them. But they knew that they had to hope, hope that this truly was their chance, that they really could become a hero. And today was going to be their first day of training, Izuku knew that being a hero was more than knowing how to punch bad guys, so they were curious as to what would be added to their combat lessons and what was going to be completely new to them. Of course that was for the afternoon, for now they decided to relax, which was basically impossible so instead they sighed and figured that going for a jog would be a better idea.
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Shouta paced the length of the living room, over and over, and over again, Hizashi watched him from the couch "Moonlight, you still haven't entirely told me what's going on, and you're going to wear out the carpet at this rate".
"Wraith is quirkless"
"Wait, quirkless?" Hizashi thought that he had surely misheard, even with his hearing aids in, he must have missed something. Quirkless? It was almost unheard of for a kid these days to be quirkless. But Shouta nodded, confirming what should have been an impossibility. The kid was probably being bullied, or even abused at home, Hizashi knew the statistics purely because of his husband's work, and he didn't know all of them, but still. "Is the little listener okay?".
"No, they're being hurt at school, and apparently the teachers are encouraging it" the last bit was spat out with fury, and Hizashi felt a similar way.
"So Wraith's not just a vigilante, they're a quirkless child too, that's concerning, but I still don't see why you've been stressing out since you got back last night".
"They want to be a hero" Hizashi internally sighed, all kids wanted to be heroes, but he didn't know if a quirkless person could even be a hero. Something on his expression must have shown his hesitance because his husband interrupted him before he could say anything, "I know, it's never been done before, but that kid's determined, and, well, they know how difficult it would be for them, and I agreed to train them."
"What." Hizashi had to do a double take on that "youagreed to teach a child, younger than our students, how to be a hero? You of all people?" He honestly couldn't imagine his grumpy husband actively volunteering to do any kind of work dealing with children, then again Shouta always was a softie.
A glare from Shouta was enough to shut him up "I know, but the kid needs all the help they can get, and this way I can make sure they don't get hurt being a vigilante not to mention that someone has to be a responsible adult in their life" Hizashi wanted to laugh at the last comment, Shouta was far from responsible, the man was an insomniac caffeine addict who slept in a sleeping bag.
It was odd how concerned Shouta was, it was not in the way that he would normally be concerned about a civilian, it was almost like a concerned parent. Hizashi grinned "so when were you going to tell me you were such a dad?". Shouta froze on the spot, processing the words before glaring full force at Hizashi.
"I am not a 'dad' Zashi"
"Then why are you acting like one? Come on Shou, do I need to get some adoption papers or something?" Hizashi had to hold back laughter as his husband tried to argue back, "I'm kidding, mostly."
Shouta grumbled, and started pacing again, "Wraith is not my kid, but that isn't the point here, I just hope I can teach them everything they need to know."
Hizashi sighed and pulled his husband onto the couch with him to stop him from moving "relax dear, you just have to teach them the same way you're teaching the 1A students. not to mention you've got years to prepare the kid for high school. And if you need help, I'm always here, and I'm sure Nemuri would love to teach this kid."
"I guess you're right"
"Of course I am" Hizashi paused "so when can I meet them?"
Shouta looked caught off guard at the question "I don't know, I- I could ask them I guess"
Hizashi grinned brightly "yes! I can't wait to meet our kid!"
"Not our kid"
"Whatever you say dear"
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Izuku felt jittery as they ran down the alleyways to the fire escape that led to the rooftop where Eraser was probably waiting for them, this was it, their chance to be a hero! They quickly and quietly scaled the fire escape, it appeared that Eraser hadn't shown up yet, but they wouldn't count out a surprise attack to start the training, so they stayed alert and searched the roof for any signs that the hero was there, nothing, it seemed that he really was running late, that was odd. Izuku wandered around the rooftop kicking stones as they waited, unable to sit still.
Finally, soft footfalls alerted them to someone's presence, and they turned around as Eraser landed on the roof. "Hey Eraser!"
Eraser nodded at them "Wraith, sorry I'm late, I had to take a detour", he reached into his scarf and pulled out, a notebook? How was he keeping that in there? Before Izuku could ponder that oddity, Eraser continued talking "since your last one got destroyed, I figured you could use a new one" it was a thick notebook with a plain black cover. Izuku took the book, holding it carefully as if it was a prized treasure. "Anyways, are you ready for your first heroics lesson?"
Izuku nodded "Yes Eraser-Sensei!"
"You can call me Aizawa, I'm your teacher now, you don't have to use my hero name" Izuku's eyes widened, and they nodded vigorously, and they were about to correct their statement when they paused. Eras- Aizawa seemed to realize the issue quickly "right, my sign name" he did the sign for the letter S followed by the sign for cat. Izuku was surprised he even had a sign name, and why the sign for cat?
"Okay Aizawa-Sensei!" Izuku signed, practically bouncing on the spot.
"Alright" he grinned, and oh boy that was terrifying, "let's begin," Izuku immediately dropped into a defensive stance, but an attack didn't come, still, by now they knew better than to drop their guard. "Good, your reaction times are getting better, try and hit me" Izuku was only momentarily hesitant before throwing a punch (an actual punch now, that had been the first thing Aizawa had taught them) at Aizawa. He dodged and stood still "try again", Izuku did, a few times, and then Aizawa started lecturing them, "your punches need to be quicker, and you're not thinking this through". Izuku was starting to get annoyed, but stopped for a moment and thought about it, they couldn't hit Aizawa head on, but what else could they do? They saw the hero reaching for his capture weapon, so they shook their head and continued trying to attack the hero while they thought. They couldn't physically beat the hero, but they didn't need to beat him, they just needed to land a single punch. They thought back to their notebooks, some of the weaknesses listed didn't apply to them, but there was one. Izuku backed off and waited for Aizawa to attack them, after a few moments he obliged, they were used to dodging his attacks by now. This may have been a mistake, since they still needed to find an opening which was a rare thing, it was a good hour before such an opportunity arose, they dodged a kick and grabbed some of the gravel and dust from the roof and threw it at the hero's face. Izuku had created a very small opening in which Aizawa was temporarily blinded, so they took it and managed to get a single finger on the hero's leg before being pinned down by the hero.
Aizawa paused and released them "well, you didn't quite manage to hit me, but you did manage to touch me, which is more than I expected." He sat down at the edge of the roof and gestured for them to sit down as well.
"You were going easy on me. You could have pinned me much quicker if you were using your capture weapon"
"Well, you're still a kid, and you just started learning how to fight, and even if that's not everything you need to learn, your stealth and agility are what allowed you to avoid me the first few months that I was chasing you, and I wasn't holding back then"
"I guess you're right"
"You really need some self-confidence huh?"
"Well, you're the only person who believes in me, how do I know you're not wrong?"
"Well, I know at least one other person who believes in you, hell, he's been wanting to meet you for a while now" Izuku's head whipped around to stare at Aizawa, who snorted at the reaction "my husband has been pestering me about whether he could help train you"
"Husband?" Izuku honestly couldn't picture the tough and scary Eraserhead having any kind of relationship, let alone being married!
"Got a problem with that?" Izuku shook their head quickly, "good."
"So, he wants to meet me? And how can he help me train, unless he's also a hero… You're married to another hero?" Izuku asked, Aizawa only nodded as conformation. "Who?
"I'll give you a hint, he's known for being very loud."
The possibilities raced through Izuku's mind, being loud? Maybe a voice quirk, there were a few. It had to be a male hero, and he was probably located in Musutafu, which meant only one person. "P-r-e-s-e-n-t M-i-c? they had to fingerspell his name since they didn't have a sign name for him, and they didn't think that just using the sign for microphone would get their point across.
"Yeah, Present Mic"
"He wants to help train me?"
Aizawa nodded "if you're alright with that" and Izuku felt their inner fanboy jump and squeal at the idea.
"Yes, absolutely, I can't believe it he's such a cool hero" Izuku's brain went on overdrive as they started listing out every way that Present Mic was an incredible hero.
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Shouta shook his head at the antics, he knew the kid knew a lot about heroes but actually seeing that knowledge was amusing to watch. Hizashi was going to be stoked to find out that the kid was such a fan of him.
Eventually it started getting much darker and Shouta had to remind Wraith to get back to their home, he didn't bother trying to follow them, they'd probably lose him pretty quickly, still, he was worried about the kid, their parents probably neglected them, but without Wraith's identity (he was not going to make them tell him) he couldn't do anything, but still, he wasn't going to tell Hizashi about that, Shouta knew he'd start making jokes about Shouta being Wraith's dad, which was false, there was no way, Wraith was his student, not his child. Not at all.
Chapter 12: Another dad?
Izuku rushed down the alleyways, their bright yellow backpack, filled with their notebook, pencils and a bottle of water, bouncing as they jumped over trash and veered around corners. They were headed towards their rooftop, it had been a week and a half since the first lesson and Izuku was getting much better at combat. Plus they were learning about the law, since that was important to being a good hero. Stuff about heroes, villains and vigilantes and the difference, legally speaking, as well as the restrictions on quirk usage, something that didn't really apply to them, but Aizawa-sensei had insisted that it was necessary. He had tried to help with their analyses, but just because you can do something doesn't mean you can teach it to others, Izuku was still happy that they could even talk about their analyses to someone.
They got to the rooftop and waiting up there was Aizawa and, was that Present Mic!? He wasn't facing them but there was no mistaking that hairstyle. Izuku knew that he had wanted to meet them, they also knew from their mentor's complaining that his schedule didn't really allow enough free time to do so. They could also hear Present Mic talking, from the other end of the roof, Aizawa looked like he was already regretting bringing him here.
The second they moved Izuku saw Aizawa look towards them, and quickly turn away, hiding his face in his scarf. What was that about? They walked up to the pair. Present Mic was still turned away from them.
"Sho, why are you smiling?" Present Mic asked suspiciously, Aizawa only shrugged.
Izuku had gotten used to the fact that Aizawa could hear them no-matter what they did, so they didn't entirely expect to catch anyone off guard, so when they stepped into view, they certainly didn't expect the shriek that cut through the air, quickly quietened by a quirked glare from Aizawa, who seemed annoyed. Although Izuku got the feeling that he hadn't acknowledged them just to mess with Present Mic.
"Hi Sensei, you brought Mic with you?" Izuku tilted their head at the voice hero.
"Hey little listener! It's great to finally meet ya! The name's Yamada Hizashi" Yamada grinned and Izuku had to turn away from the sheer brightness of it. How on earth was this Aizawa's husband?
"Nice to meet you Yamada-san, Aizawa-sensei talks about you a lot" Izuku was sure that they were bouncing in place right now.
"Aww, Sho, why didn't you tell me Wraith was this precious?" Yamada was still smiling, 'precious'? Izuku didn't think that was right, but they soaked in the praise anyway.
They heard a familiar whooshing sound and quickly dodged the capture weapon which was trying to wrap their arms. "Alright, let's get to training" Aizawa looked at the two with a tired expression and sighed "Zashi, don't pout, you can talk to them after."
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Hizashi was internally squealing as he talked to Wraith, the little listener seemed so nervous and excited all at once that he wondered how they hadn't exploded with all that energy. Of course he'd been hearing about Wraith since his husband first started working on the case, but seeing them in person was just so exciting. And he had been wondering how the kid would behave, when Shouta had first agreed to train Wraith he mentioned that the kid needed a confidence boost. Hizashi had expected the shy politeness, but he certainly hadn't expected that to continue into their sparring, Wraith spent most of their time dodging, almost always hesitating when going in for a hit, sure it was only half a second, but that's a lot of time in a fight.
Still, they were doing remarkably well against Shouta, it had been at least three minutes before they got wrapped up in the capture weapon. Hizashi half expected Wraith to take some time before starting the spar again, but they were immediately back on their feet and clearly very focused on their task. Hizashi was sure that they were completely focused on the battle, like a lot of the heroics students he expected that situational awareness, even while fighting, was a skill that Shouta would have to teach them later, but surprisingly he noticed that, no-matter where he moved around the edge of the roof, Wraith specifically avoided moving to that area. They must have been keeping track of his movements as well, Hizashi felt both proud and incredibly sad, proud because that was a difficult skill to master, and sad for the circumstances that could possibly force a literal child to learn how to track people like that.
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Izuku scrambled as they tried to get out of the capture scarf, Aizawa was just watching them with amusement, and they couldn't see Yamada's face, but they saw his shoulders shaking as he tried to hide his laughter. Eventually they stopped struggling and let Aizawa untangle them, that was probably the longest spar yet! Even if they were still nowhere close to being able to actually hit Aizawa.
Izuku had expected Aizawa to start his usual lectures on both the various branches of heroics, and the laws they abide by. Instead Yamada sat down next to them.
"Hey little listener. Shou told me that you do analysis, could I see one?" Izuku was a bit hesitant, they'd only just gotten that new notebook, but there were already quite a few entries, mostly the analyses that had been lost when Bakugo blew up their old notebook. The little white square on the front cover now had neat kanji written on it, Analysis #8, and Izuku was quite careful with this one, not wanting another incident. They really didn't want something to happen to it and giving it to someone else was just asking for trouble, but the reasonable part of their mind insisted that Aizawa's husband wouldn't do something like that. So they hesitantly opened their bag and gave Yamada the notebook, nervously fiddling with their fingers as he read.
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Hizashi flipped through the pages, reading quickly since it was apparent that the kid was nervous about giving him the book, Shouta had told him that they were good, but seeing it in front of him was certainly something. Most of the analyses consisted of two pages, one which was just filled with a jumbled stream of thought that barely made any sense, and another one that was much more organized and readable. The organized pages followed a clear pattern, Hero name and quirk details were written at the top along with a short description of the hero's notable characteristics usually accompanied by a nice drawing of the hero in question. Underneath that there was a bullet point list of possible uses to their quirk as well as a few hypotheses on the details of how the quirk exactly worked. There was also a list of weaknesses and ways to possibly neutralize the hero. Ranging from using fire or herbicide against a plant based hero to cutting off the hands of a hero with a contact quirk, it was all rather impressive.
"This is great little listener!" Hizashi said as he read the entry on Prism, a hero with the ability to turn manipulate light into various weapons or simply use it like a laser. While the weaknesses listed included nighttime and closed spaces, one of the suggestions for permanently neutralizing her was to put her in a cell underground so that there was no chance of any light reaching her. Noting that if she even had the smallest bit of light she would be able to cut through any bindings. The hypotheses were also interesting to look at, wondering if she controlled light though manipulating the waves and if so, could she possibly change the colour of objects or cause illusions by messing with the wavelength and amplitude to alter people's sight. There were notes on how she used a very direct fighting style with a heavy reliance on her quirk as well as how exactly her quirk influences the way she fights. Still, there was something missing, Hizashi hadn't worked with Prism at all, but he knew that she was arrogant, and he suspected she never really had a plan for anything. But there was no notes on anything like that, despite the fact that her personality meant that she was incredibly easy to goad into a fight, surely the kid hadn't missed it? Not when they'd noticed so much else.
"Wraith, are these all your notes on Prism?"
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Izuku was surprised by the question but nodded.
"Well, you seemed to have missed a pretty big weakness, her personality" Izuku tilted their head, personality? How was that a weakness?
"What do you mean?"
"Well, she's kind of arrogant, she always acts like the fight is already won for her, meaning that it would be really easy to catch her off guard or lure her into a false sense of security before hitting her with something she wouldn't be prepared to defend against. And it's not just a bad traits that you can take advantage of, despite her arrogance she always prioritizes civilian safety, anyone who's looking to take her down could throw her off by making sure to endanger civilian lives, like taking down a building or causing a fire, maybe even a hostage situation. She'd be too distracted with rescue that she wouldn't notice any attempts you made to kill her."
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Izuku nodded along as Yamada explained how important knowing your enemy's personality could be. They hadn't realized you could do so much with that aspect of a person. And maybe it was just a little bit validating to hear someone go through a similar thought process to them, maybe they were talking about murder, but they weren't actually going to follow through on the plans.
"She's also really underutilizing her quirk, she really only manipulates one bit of light at a time, but I've seen that she can do much more than that, considering that she can create multiple weapons, it would be reasonable to assume that she could make a barrage of tiny knives if she wanted to."
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Shouta watched from the side of the roof as Wraith and Hizashi continued to talk about the various ways one could kill a hero like Prism. It was getting progressively more implausible as they went on, at some point Wraith had suggested using something that blocks light like a blackout curtain to stop her from seeing the light meaning that she wouldn't be able to control it. Hizashi had responded by pointing out that blindfolding her would have the same effect. To which Wraith had countered that it would be really difficult to get close enough to do that, but if she was already unable to fight back that would be a good way of neutralizing her.
Shouta felt the beginnings of a headache as the both of them switched topics to another hero, it was getting late, also he was mildly afraid of whatever chaos he had unleashed by letting the two of them meet. Not that he regretted it, the kid was clearly very happy to have one more person to talk to. Shouta smiled to himself.
Still they needed to get back home if either of them wanted to get any sleep, so he called Hizashi over and said bye to Wraith, Hizashi promised that he'd try to show up to trainings more often. Which made the kid bounce with joy.
After they'd gotten home Hizashi had immediately started talking about how amazing Wraith was.
"They're so smart Shou, and they were so eager to learn" Hizashi grinned "no wonder you got so attached to the kid, they are so sweet! You were right though, their confidence could use some work, but that's why I'm here!" at this point his husband was practically dancing around the room "our kid is amazing!"
"First of all, they're not our kid-"
"Yet!"
"No, second of all, I noticed that you were really happy with their analyses, I've really only read a few of them, but they seem impressive considering that they've never been taught how to do that. Imagine what they could do with proper guidance."
Hizashi nodded before looking mildly concerned "Shou, you realize the only person who'd willingly teach them analysis is Nedzu, right?" and Shouta paled, well there was a thought, Nezu teaching a child, that could only end in disaster, or world domination.
"We are not letting that happen."
"It's Nezu, he'll find out eventually"
"Why? it's not like we could be connected to the kid in any way."
"Yet." Hizashi smiled at him "I know that the second that you find the kid's identity you're going to try to adopt them. Admit it, you're their dad now."
Shouta rolled his eyes "not true, I'm their teacher."
"One of these days you'll see that I'm right."
Chapter 13: Oh no.
Over the last month and a half Izuku had slowly gotten accustomed to their new routine, wake up, go to school, survive school, go to the warehouse, change into vigilante outfit, go to the rooftop, train with Aizawa and sometimes Yamada, patrol with Aizawa, go home, sleep, rinse and repeat. Their notebook was now filling up with new entries, along with revisions on old entries, and in the margins they sometimes wrote stories Yamada would tell them about the heroes he'd worked with. Their combat skills were also majorly improving, each spar now usually lasted about five minutes, and they even managed to hit back a few times! And Aizawa had drilled them on all kinds of police procedures, to the point where they could recite several heroics laws with ease, or, as easily as someone could answer a pop quiz in the middle of a fight. Patrols had also been pretty calm, maybe it was the fact that Aizawa had stopped watching them like a hawk the entire time, trusting that they could handle themself fairly well. On the other hand they were still not allowed to actually help in the fights against armed opponents, which was infuriating, if only because they had to watch Aizawa get hurt more than they would have liked. They could still say they'd helped stopped quite a few fistfights lately. They could say with confidence that the time spent with the two heroes was the most enjoyment they'd had since, well, ever! Aizawa was a strict teacher, but he was fair, and underneath all the grumpiness he was soft and caring, even if he showed it in odd ways. Yamada on the other hand was the complete opposite, bubbly and bright, always a goofball, but he had a heart of fire, and they were sure he'd raze the earth to protect the ones he cared about. The concern that both of them had for Izuku was nice, it gave them a warm fuzzy feeling that they couldn't quite place.
Izuku snapped themself out of their thoughts as they heard the school bell, they were sitting in class, the last one of the day, and they had zoned out in the middle of it. In their defense it was mathematics, and this was the fourth time someone had asked a dumb question. As Muto-sensei begrudgingly re-explained the basics of algebra to the class, Izuku was daydreaming about training, they probably shouldn't be doing that, but honestly, they had understood the concept the first time and they were just killing time.
They ran out of the classroom, bracing themself for any stray quirks that the other students would send their way. They had been having a much easier time avoiding people (thank you stealth training) and they managed to get out of the main doors before something happened.
"Deku!"
That something being Bakugo.
They sighed as they turned around to face Bakugo, ready to face whatever the beating of the day would be. However, they certainly couldn't have expected Bakugo to grab them by the arm and demand answers for, something.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"What?"
"Don't play dumb with me Deku, no-one can find you outside of class! How the fuck are you doing that you shitty Deku!? And I know that it's not your shitty rooftop spot, I checked." Bakugo was pulling tighter and tighter on Izuku's arm.
Izuku froze, the reason was the stealth training they were doing with Aizawa, but they couldn't say that. "I've been practicing?" They said, but something about their response must have tipped him off.
"There's no-way you got that good by yourself! A shitty Deku like you could never be that good, someone's helping you! Who the fuck is it? Huh?"
Izuku was stuck, they couldn't exactly say that they were being trained by a pro hero, but Bakugo was smart, he would see through any lie they tried. So they settled for a half truth. "Someone who just wanted to help me!"
Bakugo snarled at the vague answer, "well whoever they are must be stupid to help a useless Deku! What kind of stupid motherfucker are they? I bet they're just as weak and pathetic as you!"
Now, Izuku could count the number of times they'd ever gotten angry on one hand. First, when they were thrown out, a mixture of hurt, scared and angry had been what kept them alive that night. Another time, the first time Bakugo had hurt them, they had been too young to have the depressing lack of self-esteem they currently possess. And lastly, the first time someone had called them useless. All of these times were long before they'd started training with Aizawa and Yamada, who were very insistent that the way they were being treated was horrible, and they were starting to believe it. Izuku wouldn't say they'd started being angry after that, no it was more like, annoyance, in the way you get annoyed at a dog barking, you know they can't help it, and you wouldn't fault the dog for barking, but you still find it irritating. Which was certainly different than complete and utter acceptance, and it was, according to Aizawa, better. All that to say, it was a complete surprise, even to themself, when they punched Bakugo in the face.
Bakugo reached a hand up to his nose, and his fingers became wet with blood. He stared at the crimson liquid for a few seconds, seconds that Izuku should have used to run away, but they were pissed. How dare he even suggest that! Their mentor was anything close to weak or pathetic!
Bakugo snapped out of his stupor and his face contorted into an ugly snarl as he leaped at Izuku, hands outstretched as explosions set off in his palms. Izuku dodged with ease, Bakugo was like a fumbling baby compared to Aizawa, and Izuku could hold their own against him. Bakugo stood no chance. Izuku dodged another swipe, kneeing Bakugo in the gut causing him to double over in pain. They took the chance to try and run, of course, they hadn't accounted for the commotion that the altercation would cause. Several students were now surrounding the pair, and others were trying to help Bakugo, Izuku was surrounded and there was no-way they could escape what was about to happen. Bakugo stalked towards them, arms raised and explosions crackling. Izuku was now running like a caged rabbit, trying desperately to avoid Bakugo's attacks, which would have been easy, had it not been for various other students also trying to trip them up. They noticed that a few teachers had also come to watch and they did nothing, despair started clouding in their mind. Eventually, they slipped up, someone managed to grab them, and suddenly they were being barraged from all sides. Pain bloomed across their body as they were pinned helplessly. They wondered if they would even make it out of this alive.
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It had been twenty minutes past their usual time and Wraith still hadn't shown up, and Shouta had already begun searching the nearby alleyways for the kid. A part of him was desperately hoping the kid had just forgotten or was running late because they got detention. But as twenty minutes turned into thirty, then forty, then fifty and then an hour, Shouta couldn't deny that something truly terrible must have happened to the kid. He first checked the area's near the rooftop, but after that was unsuccessful, he started going out in a single direction for a few blocks before doubling back to the rooftop to make sure Wraith hadn't gone there. After the fourth search desperation took over and he started being more frantic in his search, investigating every little noise, hoping to catch even a glimpse of Wraith, worst case scenarios already playing out in his mind.
He had just completed what had to have been the tenth search, this one was closer to the nastier part of town, and was going to head back to the rooftop when he heard shuffling in an alleyway, odds were that this was another cat, but Shouta's panicked mind couldn't care less, if there was even a chance it was them, he had to check.
Inside the alley Shouta looked around, there appeared to be no-one, but then more shuffling sounded from behind the dumpster. Shouta took a look and almost gasped when he saw an unconscious child, maybe eight or nine years old, their hair was matted by deep red blood, they were wearing what looked to be an elementary school uniform, also soaked with blood. Shouta immediately started gently shaking them, trying to wake the child up.
Eventually the child opened their eyes, they stared past him initially.
"Hey, can you hear me?"
Their eyes focused a little at the sound of his voice. And their eyes quickly snapped completely open when they saw him.
"Hey, kid, I'm not going to hurt you, I-" he was cut off by the kid raising their hands.
"Aizawa-sensei?"
Shouta froze. 'No, no way. No. No. No.' "Wraith?"
The kid, his kid, nodded.
Shouta had to resist the urge to envelop them in a hug. Relief and terror flooding his brain at the same time. Shouta picked them up in his arms and started walking through the back alleys, trying to go as fast as possible without further hurting his kid. "Okay, kid, I need you to stay awake, okay? Let's get you to the hospital." Wraith's eyes widened and they tried to shake their head. "Kid, please, you're bleeding out, we need to get you medical attention!"
Wraith managed to move their hands long enough to sign "won't help, quirkless"
Shouta felt rage simmering under his skin as he realized that they were right, no hospital was going to treat a quirkless child, even if they were dying. "Okay, no hospitals, but I have a co-worker who would be willing to help." Shuzenji was not someone he talked to a lot, but her contact was in his phone, and she was the only other option he could think of. "We'd have to go to my apartment" he said already calling Hizashi's number. Wraith nodded and then winced when the action caused their injuries to be aggravated.
After about fifteen seconds, which were fifteen seconds too long in Shouta's mind, Hizashi finally picked up the phone. "Hey Shou! What's up?"
"I'm sending you my location, get in the car and get over here as fast as you can."
"Wait what, Shouta? What's going on? Are you okay?" The concern in his husband's voice would have been comforting if Shouta wasn't currently holding a dying child.
"Wraith is hurt, really badly, can't go to a hospital, call RG and tell her to meet us at our apartment"
"Shit, okay, I'll be there as soon as I can"
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Hizashi had barely enough time call Recovery Girl and tell her the basic details of the situation before he was in the car and driving to where Shouta was, probably breaking a few laws in the process, thankfully he got there in only seventeen minutes. Shouta quickly got in the back seat with a child, 'that must be Wraith'. He had to drive a little slower on the way back, not wanting to risk worsening Wraith's injuries, so the drive home took about twenty minutes. Each second felt like an eternity.
By the time they got back to their apartment Wraith was barely conscious. And it felt like another eternity until Recovery Girl showed up. In the meantime Shouta had done his best to try and stop the bleeding, but there was still a lot of blood.
Shuzenji checked over the kid as quickly as she could, growing more and more horrified by the second, as she uncovered lacerations, burns, stab wounds, and a broken rib. "Well, I can't heal much, but I can just about stabilize them, the rest is gonna take time." She said, giving Wraith a small kiss on the forehead, and bandaging up the wounds that didn't heal "call me when they have a bit more energy and I can heal them up completely, got it?" she said sternly. Hizashi and Shouta nodded, both silently praying that their kid would be okay. But there was nothing they could do except wait.
Chapter 14: Izuku finally gets to be happy.
It took about an hour of both of them keeping watch over Wraith before Hizashi suggested that they take shifts, it wouldn't do to have both of them be dead tired when the kid woke up. Begrudgingly Shouta had agreed, although he still insisted on taking the first shift, he had to make sure the kid wasn't going to get worse. Hizashi agreed and went to bed, reminding Shouta to wake him up in an hour, Shouta almost retorted that he obviously would, before realizing that he probably wouldn't, not with the kid's current state, not if he could just keep watch the entire night. Still, an hour later he woke up Hizashi and went to sleep, only after triple checking that his husband would wake him up if anything happened.
"Okay, I get it, really Moonlight, if anything happens to our kid, I'll wake you up".
"They're not our-" Shouta stopped himself, who was he kidding, Wraith was their kid, only emotionally for now, but Hizashi had been right, the second he got an identity for Wraith, he was adopting them, if they were alright with it of course. He knew they had to at least get legal guardianship of the kid, whatever home they were in was clearly unfit for a child, and given how horrible the foster system usually was, never mind the quirkless aspect, they weren't going to let the kid get put in the system.
Hizashi smiled at him knowingly "Just get some sleep dear. And try not to worry too much?"
That advice was completely disregarded of course. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get the image of his kid's battered and broken body behind the dumpster. Impossible scenarios running through his mind, maybe if he had just gotten there quicker, Wraith wouldn't be unconscious right now, maybe if he'd looked in the right places, he could have stopped them from getting hurt entirely. He logically knew that this was a dumb train of thought, nothing could change the past, so there was no point in bothering about the what ifs. But the less rational part of him, a part that was much more of him than most people suspected, was terrified for his kid, terrified about what would happen if their situation took a turn for the worse.
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Izuku felt the haze of sleep slowly leave their mind, stings of pain rushing through their body as they slowly became aware of their surroundings, they were laying on something soft, that wasn't right, they had been next to a dumpster, there couldn't have been anything this soft near it, it also felt like there was something wrapped around their body, the only thing that they'd expected was the familiar metallic stench of blood. They blearily opened their eyes and noted that they were no-longer outside, instead there was a dim light somewhere off to their left, and they were staring up at a grey ceiling. Why were they indoors? Whose house was this? How long had they been asleep? Their first instinct was to pretend to be asleep, their second was to look around and see where exactly they were. But before they could do either of those things, they heard a quiet gasp next to them.
"Wraith?"
And suddenly a hazy recollection events of earlier, collapsing next to the dumpster, being picked up by Aizawa, someone bandaging them up. They were in Aizawa and Yamada's apartment. Izuku quickly sat up, ignoring the stabbing pain that the action caused. Aizawa was sitting on a chair next to the couch, it was weird seeing him in something other than his hero costume, although, his normal outfit didn't seem all that different given that it was completely black, except for the cartoon cat face in the middle of his sweater. Izuku honestly thought it was hilarious that the most feared underground hero was completely obsessed with cats. They reached up to make sure their hoodie was still in place before they froze, remembering that they were wearing their school uniform, Aizawa could see their face, he knew who they were. Their breathing quickened, if Aizawa knew their identity, he could find their parents, they didn't want to go back, they didn't want to burden them with their presence.
"Wraith!" Izuku snapped out of their spiral, still panicking but they could hear Aizawa's voice calmly counting out a breathing pattern, they tried their best to follow it, slowly calming down. They hadn't realized that they'd curled in on themselves, slowly uncurling they immediately noticed that Aizawa had gotten closer.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please don't send me back"
"Hey, kid, calm down, we're not going to do anything just yet, you're still hurt, we can discuss what to do after you're healed, okay?" Izuku nodded hesitantly, at least it gave them some time to figure out how to talk them out of contacting their parents.
Izuku properly looked around the room for once, the room was fairly large, it made sense if this was the living room, and there were three doors presumably leading to other rooms, as well as one short hallway that appeared to lead to the kitchen. The living room was decorated all around with pictures of Aizawa, Yamada, A woman with dark purple hair and a man with blue hair and pipes coming out of his elbows. Some of the more recent looking pictures also included someone with two-toned blonde and blue hair who was always close to the purple haired woman. There were also a few photos of cats scattered around. Which made sense given how much Izuku had heard about the pair of stray cats that Aizawa had insisted on keeping. And the dim light they'd seen earlier was just the sunrise through the window signaling the dawn.
While they were looking around, they heard someone else move into the room, they turned and saw Yamada standing in the doorway looking exhausted, before he noticed them, and then his entire face lit up like a light bulb. "Hey little listener! You're awake!"
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Hizashi smiled at Wraith, he was a bit miffed that Shouta hadn't immediately woken him up when their kid had opened their eyes, but he couldn't be too mad seeing as his husband was currently hovering close to them and clearly still worrying over them. Besides he'd woken up anyways thanks to the commotion that he was now guessing was caused by Wraith waking up, also reminding him that he'd been careless and fallen asleep with his hearing aids in.
Hizashi walked over to the couch and stood next to Shouta, to give the kid some space "how are ya feeling kid?". Wraith responded by shrugging their shoulders, an action which probably hurt a lot given their injuries, but they didn't seem to be bothered by it. Hizashi would be more concerned if he didn't know exactly why the kid had such a high pain tolerance.
"Well, in that case, I'm gonna go make breakfast, do you have any allergies?" Wraith shook their head, so Hizashi left the other two to talk while he made a simple omelet.
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After breakfast, which was the best Izuku had even had, but that was probably not saying much considering they hadn't had a home-cooked meal in years. Still it felt weirdly cozy, they'd expected it to feel awkward or uncomfortable, but it was just like they'd always been there, the conversation flowed smoothly from one topic to the next and while they were hesitant to add their own thoughts at first, they quickly found that they could easily interject without interrupting anyone. They had offered to help with the dishes, but Aizawa waved them off and said that he could do them alone. And Yamada had given them some clothes so that they could clean themself up a bit. Honestly the idea of a hot shower was incredibly appealing right about now.
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Shouta walked back into the living room to find his husband on the couch, and no Wraith in sight "Sunshine, where's Wraith?" he asked, sitting next to him.
"Oh, they're probably having a shower right now, I figured I could at least let them clean up before we talk."
"Speaking of, what exactly are the options here? The foster system is obviously out. And there's no way we're letting the kid go back to their parents, right?" Shouta knew the answer and also knew that he had several words for Wraith's parents if he ever met them in person and none of them were kind.
"Definitely not, any parent who doesn't notice their kid getting hurt almost every day is being willfully neglectful at best. I think we both know the best option is if they stay with us, or someone else they trust" as much as Shouta wished the kid would stay with them Hizashi was right, if the kid had somewhere safe they wanted to stay, Shouta couldn't stop them.
"Well, whatever happens we need to open an investigation on their parents for child abuse"
"Unless that would cause more trouble for the little listener?" Damn it, Shouta knew his husband was correct, but he really wanted to make Wraith's parents hurt, he sighed, he would hold off on hunting them down until Wraith said it was okay.
The discussion slowly steered away from Wraith for a while, until Shouta heard footsteps and looked up to see Wraith, wearing a pair of pants too long for their legs and a shirt with the Put Your Hands Up Radio logo on it that hung from their frame. And Shouta could finally see what the kid actually looked like, their hair was green and curly, and it looked a little odd in places, like someone had done a bad job at cutting it. Their previously dull eyes were a shining emerald, and the most surprising of all, they had freckles. Both Shouta and Hizashi had the exact same thought 'our kid is adorable!' Wraith sat down on one of the chairs next to them, fiddling with the hem of the shirt when a small meow caused them to look up.
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A large fluffy brown cat flopped on the ground next to Izuku's feet, Yamada tried to reach out and pet her only to get clawed at, prompting him to stare at her incredulously "seriously? C'mon Mop, I know you hold a grudge, but this is getting ridiculous!"
"So this is Mop" Yamada once said that Mop was really distrusting of strangers, but apparently she was fine with Izuku, and apparently Yamada had done something to piss her off, "where's Shadow?"they had been told very little about the other cat, but they had seen a picture of her, she was a very tiny black cat with large yellow eyes.
"Probably hiding somewhere, don't worry, she'll show up eventually"
But before they could continue that conversation Aizawa tapped the table to get their attention, looking pointedly at Yamada whose face turned red with embarrassment, and Aizawa turned to look at Izuku "so now that everyone is settled, we need to discuss a few things". Izuku almost forgot about the talk they were supposed to be having. They really didn't know how they were going to get out of this.
Aizawa sighed perhaps sensing their hesitance "look, kid, we don't have to do anything drastic now, could you just tell us how you got so hurt?"
Izuku fiddled with the shirt again, before looking up at their teachers, they sighed and started signing "it was my fault, I punched my bully and I think I just made it worse"
"You punched your bully? Why exactly did you do that?"
"He's smart, so when I was getting better at avoiding him, he figured out that I was being trained by someone, he doesn't know who, but he said some really mean things about you, and I got really mad and kinda, just, punched him." Izuku looked down sheepishly
"So you punched him only because he was talking bad about me, but not because he was bullying you-" Aizawa was silent for a good few seconds before shaking his head "okay, we can deal with that later, for now we need to figure out what's going to happen from here, we've got two options, well, technically three but I don't think you want to end up in the foster system" Izuku shook their head rapidly, thy had heard some real horror stories about the system, there was no-way they were getting put in there.
"Right, well, the other options are going back to your parents, or being put under the legal guardianship of an adult that you trust, I'm going to be honest, neither of us are keen on sending you back to your parents since they apparently just don't notice when their child is hurt" Izuku had to stifle a laugh at that.
"Is something funny?"
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"I haven't seen my parents since I was four"
Shouta could feel his brain bluescreen at that and he could tell that Hizashi had the same reaction, Hizashi recovered first. "Hey little listener? Do you mind elaborating on that?"
"Well, that was when I was diagnosed quirkless, and they didn't want a useless kid like me, so they threw me out and told me never to come back."
Okay, forget harsh words, when Shouta found Wraith's parents, he was going to murder them, actually forget that, a quick death was too much of a mercy, he was going to tear them apart piece by piece and make them regret every decision they've ever made.
Shouta took a deep breath, there was time to plot murder later, right now they had a kid to deal with who probably didn't want to think about their parents too much "okay, so that's off the table, I guess the only option would be to put you under a legal guardianship, is there anyone you'd trust to take care of you?"
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Izuku thought about it, they didn't really have anyone, the only people they'd ever really trusted were Aizawa and Yamada, but, what if they didn't want Izuku? They didn't want to impose, still, they had no other answer, "I mean, I have, two people I'd trust, but I don't know if they'd want me, and I don't really want to upset them"
Aizawa sighed "Wraith, listen, if they really care about you, they'll take you, who are they?"
Izuku took a deep breath weighing the options of being truthful, and eventually deciding that they had no other option "You two"
They braced themself for the inevitable rejection
"Kid, of course we'll take you in" Izuku's head snapped up, wide eyes looking at Aizawa, and then at Yamada who nodded.
"Yeah little listener, we'd love to have ya"
Izuku could feel themself tearing up, Yamada moved closer to them, arms open, silently asking permission, Izuku nodded and Yamada hugged them gently, being careful not to aggravate their injuries, eventually another pair of arms wrapped around both of them as Aizawa joined the hug. The three of them sat there for a good few minutes, Izuku feeling unwilling to leave the warm embrace of their teachers.
Eventually they let go of each other, Yamada was the first to break the silence. "Okay, so if you're staying with us, we're gonna have to get you some clothes, and anything else, you can stay in the guest room, we'll have to get some decorations for it, how about we go shopping in the afternoon?"
"We're also going to have to get whatever you have from wherever you were staying until now, speaking of which, where were you staying?" Aizawa asked.
"A warehouse about a block from where you found me, oh, and my bag and notebook is probably still by the dumpster"
Both adults looked incredulous at that, Yamada blinking repeatedly like he thought he misheard them, and Aizawa just sighed "alright kid, we can go do that now, and we need to get this guardianship properly legalized, we'll need your name for that though" he looked at Izuku questioningly.
Izuku smiled softly "My name is M-i-d-o-r-i-y-a I-z-u-k-u" they gave their sign name as well.
Yamada smiled "alright Midoriya-" but was interrupted by the kid shaking their head.
"I don't like my family name, could you use my given one instead?"
"Of course Izuku, let's go get your stuff and then we can either stop by the station on the way back, or we can do that tomorrow if you like
Izuku nodded "let's do it today"
Aizawa spoke up "we also have to let Shuzenji know that the kid's awake so that she can heal them properly".
"Right, well, I'll call her now"
Yamada stood up to call whoever Shuzenji was, while Aizawa somehow managed to find Shadow and introduced her to Izuku, and while everything was happening, Izuku couldn't help but feel like everything was finally gonna be alright.
Chapter 15: New Guardians
Izuku sat in the back of the car as they drove to the warehouse, Aizawa was in the driver's seat, saying that he didn't trust Yamada's driving skills with a child in the car, meanwhile, Yamada was pouting in the passenger seat. They thought that he might have been talking everyone's ears off if Izuku wasn't half asleep from being healed by Recovery Girl earlier, which, by the way, was so cool, they really wanted to ask more about how her quirk worked, but even with their mentors there, they really didn't want to risk it. Plus Aizawa had warned them that Recovery Girl knew nothing about them being a vigilante or their quirklessness, as far as she was concerned Izuku was just some kid that Aizawa had found behind a dumpster.
They'd already stopped by the dumpster and grabbed Izuku's backpack and notebook. And now they were pointing out the direction to the warehouse, which was a bit difficult since they'd never had to consider the roads before, having mostly navigated through the alleys and rooftops. Still they made it there, and they managed to grab the measly stash of clothes they had as well as all seven of their other notebooks. Yamada had looked around the warehouse, and managed to find their stash of medical supplies, which were nearly used up, this apparently warranted a horrified gasp and an almost whisper of "how is this kid still alive?" although Izuku couldn't really tell why, it was just a dozen or so empty burn cream containers, a pair of random scissors they'd found somewhere, mildly dirty bandages that had been in a hospital's dumpster, an only a little bit expired tube of wound cream as well as a medical needle and some thread to stitch themself up. Aizawa had just looked generally distressed the whole time.
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Hizashi had no idea how Izuku had survived so long living like this, it was a miracle the kid hadn't gotten sick and died. Speaking of the little listener, they seemed to have gotten everything they wanted from the warehouse, which was concerningly little, enough that all of it, minus the notebooks, could fit in the worn out yellow backpack they always carried around. They had tried to take their medical stash as well but both Hizashi and Shouta had insisted otherwise.
The three of them also needed to stop by the police station to report the whole abandoned child situation, and gain legal guardianship while they were at it, the process would probably be smooth once someone found Izuku's quirk status, a situation in which the legal system's tendency to overlook quirkless people would work in their favor. Hopefully they wouldn't run into any trouble.
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Izuku was a bit nervous walking into the station, police were usually something they avoided, both as Wraith and Izuku, and they didn't particularly want all those eyes on them. However, the second they stepped into the station they could sense Yamada moving closer to them, almost shielding them from all the people around, making sure he was always nearby while Aizawa did all the necessary talking. The station itself wasn't that bad, and they weren't quite paying attention until they got to one of the desks, Aizawa had started what sounded like a formal report on their situation, leaving out a few details like the location of their warehouse and, of course, exactly how they met since that would mean bringing their vigilantism into the discussion, instead skipping to yesterday's chain of events. The officer had looked completely horrified, right up until she asked Aizawa for Izuku's details and their quirk status had to be brought up, her expression quickly became one of neutral indifference after that, and Izuku heard her mention how sorry she was for Izuku's parents. Yamada looked like he was about ready to start a fight right then and there after that comment, luckily for everyone Aizawa's glare was enough to shut her up and she stuck to processing the guardianship change. Apparently their parents never bothered to legally cut ties with them, but that wasn't really an issue since they had abandoned Izuku and could not be considered viable options, so Aizawa and Yamada were now officially their legal guardians for the time being.
As they were finalizing everything, a man walked up and greeted Aizawa in a friendly way, who was this and how did he know their mentors? He didn't look like a cop, he wasn't wearing a uniform, but he clearly worked here, the most likely answer was that the man was a detective, a thought that was confirmed when Aizawa called him detective.
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Shouta could feel that this was gonna be a headache, Tsukauchi wasn't stupid, and with his quirk he was almost impossible to lie to, Shouta was going to have to word his sentences very carefully to avoid triggering it. "You know it's unusual to see you in here during the day, what's going on?" the detective asked, then he noticed Izuku and his eyes widened "wait, when did you and Yamada get a kid?".
"First of all, Izuku isn't our kid we're their legal guardians"
"How on earth did that happen? I mean, no offense but you're not exactly the first person that comes to mind for taking care of a kid." Shouta had to think through his reply, as much as he trusted Tsukauchi as a colleague he didn't know if the man would react poorly if he even suspected Shouta of lying, and Shouta wasn't about to say anything that even hinted Izuku being Wraith, so he settled for something that was technically true.
"I found them behind a dumpster".
Tsukauchi stared at him blankly for a few seconds, "excuse me? Care to elaborate?"
"Not really, we have to get going anyways" Shouta practically dragged Hizashi and Izuku out of the station and back into the car.
"Who was that? Why were you acting all weird?"Izuku asked.
"Tsukauchi Naomasa, a detective for the MPD, and the reason I was acting weird, is because his quirk lets him know when people lie, it's a very difficult quirk to bypass, the less I said the better." Shouta could see the exact moment that Izuku's eyes lit up as he described Tsukauchi's quirk, there was going to be a lot of questions.
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Hizashi almost didn't notice when the car had stopped outside the mall, too engrossed in his conversation with Izuku after Shouta gave up trying to keep up with their rapid fire questions. The little listener was already figuring out ways that a lie detector quirk could possibly be bypassed as well as trying to figure out what the quirk counted as a lie. The general theory, based on anecdotes from Hizashi and Shouta's various cases with him, was that it wouldn't trigger as a lie if the person genuinely believed that they were telling the truth.
It was an afternoon on a weekday so hopefully the mall wouldn't be too busy, since most people were at work, but he figured it was still for the best if they did this as quickly as possible so as not to overwhelm Izuku. So the two of them went inside (Shouta had decided to stay in the car) and started looking around for all the necessary things.
Clothing was the tricky part, it took a lot of convincing to get Izuku to just pick out what they wanted, at first, they just followed him around, looking at a few things longingly but not really saying anything. Eventually after he called them out on it a few times they eventually just started pointing things out. It turned out that Izuku had an interesting sense of humour, Hizashi definitely giggled when the kid showed him a plain t-shirt that had pajamas written on it. He also insisted that they get at least one pair of slightly fancier clothes, which he had to pick out since Izuku thought that all of it looked the same.
Far simpler was getting things to decorate Izuku's room, all of the stuff they picked was hero themed, like a space bedsheet designed after Thirteen, and a (normal) poster of Midnight, he was sure Anan and Nemuri would be flattered.
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"Hey Izuku, isn't your notebook almost full?" Izuku followed Yamada's gaze to a shelf full of notebooks and other stationery. He was correct, Analysis #8 only had a few pages left, enough for maybe two or three more entries. They nodded, "then we should get some more, pick three of the ones you like" Yamada said, waving in the direction of the shelf.
There were quite a few notebooks that caught Izuku's attention, but in the end they picked two of the more simple notebooks, similar to Analysis #8, they would have taken three, but some of the notebooks were hero-themed, and they found a Present Mic one, Yamada thought it was adorable.
Once they got everything they needed they headed back to the car where Aizawa was napping in the backseat. Yamada laughed at the sight.
"Hey Shou, love, wake up" Aizawa just grumbled and curled up like a cat.
"Alright then, I guess I'll have to drive." That got Aizawa's attention real quick, he bolted upright and glared at Yamada who just laughed at him.
"There you are, c'mon, let's go home."
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The drive back was full of noise as Hizashi chattered about anything and everything that he could think of, Shouta would have been annoyed if it was anyone else, but he was used to his husband's talkative nature by now, and Izuku seemed to be completely enthralled by whatever stories Hizashi telling.
It was getting late when they got back home so Hizashi immediately got started on dinner as Shouta and Izuku unpacked everything. Izuku still seemed a bit overwhelmed with the change from a decrepit warehouse to an actual room, but they seemed to be adjusting okay.
"Alright, that's everything, I'll let you settle in. I'll be in the living room if you need me, okay?" Izuku nodded and Shouta left them alone.
A ringing sound alerted him to someone calling his phone, it was Nemuri, not entirely unusual for her to call at random times just to catch up on the latest gossip. He answered the call.
"Are you two okay!? Is someone dying? Is the world ending?" Nemuri's panicked voice sounded from the phone.
"What? Nemuri, what's going on?" Shouta was confused, what was she talking about?
"You weren't at work this morning, and Nedzu told us that you were taking two days off, you never even take one day off, let alone two!"
"Oh, right, that, we're fine Nem, something important just came up."
"Something important, what is it!? Do I need to come over?" Shouta thought that was a terrible idea, him and Hizashi had taken those days off because they didn't want Izuku to have to deal with too many people so soon, Nemuri was their best friend, but she could be a lot to handle sometimes.
"First, don't come over, and second, you'll have to find out on Thursday like everyone else."
"Really? Oh fine, keep your secrets, see you on Thursday."
Shouta knew that she was going to lecture them when she found out, but it was fine as long as she didn't cause too much trouble for Izuku. But that wasn't something that he needed to think about for now. All that mattered right now was that Izuku was safe and happy.