Chapter Text
Shouta couldn't do this. It had been over 2 weeks, almost 3, since he brought Izuku home and at first it wasn't so bad. He enjoyed having him around. Shouta wasn’t quite the fan of getting up early, but he was getting more sleep then he thinks he’s ever got in the last 10 years. Granted, Shouta was a little bored out of mind, but he actually felt relaxed for once. He did some work for agencies that needed a second pair of eyes and cases his own had so he was still working during the day. At night he'd be patrolling, but that had been reduced to sitting on the couch with Izuku in his lap as they watched the news. They had a routine that worked for them.
Izuku was an easy baby to care for altogether. He never really cried and if he did then it was an easy fix. He was hungry, his diaper needed to be changed, or sometimes he just wanted Shouta to pay attention to him. He also only cried a couple times during the night. However, that was only for the first week. Heading into the full week 3, Izuku wouldn’t stop crying constantly. This wasn’t the first time either as it had been slowly progressing since the start of week 2. The last few times he only stopped when he wore himself out. No matter what Shouta did, Izuku screamed until he was hoarse. He shrieked and Shouta was so concerned someone was going to call and complain. Worst case being they’d call the police and he’d awkwardly explain he’s a pro hero that has no idea how to care for a child currently in his custody. A knock came to his door and Shouta thought it was the end of the world. He looked out the peephole and was surprised to see it wasn’t his landlord or an officer.
“Ms. Takumi. My apologies for the disturbance.” Shouta said to his elderly neighbor who lived across the hall. He was generally surprised she heard anything to begin with as she mentioned quite a few times her hearing was going out.
“None of that dear.” the older lady with snow white hair said as she invited herself in.
Shouta wasn’t surprised. Megumi Takumi was the only one of his neighbors he actually got along with. Not that he actually tried to make relationships with them. She used to be a nurse until her husband died and then eventually retired. Shouta believes she spends her time knitting and sewing for the long term stay kids in the same hospital she used to work at. A sweet older lady, but certainly had the ‘takes no shit’ attitude, yet so sweet. “Oh and who is this sweet thing? Aren’t you just upset, but so cute! It’s okay, Megrammi is here.”
“Um. Again, I’m sorry about him. He hasn’t been able to stop for hours. I’ve tried everything and nothing seems to help.”
“It’s nothing you did dear. From what I see, he might just have colic.”
Shouta’s heart sank. Colic? Was it dangerous? Was this something he could have prevented? Something he did wrong? Was he not properly taking care of Izuku? He was trying his best and he thought he had gotten the hang of it. Ms. Junko even said Izuku looked great when she visited a couple days ago for the weekly check in. Was this going to scar Izuku for the rest of his life? Did he fail? Was Izuku…going to die?
“Oh stop that.” she said, smacking his arm to break Shouta’s panic. “You look like a nervous father. Colic just means a healthy baby, like this angel right here, cries for a while for no reason.”
'Oh. So Present Mic.' Shouta thought before he asked out loud with concern, “So he’ll be okay?”
“Of course. It happens sometimes at this age in rules of three. Three hours for three days within three weeks. I’ve been listening in and he hasn’t been here that long so it’s hard to say for sure, but a lot of children get it so it certainly wouldn’t surprise me. It’ll go away on its own in time, but until then you just need to find a way to soothe them. You can try baths, feeding, talking, just something to occupy them. This one seems to like when we are held, bounced, and talked to. Is that right?” Megumi said as she rocked Izuku who seemed to be starting to calm down. “Now, is he yours?”
“Uh. No. He’s my sister’s. I’m watching him–” Shouta lied.
“Stop yourself son.” She interrupted as her sky blue eyes narrowed in. “No need to lie to me. I’m old, not senile. It’s for work, isn’t it? You might think you're sneaky, but I know you're a hero.”
Shouta deadpanned, "Then why did you ask?”
“Keep you on your toes son. Well no matter how long he’s here, you can always come to me dear. I know you probably patrol and such so I can even babysit. I’ll make him a cute toy and hat to go with these little curls.” Megumi said as she ran her fingers through his soft curls and Izuku seemed to melt under her caress like a cat.
“You don’t have to.”
“You’re not going to stop me dear. I don’t have any grandchildren so humor this little old lady.” Megumi said as she handed Izuku to Shouta who was smiling at him. “You’re doing a great job dear. We’ve been neighbors for over a year and I know this isn’t what you expect, but you can’t deny he’s happy.”
Shouta looked over at Izuku and the baby was giving him a toothless grin that Shouta came to enjoy seeing. Yeah, the kid was happy.
Shouta looked in his fridge a couple days later and sighed. He needed to do some shopping for both him and his little freeloader. Well, said freeloader’s things were being paid for not out his paycheck so that wasn’t too big an issue. The issue was having to take Izuku with him. Normally he’d take Ms. Takumi’s offer to watch him, but she was out visiting the hospital with her newest crafts projects. She also mentioned getting new fabrics and yarn to start on Izuku’s. Shouta hoped that Izuku would be here long enough to receive them. He guessed if not then he’d just have to see Izuku at his new home and bring them. That wouldn’t be so bad. He could make sure he was doing okay.
Looking around he debated what would be the best way to carry Izuku. Now he was thinking having a car wasn't a bad idea. Oh well. He'd make due with a chest carrier. Izuku liked when he carried him around like that anyway. Those big green eyes stared up at him like he was that kid's whole reason to be there. This would be fine. He packed up a diaper bag, tossed on acceptable clothing, put his hair up, and grabbed his capture scarf. Never left home without it and walked out the door ready to face the mass of people at the market. Then immediately ran back in as he realized he forgot Izuku.
Shouta was not fine. All the women, from young to little old ladies came up to him commenting on how Izuku was so cute and so well behaved as he either napped or looked around at everything around him. It got worse once Izuku was more awake letting himself be known by squirming. "Your son is so cute. It's so refreshing to see a young father care for his kids. I won't keep you from shopping dear, but you were too sweet not to come say hello." The latest older woman said before she walked away with a bright smile.
Shouta felt no reason to correct her. There wasn't a point to do so except continuing and contributing to a conversation he didn't want in the first place. So for the moment he'd pretend he was a single dad shopping with his almost 3 month old that he didn't know he had. Izuku was kind of like his son. Almost 3 months old. Geez, was he supposed to do anything for turning X months old? He had a few co-workers with kids and they posted and showed everyone every month what their kid was up to. Should he pick something out for him? Maybe he could find a plush cat toy he was allowed to have and could keep with him to remember Shouta by. Not that he'd probably remember him much to begin with. He could always give him something later for an excuse to see him, but Shouta looked down at him and noticed he'd gotten loose. Well better fix–
"Everyone put their hands up!" A voice shouted near the front.
A few people screamed as Shouta turned around and saw 2 villains at the registers. One pointed their hands that looked like gun barrels at the cashiers who were sobbing and shaking with fear as the other walked around sneering at everyone.
"Shut up! Put the money in the bag!"
You all better not call the police or heroes! Put all your valuables down!"
Shouta almost jumped into action until he felt a weight on his chest. Shit. He had Izuku with him. He certainly couldn't just jump right in with a baby strapped to his chest. He needed to be smart. He couldn’t let these robbers get away, but he also couldn't put Izuku in harm's way. Shouta knew he'd be devastated if anything happened to him.
Being in line of fire the villain yelled at them to put wallets, jewelry, watches, purses or anything worth a pretty penny down. Shouta crouched low to the ground as the villain didn't pay him any attention thankfully. If he could set Izuku safely down he could use his quirk to stop theirs and arrest them. Slowly Shouta put Izuku on the floor that the child paid no mind to, well until he used his quirk.
The villain then smirked as he put his palms out which had holes in them that began to work like a high powered vacuum. Everything everyone just put on the floor began sliding toward the villain at an alarming speed…including Izuku.
Izuku shrieked as he slid across the floor.
"The hell?!"
Without thinking Shouta jumped up and flashed his quirk, cutting off the suction. Everything stopped moving and the confused villain didn't have time to react as Shouta’s capture scarf wrapped around him and flung him into the shelves.
Unfortunately the ruckus alerted the other villain who turned around and opened fire. Bone bullets fired out his fingers piercing and destroying everything. Shouta flashed his quirk at him, halting his attack before flinging his villain partner at him. The two collided and fell back with Shouta taking the moment to tie them both up.
"I'm a pro hero. Everything is fine. Please call the police if someone hasn't already. Is anyone hurt?" He asked.
Then he heard it and Shouta began to panic. The shrieking sounds of a child. Izuku was still on the floor when he jumped into the fray to save him. What if those villains had hurt him, kidnapped him, or held him hostage? Looking down to make sure the villains weren't moving he raced out. Shredded paper, crumbs, and liquids were covering the floor and Izuku was in the center of it surrounded by everyone's valuables. A sight Shouta thought too true. Izuku was valuable. To him at least. Running to the boy he carefully looked over him, but dread filled him as he saw a red liquid on his jumper. No. He was still crying so he wasn’t hurt too badly. His heart was beating so hard and he could feel and hear the blood in his ears. Was Izuku hurt because of him? When he spoke with Ms. Takumi about Izuku having colic he understood that wasn’t something he could prevent, but this? This was preventable if he had done his job right. He was a pro hero that graduated from UA. He clawed his way to the Hero Course after everyone told him he couldn’t and…maybe they were right. Slowly reaching out with shaking hands he knew he needed to access where Izuku was hurt so he could help him. He also needed to staunch the blood flow before he lost too much. As he touched the blood he realized it was cold and smelled? This wasn’t blood…it was ketchup. Shouta exhaled in relief and bit his lip to prevent anything from escaping his mouth because he was either going to cry, yell, or laugh.
Izuku was unharmed and just scared. He gently picked him up and held Izuku to his chest not caring how messy he was getting. He hushed, rocked, and caressed his curls. He was there. D-Shouta was there. Izuku was okay. That's what mattered, but he almost wasn't due to Shouta’s dumb mistake. He should have put Izuku elsewhere or maybe he should have just done nothing? He was a pro! How would that look on him!?
"Thank you."
Shouta's eyes widened and he turned around to see the woman who called Izuku his son earlier had approached him once more. Also by the time the police and another pro had shown up and started taking statements.
"My apologies–"
"Enough that. You're obviously a pro hero and still care so much for your son. You wouldn't have done that if you didn't love him. He's lucky to have you like we were lucky you were here today and no one got hurt. You may be young, but that's the joy of parenting. You'll figure it all out, but what's important is that you love him. I can clearly see that. Thank you, hero."
Shouta looked down at Izuku who had calmed down considerably and put his head into Shouta’s chest. His heart beat loudly as Izuku laid on top of it.
He took Izuku home after answering some questions and just called Yamada, cashing in one of the numerous favors the blond man owed him. That afternoon the hero showed up with some groceries, baby food, and even a meal for Shouta. What a saint, he takes back the mean things he says about the man. For now until he does something stupid again.
Also after the incident at the store Shouta was reminded to just have groceries delivered to the apartment. He cursed why didn't he think of it soon.
'It's the dad brain.' Yamada had said, before Shouta almost chased him out. The blond luckily had to leave for his shift. The 'for now' ended real quick. Yamada is still an idiot. He was not a da–
Shouta heard a knock on the door while he mused through his thoughts the next day. Odd. He wasn't expecting anyone and Yamada would just barge right in. Looking at the time he should be at his agency.
"Ms. Junko. I thought you weren't going to be here until next week." Shouta said as he opened the door with Izuku in his arms playing as he messed with a toy which either involved grabbing at it or sticking it in his mouth.
Uh oh. This was unannounced. Did she hear about the incident at the store? Izuku was fine. A little spooked by everything but fine. Did she no longer find him acceptable to care for Izuku?
"Yes. I heard about what happened at the store and just wanted to check in." Shouta narrowed his eyes. Geez this lady was literally out to get him.
"Everything's fine." Shouta wanted to hiss.
"I can see as much." Ms. Junko said as she smiled at Izuku. "Things happen Mr. Aizawa, but I heard it was handled and no one was harmed. We can't fault you for the society we live in or you going out so you can provide for him. That's not the only reason I'm here. I thought you'd like to know as soon as possible as I seem to have found a suitable home for Izuku. If the family adopts him he’ll have plenty of other children to play with when he's older and a stable home life. The family is that of a pro hero who is rather well off so all his needs will be taken care of. The family has one on the way so the mother is pleased to help the boy.”
Shouta’s mind went through who in the hero community had a family that had the balls to announce it and was well off. Not many heroes announced that they had kids, let alone were married, so whoever it was clearly had a lot of power to be so boastful. There was only one and Shouta let out a heavy sigh.
“Is it Endeavor? The Todoroki family?” Shouta asked with slight disgust. He hadn’t worked with the Number Two Hero yet, but he had heard some unsavory things about him from a few of his co-workers. He couldn’t imagine what the man was like at home. If anything Shouta thought this was a publicity stunt. 'Number 2 Hero takes in an orphaned child! He's just a hero at heart, home, and on the job!' Shouta wanted to gag.
"I'm not at liberty to discuss." Ms. Junko said.
"So it is Endeavor. Has anyone checked to make sure their family is safe?" Shouta asked. Why would he be interested in a baby? Was he informed of Izuku’s unique situation? If he was, did he think he could take advantage of the boy? Shouta could admit that the other hero could protect Izuku from an attack and provide for physical needs, but what about providing for anything emotional. What if Izuku finds out the truth? Shouta wasn't sure what personality Izuku would grow up to have, but if it were Shouta he would think he'd go nuts without someone there who he trusted and that proved they cared. Shouta admitted he wasn't great either, but all his attention would be on Izuku and not 4 other kids that were actually his. Izuku would grow up ostracized. Izuku needed someone who was always going to be there. Their little routine and comfort would be gone. No more talks. No more seeing to toothless grins.
"We have. The family was well taken care of. I thought you'd be pleased we got this taken care of so quickly. Izuku should be fine with them." Ms. Junko said as she was pulling out some papers from a folder.
"No."