Archive of Our Own ^beta

The air was warm and humid, even as the sun started to make its descent from the centre of the sky, the afternoon slowly settling in, it was still hot.

Hitoshi groaned, wiping sweat from his brow as his violet eyes swept over the skate park.

He eyed off all the strange shapes and manner of ramps, unable to name any of them before he huffed in frustration, glancing back down at the borrowed board by his feet.

He didn’t know anything about skating why was he even here.

A loud squeal followed by laughter drew his attention back to the present. He glanced over a the group of 5 teenagers in front of him.

Sero had Mina in his arms as he precariously balanced on his board. Her vibrant pink skin was paled with fear but she still laughed as she squeezed halfed chocked the smug boy as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Bakugou growled at them, arms crossed as he pretended not to care, but every time Sero wobbled a little too,I had, Bakugou was tensing up.

The proud asshole really hated that he cared.

Kirishima and Kaminari were watching these antics as they skating idly around the group.

They were all so content in each others company, all of their personality fitting together seamlessly.

Then their was Hitoshi.

Whoever’s e hero course half a year late was hard enough as is, trasnsitioning into an established friendship was harder.

He sighed as he glanced back down at the untouched board at his feet, he didn’t even know how to get on the damn thing without making an ass of himself.

He was desperate to fit in with the self proclaimed “bakuswuad” so as soon as Kaminari invited him Friday afternoon to come skate with them, his amber eyes sparking with excitement, he immediately agreed without a second though.

He was desperate for friendship, especially Kaminari’s.

His stomach tighten, a uncharacteristic giddiness filling him as his thoughts turn to bright amber eyes and soft blonde hair. Never in a million years did he think he’d ver develop a crush, let alone on as someone and goofy and carefree as Kaminari.

“Ya know, if you didn’t know how to skate, you could have just told me. We could have done something else.”

Shinsou jumped, head snapping to the side to see mom other them Kaminari Denki standing beside him, looking up at him with a soft apologetic smile.

Embarrassement flooded his system at being called out. He felt his cheek a flushed, yet he still tried to play it off cool.

“What do you mean, I can skate, it’s just been a while since I have, I just need a minute to get my bearings again.” He lied, hand rubbing the nape of his neck in a self soothing manner.

It was silent for a beat before Kaminari started to giggle, honest to god giggling.

Shinsou didn’t think he could blush any harder then he already was, but the sweet sound of Kaminaris laughter paired with the mirth swimming his his shinning eyes waa enough to make Shinsou burn.

Kaminari’s grin only seemed to grow at Shinsou’s the more flustered Shinsou became. He stepped even closer into the larger boys personal space, smirking up at him as he playfully teased him.

“Ya know, I can help you get your bearings if you want. I know how hard, relearning to ride a skateboard can be.”

Shinsou wanted to crawl into a hole and die at this point.

“I-it’s okay, really, I can work it out-“

His stuttering was cut of by Kaminari taking a step back and offering his hand out to Shinsou, all signs of teasing gone, his smirk had died down into a soft almost nervous looking smile.

“Come on. I want to help you.”

Shinsou was a goner.

Silently, he reached for Kaminari’s smaller hands and his first thought was ‘wow, his hands are surprisingly soft’ his second Thought was ‘holy shit I’m sweatier than Bakugou right now,”

Working together, the two hero hopefuls managed to get Shinsou’s on the board, standing up shakily on two legs as he grasped desperately at Kaminari’s hands.

His brains supplied him with the way Mina held desperately onto Sero earlier and he felt a pang of solaridy with the pink girl.

“Okay, now will just start with balance, once you’re comfortable stand on your own the hesitation and fear will die down enough for us to start practicing pushing off.” Kaminari explained, eyes flickering between Shinsou’s stands and the lilac haired teens face.

Shinsou hummed, half listening, as he concentrated on keeping his stance wide and his knees bent. He only tuned back in when he felt Kaminari Olsen his grip on Shinsou’s hands.

“I’m gonna let go now and-“

“Wait!”

It was too late, Shinsou felt the board start to slip out from underneath him, quick reflexes from capture training with his foster father had him shooting his hands out and trapping them around Kaminari’s neck, much more like how Mina held Sero earlier.

Hitoshi felt slender arms snaked around his waist, tighten their grip as Kaminari grunted and supremely, held the taller boy up.

They both still, breathes erratic from their panic before they dissolved into laughter. Hitoshi, body pumping with adrenaline, forgot to be embassessed as he rested his head on Kaminaris shoulder, face pressed into the boy's neck.

"I swing around building by a piece of cloth daily but standing on a raised platform with wheels? No even a chance." He joked, voice muffled by Kaminaris skin.

The smaller boys shivered despite the afternoon heat.

Hitoshi basked in the glowy happiness he felt in his chest. Despite his earlier worry, here he was still not knowing how to skate but having fun.

Unfortunately, that feeling was short lived as the boys were rudely reminded that they were intact I public.

"Arigh, not yous too." Bakugous voice rang out across the skatepark. "Its bad enough watching Mina and Hanta flirt I don't need see you to idiots pinning either."

Mortified at having his feelings exposed, Hitoshi stupidly shoved Kaminari away.

He barely had time to register thay without Kaminaros embrace, he had his full body weight on his board alone for a split second before the board roll out beneath him and casting him to fall.

The contact hurt.

His foot rolling beneath his weight before the harsh burn of the ground meet his palms and knees.

"Shinsou!" A chorus of worried voice yelled before his crunched form was crowded with the shadows of his worried classmates.

He can instantly tell he's done damage to his left ankle.

He hisses out a curse, face scrunched in agony as waves after waves of pulsating pain tribute through his ankle.

"Hey, are you alright?" Through the pain, Hitoshi managed to glance up and to see Kaminari kneeling beside him.

His beautiful amber eyes are wide with worry, flittering all ove this body to try and find some life threatening wound in his panic.

"Bakugou, that wasn't cool man, you could have seriously hurt them!" Sero scolded, instantly turning on his firey friend who was quick to retaliated.

"Hey, Man you okay?" Red suddenly filled his vision and he was face to face with a concerned Kirishima.

Hitoshi eyed the chaotic scenario around him. Sero, Bakugou and now Ashido bickering about whose fault this was, Kaminari quietly drowning in guilt and Kirishimas worried expression.

It was too much at once and to overwhelming for him. He jusy needed everyone to chill out and leave him alone for a minute.

"Uh yeah, I'm fine." He forced a smile to the red head who didn't seem very convinced. Shonsou then cleared his throat and loudly announced announced the others thay he was okay.

"Are you sure, you looked like you were in pain?" Ashido attention was back on him as she and Kirishima helped him to his feet.

Just play it cool…

Once he was upright, he casually shrugged them off and stood as straight as he could, ignoring the pain in his left leg as he put weight on it.

"Just a few scraps and bump, nothing more than hero training would give us." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck to soothe his nerves.

Everyone gave him critical looks, trying to spot the low in his words but fortunately for him, he was a decent liar.

The air was stiff as no one spoke and Hitoshi started to sweat under their gaze.

"Fine, whatever then." Bakugou huffed, breaking the silence. "But you better not be lying or ill kick your ass"

He turned on his heel and stomped back over to where they had abandoned their boards earlier.

"Aw, Bakubro you actually care!" Sero teased as he trailed off behind the explosive blonde to tease him once more.

That seemed to break the tension as everyone relaxed and slowly started to resume with what they were doing earlier.

"Fuck off! I could careless about fucking eyebags" Bakugou exploded "I just want him in tip-top shape when I beat him in sparing next week!"

Sero snickered and keeping following Bakugou throwing more taunts at him for his amusement.

Kirishima let out a loud sigh before he gave Shinsou a soft smile.

"I'm glad you're okay, dude!" Before he quickly spun on his heel and chased after the two boys. "Kats calm down, man! You know he's just trying to get under your skin!"

Ashido watched after them with a fond smile on her lips.

"I better go reel in my boyfriend before Bakugou blows his face off" She laughed before she turned and ran after Sero.

That just left Kaminari.

Hitoshi turned towards the boy and had to restrain from physically reacting as he made eye contact with the shorter boy.

Kaminari was staring at him with impossible big, worried eyes. His gaze flickering back and forth between Hitoshi's face and Hitoshi's left foot.

Hitoshi made an effort to lean more weight on his sore foot to prove he was fine but that was a mistake.

He winced slightly and that was enough to set Kaminari off.

“I knew it you’re a fucking liar!” Kaminari hissed, instantly hovering at Hitoshi’s side and trying to get the taller boy to lean some of his weight on him.

“I’m fine, Kaminari, don’t stress.” He sighed, turning around and making his way over to a bench trying his damn hardest to walk normally, it didn’t work.

Kaminari was by his side in a second, successfully slinging Hitoshi’s arm over his shoulder and bearing weight as they moved as one toward the seating area.

Hitoshi bristled at the help, mind wondering if the others were watching, if they noticed Hitoshi’s limb and also realised he was lying.

What would they think?

Would they be upset?

Would they still want to be his friend?

“Easy” Kaminari whispered as he started to manoeuvre them onto one of the vacant benches and pulling Hitoshi from his spiralling thoughts. “There you go” he huffed encouranhely as Hitoshi was finally seated.

“I really am okay” Hitoshi huffed, embrassée by how much Kaminari was babying him, how much he’d be babying him all day actually.

From the corner of his eye, we watched the blonde sit beside him, rubbing his hands over his face and through his air, obviously stressed.

“I don’t really believe you, Shinsou.” He huffed finally, turning to glare at Hitoshi and making the boy feel even more guilt.

They sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes, watching the others skate around in a odd game of skateboard tag.

At ,east they weren’t bickering anymore…

Hitoshi glanced down at his sore foot and frowned, he really should inspect the damage, make sure there isn’t an unsavoury bruising or swelling.

He glanced out the corner of his eye at Kaminari and his frown deepened.

He really didn’t want to worry anyone.

Realistically he knew he was being stupid.

He was injured and these guys were supposed to be his new friends. They were heroes in training, they all knew first aid and would likely just help him tend to his injury and not make too much of a fuss.

Easy right? Wrong.

A small, dark part of him, the one that still flinched at raised voices, that made him eat as little as possible, that didn’t like tho ask for help and that didn’t think he was worth any care still whispered in his ear often.

It’s been months since he’d been out if the unfortunate situation he was raised in, Months of unconditional love and care from Shouta and Hizashi, months of therapy sessions to weed out these issue and here he was still letting the voice speak over his voice of reason.

He glanced at Kaminari again, the boys staring out into the skatepark with a frown on his face. He seemed to be zoned out, his silence and stillness honestly a little frightening to see on Kaminari but Hitoshi couldn’t find it in himself to disturb him.

He just stewed in his guilt and pain until the eventually the others announced that they were done for the days.

"I'm gonna drive Kats home, I'll see yous all on Monday in class" Kirishima gave a toothy grin before slinging his arm around Bakugous shoulder. "Say goodbye, dude."

"See ya losers" He grinned with no real malice before he ducked out of Kirishimas arm and headed towards his beat up car.

Kiri just sent everyone an apologetic look before catching up with his boyfriend.

"We should head out too" Sero stretched, a yawn escaping his lips before he offered his hand to Ashido who gracefully took it. "See ya later!"

"Feel better soon Shinsou!" Ashido called as the put their boards in the back of her own car before the pair left aswell.

That just left Kaminari and him alone once more. That seemed to happen a lot when he hung out with the 'Bakusquad' but I guess that's what happens when everyone else in the group is a couple.

"I'm gonna call my sister, do you need a lift?"

Hitoshi startled at the sound of the blonde boy's voice, surprised he was even talking to Hitoshi now.

"Ah, no I don't live far." Was his automatic response and it was true. UA was just a few blocks away, barely a workout for Hitoshi who had walked here earlier this afternoon to hang out with everyone.

"What about your foot?" The electric blonde asked "Or are we still pretending you're fine?"

The snark in his voice made Hitoshi bristle.

Okay, he's still mad at me for lying to him…

Hitoshi took a deep breath, steeling himself.

You're allowed to be vulnerable, Kaminari is your friend, he cares about you!

"I'm sorry." He muttered, the words barely audible but luckily Kaminari heard him.

The blonde stood from the bench and stretched out his back before turning to look down at Hitoshi who still sat.

"Its okay" He mumbled, fidgeting around inside the deep pockets of his baggy shorts before producing his phone. "I just hate when people lie"

Hitoshi looked down at his hands in shame. He was trying to win these people over, to truly become apart if their friend group.

He shouldn't lie.

"I'm sorr-"

"I really like you Shinsou. I want to get close to you and I want you to be able to trust me. If you don't trust yet, for whatever reason, I'll make sure that I'll win that trust eventually."

Kaminari's eyes were so light and honest that Hitoshi was paralyzed under their gaze, under the weight of that confession.

Before he could force his useless throat to even utter a sound, Kaminari pressed the dial on his phone and turned his back to Hitoshi for privacy while he made his call.

If Hitoshi noticed how red his ears were, he chose not to mention it.

He tuned out Kaminari's conversation as he opened up his own phone and glanced at the time.

5.40PM

Shocked, he glanced at the skyline in the distance and saw how much further the sun had decended over the sky since he looked earlier.

Everything was lightly dusted in the warm hues of golden hour. The sky a pretty canvas of orange, pink and blue watercolours.

“Hey do you actually need a lift home?” Kaminari raised a thin brow at him as he shook his phone. “My sister’s gonna be here pretty soon.”

Hitoshi shook his head no and glanced back down at his discarded phone in his hands.

It had locked itself once more due to inactivity.

“I’m gonna text my fosters for a lift.” He explained as he scrolled through his contacts for Hizashi's number.

Hitoshi noticed that Kaminari seemed to fidget more, like he wanted to say something but was hesitating.

He ignored the boy for now, knowing Kaminari would speak eventually, and wrote his texts out to Hizashi.

To: Hizashi
From: Hitoshi

Hey, would it be possible for someone to come and pick me up from the skate park?

He hit send just as Kaminari decided to sit next to him once more, his fidgeting calm once more.

He’s ready to talk

“Your foster's” He started “you don’t really talk about them much” He stated awkwardly, glancing quickly at Hitoshi before glancing away.

Hitoshi grimaced, it was true. He almost never spoke of his home life, his class were aware that he was in Foster Care but they didn’t know who his parents were, where he lived or if he had any foster siblings.

Heck, no one even knew the names or genders of his parents.

Everything was kept completely private as per requested by his foster parents.

It wasn’t everyday that you were taken in by Two pro heros after all.

“Yeah, I don’t.” He said lamely, not really prepared for this conversation. Kaminari nodded, fiddling with his shorts for a few awkward seconds before he blurted out.

“They’re good people right?”

Hitoshi was caught of guard by the question, before he could even formulate a response, Kaminari was talking once more.

“I know that not all people get into fostering for the right reason is all. I know I was only in fostercare for a year while my sister fought for custody of me but some of the places I stayed were questionable and the others down right awful.” He turned fully towards Hitoshi, worry clear on his features. “You just don’t say anything about them at all and it worries me sometimes.”

Hitoshi couldn't help it. The more the other boy rambled about caring about his well-being the wider he grinned.

His heart pounded rapidly against his ribcage and that happy flutter feeling he normally got around Kaminari made itself known.

"Thank you." He breathed, leaning into Kaminari shoulder and making the smaller boys freeze. He glanced up at Hitoshi is shock at the gesture but didn't make an attempt to move. "They're actually lovely people. The best I have, I think they might even adopt me."

"Good. I'm glad."

Kaminari relaxed, leaning into Hitoshi as the two watch the sunset.

It wasn't long before the sound of a car parking caught their attention. Hitoshi spotted the Kaminari's small black car and nudge the blonde boy to get his attention.

"Your sisters here."

Kaminari lights up, sitting up straight once more and breaking contact with Hitoshi.

His side felt cold without Kaminaro there.

"Give me a second!" He called across the skatepark before he collected his board and the board Hitosh hadi borrowed. Items in hand, he turned back towards Hitoshi and gave him a soft smile.

"Are you sure you don't need a lift home?" He glanced down at Hitoshis foot, His worry still lingering in the back of his mind. Hitoshi shifted in his seat, stretching his leg out and flexing hius foot.

He winced at the increased spike of pain before sheepishly glancing up at a frowning Kaminari.

“It’s still a bit sore but one of my fosters will pick me up” He gave Kaminari, what he hoped was, a reassuring smile before glancing down at his phone on his lap.

Hizashi still hadn't actually messaged him back but he should be fine. He glanced at the time and saw that he had a few hours until Hizashi went into the station to pre-record his show and Shouta didn't start patrol for another hour and a half.

Normally, Shouta would be leaving not long after Shinsou arrived home for curfew and Hizashi, Eri and myself would have dinner together before Hizashi would leave for a few good hours.

His Foster Father would arrive home together in the early AM, Eri would be fast asleep, Hitoshi putting her to bed hours beforehand and Hitoshi himself would be still awake and mindlessly scrolling through his newsfeed as insomnia ate away at his sleeping hours.

Rapid and a quite frankly, impatient series of honks from Kaminari’s sister pull him from his thoughts.

“Shit!” Kaminari cursed “Okay, Well, text me when you're home and you better lemme know how that foot is later”

With a final wave, Kaminari hopped into his sister's car and leaned over his sister, to her dismay, loudly honking the horn in goodbye to him. Hitoshi can't help the swell of fondness and affection that fills his chest as he watches Kaminari get shoved back into his own seat by his face.

Soon, their car disappears from sight and Shinsou is alone in the skatepark.

He checks his phone once more, concerned when he sees no new messages from Hizashi. The sun was truly setting now and he knew that if he were to attempt to walk back to UA, he wouldn't be home until it was well and truly dark and dinner would be cooking.

A guilty thought sunk heavy into his stomach.

You’d miss your chance to say goodbye to Shouta before his patrol, he'd definitely be starting to get ready by now.

He sighs, pushing down the guilt for such a childish need before pulling out his mobile and calling Yamada instead, hoping that maybe the man didn't have his phone on and just hasn't seen Hitoshi texts yet.

Nerves build up in Hitoshi the longer the phone rings out, eventually getting his voicemail.

Beep

“Yo, this is Hizashi. Sorry but I'm probably too busy being a rockstar, you know how it is. Leave a message and i'll buzz ya back when the tour ends.”

Frowning, Hitoshi waits a few moments before trying again but unfortunately getting the same results.

Shit. He thought, he checked the time again, Hizashi shouldn't be busy at this time, unless he was called into emergency hero work but Shouta or Hizashi would have texted him and his new alert app did not broadcast any major villain attacks at this moment.

He might just be busy with Eri or the cats or something, he reasoned. I’ll just wait a few minutes to give him time to reply and if he doesn’t then i'll call Shouta.

He decides that, whilst he's finally alone and has nothing to do in the meantime, he should actually check the condition of his foot and assess the damage.

Ever so carefully, he lifted his injured leg and rested it against his other knee before slowly removing his shoe and sock. Instantly, as he peels his sock off inch by inch, he noticed how swollen his foot had become.

The normally taunt skin around his ankle, bloated and filled with fluid, but luckily not discoloured or bruised in any way.

It must only be a sprain. Nothing ice, bandages and rest wouldn't fix.

He started the tedious task of putting his sock and shoe on once more causing more pain, only to be disrupted by the shrill shriek of his phone's default ringtone. Abandoning the effort to redress his foot, he leaped for his phone beside him on the bench, snatching it up without bothering to read the caller ID, and pressed the answer button.

“Hizashi-” He breathed his greeting in relief only to be cut off by the deeper and sterner voice of Shouta.

“Hitoshi, Where are you? You should almost be here, right?” Shouta rushed out, a series of rustling and thumps could be heard through the speaker before the man spoke again, sounding further away from the phone. “If you’re not, I need you home within the next 10 minutes”

Hitohsi, thrown off balance by the sudden expectations and quick orders from Shouta, hesitated as his brain almost failed to play catch up to what his guardian had asked of him.

10 minutes? It's a 15 minute walk normally but I ran, I could definitely make it back in under 10 minutes but with my foot…

He glanced down at his outstretched leg and to his injured foot, covered in nothing but his socks still, he gave it a painful wiggle.

“Hitoshi?” Shouta called through the speaker, his voice still a ways off from the device but much louder and strained with what sounded like annoyance.

The tone made Hitoshi wince but he was sure to reply this time.

“Yes, sorry” He stammered, a little thrown off guard from Shouta’s apparent annoyance with him, “I’m still at the skatepark, I haven’t left yet.” He confessed, guilty despite rationally knowing that things out of his control happened and his tardiness wasn't entirely his fault.

“Hitoshi.” Shouta exhaled, the word breathed on the air of all things negative; disbelief, frustration, anger and disappointment. Hitoshi, having spent previous years conditioned to this reaction from adults curled in on himself, the phone dropping into his lap as he detachedly stared at the light up screen.

Shouta was speaking, that he was aware of, but the words spoken were lost to him, snippets of sentences piercing through his hazy bubble but making little sense to his sluggish brain.

We both know you know better, Hitoshi, we’ll need to talk about this later when…

What about Eri? This isn’t the responsible role model you said you wanted…

Tomorrow when Hizashi is home then will…

That doesn’t matter right now, what matters is that you come….

Hizashi left earlier than usual, yes, but if you'd been on your way home by your curfew then…

Hitoshi noticed the time on the phone.

Huh… I am late for curfew…

“Hitoshi!”

The boy jumped, snatching his phone up once more and holding it to his ear, his heart rapidly beating inside his chest as adrenaline coursed through his brain at being spooked.

“Yes?” He asked lamely, his brain still feeling detached. He knew what was happening to his body, he remembered talking about it with his therapist as they explained that it was his body's defence mechanism against his past trauma… He didn't understand why it was activated now talking to Shouta.

An almost growl rang through the speaker pushed against his ear and travelled down his body and under his skin making the flesh pebble and his hair raise in what felt shockingly like fear.

Hitoshi couldn't understand why his body and mind were reacting this way, this was Shouta Aizawa, his foster father, his Sensei, the closest thing he's had to a home in years.

“Now isn't the time for attitude, Shinsou!” Shouta growled. “I need to get on patrol, Hizashi was called in early so you need to come home right now and watch her.”

A wave of anxiety washes over Hitoshi as he glances once more at his injured foot, he doesn't try to wiggle it this time as the echoes of pain from his previous movement still throb. He knows that he couldn't be home by the time Shouta wants him there, isn’t even sure he could walk home at all but the fear of disobeying Shouta or Hizashi stings more than the thought of putting weight on his foot right now, yet…

He bites back his own growl of frustration, a pathetic whine feeling the void behind his teeth as he struggled to form the words that needed to be said.

Pushing, clawing, through the fog of his mind and the heaviness set into his limbs, he took a deep breath and reminded himself that Shouta and Hizashi are different, they are safe.

“I can’t walk home.” Hitoshi began, his words slow and disconnected but he pushed on. “I was trying to call Hizashi before you called, I’ve hurt my ankle and can’t-”

The sound of Eri's light and timid voice was barely audible through the speaker but Hitoshi still found himself awkwardly trailing off as Shouta hummed softly to her in reply. When he spoke his voice was so soft and gentle, not a hint of the negative emotions Hitoshi made him feel present and didn't that sting almost more than his beaten ankle?

He gathered his thoughts once more and continued to speak once he was sure Shouta’s attention wasnt on Eri anymore.

“So, I- ah, I won’t be home, anytime soon if I was to walk so I’m not sure what you're going to do about Eri, maybe call another teacher and-”

He was cut off from a sharp and cold tone that he hadn't ever heard from Shouta before. It was alien enough for him to be stunned to silence mid sentence.

“I’m already late. This is hero work, Hitoshi. The very thing you claim that you want to train for. Drop this childish rebellion and be home in 10 minutes and prove to me that you're worthy of the hero course you’ve fought so hard to get into.”

Indignation wells up inside Hitoshi, his purple eyes widen in horror at the implications Shouta had seemed to make about his hero training.

He- he can’t pull me from the course. I've worked so hard, he can’t. Thrummed through his head like a matra fueled by the panic of possibly having his life goal stripped from him.

“I can't! I hurt my ankle, I can’t walk on it, there’s no way I’ll be home in 10 minutes, please you can’t pull me from the course. I've worked so hard, Sensei, please-”

Click

The line went dead.

Hitoshi sat in shock, phone still pressed to his ear in disbelief as his mind whirled.

In the past, as a teacher, mentor and now a father, Shoutas has been gruff and stern. He snapped orders and growled demands to Hitoshi and other students but that was just part of his personality. Shouta was grumpy, no one took it personally, especially when he always had our best interests at heart.

Hitoshi slowly lowered the phone to his lap, hands numb, as he recalled their conversation in its entirety.

Of the demands to walk home even after Hitoshi told him of his injury.

He clenched his jaw to try and keep his watery eyes at bay.

Shouta was stern but never before has he been needlessly cruel.

Memories of the past rose up like vengeful spirits inside Hitoshi’s mind, The flashes of cruel faces, the echoes of cruel words and the phantom pain of cruel hands.

He’s been let down time and time again but Shouta and Hizashi were supposed to be different.

He glanced down at his foot, still undressed and sighed, the sound hiccuping slightly into a sob.

He clenched his jaw harder.

He wasn't going to cry.

Carefully slipping his shoe back on he raised himself onto one foot and gingerly placed some weight on it. He hissed in pain, the foot was sore, each step would send shocks of pain throughout his hold foot but it wasn't broken so he could just deal with the pain.

Carefully he took his first, painful, steps towards UA and sighed, he had a long journey and a terribly short time frame.

~

Pain.

It was all his senses could react to, the once dull throb now a full piercing heat. Tears blur his vision as he sways at the entrance to Shouta and Hizashi’s UA apartment, his home. Despite the blinding pain that fogged him mind and wet his eyes, he still had enough sense in him to feel real fear as he hesitated at the threshold of his ‘safe space’.

The walk had started out fine. He grit his teeth, jaw clenching concernedly tight as he controlled his breathing and took slow steady steps.

He was by no means going fast and definitely wouldn't make time but he was moving and that was all he could focus on for now.

He had not even made it to the halfway point when his phone had first begun to ring and he knew then that his allocated 10 minutes were up and that Shouta would be furious. He knew that he wouldn't avoid punishment regardless of what he did know so he pushed on and let the phone ring out, too cowardly to taste Shouta’s wraith before he was forced before him.

The calling didn’t stop.

Tears started to leak from his eyes, harder, the more Shouta rang. The guilty shame of disappointing the man he looked up to the most burned hot in his stomach and made him want to kneel over and vomit.
By the time he arrived at the gates of UA, his breath was short and erratic and his hands shook as he scanned his student ID at the gate.

He felt detached to his body, floaty in neither a scary nor peaceful way. He felt nothing emotionally nor physically, even the pain in the leg was numbed to match the sensation of his still buzzing phone.

When the faculty apartments came into view a sense of relief swept over him, perhaps a bodily reaction to the pain and exhaustion his brain must know he’s in, even if the signals were muddle right now.

His relief made him careless as he dragged himself up the steps, he stumbled, his sore ankle rolling beneath his body weight at an awkward angle before his body crumpled with it.

The fog from his mind was instantly wiped, evaporated completely as pain tore through his senses and had him screaming in the back of his throat. If that pain he’d felt earlier was mind numbing then his new sensation was mind melting.

Tears welled out his lilac eyes and rolled down his pale and sweaty cheeks in earnest now. Wounded, hurt sounds poured from his mouth as he cried in pain.

Whatever minor damage he inflicted on himself earlier had definitely been worsen. His own clumsiness once again injury but this time the injury was far greater.

He peered up, threw his wet lashes at the door before him and that safe, satisfied feeling from earlier vanished.

What had he been thinking? Shouta was in there, waiting for him to return home after disobeying him then ignoring his calls. While his fog-addled brain managed to conjure a sense of security perhaps with the knowledge of a soft bed and caring parents, he knew now in his right mind that those things aren't promised anymore…

Hitoshi blinked, his vision darkening at the edges as his body threatened to give out to the pain. How long had he been standing here now as his mind slipped away from him? He didn’t know and that only added to his nervous fear to open the door before him.

His phone briefly buzzed in his pocket, signalling yet another text from Shouta who had long since given up on calling him. He ignored it, like the rest of them and started towards the door.

Just open it. You can’t avoid this forever. Every second passed will make it worse in the end.

Taking a deep breath, Hitoshi reached for the doorknob but jumped when it turned before he’d even touched it.

The door opened and revealed the dark, cold eyes of Shouta Aizawa and he was pissed.

Hitoshi, despite his injury, debates trying to run.
His fear was a living, withering thing inside him, pumping his blood loudly through his ears and making the hairs on the back of his neck raise.

His mouth was dry as he tried to urge his lips and tongue to move, to say anything, to explain but before he could even utter a sound, Shouta was reaching for him.

If Shouta noticed his flinch, he did not voice it. Instead he wrapped one of his large hands around Hitoshi’s bicep and tugged him inside. Hitoshi bit his inner cheek to keep in any sounds of distress as he stumbled over his injured foot causing more pain to flair.

Once inside the threshold of the apartment, Shouta wasted no time verbally laying into his son.

“This is absolutely unacceptable, Hitoshi.” The older man growled, he let go of Hitoshi’s arm and scrubbed his hand violently over his face as he sighed. “I gave you a perfectly reasonable order and not only did you purposely disobey but you went out of your way to do the complete opposite of what I asked and then proceeded to ignore my calls.”

Despite knowing that that wasn’t the full truth, that the only thing Hitoshi was truly guilty of was ignoring his calls, he still lowered his gaze to the wooden floor beneath them as he silently accepted Shouta’s anger and frustration.

Shouta continues to speak, his voice low and gruff, but the words are lost to Hitoshi as he starts to zone out from pain once more, his thoughts rolling through his head like clouds on the breeze.

Shouta’s dressed for patrol already…

He even had his goggles on…

Ive fucked up this time…

Why didn't I just answer the phone?

I was a coward, that's why…

Am I going to be allowed to stay here still?

He’s pulled out of these thoughts by a warm hand on his shoulder, he jolted looking up into Shouta cold eyes, so out of place on his weary face.

“We don’t ask for much Hitoshi.” He started before letting go and walking to the door, hand pausing on the handle. “Eri’s in her room, will talk more about this and your consequences tomorrow when Hizashhi is home.”

And with that he pulled the door open and stepped out into the, recently set, darknesses and shutting it harder than he normally would, the sound ressounded off the walls of the now quiet house.

Hitoshi, like a puppet with his strings cut loose, slid down the wall and flopped to the ground, the tears coming hot and fast as they slid down his cheeks.

His chest and stomach felt horribly clenched and numb at the same time, his head was spinning and his lungs burned from the gasping sobs that ripped from his throat.

After what felt like an entreaty but in reality was a few minutes, Hitoshi heard the sift pitter patter of footsteps in the hallway followed by a wet sniffle. Startled Hitoshi whipped his head out from his arms and found Eri, hovering in the hallway with red eyes and wet cheeks.

“Eri” he gasped, quickly wiping the evidence of his breakdown off his cheeks. “I thought you were in your room.”

“I heard shouting.” Was all she replied, eyes for flickering to the door nervously, the she expected Shouta to come back any second and yell at her next.

Hitoshi’s heart broke at the barely concealed fear in his little sister's eyes. Despite what transpired between Shouta and Hitoshi today,he knew deep down that Shouta would never hurt Eri! He loved her to much for that.

“Hey, it’s alright, we just got into a little argument, nothing serious, that happens sometimes in families.” He reassured her but she didn't budge, eyes still trained on the front door and filled with anxiety.

Hitoshi mentally sighed, she’s a child of trauma and obviously Shouta’s scolding and raised voice triggered her.

Perhaps I should call Hizashi station…

He started to ease himself back onto his feet, wincing as his weight pressed against his injury and suddenly there was a rush of silvery hair in his vision and his sister was crowding him.

“You’re hurt!” She gasped, hands nervously hovering over Hitoshi’s torso as her Ruby eyes scanned for obvious injuries. She notices his foot lifted from the floor and, mortifyingly, Hitoshi sees her eyes tear up once again.

“I’m fine, really Eri, I just-“

“Did Dad hurt you?” She whispered so quietly that Hitoshi almost missed it.

Dread and horror pull into his stomach and he found himself wishing that he had missed it.

“No!” He blurted, eyes wide with disbelief. “No, he’d never hurt me, I fell while skating today.”

In an instant, most of the tension leaked out of Eri's small body as all her muscles relaxed. Though she seemed relieved, her light brow was still furrowed and concern was present in her gaze.

Before Hitoshi could even think up and excuse to wave off her concerns, she pointed a finger into his face and gave him a serious look.

“Stay here, I’m gonna grab the first aid kit.” Then she was gone, disappearing into the kitchen where they kept the box under the sink.

Despite her order, Hitoshi didn’t listen and awkwardly and painfully hobbled into the lounge room and collapsed onto the couch.

He didn’t let himself get comfortable, steeling his nerves, he quickly and carefully peeled his shoes and socks off to assess the new damage.

Oh God…

A sharp intake of breath came from the doorway leading into the room, where Eri now stood clutching the first aid kit in her small fists, her eyes wide in horror as she beheld his injury.

While earlier, the foot was only slightly swollen, the foot now has a reddish-purple hue to it and the swelling had definitely advanced.

Eri quietly scurried into the room and carefully climbed on to the couch beside him, mindful of his foot, Her eyes nervously flickered between the now opened first aid kit and his injury, biting at her lip in uncertainty.

“Toshi…” She trailed off but Hitoshi understood, his foot was in rough shape and he definitely needed more medical attention then a 7 years olds attempts at first aid.

“It’s fine Eri, I will just wrap it and then get some ice on it for the swelling.” He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile but by the emotions that flickered across her face, it didn’t work.

“I think we should call Dad or Papa”

Sharp panic stabbed through his guts at the thought of Shouta having to cancel his patrol and come home.

“It'll be fine!” He snapped, defiance welling up alongside his anxiety at the thought of causing more trouble for Shouta.

Eri flinched at his raised voice, instantly cooling the rush of emotions in Hitoshi’s head.

Calm down Hitoshi. Just wrap your foot and look after Eri, it’s not hard.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled his apology, eyes trained on a clump of black cat fur sticking to the bottom of the couch, undoubtedly from Mimi from when she crawls under the couch to hide.

Mood.

“It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it.” Eri mumbled before she grabbed a roll of bandages from the first aid kit, hesitating still as she eyed his foot.

“How about we just wrap it and ice it tonight and if it’s still sore in the morning, I'll let Hizashi know when we see him in the morning?” He suggested, hoping she’ll compromise.

“Promise?” She held out her pinky towards him.

He hesitated for a second before remembering this was Hizashi they were talking about! Even if Shouta was mad at him, Hizashi loved him and would care.

“I promise.” He wrapped his much larger pinky around hers.

Satisfied by their deal, Eri, under Hitoshi’s strict guidance carefully started to wrap his injured foot.

Neither of them choose to acknowledge the fact that Hitoshi did not mention getting help from Shouta…

Hours later, Hitoshi was still seated in the exact same position on the couch. Eri had taken her sister duty/doctor duties very seriously when treating his foot and he got the full pamper service.

His foot was propped up on a pillow to help elevate it with a, now mushy and defrosted, bag of peas to help ice the swelling.

The young girl insisted on cooking them a dinner of dry and half cooked cup ramen before they settled in on the couch for the night, covered with Eri quilt and half watching some kids cartoon Eri liked.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad night.

Other than his injury, that still throb despite the pain killers he had taken, he honestly enjoyed himself and his heart swelled at the love and care Eri had for him.

Darker thoughts creeped into his mind as he wondered how someone could possibly hurt someone as sweet and kind hearted as his foster sister.

He pushed them away as quickly as they had come and simply focused on relaxing as best as he could while Eri excitedly squealed at some transformation sequence one of the young girls were undergoing on screen.

Soon enough Eri started to yawn and Hitoshi decided to call it a night.

There was no way Hitoshi was making it up the stairs tonight to reach his bedroom, so the two of them hunkered down in the Lounge. Hitoshi on the couch and Eri curled up in Shouta’s armchair.

In the dark quiet of the room Eri managed to ask the question that had plagued her mind all night.

“Hitoshi, what happened today?”

Hitoshi had hoped to avoid this conversation, wishing all night that Eri wouldn’t ask it but in the dark of the lounge room and the comfort of the couch, He found the words coming easily.

He started from the beginning, softly confessing all the fun and excitement of hanging out with his new friends, hanging out with Kaminari.

Eri giggled when he accidentally lost himself when talking about Kaminari and snickered at Bakugou's antics.

When he shamefully explained how he fell over, she couldn’t help but snort at him which earned her a couch pillow to the face.

The light mood felt sombre as quietly explained what happened with Shouta.

The unexpected call, the man's refusal to listen to him, his seemingly uncaring nature towards his injury and the fight they had once he got home.

Eri didn’t speak once throughout the retelling, her reactions muted as she quietly chewed her lip and let Hitoshi finish.

“And then he left and you came in.” He trailed off awkwardly, his heart feeling the heaviness from earlier once more.

There was a heavy silence in the air as neither of them spoke.

Hitoshi’s mind started to whirl as retreat soured his tongue.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have spoken…

How would Shouta and Hizashi react if Hitoshi manages to turn Eri against Shouta? Hitoshi was probably just being overly sensitive! There was no reason to scare the poor girl of her own Father.

More likely than not, Hitoshi had just made the situation seem worse than it was and he needed to fix this.

“It’s not as bad as I’m making it out to be” he started with forced cheerfulness that even made himself cringe “he was probably just stressed out about work and thought I was exaggerating over my foot” he forced out a laugh, his hand reaching up to his neck to subconsciously sooty is anxiety.

“And to be honest, my foot wasn’t this bad before the walk, I think I’ve actually only hurt it more on the way home so he doesn’t know how bad it is know and-“

He was cut off by a sudden weight thrown into his chest. Slightly winded, he glanced down to see a head of silver hair. Eri gave him one last tight squeeze before she finally glanced up at him; her red eyes watery when they made contact with his.

“Don’t do that.” She croaked out "Don't make excuses for people that hurt you."

"I wasn't-"

She cut him off, her voice stern but not unkind.

"You're feelings are real even if this was all some mistake and Dad wasn't actually angry with you. He still yelled at you when you were hurt and he was being mean."

Hitoshi just stared at the younger girl at a loss of words.

She sighed, laying her head back against his chest, her small horn poking him a little uncomfortably but he wasn't about to ask her to move, her weight grounding.

It was quiet for a few minutes. Hitoshi asked if Eri had fallen asleep before she spoke again, her voice thick and slow as she fought against sleep.

"I don't know why Dad was being mean but he really loves you Toshi and I know he'll say sorry when he's home" She mumbled before her breath evened out, tiny hot puffs of air against his chest as she finally fell asleep.

Hitoshi balanced precariously on the cusps of sleep as his tired mind sluggishly relayed Eri’s, surprisingly mature, words.

He turned the phrase "Don't make excuses for people that hurt you." Over and over in his head. It was a simple enough message, one he understood the meaning off but applying it to Shouta and their situation left his mind reeling.

He wasn't making excuses for his Foster Father.

Shouta Aizawa was a good and level headed man, if he was upset with Hitoshi then, logically, Hitoshi had to have done something wrong.

These thoughts swirled around his tired mind until he eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

If anyone asked Shouta what his favourite day of the week was, he would, without any hesitation say Sundays.

While the days were nice, slow and lazy filled with the presence of his family. It was the nights that Shouta truly loved.

Am even patrol around that city, almost always uneventful, the shift feeling more like an change for Shouta to just swing wildly through the streets and run across rooftops and just enjoy the freeing feeling before meeting up with his Husband a few hours later.

Hizashi finished his shift at the Radio station 20 minutes before Shouta finished his patrol, so in the last decade or so the pair have built a routine.

Hizashi would go and collect them a late dinner from a local food vendor they both enjoyed and park their car on the street Shouta's patrol finished on and wait for him.

Shouta, normally, coming down for a adrenaline high for all his zooming around, would be tired and grateful to see the car, slinking into the front seat and basking in the presence of his husband and the smell of warm takeout.

As the wind whipped Shouta's hair wildly about as he ran from rooftop to rooftop, he knew that their peaceful and perfect routine had been ruined.

The night had started out awful, his fight with Hitoshi along with his late start had left Shouta in a foul mood.

His peaceful shift had turned into a mini arrest spree as petty thieves and wanna-be villains seemed to spring up all over the city tonight leaving Shouta with his hands full all night.

His miserable shift had finally come to an end, an hour after it usually ended, and he was finally making his way towards him and Hizashi met up at the point where his husband was still waiting for him.

Shouta was just thankful that he has time between the 2nd and 3rd arrest to send his loud, blonde a quick text message saying he was gonna be late.

As he rounded a corner, swinging by his capture tape, he spotted Hizashi gaudy blue sports car parked in its usual spot and felt something in his tight chest loosen.

He slipped into the car, the familiar scent of chinese street food, leather upholstery and hairspray filled his scent and the rest of the tension melted away just like that. Wordless Hizashi handed him his lukewarm food and a surprisingly still cool drink from a vending machine before quietly picking at his own half eaten food.

This was one of the many things Shouta loved about his husband, for all of his loud and boisterous traits, he knew that Shouta needed time after his shift to unwind in silence and generally waited for Shouta to start any conversations.
Shouta was half way through his Sichuan Mala Chicken when he finally spoke.

“How was your night, love?”

Hizashi seemed to instantly light up in excitement before diving into an eager report of the night's activities, from work related gossip to rumours of their next celebrity guest to appear in the coming month.

Shouta listened on intentantly, humming or nodding along to his husband's rant while he finished his own dinner.

“So Hana-san will be on Maternity leave soon, coincidentally, Shichiro-san has decided to take his annual leave a week after hers start.” Hizashi whispered almost conspiratorially “Now, I’m not saying that he might be her mystery baby daddy, despite the fact that he's already married. I’m just saying we all saw them leave the work party together last year and that the 9 month timelines are adding up”

Shouta snorted in amusement at his Husbands terrible, gossiping nature causing Hizashi to snicker along with him.

They’d both finished their dinners and were ready to head back home to their kids.

Shouta frowned as he recalled the situation with Hitoshi earlier this evening. Hizashi, ever perceptive, caught the shift in his mood and asked what was wrong.

Shouta let out a long suffering sigh, resting his head back against the headrest and closing his eyes as the swarm of negative emotions came rushing back in full force.

“Something happened with Hitoshi earlier.”

Instantly, he felt Hizashi stiffen up beside him.

Sitting forward once more, eyes as wide as Hizashi, he was quick to clarify, hands waving wildly between them to help get his point across.

“He’s safe! Nothing happened to him, sorry, I should have worded that better.”

Hizashi instantly deflated, resting leisurely back against his seat but Shouta could see some residing tension in his shoulders.

“What happened?”

“We had a spat before I left.”

At this Hizashi seemed to perk up, shock and curiosity clear on his features as he turned his body towards Shouta giving him his full attention.

“You and Hitoshi?” His tone was full of disbelief and Shouta couldn't blame him, Hitoshi was a mini Shouta as much as he loathed to admit it and the pair got on like a house on fire, rarely disagreeing let alone arguing.

So Shouta explained what happened.

From this initial call to Hitoshi asking him to come home earlier to when he finally came home late with a million unanswered texts and calls from Shouta.

Shouta just finished explaining what happened in the entryway to their flat when Hitoshi finally came back home, guilt building up in his stomach as Hitoshi frown deepened more and more as Shouta explained how he snapped at their son.

“Shouta…” Hizashi sighed, his tone weary but Shouta cut him off.

“I know.” He groaned, bringing his fist to his eyes and rubbing harshly as a light headache began to pound behind his eyes. “I lost my cool at him, I shouldn’t have done that and I will apologise when I talk to him about all this but the point still stands that his behaviour tonight was unacceptable.”

When he removed his hands and the swirling colours from the pressure finally disrupted, Shouta was shocked to see Hizashi still frowning a heavy furrow between his brows.

“Zashi?”

Hizashi, who seemed to be zone out, snapped his attention back to his husband.

“Sorry! It’s just-” He fiddled with the key chain attached to his keys sitting in the ignition. “I don’t want to undermine your parenting or anything but I think you may have been too hasty in your anger.”

Shouta frowned, the instincts to defend himself stirred up inside him but he managed to bite his tongue and let Hizashi contine.

“It's just- This isn’t like Hitoshi at all!” He breathed “He’s such a sweet and mellow kid. He’s never defiled us before and other then being a hero his main goal in life is to please you”

Shouta flushed, embarrassed at the acknowledgement to their son's admiration of Shouta. Before he could utter a single word of denial, Hizashi powered on.

“I just think that maybe you weren’t as level headed about this as you could have been. That maybe me being called into work earlier and disrupting our usual sunday routine had you on edge already and where you'd normally be perceptive and cool headed you were instead upset and finicky.”

That warm spark of anger heated up inside Shouta again, he frowned at Hizashi, mouth opened to retaliate to what felt like an attack to his parenting before Hizashi, rudely, cut him off once more.
“Before you get pissy at me, answering me this” He placed his hand in front of Shouta’s face effectively shutting him up. “Do you even know why he was late? Did you ask him or did you just assume he was acting out?”

Shouta rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to tell Hizashi that he wasn’t there and that Hitoshi was acting out before he paused, words dying on his tongue.

Did he ask Hitoshi? No. No he didn’t. He didn’t even give the boy a chance to explain, just chastised him and left.

Hizashi seemed to be able to read the hesitation and guilt on Shouta’s face and grimace before turning away from Shouta, a sure sign that his husband was upset with him.

“In any other circumstance, Hitoshi being late home would be a point of panic for us Shouta, Still is one for me.” He stopped fiddling with the key chain and twisted the key, the engine roaring to life beneath them. “Let's go home and check on the kids.”

Shouta, guilt swirling around inside him and feeling properly chastised, said nothing, turning his head against the cool window and replaying tonight's events over and over again inside his mind as he watched the darkened streets wizz past.

By the time they've gotten home, Shouta has worked himself into a guilt ridden frenzy. While he may still appear calm and slightly bored on the outside, his mind and emotions were reeling on the inside. He painstakingly waited for the car to roll to a full stop before hopping out a little too fast to be natural.

Hizashi, who had given him something akin to the silent treatment glanced over at him with a knowing look before tossing him the apartment keys and signalling for him to go ahead while he finished up locking the gates to the teachers UA carpark.

Once at his home, his instincts scream at him to go straight to Hitoshi and apologise but as he finishes ascending the stairs and sees the night under Hitoshi’s bedroom door his out, he's suddenly reminded of the time.

Creeping quietly past the children's bedroom doors he heads for the shower, thinking the heat of the water would calm him down enough to face Hizashi again and make a plan about how to approach things with his son tomorrow.

His shower was brief but relaxing and as he exerted the steam filled bathroom, he could hear Hizashi entering from downstairs. Feeling more relaxed than earlier, he went to go talk to Hizashi but not before stopping by Hitoshi’s door to peek in and see his son.

He winced a little as the door creaked but quickly stuck his head into the room and blinked rapidly into the darkness to try and make out the shape of his son on his bed. Surprised jolted in his veins as he realised the bed was empty, still perfectly made from this morning by the looks of it.

He was quick to shut the door and quickly enter Eri’s room, hoping that Hitoshi had fallen asleep reading to her again, like he had many times before.

Panic started to creep in as he opened his daughters room to discover she wasn't in her bed either, the pillow and quilt as messy as she left them this morning.

Horrible images of villains taking the kids and hurting them flashed through his mind as his chest seemed to tighten. Realistically, he knew there weren’t any forced signs of entry, that UA’s security system had not alerted them to a breach nor had they discovered any type of random note either.

No, the kids hadn't been taken. If they aren't here they'd have to have left on their own accord and- oh.

Images of his anger flashed in his mind and he questioned if maybe the kids did leave on their own accord.

He quickly turned on his heel, ready to alert his husband on his findings when Hizashi quietly called his name from the door stairs.

“Shouta!” He whisper-yelled, an odd sort of excitement in his voice that eased Shouta worries a little. “Come look!”

Shouta quickly followed his husband's voice into their loungeroom to find his missing children curled up on the couch together. Hitoshi was on his back, one arm tucked under his head like a pillow and the other wrapped around Eri, who was half on top of her brother and half tucked between him and the back of the couch.

Something loosen in his guts as his eyes ran over every inch of his children and his brain processed that they were safe and well until his analytic brain processed the open first aid kit on the coffee table in front of them and the bandage wrapped around one of Hitoshi feet that was raised on a cushion.

Hizashi, just noticing the injury as well, sucked in a sharp breath and sent a look towards his husband. Shouta, realising how monumentally he fucked up today couldnt meet his gaze lest he see the disappointment he deasrved there.

“Sho…”

There was none of that righteous anger in Hizashi's voice that he expected to9 hear only worry and pity and somehow that was worse, Shouta didn’t deserve any reassurance right now when his son was injured and hurting and Shouta did nothing but hell at him for it.

“Don’t.” He snapped regretfully, before forcing his eyes to flicker towards Hizashi. “Sorry, let's just get the kids to bed and check the injury.”

Shouta stepped forwards to carefully lift Eri off Hitoshi and held the sleeping girl to his chest. Hitoshui winced in his sleep at the loss of warmth causing Shouta to snap his attention towards the boys. It was only now, That his head was clear from frustration and that he knew Hitoshi was injured, did he notice the light sheen of sweat that seemed to stick to Hitoshi’s unnaturally sick parlour.

Guilt rolled through him and rooted him to the spot, holding his daughter tightly as he started intently at his son. A light brush on fingertips against his elbow broke him out of his trance as Hizashi softly ushered him out of the way before squatting before their son and started to gently wake him.

Hitoshi groaned quietly under his breath before wearily opening his eyes. He slowly swept his purple eyes around the room, seeming to slowly realise he wasn’t in his bedroom. He groaned once more before pushing himself up into a sitting position with Hizashi help as he struggled to stay awake.

Unfortunately before either Hizashi or Shouta could stop him, the boy had swung his legs off the couch and onto the floor in preparation to make the sleepy track up to his bedroom, seemingly forgetting about his injury.

The moment his injury left the pillow, Shouta tracked the way Hitoshi’s eyes widen in shock at the pain that must have flair up, fully awakening the poor boy but it was too late to do anything but watch in horror as his feet hit the carpeted floor and a blood curdling scream of pain tore from Hitoshi’s throat.

Eri jumped in his arms, frightened awake by the noise, but before he could comfort her she’d twisted her way out of his arms and ran to Hitoshi’s side, hands hovering useless over him as he curled in on himself in pain, tears streaming down his face.

Aizawa, who was momentarily stunned by everything that had just happened, finally snapped out of his stupor and instantly jumped into action.

Dodging past Hizashi and Eri, he was quick to be the one on the floor in front of the couch by Hitoshi’s feet, mindful of his injury, hands lightly wrapping around Hitoshis wrist and pulling his hands from his face to get his attention.

“Hitoshi, It’d me, I’m going to look at your foot, okay?” His hand slowly lowered to the bandaged foot beside him but never touching it as Hitoshi flinched away from him as choked sob leaving his throat.

“No!” He cried, hissing in more pain at the sudden movement. Shouta frowned before reaching for the foot again. It needed to be checked, no matter how much it may hurt right now, without the proper medical attention the injury could end up far more worse.

“Hitoshi, I’m just going to-”

“Don’t touch me, please” He sobbed, making Shouta pause. He glanced up to see those big, watery, purple filled with fear and staring directly at him.

“Oh.”

Realisation swept over him as he realised Hitoshi’s hesitation and trepidation weren’t for the fear of pain but for the fear of him.

Something hard seemed to form at the back of his throat causing him to choke as his own eyes watered.

Hizashi, intelligent and perceptive as always, read the situation and acted accordingly. Gently, shoving Shouta out of the way as he took his space in front of Hitoshi, voice low and soothing as he comforted the boy and coaxed him into letting him check his foot.

Hizashi's soft words were lost to Shouta as he stared numbly at his husband and son. Hitoshi seemed to loosen up and relax under Hizashi's attention, even carefully raising his leg to let Hizashi unwrap it and check his injury like Shouta tried to do.

Despite how relaxed and brave he seemed to be, Shouta could tell that he still had his guard up, his hands balled into tight fists even as his shouldered seemed so relax, His purple eyes flashing quickly towards Shouta every few seconds, like he didn't trust him to even be in the same room.

His heart ached at the reaction and found he couldn't look at Hitoshi any longer, his gaze instead falling onto their other child, Eri.

He wasn’t surprised to find her big red eyes wide in fear and fat tears rolling down her cheek as she silently cried, fingers picking nervously at her lips.

Shouta’s heart seized a little in his chest seeing her little girl so worried for her big brother. He reached forward gently, removing her hand from her lip to prevent her from hurting herself but as soon as he touched her, She flinched away from him like his touch burned her.

He froze in shock, hand still out stretched between them.

“Eri?” His voice took on a shaky but questioning tone, his heart pounding in something akin to fear in his chest as he watched another child recoil from his touch.

Eri started to shake a little, her teary gaze full of anger as she glared at Shouta through her tears.

“I’m angry at you Dad!” She bravely snapped, getting the attention of both Hizashi and Hitoshi. The background noise of Hizashi whispered words and Hitoshi soft sniffles falling silent.

“Eri, what’s wrong?” He tried again, hands frozen between them coming alive as he tried to reach for her once more. She stood up from where she was crumbled on the floor by Hitoshi and stepped out of his reach, levelling him with a venomous glare that had him falter once more.

“Hitoshi is hurt! He was hurt and you didn't even care! You promised us that you’ll love us and look after us and-”

He quickly cut hyer rant off as her little body started to shake harder, her anger building up more and more.

“Eri, Baby, I do love you both, so much and I-”

“You said this home wouldn’t be like our other ones…” She whispered quietly, all Shouta’s words of reassurance dying in his throat at the weight and shock of what his youngest child just said to him rocked his world.

You said this home wouldn’t be like our other ones…

Flashes of monster-like villains and cruel scars flashed through his mind. Dark, dirty rooms and frighten eyes behind a too small muzzle and-

“Eri” Hizashi whispered gently, heartbrokenly.

Shouta turned to his Husband and saw the tears welling up in his red eyes.

“We love you. We both love both of you so much.” The blonde started, his voice heavy with emotion. “I know I wasn't here earlier and I don’t know exactly what happened, but I do know Shouta’s sorry, that he loves you both and wants to make amends with you both.”

He glanced from the eyes of both his children trying to gauge their reactions. Eri seemed to deflate, the anger leaving her but she still seated herself next to Hitoshi and as far away from Shouta as she could. Hitoshi, just glanced at his lap where his hands laid, playing nervously with his fingers and avoiding eye contact with everyone.

Hizashi made eye contact with Shouta, his brow furrowed and a pleading look in his eye as he fostered towards their kids.

Shouta took a deep and ground breath before facing Hitoshi and Eri and starting to speak.

“Hitoshi, Eri, I’m- shit, I’m so sorry for how I acted today. I was stressed and I took it out on you Hitoshi, which I never should have. I shouldn't have made assumption about why you were late nor should I have raised my voice and spoken over you, not giving you a chance to speak, I’m so very sorry.” He blurted out, words and emotion merging together is a rushed and messy word vomit as he desperately tried to fix the situation. “If I had known you were hurt, If I wasn’t so blind by my own idiotic frustration and just realised, I wouldn’t have left you to deal with the injury alone. I wouldn't have left you at all! I would have-”

“But you did know.” Hitoshi muttered quietly, cutting him off. The first words he’d spoken to him since his outburst earlier and Shouta wasn't sure he heard him correctly.

“Hitoshi, what?”

Suddenly feeling emboldened Hitoshi raised his gaze and his voice before addressing Shouta again.

“You already knew about my foot, before I was even home. I told you on the phone and you still made me walk, still got angry at me and wanted to punish me for not getting here on time!” He sat forward more, glaring dagger down at Shouta still swatting on the floor; His voice raising in volume “You gave me an impossible task, I hurt my foot even more trying to complete it for you anyway, I’ve always done anything you've asked of me, Shouta, anything! I looked up to you so much but you were just needlessly cruel and…” His voice cracked with a sob before he started crying in earnest once more, wrapping his arms around his middle as he caved in on himself.

Shouta’s already torn heart, broke irreversibly as he watched his son choke and sob on his tear, his breath struggling in his lungs as he cried through his own heartbreak.

“Hitoshi- I-I I’m sorry- I didn’t”

“Don’t pretend you care now, Hizashi’s here!” He wailed.

That was Shouta’s breaking point.

He surged forward and wrapped Hitoshi in his arms, mindful of his injury. The boys started to protest, struggling against Shouta’s hold but Shouta didn’t relent. He wrapped his arms around his more securely and started to rock the pair back and forth whispering apologies over and over again until Hitoshi stopped fighting against him and started to cry into his shoulder.

“Shhh '' Shouta hushed the crying boy, hand reaching up and carding through Hitoshi’s scruffy lilac hair. “I love you so much Hitoshi! I promise you I would never intentionally try to hurt you like that. I didn’t know, I didn’t know.” He started to cry as well, tears dripping into Hitoshi’s hair as he squeezed him impossible tighter.

“You didn’t know?” Hitoshi whispered through his tears.

“I promise I didn’t know, I was being an asshole, I didn’t even hear you tell me about your injury, I promise you! I wouldn't have made you walk otherwise” Shouta rushed out, pulling back from his embrace with his son and staring down into his bloodshot eyes. “I’m so sorry, I never should have raised my voice at you, I never should have done any of it. I should have trusted you more, I know you and I should know you’d never purposely try to make me late for hero work, not you. I know how important being a hero is to you, how much you respect what heroes do.”

“You do?” Hitoshi’s eyes are wide and vulnerable as he gazes timidly at Shouta.

“I do. If any of my students deserve to be a hero, then its you Hitoshi, you've worked so hard for it.” He smiles proudly at his son before becoming serious once more “You don’t have to forgive me right away, Not after the way I treated you but please let me make it up to you?”

Hitoshi stared at him intently, eyes flickering back and forth between Shouta’s own dark eyes searching for something. He must have found it because a few seconds later Shouta had his arms full of Hitoshi once more as the boy squeezed him tightly.

“Of course I'll'’ forgive you” He whispered into his neck “I’m just glad you still want me, I thought you were getting sick of me.”

Shouta squeezed him tighter upon hearing the confessions whispered to him.

“Of course I still want you Hitoshi, you're my son!” He whispered back “I love you and nothings going to change that.”

“I love you too Dad”

Shouta froze.

Glancing over Hitoshi’s shoulder he made eye contact with an equally stunned Hizashi. Hitoshi had been living with them for a little under a year now and he’d never felt comfortable calling either of them any type of parental titles yet.

To have Hitoshi feel comfortable enough to call Shouta ‘Dad’ especially after what had happened today, was monumental.

It was silent for a beat, everyone just basking in the steadiness of resolution before Hizashi spoke up.

“Eri has fallen asleep again, So I’m gonna move her into her own bed.” The pair turned to see Hizashi carefully standing up with Eri snoring lightly in his arms. “But when I get back we’re gonna have a look at that foot, okay?”

Hitoshi nodded his head, the day's events catching up to him as well as he slumped further against Shouta; a yawn leaving his mouth. Shouta just huffed, leaning back further on the couch and running his fingers through his son's hair once more while they waited for Hizashi to return.

2 days later

Hitoshi burned red under the gaze of his peers as he hobbled down the halls of UA. He felt self conscious as he failed to keep a decent pace as he struggled to adapt to his newest accessories; a pair of crutches and a white cast on his foot.

Turns out that he’d broken his foot.

After Hizashi had put Eri to bed Sunday night, His parents had finally gotten the bandages off to check his injury and were both horrified to see the mottled scatter of purples and blue that dotted the extensively swelling of his ankle.
Shouta, His Dad, had taken one look at his foot and loaded him up into the front seat of the car and took him to the nearest A&E, all while questioning him on what happened and did someone hurt you?

The hospital was a long and boring experience as the pair spent the rest of the late night/early morning waiting to be seen. When they were finally seen, the Doctor took one look at Hitoshi's colourful injury and sent him off for an X-ray.

“By the looks of it, you've aggravated a previous injury. You appeared to have put too much pressure on a hairline fracture and caused a break.” The Doctor had explained to the horror Shouta who instantly realised Hitoshi’s rush to get home would have caused the break.

That He had caused the break.

Hitoshi grimaced as he remembered the guilty and remorseful look that appeared on His Dads face and that apology that came as soon as the Doctor left the room to organise a cast to be placed on Hitoshi's leg

Hitoshi had tried to reassure Shouta that it was okay, that he forgave him and that he wanted to move past things but Shouta was adamant that he’d fix this.

That led him to now.

He and Shouta both mixed school on Monday, coming home from the A&E in the early AM and spending the day catching up on missed sleep.

It was Tuesday morning and he was back at school. Shouta had called in a favour with Recovery Girl and gotten her to agree to heal Hitoshi injury, despite it happening off school grounds and legally not her problem.

He just had to visit her during his lunch break, which was only a few short hours away, but that left him having to step in 1A with a cast on his leg and no way to hide from the repercussions.

He finally arrived at the threshold to their classroom, the noise of his rowdy classmates spilling out into the hallway as Hitoshi stalled for time. His purple eyes darted around the classroom looking for the shapes of his friend group, specifically an electric blonde.

Unsurprisingly, he found them crowded around Bakugou's desk, said electric blonde seated atop the desk while Bakugou was in his chair looking about ready to push Denki off it.

Glad that they were distracted, Hitoshi tried to sneakily hobble to his desk with his friends noticing but it was all in vain as a familiar voice called out to him.

“Hey, Shinsou, where where you yester- what the fuck?” At Denki’s loud announcement of his presents the whole class fell silent and glazed at him in varying amounts of shock as they beheld the injured state he was currently in.

Despite his best attempts at avoiding his friends, he was now cornered by them at the front of the room, Denki himself blocking his way to his desk.

“Hi, Kaminari.” He gave the angry looking boy a small wave accompanied by an awkward smile, that normally had the boy blushing and stuttering. Unfortunately it didn’t have the desired effects as Denki’s frown deepened.

“Don’t ‘Hi, Kaminari’ me, Hitoshi Shinsou!” Denki snapped in a freakishly accurate impression of Hitoshi that would give his Artificial Vocalchords a run for their money. “You’re in a plaster! You broke your foot! You told me you were fine!”

Denki threw his hands in the air in frustration, tiny sparkles of electricity building up around his skin causing static to raise the blonde locks on his head.

Hitoshi knew there was something deeply wrong with him as he thought Denki looked absolutely gorgeous, all angry and snappy at him.

Hitoshi sheepishly ducked his head, avoiding eye contact with Denki, before mumbling “I mean it wasn’t a lie, I was fine then, I damaged it more walking home.”

His normally boisterous friend group was silent in disbelief before Bakugou loudly broke the silence.

“You’re a fucking idiot!” He growled out, advancing toward Hitoshi and fishing his hand into Hitoshi's collar.

Hitoshi on his part didn't even flinch; they were all used to Bakugou's antics and knew that he was mostly harmless.

"Aizawa is going to lose his mind when he finds out you've idiotically hurt yourself! This is why you can never beat me in training! What are you gonna do now? Rely on Recovery Girl’s quirk like some other reckless idiots I know?”

On the other side of the classroom, Midoryia flushed scarlett ducking his head into his hands in embarrassment.

Hitoshi calmly removed Bakugou's fist from his uniform before they started smoking and ruined his blazer, and took an awkward shuffled back. His brain tossed Bakugou's rant around, decoding it to find the hidden meaning that the emotionally stunted teen couldn't say outright.

He was worried…

“Aizawa knows, I called him after it happened.” Hitoshi lied, eyes flickering briefly to the yellow sleeping bag that contained his Father. “He wasn’t impressed but he organised an appointment with recovery girl to heal me later today”

Bakugou scowled, his frown deeping before he opened his mouth once more.
Hitoshi quickly cut him off, already knowing what he was going to complain about next.

“Don’t worry, I won't be making a habit of hurting myself and relying on Recovery Girl, I’ve learnt my lesson” He gave Bakugou a meaningful look.

On the other side of the classroom, Midoryia, whose face was still buried in his hands, cringed more at the slights his classmates were making.
his
Bakugou scoffed, crossing his arms and practically sticking his nose up in the air.

“Whatever, I don't care. '' He snapped before turning back to Hitoshi and walking over to his desk. Hitoshi would have been offended if he didn’t notice the tension that lined the blondes' muscles melt away.

He was pulled back into the conversion by a heavy hand on his shoulder. He glanced back at his friends to see Kirishima giving him a toothy grin.

“We’re gonna go check on blasty, all that emotion might be fatal to him. “ He cheekily joked with a wink. Ashido quickly snuck between the two boys to give Hitoshi a quick hug before she was dragging both Sero and Kirishima away.

That left him with just Denki, who was nervously scuffing his sneakers against the classroom floor and avoiding eye contact with Hitoshi.

After what felt like an age of silence, Denki finally glanced up at him and spoke.

"Shinsou-"

Cowardly, Hitoshi cut him off.

"Look Kaminari, I'm fine- I'm sorry it seemed like I lied to you but I swear I-"

"Shut up and let me speak, Hitoshi!" Kaminari growled, advancing the last few steps between them and glancing up, honey eyes all fiery rage, and Hitoshi stopped breathing.

He didn't know if it was the the use of his given name, the venom in Denkis voice or the fact that he could feel the shorter boy's chest against his own but his mouth snapped shut instantly.

Denki's chest was heaving under his rage as he closed his eyes and controlled his breathing. When he opened thewmonce more the fiery rage was gone and in its place newly minted determination.

"I know, I'm about to make a fool of myself already so can you kindly pretend your not listening Jiro." Denki whispered between them. Hitoshi flinched, eyes snapping to the dark haired girl who just gave him an amused wink before plugging her earphones into her phone. 

"I know you, I know you've got a dry sense of humor and that while you drink black coffee you also love tea! I know that you have trouble sleeping and listen to Mic-Sensei's reruns to help you relax." Denki gave him a gentle smile before reaching out to take Hitoshis larger hand in his own. 

Hitoshisl's cheeks burned under the attention Denki was showering him but he couldn't bring himself to utter a word. 

He sat silently and selfishly, wanting to hear more. 

"But I also know that under your cocky facade, you're riddle with anxiety and self doubt. Which is abused because your the most capable person I know." Denki laughed