Work Text:
Shouta would like the record to show he was minding his own business. He was laid out half napping on the couch trying to get the energy up to set a timer on his phone to make sure that if he did fall asleep properly, he’d wake up in time for his late night patrol. The concern about being late was the only thing that kept him from totally drifting off into slumberland.
It was nice just lounging after a hard week teaching, patrolling and helping with the kids. If he was going to be productive he’d do some laundry or research more into the online school options for Izuku. But instead he took Hizashi up on the ‘take a f*cking break, it won’t kill you Sho’ comments.
And my g-d. It was glorious.
Now he just needed to convince his workaholic husband to also take a break and it’d be perfect. Instead, Hizashi was fluttering around like the insects he was terrified of, tidying up the front room of the boxes they’d just… not gotten around to unpacking yet. It was slow progress and the fact Hizashi was taking them one by one to who knows where would just make it even slower. But what did Shouta know? He was resting. While technically co-owner of the circus, the monkeys could do whatever the h*ll they wanted right now, as long as they weren’t on fire or dying he was not moving.
Shouta had decided a decade ago that understanding Hizashi was impossible, and tried to just go with the flow. Trying to make his husband make sense was like fighting an uphill battle. And sure, he could ask, he could try to walk Hizashi through his thought process and stop him from unnecessary work. Or if it was needed, he could get up and help.
Orrrrrrr, Shouta could keep resting on the couch and let his husband do who knows what with those boxes.
Hizashi finished with the boxes and disappeared in the direction of the kitchen for some time only to come back and set… something on the coffee table. Cracking an eye open, he saw it was a tray of cookies and the fancy tea pot Hizashi fell in love with at a thrift store. The stupid thing had a tiny crack in it which very slowly leaked but that wouldn’t prevent his idiot from using it every chance he got.
Shouta frowned. They… weren’t hosting today were they? G-d, he hoped not. Maybe Nemuri was coming over and it’d just slipped his mind. It didn’t really matter.
He was resting. Nothing would stop him, even his stupid friend coming over and inevitable sitting on him as he laid there.
“I know you aren’t sleeping,” Hizashi spoke when he came back with the teacups. “You wanna stay here when Onishi-kun comes to visit?”
He raised his head and pushed himself up on his elbows.“That’s… happening Thursday though?”
“Today is Thursday, Shouta.”
“Oh.” He collapsed back and threw an arm over his eyes. He was comfortable here, having to move sounded like way too much work. Doubly since their bedroom was upstairs. “Onishi-kun is a good enough kid. I’ll… stay.”
Hizashi snorted. “You just don’t want to go up the stairs. I told you this would happen.”
“The office being downstairs away from Keigo’s wandering ears and close to the front door was and still is logical.”
“Until you don’t want to walk upstairs to take your nap.”
“Exactly,” Shouta sighed. “Do you need help prepping?”
“I got it, love. It’s basically done, I’ll just take this all to the kitchen so you can rest. You’ve got a long day.” Hizashi crossed to lean down and peck a quick kiss before he left once again.
“Hypocrite,” Shouta mumbled to himself, settling deep into the couch again.
Onishi was coming over because Shouta was going on patrol, Hizashi had his radio show, and Nemuri was on call for a raid in a different prefecture. Keigo legally could watch Izuku by himself now, but last time they tried, they came back to both boys high strung and panicking, feeding off of each other's anxieties. It was a miracle that Keigo hadn’t bolted again, and that Izuku hadn’t hurt himself worse than just walking on his bad leg without his brace. It had been bad.
They’d all talked about it and until some of the anxieties chilled, this was the best idea they had. Having a ‘sleepover’ would hopefully keep Izuku’s mind off of his new parents being both gone. Keigo promised that he’d be a ‘responsible adult’ for once and would just focus on keeping the two kids healthy and happy. It was far from ideal, but if they kept Izuku calm, Keigo usually would also keep his cool. Usually. Sometimes. At least in theory this was true. But if Izuku got set off, even a little bit, there was an almost 100% chance Keigo would also freak out in some way. It was a problem, but one that they were slowly working on. The hope was that if they both focused on someone else it might… be better than last time. And then might prove to Keigo’s over protective brain that it’d be fine. It wasn’t a perfect system, but it was the best they could do for now. This was the first attempt at this and they all were really hoping it’d work.
If it didn’t work, Shouta was going to be ‘on call’ and if Izuku, Keigo or Onishi reached out he’d run back home. He’d be the one who’d be closest and would be the least disruptive to bail. He had Twinkletoes as a back up, and she was prepped to take over at a single phone call. Shouta had to call in a favor, but reminding how he’d once took a bullet to the thigh for her was always a sure fire way to get her to agree to schedule changes. Doubly so since she was twilight and an attention hog and he’d said if she did this, she’d end up with a hand written letter from a fan of hers.
Getting Izuku to gush about her quirk, Perfect Balance, and her time as a twilight hero had been almost too easy. The wobbly drawing was just a bonus that he hoped to use as a bargaining chip for next time. If he was less nervous about Izuku’s safety, he’d have the kid record a video for her. But he didn’t want any attention on Izuku for fear of anyone figuring out his history and quirk.
Shouta didn’t realize a lot of parenting paralleled pro-hero work. Contingency plans for all scenarios, pulling favors, tedious work to make sure things go well, and of course the underlying constant pressure of it all.
Dumpster jumped up on the couch and pawed at Shouta’s chin a few times before spinning in a circle and sat down. The cat’s fluffy tail swished tickling his nose as he started to purr. The tension that had built in Shouta drained out of him at the low rumble. He hadn’t even noticed it until the pressure was gone.
This was why Shouta decided to actually rest. He’d been pushing himself, possibly too hard. He’d actually fallen asleep during homeroom and slept through his first class instead of his normal pretending and resting his aching eyes. Lucky for him, it was just with his homeroom and he’d already told them that their first class period would be a work day for the research paper he’d assigned the day before. The class president, very tentatively woke him up and told him when the class was over, all but kicking him out of the 1-A room. It was embarrassing.
One of these days, Hizashi was going to f*ck up and then he’d be the one laughing in the staff room. It hadn’t happened yet, but Shouta was counting down the days. It was bound to happen with how busy Hizashi had been lately.
The door bell rang and an excited yelp came from upstairs. Dumpster jolted off his chest, and Shouta couldn’t help but pout a bit at the loss of the soft rumble and warm pressure. The distant excited banter between their kids trickled down the stairway perking him up slightly.
“Keigo, come on, faster! Mako’s here!”
“If you keep wiggling all over you’ll fall and I will NOT catch you.”
“Lies and slander, you’ll always catch me, Kei-chan.”
Shouta could hear the aggressive cuteness Izuku massaged into each letter of Keigo’s nickname. Hearts and sparkles squeezed out from the words and splattered everyone within hearing range, like a severed carotid artery. Shouta wasn’t even involved, nor could he see Izuku, yet here he was unable to do anything but find the kid nothing short of lethally adorable.
“Not if you are being dumb.” Keigo’s voice was softer, obviously also impacted by Izuku’s blind trust, but also much stronger than Shouta would be in the face of sunshine incarnate. Izuku giggled.
“Oh my g-d, stop rolling.” Keigo grumbled.
The antidote to cuteness overload would always be sibling annoyance. He’d seen it with Hizashi and his siblings, and even had moments growing up with his own sister. It was a sure fire way to gain a tolerance, and Keigo had been having a crash course in it as Izuku got better and better. Shouta loved the kid to death, but sometimes he was a lot. But he also married Hizashi and was best friends with Nemuri. So, he was just doomed to be surrounded by incredibly extra individuals who– at times– were exhausting.
As a literal child, at least Izuku has an excuse.
“Think of it as quirk practice!”
“You are making me juggle you mid air over the hard wood stairs.”
“And you’re doing great at not dropping me!” Izuku screeked, and Shouta bolted upright. “KEIGO! I’LL STOP, I’LL STOP! Never do that again, it was terrifying!”
“Serves you right, idiot.”
“Everything okay?” Shouta called out, taking slow breaths to force his heart rate back down to a slower rhythm.
They both shouted back at the same time.
“I’m fine!”
“I caught him!”
Shouta grunted, flopping back onto the couch. If someone was hurt he would’ve gotten up, but since they both sounded fine, he’d just let them sort it out. He’d keep an ear out to make sure the kids were actually okay, since Hizashi had let their guest in. Shouta found himself in the prime location as he was able to hear both conversations at the same time. Hizashi and Onishi quietly exchanging pleasantries – Or, well, as quietly as Hizashi ever was– and Keigo and Izuku bickering like siblings. It was a bit of a tangle to try to follow them at the same time, but he did the best he could.
“You dropped me on purpose and you know it!”
“Thank you so much for inviting me over, it was an honor to be invited, Present Mic-Sensei.”
“It was not, I would never almost drop you to prove a point. I’m classier than that.”
“It’s no problem, Listener. And you don’t have to be so formal! I’m not on the clock as a hero right now, so Yamada is fine. You can drop the Sensei, for myself and Aizawa as well. We’re both very happy you could come over.”
“How did you time it so perfectly to catch me only centimeters before I hit the floor, then, hmmmm?”
“Thank you, Yamada-san. And I’d always make time for Izu-kun, I babysat him all the time growing up while Inko-san was at work. He’s why I’m trying for Law school, even with… my, uh, quirk status.”
“I’m skilled, and it was more of a pure ‘Oh g-d I dropped the baby’ panic so I got my feathers in gear and not a ‘wow I can time dropping my kid brother perfectly’ moment.”
“You can put your shoes here, and we got you a set of house slippers. And if you need letters of recommendation, I’m willing to write them, and even though Aizawa seems uncaring, he’d be first in line as well. He’s cheering for you, just very quietly.”
“I still don’t believe you. It was totally on purpose.”
“Thanks, that… that honestly means a lot. I hope it’ll be enough, a lot of schools are… quietly bigoted.”
“It really wasn’t, I’m talented, Chickadee, not reckless and dumb. What was my ranking last year? Hmm?”
“Unfortunitally some are also very loudly bigoted. Hopefully with two pro-heroes recommending you, it’ll help. Also if it doesn’t, let us know. Principle Nedzu hates when institutions hold people back for things that are outside of their control, and shouldn’t matter.”
“Fourteen, and you were projected to be in the top five by summer.”
“I will keep that in mind. I… deeply appreciate the offer.”
“Exactly, extremely talented. Well Trained. Great with my quirk. You should be honored I saved you from your own wiggles.”
“I offer it not just because you’re friends with my kid, but because Shouta sees potential in you. He’s got high standards, as I’m sure you know, so I know you’ll go far. And if I gotta kick some butts to get others to recognize that too, I’d do it gladly.”
“You aren’t proving your point very good, Kei-nii.”
“I’m glad Izuku has you now, you’re… a good parent.”
“The point is that I’m good enough to save you when you roll off the feather platform of your own accord, but also a good enough hero to not let you fall to prove a point.”
“I try! I have some tea prepped, if you’d like some?”
“Shouta totally would. And he’s a hero, too. Aunty and ‘Zashi would if they thought it’d be funny.”
“I would love some, Yamada-san, thank you.”
“....”
“So polite! It’s just in through here.”
“Ha, I win. Mako! Hiiiiiii!” Izuku’s excitement was palpable.
“You do not,” Keigo grumbled, under his breath.
“It’s good to see you, Izuku.”
“Should we all get some tea?” Hizashi added. “Maybe some chamomile since the baby obviously needs to calm down as bedtime is just around the corner.”
“Not a baby,” Izuku rebutted, “and I’ve got hours before bedtime.”
“I dunno, zuzu, this could be like your zoomies when you were younger.”
“Hey. I didn’t get zoomies.”
“Nah, you totally did. You’d sprint around the apartment playing Heroes and Villains, screaming All Might quotes at the top of your lungs as you tried to tackle me or Inko-san to the floor even though you weren’t even a full 100 centimeters.”
“I wasn’t that short.”
Hizashi stifled a laugh, “Sorry to break it to you, cookie, I bet you weren’t born a meter long.”
Izuku sputtered. “Well, no.”
“But, you can’t deny it, you were a small kid.”
“Still are one,” Hizashi added on.
“I’m feeling ganged up on.” Izuku pouted.
“That’s because you are.” The warmth came through the sass Onishi was throwing in Izuku’s direction.
An indignant squawk came from Izuku. It was a mix of Keigo and Hizashi’s strange noises. It made Shouta smile. It was good to see Izuku having a good time. It could turn on a dime, having him be giggling one second and totally despondent or sobbing the next. It meant that a large part of Shouta was just living with a shoe over his head ready to drop anytime. But as his therapist kept telling him– it was good practice for him to work on his control freak tendencies.
It was also interesting to see Onishi Mako outside of his polite and quiet classroom persona. He’d seen hints of it here and there but it was nice to see him actually emote past a vague ‘pleasant professional’. Which totally made Shouta a hypocrite, but he couldn’t help but notice the kids who never participated or got roped into the teen shenanigans that were doomed to happen even in the strictest of classrooms. It was annoying as h*ll to deal with as a teacher, but it was a good litmus test of how comfortable a kid was. Too many shenanigans from one kid? There was something going on. Too few? Same thing.
Begrudgingly, Shouta would let his students think they got away with small things from time to time if they were genuinely harmless jokes or stupid memes. If it got too rowdy, Shouta would shut it down hard, but a few here or there– it was healthy.
Mako, however, never participated. Not once. Not for lack of trying of some of the more outgoing students. He’d just blandly smile and passively refuse to participate. As a teacher, a strict one who respected his peace, he couldn’t fault the single minded focus on school. However the worried parent in him was finally soothed seeing the kid actually ‘let his hair down’ and relax.
Shouta had pushed the unnerving parallels between Onishi’s refusal to participate with peers and his bland politeness to adults and his own behavior growing up. He was less upbeat than Mako was, but the underlying “stay away, don’t notice me” energy was concerningly similar. Shouta was better than any of the other UA faculty at clocking hidden injuries and covered up bruises– including Nedzu, who Shouta was sort of convinced could actually smell any degree of internal bleeding. However, Shouta was not infallible, and couldn’t help but subtly triple check the kid each class period.
But now, listening in as the crew filed into the kitchen to grab the snacks and tea Hizashi prepared, he was infinitely less concerned. Mako shared progressively more embarrassing stories of Izuku growing up, with regular warm mentions of Inko and his own mother, along with a few additions of various other kids who sound to be close to his own age.
From the evidence that Shouta now had access to, his worries skewed away from ‘trouble at home’ to just quirkism. Which wasn’t good, but Shouta couldn’t help but be glad it was just quirkism. There was obvious that the kid had some semblance of a support system against all the sh*t that the world threw at him for being born as part of the minority. He always wished he could do more for the kid but as a teacher there were professional lines he couldn’t….
Actually, now that they had a less professional relationship via Izuku being his foster child, Shouta might actually be able to do more than he’d’ve been able to before. The strings would have to be pulled quietly to keep any concerns of favoritism, but he would actually be able to pull them without overstepping. His mind buzzed with ideas and connections he had only for him to shut it all down as he pressed his head into the soft cushion as a reminder to himself.
He. Was. Resting.
Which was actually very difficult to do successfully with the very loud laughter of Izuku, Mako and Hizashi filtering into the front room. It was nice to hear them be happy, but g-d, he was trying to sleep.
The laughter died down and Izuku, showing zero volume control, shouted, “WAIT!! Mako do you wanna see my new collection?! It’s AMAZING!!” Shouta could almost see Hizashi’s soft head pat, telling Izuku to lower his volume– which the kid did. “I got so much hero stuff already and almost half of it is signed!”
“You know I like hearing you nerd out.”
There was a pause and Izuku whined. “You just dropped me, Kei-nii. I don’t want your feather chariot. Mako can do piggy back rides.”
“Thanks for asking, Zuzu. But yeah, I can probably take you to your room.”
“Yay!”
There was a thump, followed by the soft sound of choking.
“Don’t choke out your friend, Cookie. Gentle, not everyone is as strong as a hero, remember?”
“I remember.” One day it might actually sink in, but Izuku has been tossed between the three of them or Nemuri for months now and it was skewing the kid’s perspective of what reasonable levels of strength is. Izuku was still on the smaller side, but he was still a whole a** child. “Sorry, Mako.”
There were a few coughs, “‘s alright. Lead the way, Zuzu!”
Footsteps pounded up the stairs and faded as they got to Izuku’s carpeted room. Much quieter steps got closer to him, and familiar thin fingers combed through his hair. Shouta grunted, letting Hizashi know he was awake, but didn’t open his eyes.
His husband was used to it.
“I looked around and noticed a distinct lack of groceries. Or, well, things that I know you or the kids will actually use to make a proper meal.”
Guilt panged through Shouta. He’d been meaning to go buy a few things the past few days, but just hadn’t found the time. He’d been taking afternoons with the kids while Hizashi popped in briefly before his patrol or radio show. And once Hizashi could take the kids then Shouta would have to go on his night patrol. And a lot of their free time was spent trying to finish up the wedding plans as well. He knew he could’ve asked Nemuri to pop in for a bit, but had been too tired and instead watched as their food dwindled. It wasn’t like anyone was going to starve, they had some stuff. It was just the last dregs, and he’d been scraping the bottom of what they had left.
Last night’s dinner consisted of two chicken nuggets each, with rice and mixed with slightly freezer-burned peas topped with spaghetti sauce, along with a small side of canned “mixed fruit in lite syrup” sprinkled with the crumbs from the box of Hizashi’s favorite granola on top. Shouta wasn't far enough removed from normal to recognize that it was on the odd side.
It was telling that neither Keigo or Izuku commented, or acted like this was anything but perfectly normal. It made Shouta feel a bit sick.
“It's fine, Sho, stop stressing.” Shouta lightly glared at Hizashi, who laughed. “Ah see, that's the man I married. But since I got some other errands I gotta do first, I don’t want my adorable little family to starve, so Kei, Shou, you got any preferences on where I get take out?”
Shouta just grunted with a shrug, Hizashi knew what he truly hated and would avoid them. Beyond that, Shouta didn’t care. He’d let Keigo choose what he wanted, then tell Hizashi to grab something from the same place.
The silence dragged on and was concerning enough he cracked an eye open to look over at Keigo. Until Hizashi had said his name, Shouta hadn’t known Keigo was in the room.
Silent footsteps wasn’t a sure fire sign of a bad day for the kid, but paired with the perfectly blank expression and his stiff perch on the arm of the love seat….. Shouta was concerned and sat up trying to get a better view of his upset kid.
When they first moved in, Keigo had been adamant that the front room have more standard “cuddle and nap friendly” furniture. Hizashi and Shouta clocked immediately; it was Keigo putting Izuku and Shouta’s comforts before his own. However, they realized it wasn’t a battle they’d win. So in compromise they’d gotten Keigo low back chairs for the dining area, a small couch for his own room and set the less wing friendly furniture in such a way that he still could perch on the sides or back and have space to comfortably drape the extra limbs without hitting the walls. It was nice to see that the kind of odd furniture configuration did work, and his wings fit nicely into the empty space between the arms of the two seats, but it was unpleasant to see it in this context.
Spine ram rod straight, face purposely blank and arms artistically draped in faux nonchalance, the only sign was the rustling feathers puffing and smoothing out twice the rate of the kid’s slow measured breathing.
G-d, the things he’d do to any of Keigo’s handlers if he got fifteen minutes with them. Pushing down his anger, he caught Keigo’s eye with his own. Shouta tilted his head to the side in question, and whatever part of the kid’s “training” (abuse, it was just abuse, but Keigo didn’t like it when they called it that) which taught him to hide his feelings snapped. Collapsing over his propped up knees, his hands curled and clutched at the loose fabric of the sweats he wore. Keigo glowered up at the ceiling sending death glares in what was likely Izuku’s room. The agitated feathers glinted in the late afternoon sun as a few sharpened.
What the f*ck.
Shouta turned to Hizashi, panic and confusion had to have been clear on his face. He raised his hands to sign, but Hizashi shook his head and flicked his eyes over to Keigo. Right, no signing, they’d learned he’d been teaching himself sign. Instead Hizashi tried to explain with just expressions, pursed lips, pointed looks at the stairs, the kitchen and Keigo. His eyes bounced and rolled in some hidden code that Shouta for the life of him couldn’t crack.
His continued and growing confusion must’ve been obvious as Hizashi sighed and rubbed at his creased forehead. Sneaking a look at the kid, and deciding the laser focus on the ceiling might be enough to keep him from noticing, Hizashi very slowly raised a hand and was about to fingerspell something when Keigo snapped his wings to aggressively press into his spine as he slapped a hand over his eyes.
“There now you two can talk about me without me f*cking eavesdropping, are you happy now?!”
“No, we’re concerned." Shouta’s voice was overshadowed by Hizashi’s words.
“With that sort of response, can you blame us for being worried?” The words were curt, and sharp with frustration. Keigo visibly bristled at the words. The regret was immediate, knowing his husband, Shouta was sure that it’d come out harsher than he’d wanted. Shouta reached out and grabbed Hizashi’s hand and gave it a light squeeze.
“Get your stupid secret meeting over with, and then leave me alone. I’m fine.” Keigo hissed.
Shouta tightened his hand in warning. Hizashi looked like he’d swallowed a lemon and was obviously doing everything in his power to reign in all the knee jerk snippy responses he’d want to clap back with. Hizashi had been waxing poetic over their nearing summer break and finally having their wedding done with, during lunch today. It was obvious they all were a touch tired and worn out.
Unfortunately, being the responsible adults in the room they had to be examples of good behavior. Which meant limiting angry outbursts for Hizashi and for Shouta it meant eating actual meals, cutting back on coffee, sleeping more regularly and sticking with the ‘no smoking goal’. Which sucked because everything in him screamed that all the tension in his body would finally unravel if he just got one lungful of smoke and it felt that if he just skipped meals or his meticulously scheduled naps, he could actually get everything done.
Maybe he’d crack the nicotine patches back out. Shouta might’ve weaned himself off too fast. Or maybe he really did just need to get a legit nap in and not just feign resting. Who knew? Not Shouta.
Dropping his husband’s hand, Shouta signed to Hizashi. “What happened?”
“I think Keigo is jealous that Cookie wanted to hang out with Mako and kind of left him out.”
Shouta nodded. That did actually make sense with what he’d overheard. Izuku probably assumed Keigo would be up shortly, not even thinking much of the way Keigo might take the ribbing. It wasn’t that far out of the norm for the two of them to harass each other in this way. Today it must’ve hit a nerve.
“All right, I’ll deal with it. Go get food.”
Hizashi gave him a thumbs up and a small smile before heading to the front door. Shouta wasted no time in turning to Keigo.
“We’re done. Feel free to stare daggers at the ceiling again.”
Keigo slid his hand down his face, pulling his cheeks down just enough to droop his lower eyelids. It added to the disgruntled flat look he shot Shouta before the kid dropped his hand fully and did go back to glaring at the ceiling.
Mourning the obvious loss of his nap time, Shouta stood with a grunt. His knees popped and his left hip twinged from a rough landing from the night before. Shouta should’ve probably done more stretches today, but his lower half was grumpy, and he would just have to deal with the stiffness. Half hobbling, he crossed to the loveseat Keigo was perched on. The kid shifted subtly to turn slightly away from him.
Ouch.
“You know, it’s okay to feel jealous.”
Keigo shot him an even nastier look than the last and a low warning warbled from deep in the kid’s chest. His wings were puffed up and angled trying to make himself look intimidating.
“I’m not jealous”
“Yes you are.”
From the door he heard a not so quiet “Oh my g-d, Shou.”
The lack of confidence was very reassuring. Not.
“Aren’t you getting dinner, ‘Zashi?” Shouta called out a little snappish.
“Yup, you’re right. I’m totally gone. Bye you two! Kei, no matter how dumb Shouta is, please don’t kill him. He means well and–”
“Bye, ‘Zashi.”
His husband sighed and grumbled under his breath, but Shouta had turned his full attention to Keigo. Keigo’s defiant gold eyes met with Shouta’s tired bloodshot eyes. They settled into an impromptu staring contest. It wasn’t until much after Shouta could no longer hear Hizashi’s stupid flashy car that Keigo finally blinked.
“How the h*ll do you hold your eyes open for that long?” The kid grumbled, rubbing at his sore eyes.
“Practice.” Shouta leaned his head back and dropped some soothing drops into his eyes. “And eye drops. Lots of eye drops.”
“Seems like cheating.”
Shotua shrugged. “Maybe, but it works. Want some? It’ll make your eyes feel better.”
Keigo held his hand out with a sigh. “Sure, why not.”
Handing it over, Shouta bit back a laugh as he watched Keigo fail a few times to get the drops in his eyes from bad aim or blinking at the wrong time. Some of the drops were still puddled on his cheek, and he was about to go for another badly lined up attempt when Shouta held his hand back out.
“Can I help you? It’s hard the first couple tries.”
“I can do it.”
“You can.” Shouta nodded. “But getting help would make it easier. I’m happy to do it.”
Keigo was wound tight, but after a moment tossed the container back at Shouta. “Knock yourself out.”
Shouta shifted on his knees and shuffled across the seat to Keigo. Tapping the kids knee, Keigo slid down into a more proper seat onto the actual cushions of the couch. His wings loosened back just enough to brush the ground. Now in a good position, Shouta combed the half faded green patch back. Keigo shivered and leaned into the touch. Gently tilting his head back, Shouta administered the eye drops. Keigo flinched and blinked repeatedly as his eyes got used to the artificial tears.
“Ugh, that’s deeply unpleasant. How do you do that without flinching?”
“You get used to it.” Shouta wasn’t about to explain that sometimes Hizashi still had to help him with his thicker medicated eye drops because he would absolutely blink and the almost filmy texture made his eyes water horribly. And on days he’d seriously overused his quirk they’d burn. After years of using those, the thin artificial tears felt like nothing. “Now, let’s get back to why you are feeling jealous.”
“I’m not.”
“You are, let’s talk about it.”
“You’re not Inui-san, I don’t gotta tell you sh*t.” Keigo sneered, but the floofed up wings and crossed arms made him look more like a toddler pouting than an adult teen. “I’m not feeling jealous. I’m not feeling any f*cking thing.”
“Lots of swears for someone not feeling anything.” Shouta raised his hands in half surrender against the scathing look the kid shot him. “Just commenting; don’t have to take it personally.”
“Keep your comments to yourself,” Keigo was now legitimately pouting and turned tucking himself in the corner of the love seat. His wings now in the narrow space between the back and the wall. “I’m fine.”
“Alright, if you decide to change your mind, I’m here or if you’d rather talk to Hizashi or Inui-san we could–”
Keigo’s wings flared back, but didn’t have enough room and slammed back into the wall and was pinched by the couch. A distressed trill vibrated the whole couch as Keigo thrashed trying to get free. Shouta jumped up and yanked the seat away from the wall to give him more space. Finally free, Keigo tucked and rolled off the love seat and into a pile on the floor. Keigo seemed half frozen as his breaths evened out.
Shouta squatted down a safe distance away. “Kei, you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”
Keigo sat up and gingerly touched along his wings. There were a few small twitches to his face, but not bad enough for it to be worse than bruises. “No injuries. I’m fine.”
There was a tense atmosphere in the room. Just as Shouta was mentally trying to find a polite way of saying ‘the f*ck you’re fine, just let me help you’, Keigo solved his dilemma. Crumpling over his feet that were pressed together, Keigo gripped his ankles. A warbled coo was cut off half way before he very quietly whispered, “Actually, I’m… not fine. And I don’t know why.”
Shouta walked on his knees over to the kid, and put his hands out. Keigo lunged and suddenly Shouta had a lap full of feathery teen. It seemed to open up the flood gates however, which was an interesting flip as before it was like pulling teeth to just admit something was wrong at all. It usually was until the kid blew up. So this was… new.
It was unclear if this was a good or bad thing. But Shouta couldn’t help but be apprehensive as he listened to Keigo’s word vomit while softly combing the feathers within his reach.
“I thought it was all just nerves about meeting a new person. New people…. Haven’t been great lately. I didn’t know how Mako would react, what he’d heard and if he was gonna ya know make comments. Hizashi said the two of you talked to Mako before he came over, and he said it was to go over Izuku’s triggers, but I also know that you had to go over… my issues too. I get it. It’s… fine, I guess. But I don’t know, now that I’ve met him I don’t think I like him.”
“Alright.” Shouta continued the lackadaisical preening. Keigo had other ideas and sat back and held Shouta’s wrists away.
“Alright? Just alright? I just said I didn’t like one of Izuku’s close friends. I just said I didn’t like the stupid babysitter you found. And it’s just alright?”
“You’re allowed to dislike people.” Shouta shrugged, not really sure where… this was going. “As long as you’re civil, I don’t see the issue.”
“But he’s Izuku’s friend.”
“I don’t see the issue.” From Keigo’s exasperated expression, Shouta was missing something. Not sure what, but it was something. This had to be some interpersonal nonsense that he’d checked out of all the way back in primary school, and he had to grit his teeth through helping his students deal with from time to time. “I’m serious, Hizashi is friends with heroes like Miriko and I’d rather die than have to do karaoke with her like he does from time to time.”
“Wait, Hizashi is friends with Miriko?” Keigo looked a bit freaked out. “But she’s terrifying?”
Shouta raised an eyebrow. “Have you met Hizashi, he’s also terrifying.”
Keigo let go of Shouta’s wrists and gently thumped his fist against his chin. It was what Hizashi lovingly called ‘Izuku’s thinking face’ but was very quickly becoming ‘the kids’ thinking face’. They both had definitely been very normal the first time they noticed the small ways that Keigo and Izuku were gaining each other’s habits. Very normal.
“You’re right, I just… how did they even meet? She doesn’t do meet ups, unless it's to spar another hero for clout.”
“I’m not totally sure, you’ll have to ask him, but when she first started somehow she ended up telling her managers that she’d only team up with Present Mic, so they actually went out pretty often for a while. Then on their off days they’d go out drinking or to karaoke. I made the mistake once to do karaoke with them, and I’ll never do it again. Hizashi is busy now so doesn’t go all that often, but I’m pretty sure still has a standing invite.”
“Huh. Weird. Okay.”
“The actual point of all of this is that my personal distaste shouldn’t impact Hizashi’s friends. Especially since Miriko isn’t a bad friend, I just don’t like people. If I had the final say in who Hizashi could be friends with then he’d have no friends.”
“What about Nemuri, though?”
“Bold of you to assume that I would choose to have her around. She is like mold I can't seem to kill. And I’m too tired to keep trying new things at this point.”
Keigo settled against the edge of the couch with a coy smile. “Suuuuuure, very believable.”
Shouta scooched to sit next to him. “Believe what you want, but you see the point I’m trying to make?”
“Yeah, yeah. I gotta play nice with Mako for Izuku’s sake.”
“Civil, I said be civil, not play nice.” Shouta paused for a moment. “You also might want to try to figure out why you don’t like him as well. With Miriko I just found her too loud and generally too much. Can you tell what you don’t like about Mako?”
Shouta really hoped it was just jealousy. Mako was a good kid and having to deal with Keigo hating the kid’s guts would cause issues for Izuku who did genuinely need as many people in his corner as possible. And having more kids closer to his age would be good to help transition him back into a more normal life with school and things. Assuming they ever got to that point with him. But, baby steps.
“You didn’t like her ‘cause she was too loud?” Keigo needled, in the way he did when he was trying to dodge attention. Shouta wasn’t having it and kept his expression steady, ignoring the sass. He actually didn’t like Miriko because she totally wiped him on his a** while he was more than a bit drunk and she was a lot more coherent. Which would be fine except she brought it up every single time she laid eyes on him. Shouta fully believed if they were sober it’d be more even, but he’d never do one of her ‘spars’ and she wasn’t an idiot to publicly call out an underground hero, even a semi known one.
But he wasn’t about to tell all of that to Keigo.
Keigo huffed, wings curling all the way around him blocking Shouta’s view.
“If you don’t know that’s fine. Just food for thought.” Shouta sighed. “Mako’s a good kid. Even if you don’t like him, try not to ruin it for Izuku. It’s good for him to have someone closer to his own age to talk to. And he’s got more than enough sh*t to deal with that the more people he can have in his corner the better.”
There was a mumble from the crimson ball of feathers next to him. The words were too low and muffled to be heard. Shouta hummed in question and a crack slowly opened allowing a tiny sliver of Keigo’s face and hair to be visible. A thin lock of half blonde half green fell forward and brushed against his forehead.
“I was supposed to be the one in his corner.” His voice was small, and thick with emotion. There was a loud sniff and his feathers fluffed up as he shifted to probably hug his knees closer to his chest. “I’m his hero, and we’re brothers now. Am I… am I that disposable? Thrown away because I failed once?” Keigo’s words devolved into sad bird calls.
Shouta wanted to offer a hug, knowing that helped the kid. Or it would make everything worse. And the way Keigo’s feathers were flaring made Shouta nervous to go for any form of touch without express permission.
“Keigo, do you–” He was cut off by a loud warbling noise. This was quickly getting out of hand, apprehension grew in him as the kid got more worked up. Not that Shouta was that concerned for his safety, but Keigo had a handful of times now been dangerous to himself or others when too worked up. It wasn’t his fault and he did a lot of work to keep it from happening, but PTSD was a wild ride.
Keigo hatched out of his feathered ball as his large wings folded tight against his back, some of his large flight feathers bending against the ground. None snapped though, which was good. Keigo freaking out to the point of snapping his own feathers was a very bad sign. The kid was crying, biting his lip in a failed attempt at quieting the distressed cheeps burbling up from his chest. Shaking hands snaked up and started to pull at his hair, but instead of sharp yanks, it was a firm steady pressure. Not great, but was part of the plan he’d made with Inui. Which meant that even as upset as he currently was, Keigo wasn’t totally out of sorts.
Shifting to kneel in front of the kid, Shotua held his hand out. “Kei, squeeze my hand, not your hair.”
“Won’t be able to let go.”
Shouta internally grimaced, knowing it’d been a minute since Keigo had cut his talons down. He’d just complained about losing his nail kit yesterday in the move and had yet to find it. They didn’t look long enough to actually cut his skin, but were long and sharp enough to hurt. “It’s okay. Aim for my sleeve if you know you’re hand’s going to lock up.”
Keigo didn’t hesitate and snapped his hands out like a viper and squeezed– hard. Shouta felt the kid’s muscles lock up as the nails bit through the thick fabric of his hero suit and pressed into his skin. He was right and there was no blood, but d*mn it didn’t feel good.
“If I’m just going to be– to be forgotten, I– I can’t do it. I really, really can’t. Izuku has others, but– but he’s all I have.” Keigo’s voice cracked on the last word. Shouta used his free hand to gently guide Keigo’s head into the crook of his neck and started rocking them both back and forth slightly. “I don’t wanna be alone again. I can’t do it. I– I just can’t.”
“You aren’t alone. And never will be.” Keigo let out a shuddering breath as Shouta continued. “First off because Izuku loves you and would be horrified that you felt this way. And then there is always Hizashi and Nemuri who you know will smother you with love if you let them. Then you haven’t even met Hizashi’s family but they’re at least ten times worse. And finally, I’m right here, Kei and I’m sure as h*ll not going anywhere.”
“I don’t wanna be alone again, Dad. I can’t. I can’t.”
Shouta felt his heart flop at the name. The kid was regularly embarrassed over his quirk latching onto Shouta, but lately had been leaning into it in a jokey playful way. But hearing it in this context gave it a weight that a flippant ‘Ay yo Dad’ never would.
“You won’t. I promise.” Making empty promises wasn’t something that Shouta was going to ever do. He didn’t lie to his students. He didn’t lie to civilians when things got dicey. He wasn’t going to lie to his family. And this was a promise he was going to keep. Even if it wasn’t him, someone in their weird little family would be with Keigo. He wouldn’t be alone.
Keigo’s hands let go of his arm and wrapped themselves around Shouta’s back. Returning the hug, Shouta held the kid together as he cried. Getting ready for another long breakdown, Shouta shifted into a more comfortable seat. Just as he got into place, Keigo’s warbles started to fade and he calmed.
That… was surprisingly fast. Keigo was prone to bundling things up tightly until it exploded. Breakdowns lasted a long time, he hid things until he couldn’t anymore, and overwhelmingly it was never small.
This seemed small.
Between all of them, Shouta’s breakdown bar was likely insanely skewed, but Keigo had maybe cried for a minute or two tops before he was just cuddled up against his side, sniffing tiredly.
It felt fake. It couldn’t be fake, Keigo’s fake emotions were all media smiles and perfectly practiced laughter. Not crying.
The crying was real. The small sheepish smile was real. The relaxed shoulders and loose wings were real. Him sitting up and wiping his eyes was real. The fidgeting with his hoodie string was real. It was all real and all pointed to him genuinely feeling better after a breakdown.
It all just was too fast. Shouta had mentally figured he’d end up calling out, wait it out with Keigo and be a back up for Mako if the kids would be like dominos and Izuku fell too. But… maybe he wouldn’t? Or was this all a facade.
He didn’t think it was though. Keigo’s a good liar, but he’s not that good.
“Do you want to move back up to the couch?” Keigo nodded and they both shifted up to the couch. Keigo even snickered as Shouta’s knees, hip and shoulder popped dramatically as he grunted as he stood.
Which… was good? Maybe? It all was really fast. Not in the ‘Keigo is crushing his feelings back into a box and can emotionally turn on a dime because of it’ way, but the ‘he actually got it out of his system and is actually feeling better and it just took a few minutes’ way. Which was new.
“How long have you worried about being alone?” Shouta asked softly as Keigo curled up next to him. The kid shrugged and let his wing slide over the two of them like a lap blanket. Shouta started to preen and pet the feathers down. Keigo quietly joined him. It was peaceful, not tense.
“I… I dunno.” Keigo finally spoke, and it was a bit rough, but didn’t hold the emotions it did just minutes before. “I think it’s always been there a little bit in the background, but…” He trailed off.
“Do you know what brought it forward?”
“Uh, Izuku?” Keigo chewed on his lip a few times. “That sounds bad. I mean that he just… he said no.”
Keigo slowly started to tighten back into a ball, his ears meeting his shoulders. “My little brother didn’t want me. Didn’t need me either.”
“Do you logically think that one no for assistance means he never wants you around ever again, or maybe just that once?”
“You sound like Inui-san.” Keigo grumbled.
“That means I’m asking the right questions. But answer it.”
“Just once. I know that. I really do.”
“That’s good. Because Izuku is allowed to want to be with other people. He is allowed to want to have space from you, or me, or Hizashi. You are too.” This was something that Keigo sometimes struggled with. The kid had no semblance of what healthy boundaries were, and spelling it out has been helpful for him.
“I know.”
“Also,” Shouta rested a hand on the now smoothed wing, unsure how to word his next thought. It wasn’t something he himself was great at, and he wanted to get it right. “Keigo, we want you around– not because we need you or just because you’re useful– but because we just–”
Keigo cut him off “I know.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to say.” Shouta wasn’t fully sure he knew either. He hadn’t fully thought out how it was going to end, but he’d felt he really needed to make something clear to the kid.
Keigo tilted his head up to look directly at Shouta. The sharp intelligent eyes were molten gold in the afternoon light that filtered through the tied back drapes. However there was a surety that softened the tight anxiety that regularly wrinkled parallel to his dark eye marks. A crooked smile lit up his face.
“You were going to fumble through another incredibly long winded ‘we love you and like having you around’.”
“I–” Shouta blinked, his mind trying to race through his disjointed thoughts. Keigo was right, that was what it could’ve been boiled down to. Sighing, he gave the kid a half nod. “Yeah, that is what I was going to say.”
Keigo grinned. “See. I knew it.”
“Yeah, yeah, smartest brat in town.” In an incredibly impulsive decision, Shouta gave Keigo a noogie, only to be shoved away.
“Hey.” Keigo pouted as he tried to flatten out his now messed up hair, kneeling on the couch, his wings fluttering behind him. “I actually tried to style my hair today.”
“Did you, I can’t tell?” He wasn’t lying, he couldn’t tell, but that wasn’t saying much. Shouta sometimes mentally misses when Hizashi styled his hair. And the man was known for putting his almost half a meter long hair straight up. Shouta blamed it on being used to seeing his husband both ways it didn’t click. But it probably stemmed from the fact he really didn’t care.
“I did! I worked really hard on it too!”
“Then I apologize for ruining your work.”
“I don’t think you mean it, Shouta.”
“I don’t.” He shrugged fighting back a small smile as Keigo squawked. Shouta held up a finger to keep the kid from talking. “However, if you want to hear something I do mean, I love you, Keigo, and I’m glad you’re part of the family.”
Keigo sat frozen and the playful frustration from before was washed away only to be replaced by wet eyes and a wobbly smile. He sat back down fully on the couch with a low thump.
“I, uh, I knew it, but, um, it’s… it’s really nice to hear it, too.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
“‘Cause you’re the smartest brat in town.”
“Yep,” Keigo used a fist to wipe at his eyes, “Smartest brat, for sure.”
They sat there for a moment before Shouta bumped shoulders with Keigo. “Proud of you.”
“Why?”
“I can tell you’re getting better.”
“I just had a breakdown ‘cause I’m jealous of a fourteen year old.” Keigo grumbled. “I don’t think that's improvement.”
Shouta smiled. “Now, I’m more proud.”
“Why?”
“You’re reaching out and communicating before something becomes a big issue. You’re being honest when you don’t know and aren’t just hiding things away. When I first met you I could see the cracks only because I know what to look for and you only really would open up when life forced you to by cracking you open like an egg. This?” He motioned between the two of them. “Was all you asking for help early and having a little breakdown, and that’s massive improvement.”
“I’d like to just not have breakdowns at all.” Keigo was back to grumbling, but something in his tone lightened. Keigo sent a few small feathers in circles trying to tempt Dumpster out from his cardboard box. “But I’m pretty sure that’s just not gonna happen.”
“It’s the curse of being a pro-hero. We all have breakdowns. But this one was surprisingly small. I thought I’d have to call out.” Shouta paused. “Do you want me to call out?”
“No, it’s…” Keigo huffed. “I won’t say fine, ‘cause I know you’ll have a conniption again. But I’ll live.”
“Will Mako?”
“Hey,” Keigo rolled his eyes. “I can be civil with a fourteen year old.”
“Good.”
Keigo’s eyes snapped up to the ceiling from his lazy feathers just as Dumpster pounced. “Oh.”
“Oh?”
“I… I can definitely be civil with a fourteen year old that is being that nice.” Keigo looked touched, and a bit guilty.
“What’s he saying?”
“What happened to ‘don’t eavesdrop, Keigo’?”
Shouta shrugged. “I’m feeling nosey.”
“So, it’s only fine if it benefits you?”
“If I say yes, will you tell me what he said?”
Keigo shot him a flat look, before tilting his head to the side to listen more. “He basically is going on about how much healthier Izuku is from last time he saw him. And how well he’s been cared for and how he and his mom was finally able to visit Inko– who also raves about the rest of us and how we helped her and how he wants to know what each of us likes so he could get personalized thank you’s for each of us for taking care of Izuku so well. But is also freaking out because he’s apparently intimidated by you and the rest of us because we’re all pro heroes and ‘what could we possibly want that some stupid quirkless kid could get’. Izuku’s trying to offer ideas and doing a weird mix of hero worship for us and also saying we’re ‘really not all that cool’. Which, while true about some of us, is rude.”
Shouta half laughed and rubbed his eyes. He’d definitely need to start on some of his plans to help the kid. “That’s good.”
“Good? Good? Izuku just said you’re ‘like a grumpy teddybear’ and that Mako shouldn’t be intimidated by you at all. You’re kid is going to single handedly undermine all your hard work to convince a bunch of teens that you are terrifying.”
“Happens.” He shrugged. It was fun as h*ll to freak his students out. He would still be able to do that even if more of his students caught wind of his secret soft side.
“KEIGOOOOOO!!” Izuku’s yell was audible even for Shouta. “I NEED YOUR FEATHERS! I WANNA SHOW MAKO THE BACK YARD!”
“G-d, chickadee, you didn’t need to scream.” Keigo winced as he rubbed at one of his ears, as a good chunk of feathers darted off and up to Izuku’s room. Shouta still marveled at Keigo’s quirk and how effortless he made this sort of thing seem. Keigo stood, stretched and followed his feathers at a slow pace.
“THANKS, KEI-NII! AFTER YOU WANNA PLAY A GAME? MAKO’S NEVER PLAYED SEVEN WONDERS!”
“Sure thing!” Keigo yelled towards the ceiling.
“Inside voices!” Shouta shouted from the couch.
“OF COURSE!” Izuku screamed, somehow louder.
“Hypocrite.” Keigo tossed over his shoulder, pausing at the doorway. He took a deep breath, like he was centering himself.
“You gonna be okay?” Shouta asked, much quieter.
“Yeah.” Keigo smiled. “I am.”
Keigo tapped the door way twice before all but sprinting up the stairs, playfully shouting a bunch of nonsense in Izuku’s direction about how yelling was not allowed in the house and it was the sacred nap time. Izuku screeched back about how Keigo was totally being louder and there was no way Shouta would be able to sleep through this.
Shouta huffed to himself, shaking his head. He laid back, and closed his eyes. They were being louder than he could reasonably sleep through, but he didn’t mind. His kids were little weirdos. But they seemed happy.