The Scars That Have Been Left Behind
That hope was quickly crushed when a scream rang through their apartment early the following morning. Aizawa was out of bed in a flash, already down the hall and crouching next to Shinsou before Hizashi even had a chance to get up. Shinsou was awake, but his eyes were unfocused and glazed over, his breathing ragged and shallow, whole body shaking as he muttered something under his breath.
“Hitoshi,” Aizawa called to him, but the boy flinched away, trying to curl into an even smaller ball at the head of the bed. “It’s okay Toshi. It’s just me and Hizashi. You’re safe with us, remember? We’re pro heroes and we promised to protect you,” Aizawa rattled off, watching as the boy nodded slightly with every word. This was their routine, Aizawa would sit with him and tell him about everything that had happened. How Hizashi and him had adopted Shinsou, that they were pro heroes and that they’d never let anyone hurt him. And Aizawa would wait, keeping his hands away from the terrified boy until the glazed, unfocused look in his eyes disappeared and he was able to focus on Aizawa. Only then would he pull Shinsou close, rock him until his tears stopped, and then they’d either have Shinsou join them in their bed or the three of them would curl up on the couch and watch movies.
But tonight was different. The glazed look was still in Shinsou’s eyes, but the boy scotted over to Aizawa anyways, clinging onto him like he would disappear, and Aizawa was worried and confused, but he held the boy tightly, still talking softly.
“Shinsou, are you here? With me in your bedroom?” Shinsou shook his head, so he could hear him, but he was still trapped there. “Where are you then?” Aizawa clung tighter as the word ‘closet’ was spelled into his chest. “Okay, I’m going to move. We’re gonna go into the living room and sit with Hizashi, okay? Try to follow me there, you can do it, you’ve done it before,” Aizawa waited till the boy nodded before slowly making his way to the living room, narrating his walk. They’ve done this before, it was something to do with his quirk. He would get stuck in his head, trapped in past memories, but still aware enough to be able to hear anything around him. “Where are you now?” Aizawa asked once he was standing in the middle of the living room, Hizashi watching them from the couch with tired and worried eyes. Shinsou pushed against Aizawa’s chest, slowly blinking up at him.
‘Living room,’ Shinsou signed, eyes looking around the room, stopping at HIzashi. ‘Zashi’s sitting on the couch and we’re in the middle of the room,’ Aizawa nodded, sighing softly before moving to plop down next to his husband, leaning his back against Hizashi’s chest who immediately wrapped his arms around the two of them.
“Do you want to try to sleep?” Hizashi asked, rubbing soothing circles into the boy’s back. Shinsou quickly shook his head, eyes wide and panicked. “Okay, do you want to watch a movie?” Another shake of his head, ah, he wanted silence then. Hizashi smiled softly, moving his hands so Shinsou could see. ‘Okay, we’ll all just sit here then,’ Shinsou nodded at that, laying against Aizawa’s chest, staring out of the balcony window. They sat like that for hours, Hizashi eventually falling asleep, leaving the other two awake. Shinsou refusing to let his eyes close and Aizawa refusing to leave the boy alone while he slept.
By the time their alarm went off Aizawa was exhausted, Shinsou was in no better state as the two shuffled to get ready, leaving Hizashi to sort out breakfast. Shouta helped Shinsou get dressed first, letting the boy pick out his outfit, though he didn’t seem very interested, just shrugging at every choice Aizawa held out to him. Aizawa sighed, as he got another shrug for the fourth shirt he held up. Aizawa turned full towards the dresser, closing the current drawer he was rummaging through, pulling the one below it open, fishing out a light grey hoodie, a simple cat face scrawled on it and a pair of dark blue jeans. Aizawa helped him change, carefully maneuvering Shinsou’s broken arm into the sleeve.
After Shinosu was dressed, Aizawa walked into his and Hizashi’s room, paying close attention to the soft footsteps following after him. Aizawa pulled his jumpsuit out of their closet, listening as Shinsou settled on their bed, wanting to be near the other man, but was obviously watching the ceiling, like he did every time he was having a slightly off day. Aizawa dressed quickly, before moving out of the room to finish the rest of their daily routine, before joining Hizashi in the living room, the blond having already finished making breakfast.
The three of them ate in relative silence, Shinsou pushing his food around more than actually eating it. The two adults looked at each other, but didn’t push it, knowing the boy would just retreat further into himself if they tried.
The ride to school was just as quiet, though Hizashi had insisted on turning the radio on, but kept it low. When they pulled into the gates of Yuuei they were both glad they had decided to take their car, complete with tinted windows, as there was a large group of reporters standing outside the gate, trying to get the students to stop and talk to them. Aizawa groaned, but had Hizashi stop the car, before moving to get out.
‘I don’t want them crawling around with Hitoshi here. I’m going to get rid of them,’ Aizawa replied, glancing back at the exhausted boy in the back seat. ‘Go around the back. I’ll meet you in the lounge,’
“Okay, just, don’t do anything stupid.” Aizawa nodded, moving to open the car door.
“Wait!” Aizawa stopped, car door half open when Shinsou yelled, catching the attention of a few reporters and students walking by. “Don’t go, please,” Shinsou whispered, clutching his cat plushie close to his body, eyes downcast and filled with tears. Aizawa glanced at Hizashi, then out at the reporters, a few of them looking like they were about to start walking over.
“Fuck, just, I’ll talk them, You take Shinsou to the staff lounge,” Hizashi was already out of the car, slamming the door behind him before someone could look in.
“But,” Shinsou’s wide eyes followed Hizashi out of the car.
‘It’s alright. Hizashi will meet us once we’re inside okay?’ Aizawa quickly signed, before moving out of the passenger side and going to the driver side.
“Eraser! Is it true that you adopted a child?”
“Are you and Present Mic dating?”
“Eraser!” Aizawa growled under his breath, but ignored them, quickly climbing into the driver's seat and slamming the door.
“Alright! I need you all to step back, and leave!” HIzashi shouted, waving for Aizawa to leave, knowing the reporters weren’t dumb enough to try and step in front of a moving car.
Once in the faculty room Aizawa collapsed into his desk chair, Shinsou scrambling to sit in his lap, but not quite hiding from the people sitting around the room.
“How did the media even find out?” Aizawa growled, running a hand through his already messy hair.
“Someone must’ve seen you at the hospital and just made assumptions,” Nemuri replied. “Or they saw you leave with him. Who knows, what matters now it making sure all of you are safe,” Aizawa sighed, slumping in his seat. They had already scoured the news, but there were no actual pictures of the two of them together. Just stories about a ‘reliable’ source telling the media that he had recently adopted a child.
“They’re vultures. I just can’t believe it got out so quickly,” Aizawa mumbled, glancing down at Shinsou, who was quietly mumbling to the plushie in his hands. “What kind of guardian am I if I can’t even keep him out of the media?” Aizawa muttered, glaring out the window bitterly.
“This is in no way your fault. The media takes whatever scraps they can get and run with them. It was going to happen eventually Shouta. At least they don’t have any pictures of him. We can do something about this. Get the media to resend it, and apologize, while we find a way to move the three of you on campus, just as a precaution,” Aizawa hummed in acknowledgment, but didn’t say anything, just watched the clouds rolling across the sky.
“Geez, I hate the media,” Hizashi mumbled, walking into the staff lounge, collapsing into the chair next to Aizawa. Shinsou glanced at him, quickly leaving Aizawa’s lap to sit with him, though he glared at Hizashi, even though he still settled himself in the blond’s lap, going back to mumbling to his kitty. “What did I do to deserve that?” Hizashi mumbled, pouting as he looked down at the little boy.
“You left,” Shinsou mumbled, puffing his cheeks out,
“I’m sorry kiddo, I had to get those nasty reporters out of here,” Hizashi apologized, running his hand through the boy’s hair, but the disgruntled look on the boy’s face didn’t lift, though he did lean on Hizashi’s chest, laying on his side as he dropped his voice, mumbling to himself again.
“What’s got him so moody today?” Nemuri asked, glancing at Shinsou, who glared back at her.
“We had a long night,” Hizashi replied, gently wrapping an arm around the boy in his lap. Shinosu hummed at the contact, reaching his free hand down to rest his smaller hand on Hizashi’s much larger hand, absently curling his hand around Hizashi’s palm. The blond had a dopey grin on his face as he looked down at Shinsou’s hand. Aizawa chuckled softly at the amazement on his husbands face. While Shinsou was used to them and would often sit in their laps, he never really initiated any other type of physical contact, especially when it came to Hizashi. Aizawa glanced at the clock, feeling a groan climbing in his throat.
“We have to get to class,” Shinsou glanced up at him, but stayed where he was, until he saw Aizawa move towards the door, then he was pushing Hizashi’s arm away and falling to the floor, following Aizawa towards the door, but paused when Hizashi didn’t follow.
“Hitsohi? Do you want to stay here with Hizashi?” Aizawa asked, turning to look at the boy. “You can stay here while I go teach,” Shinsou looked back at him, quickly shaking his head. “Do you want to come with me?” A nod, but still he didn’t move glancing back at Hizashi. Aizawa hummed, connecting the dots rather quickly, so that’s how today was going to be. “Come on Yamada. I guess we’re both going to have a guest teacher today,” Aizawa muttered, waiting for his husband and son to follow him before he walked out, not wanting to make Shinsou’s separation anxiety worse.
“Shut up and sit down,” Aizawa barked, walking into the classroom, the class immediately sat down, everyone falling silent. “Mic will be joining is today. Though he’s just here to observe and watch over my ward,” Aizawa continued, leaning against the blackboard, motioning for the two to walk in. Shinsou walked in first, well more like ran, barreling into Aizawa’s legs, hiding from the students staring wide eyed at him. Mic walked in behind him, chuckling softly, dropping into Aizawa’s desk chair, smiling brightly at the students.
“I didn’t take you for someone who actually liked kids!”
“Quiet!” Aizawa growled, flashing his quirk, scaring both the students and Shinsou with his yell. “Shit, sorry kiddo. Why don’t you go sit with Mic? I’m sure he’d love to play with you while I teach,” Shinsou stared up at him, before glancing at Hizashi, watching the two of them skeptically, “I’ll be right here kid. I just need both hands to teach. I’ll sit with you during Mic’s class, deal?” Shinsou squinted at him, but nodded, moving over to Mic and reaching his good arm up, holding his kitty against himself with his cast. Hizashi smiled, leaning over to pick the boy up, making sure he didn’t drop his plushie. Shinsou settled into his lap, facing Hizashi, his back to the class as he quietly signed with Hizashi.
‘Why are they staring?’ Shinsou asked, pouting as he shifted so the class was in his vision, but couldn’t see his face.
‘People don’t see the side of Shouta that we do. So they’re a little intrigued by you,’ Hizashi replied, snorting at the annoyed look on the boy’s face.
‘They should mind their own business,’ Shinsou crossed his arms, well as much as he could with one broken one.
‘Yeah, but teenagers are nosey.’
“Now,” Hizashi and Shinsou looked up as Aizawa spoke. “I’m going to set some ground rules about the kid. None of you are to pester him. He is to be left alone unless it’s an emergency. I will not be answering any questions about him, so don’t bother asking. That goes for Mic too, so don’t bother asking him. His name is unimportant to you all, though I won’t stop him if he wants to introduce himself. When he is around you are to be quiet, not deadly silent but keep your voices down and absolutely no quirk use around him, unless Mic or I say otherwise. If you need to approach the desk for any reason, make your presence known before you get to close. Lastly, from time to time, Mic might join our class, just as he is today. It is none of your business as to why, just know that it will happen. On those days I will also be in Mic’s class. It is for the kid and that’s all you need to know,” Aizawa sighed, running a hand down his face. “Now, emergency where you are permitted to approach him or talk to him. If he gets lost on campus, help him find myself or Mic or any of the other teachers. If something happens to Mic or me, I am putting you all in charge of watching him till we come to collect him, or Midnight comes to get him. He is prone to panic attacks, if I don’t notice it please alert me to it, if I’m not around, try to call him down,don’t touch him, but talk to him while one of you comes to find me or Mic. Understood?’ The class nods, but stays quiet, a few glancing at the boy, who was still signing with Hizashi, a little more enthusiastically now. “Good, now, for today's lesson,” the class groaned, but Aizawa continued.
Hizashi’s class was different than how it normally was. The usually loud rambunxious class was quiet, deadly so with Aizawa sitting at Hizashi’s desk signing with the small boy in his lap, sometimes just sitting there and watching the boy doodle in his sketchbook.
“Hey, hey, pay attention!” Hizashi snapped, crossing his arms as he glared at his class. “Or maybe we will have that test today,” the class shook their heads, prying their eyes from Aizawa and Shinsou, immediately going back to work. Hizashi chuckled, leaning back against the blackboard as he watched them.
“Zeeshi,” Hizashi turned, looking at Shinsou as he butchered his name.
“What’s up little listener?” Shinsou didn’t respond, just flipped his sketchbook towards him, sheepishly showing him the drawing. Hizashi smiled as he looked at the page, a little purple boy doodled between a yellow figure, hair swooped up in a point, a grey blob around the neck, and a grey figure, black hair floating around the head, yellow goggles on the figures face and a grey scarf flying around him. In messy characters read ‘my family’ scrawled at the top of the page. “That’s amazing kiddo! I’m sure if you asked nicely Aizawa might even put it on the fridge. If you wanted him to show it off,” Shinsou paused, thinking about it, before turning back in Aizawa’s lap, a calculating look on his face as he watched the dark haired man.
“Would you?” Shinsou asked, hands still clutching the sketchbook, the page pressed close to his chest.
“If you want me to, I will. I’m sure Mic would love to see it every time he raids the fridge,” Aizawa replied, though Hizashi knew what he really meant, Aizawa would love to see the picture. It gave him a reason to believe he was at least okay at being a guardian.
“Really?” Shinsou beamed, momentarily forgetting about the class in his excitement.
“Of course kid, I’d never joke about that,” Shinosu bounced slightly in his seat, hugging the man in front of him. Aizawa hugged him back, turning the chair so his back was to the classroom.
‘Adorable,’ Hizashi signed, smiling at the two of them. Aizawa didn’t reply, just flipped him off, a scowl on his face.
Aizawa was currently sitting in the staff lounge, pointedly ignoring the stares directed at him. Hizashi was talking animatedly at his side, pausing to take a bit of his bento every few minutes. Aizawa hummed, nodding in acknowledgement, but he was only half paying attention, too focused on helping Shinsou eat. The boy was happy to let Aizawa feed him, glaring at the older man every few bites, refusing to eat anymore until Aizawa would eat a few bites. AIzawa would roll his eyes, but eventually relent and eat some of the bento, forcing back a smile when Shinsou would beam up at him.
“That is the most adorable sight I’ve ever seen,” Nemuri gushed from AIzawa’s other side.
“Don’t you have better things to do than watch us eat?” Aizawa grumbled, taking another bite at Shinsou’s glare. “It’s pretty creepy Nem,” Shinsou nodded in agreement, happily chewing on his own bite while mindlessly fidgeting with the ends of Aizawa’s capture weapon. Nemuri huffed, but turned away from them, grumbling as she started grading the papers in front of her.
“She’s not wrong though,” Hizashi muttered, a fond smile on his face as he watched the scene in front of him. Aizawa rolled his eyes, ducking his head into his capture weapon, hiding the sort of smile tugging at his lips.
“Shut up and eat your lunch,” Aizawa grumbled. Hizashi laughed, but went back to eating, still rambling about his day so far, and how some of the students could probably eat alphabet soup and shit out better essays than the ones that got turned in to him.
“Aren’t you guys supposed to be at the gym soon?” Aizawa frowned, glancing at the clock before his eyes grew wide. Shit, they had both lost track of time. They were supposed to be meeting class 1-a at the gym for some quirkless sparring.
“Fuck, Yamada, we have to go,” Aizawa was on his feet in a second, Shinsou held tightly in his arms as AIzawa packed up Shinsou’s bag, flinging it over his shuoulder and grabbing Hizashi’s shirt collar, pulling the stuttering man with him as he made his way out the door, cursing himself as he went. Hizashi fell into step next to him, laughing at Aizawa’s actions.
“It’ll be fine, so what if we’re a few minutes late?”
“This is class 1-a we’re talking about. You know they can’t be trusted by themselves,” Aizawa muttered, Hizashi chuckled, but picked up his pace anyways. Luckily they made it there with a few minutes to spare.
“Alright listeners! We’re going to start with some quirkless sparring. Those of you who are confident with your hand-to-hand combat pair up with those still struggling. Odd man out has their choice of pairing with another group or pairing with one of us. Figure it out,” HIzashi instructed, watching as the students paired up, leaving Hasemi to sheepishly walk over to the two of them.
“Um, I-I was hoping Aizawa-sensei would spare with me, N-No offense Mic-sensei, we, uh, we all just know you’re not, the best at hand-to-hand combat,” Hizashi laughed, clapping her on the shoulder.
“No worries kid. Aizawa tells me that all the time,” Hizashi chuckled again, turning to reach his arms out to Shinsou, letting the boy decide if he wanted to be held or not. Shinsou didn’t hesitate to lean towards him, warily watching the girl near them. “Don’t worry kiddo, she’s not gonna hurt you,” Hizashi reassured him, though Shinsou still buried his face in Hizashi chest, hiding from the girl.
“Alright Hasemi, are you still having trouble with-” Hizashi watched as his husband walked away, before glancing at the other pairs. Watching each pair spare for a minute to see if he needed to give them some advice, but for the most part Hizashi just stood there, quietly talking to Shinsou, even though the boy didn’t always respond. Which was fine with Hizashi, Shinsou was still getting used to them and being able to talk around them.
Everything had been going just fine, those who needed the extra help seemed to be doing a lot better, including Hasemi, who seemed to actual get a few hits on Aizawa, which was not easy and Hizashi knew Aizawa wasn’t holding back, he never did when he would spare with the students. It showed them what it would be like to fight against someone who actually knew what they were doing. Hizashi was ready to call them back, ready to start their next exercise. Shinsou had asked to be put down, now sitting on the grym floor, going from playing with his cat plushie to doodling in his sketchbook.
“Alright, everyone. Take a quick 5 minute break. Afterwards we’ll start the next exercise,” Hizashi called, the students nodded, some of them sitting on the floor in groups, others stretching first, some walking to the other end of the gym to get a drink. Aizawa rolled his shoulders, sighing as he let his muscles relax, plopping down next to Shinsou, startling the boy a little into using his quirk, flushing when he realized what he was doing. Aizawa just chuckled softly when he was released from Shinsou’s hold.
“You’re getting better at letting people go,” Hizashi praised, ruffling the boy’s hair as he sat down. Aizawa hummed, an idea flashing in his head. “I know that look, what’re you thinking?” Aizawa just waved him off, a smirk spreading across his face before he stood, whistling to get everyone's attention.
“I have a deal to make with you all. See, he needs to learn control, and you all have some questions right?” The class nodded, even Shinsou was paying close attention. “Well, if he agrees, we’ll have a little test. For everyone of you who can break his control on you, I’ll answer one question. Agreed?” The class nodded, Aizawa turning to Shinsou. “What do you say kid? You don’t have to do anything you don’t want, but it would help with your control. It wouldn’t just flair up randomly, with practice,” Shinsou seemed to mull this over, a little hesitant to willingly use his quirk, but nodded anyways, abandoning his sketchbook and plushie to stand by his guardians side. “Alright,” Aizawa turned to look at the class. “So, who’s first?” Everyone looked at each other before Hasemi stepped forward. Shinsou blinked up at her, before clearing his throat.
“What’s your name?” Shinsou asked, his voice soft and a little scratchy. The class watched with bated breath, a slightly confused look on Hasemi’s face before she answered.
“Hasemi-” the girl went stiff, color draining from her eyes as she stared blankly ahead.
“Good, hold it for as long as you. Focus,” Aizawa muttered, glancing between the bewildered faces of his students and the blank look of Hasemi’s face. Shinsou nodded, concentrating on keeping his mind melded with the girl’s. A minute ticked by as everyone watched, but only Aizawa noticed the slight twitch in Hasemi’s arm, the color returning slowly to her eyes as she blinked, wonder crossing her face as she looked at Shinsou.
“That, is super cool!” the girl gushed, smiling brightly at the little boy. Shinsou flushed, looking away from her.
“Really?” Shinsou asked softly, scuffing his shoe on the gym floor.
“Yeah! You could be a really great hero one day,” Shinsou looked taken aback, but smiled brightly anyways.
“Alright, well, I guess that means I owe you an answer. Let’s get through everyone and then do the questions at the end,” the class nodded, the next student eagerly stepping up. The whole thing lasted about 20 minutes, the last few students needing less time to break free, Shinsou growing more tired as time went on.
“Good work kid,” Aizawa praised, ruffling Shinsou’s hair, plopping next to the tired boy, pulling him against his side, Hizashi moving to sit next to them. “So, I guess that means you get to ask me 13 questions,” Aizawa mused, tilting his head slightly. “Go ahead, ask away,”
“How does his quirk work?”
“We’re not entirely sure. When he actually tries to use it, he has to get his target to respond to him, but sometimes when he’s overly emotional he can use it without getting a response.”
“Is he a ward of Yuuei or is he your son?”
“He is my adopted son. Yuuei has no claim to him. He’s just coming here with me until he’s ready to go back to school,”
“Four, turning five in a few months,”
“Are you and Mic-sensei married?” Aizawa paused at that, blinking slowly at his class.
“No,” the class seemed to deflate at his answer, murmuring to each other.
“Oh, we just thought, well we’ve seen your rings and it’s common knowledge that you live together. Plus you and Mic are really close and on his radio show he always mentions that his secret partner has been by his side for years,” Aizawa sighed, glaring at his husband.
“I’m blaming you for this,” Aizawa grumbled, turning back to his students. “Yes, Mic and I are married, but it doesn’t leave this room. Wait, you’ve seen my ring?” Aizawa frowned, mindlessly reaching for the chain that was always hidden under his shirt and capture weapon.
“Yeah, a few times during training. Usually on days you were running late. We assumed you just forgot to tuck it in your shit,”
“Alright, you can’t blame me for this anymore. They wouldn’t have suspected you if they didn’t see your ring,” Hizashi laughed, throwing his head back. Aizawa just grumbled, shoving Hizashi so he fell over.
“Idiot,” Aizawa growled, rolling his eyes at him, but there was a fond look under his annoyed look.
“How long have you been together?”
“We’ve been friends since the middle of our first year at Yuuei, after Aizawa transferred into the hero program, after kicking my ass during the sports festival. We’ve been a couple since we were 16. We’ve been married for 3 years now,” Hizashi replied, a bright smile on his face.
“Zashi, no, it’s been almost 4 years,” Aizawa scowled, glaring at his husband.
“What? No, it hasn’t-” Hizashi paused, eyebrows furrowed as he thought. “Oh shit, Shou! I, my birthday is next week, isn’t it?” Aizawa nodded, rolling his eyes at his husband.
“To be fair, we’ve been a little preoccupied lately,” Aizawa replied, both men glancing at the boy sitting between them, half asleep.
“What made you guys decide to adopt? No offense, but I didn’t think you’d want kids Aizawa-Sensei,” HIzashi laughed at that, opening his mouth, probably to say something to ruin Aizawa’s reputation. Aizawa glared, using his quirk as a warning. Hizashi choked on his laugh, glaring at Aizawa as his voice and breath, were literally stolen.
“None taken,” Aizawa shrugged dropping his quirk. “To be fair, kids were never part of our plan. Not until well years down the road, but even then it was just talk. He, he was different. I seen him a lot during my patrols, always out with his… foster parents, really I’ve known him for about a year before we adopted him. Details are unimportant, but he just reminded us of well, our younger selves. It just made sense,” Aizawa shrugged, leaning back on his hands.
“What do you mean by your younger selves?” Aizawa flinched at the question, regretting his choice of words. Aizawa leaned his head back, sighing as a few memories resurfaced, pushing their way into his mind. Images of shitty foster parents. Locked doors and blacked out rooms. Irritated red eyes looking back at him in the mirror, thumbs and pointer fingers hovering over his eyes, a woman screaming at him, pounding on the locked door of the closet. Being locked in the same closet for days, screaming himself hoarse-
“Shou?” AIzawa jumped, flinching away from the hand reaching out to him, eyes a little too wide, body instinctively moving away. He stared at his husband, heart racing in his chest, forcing the images and sounds out of his head. “Are you-”
“I’m fine,” Aizawa snapped, rubbing at his dry eyes. “I’m..I’m okay,” Hizashi frowned, but didn’t say anything.
“I think that’s enough for today. Class dismissed. We’ll answer the rest tomorrow,” Hizashi muttered, waving for the students to leave. The blonde said nothing more, just pushed himself to his feet, shoving Shinsou’s stuff into his bag before picking the boy up and helping Aizawa too his feet, the raven haired man was only half paying attention as he was dragged out of the gym, their students watching the whole thing. Aizawa stumbled after his husband, his mind flashing between past and present.
HIzashi’s heart was beating in his chest, knowing what was coming. Aizawa had gotten to far in his head and it was only a matter of time before he was too far, before he would start yelling and kicking, believing that he was back there, with those people. Hizashi didn’t even think as he burst into the staff lounge, shoving AIzawa onto the couch, eyes scanning over the few teachers staring at them.
“Out,” Hizashi snapped, putting more force than necessary into the word, all but shoving the others out of the room, but gently handing Shinsou to Thirteen, who gave him a worried look, eyes glancing to AIzawa, who was now breathing heavily, hands gripping his hair tightly. “Find Nemuri, quickly,” Hizashi earged, shoving them out of the door.
“Shou, Moonbeam? Can you hear me?” Hizashi asked, gently easing his husbands hands out of his hair. Aizawa didn’t respond, instead just clutching onto Hizashi’s hands, his eyes glazed over, not looking at Hizashi, but looking through him, to a place Hizashi couldn’t even begin to imagine. “Shou,” Hizashi sighed, rubbing his thumb along Aizawa’s knuckles, humming softly, a tune he hoped could reach his husband while he was in this state. He pried one hand out of Aizawa’s gently cupping his husband's cheek, his heart clenching when the man flinched away from him. “You’re okay. I know you can’t see that right now, but you’re okay. You’re here, at Yuuei, with me. You’re not with them anymore. You have me and my moms and we have Shinsou. You just have to come back to me,” Hizashi continued to talk to him, Aizawa was talking to, no more like screaming, silent tears slipping down his cheeks.
“Stop, please! I’m sorry, it was an accident!” Aizawa yelled, trying to pull away from Hizashi, who let him go, but didn’t move from where he was crouched. “Please don’t, not again,” Aizawa pleaded, curling in on himself.
“Shouta, please,” HIzashi whispered, flinching when the door slammed open, Nemuri panting as she ran into the room. “Nem, I-I need you-”
“I know. I know Zashi,” Nemuri muttered. “Cover your nose,” Hizashi did as he was told, watching as Nemuri pulled part of her costume back, the purple pink mist wafting off of her, swirling around them and up towards his husband, whose gasping breaths slowed, his eyes fluttering as he tilted sideways, falling into the plush couch cushions. Hizashi watched as his tears trickled to a stop and his breathing evened out, leaving Nemuri and him to sit in silence.
“What happened?” Nemuri asked after a couple of minutes had passed by, both of them still sitting on the floor, watching Aizawa sleep, his sleeping bag tossed over him.
“I’m not quite sure. The students were asking us questions about Hitoshi and Shouta was answering one of them, something about what made us finally decide to adopt a kid, and Shouta basically just told them that HItoshi was special and that he reminded us of our… younger selves. Fuck, it must’ve brought up some old memories,” Hizashi sighed, leaning against Nemuri. “I’m gonna go collect Shinsou and take both of them home. I’ll be better for him to wake up in our bed,”
“Yeah, I’ll take over his classes and see if Thirteen can take over your classes. I think they’re actually in your classroom with Shinosu right now,” Nemuri muttered. “I’ll watch him while you go get Hitoshi,” HIzashi nodded, but didn’t make a move to leave, just simply shifted forward to brush Aizawa’s hair back, gently cupping his cheek. “It’ll be okay Hizashi. He’ll be out for a couple hours,” Hizashi nodded again, slowly pushing himself to his feet, hovering over Aizawa before forcing himself out of the room, towards his classroom, where he can hear a few people talking. Hizashi pushed the door open with shaky hands, refusing to meet anyone's eyes, just scanning quickly to see Shinsou sitting quietly on the other side of the room, as far from everyone as he could be.
“Come on Toshi, we’re gonna take Aizawa home,” Hizashi muttered, his usual bright and energetic self missing, replaced by his quiet closed off self. Shinsou nodded from where he sat, making his way to Hizashi, gently reaching up to grab Hizashi’s hand. The blond gave him a tight lipped smile, before leaving the room, ready to just be home already, and it was barely one.
Within twenty minutes Hizashi was carrying Aizawa into their apartment, Shinsou walking in front of him, holding the front door open as he walked through. Hizashi hummed a soft ‘thank you’ walking into the back of the apartment, laying Aizawa onto their bed, sitting in front of him, running his hand through the other man’s hair.
“Is he okay?” Shinsou mumbled, standing hesitantly in the doorway.
“Yeah, he’ll be okay. Come on buddy. I think we could all use a nap,” Shinsou nodded, hopping onto the bed and currlying between Aizawa and Hizashi, the blond throwing an arm over both of them, absentmindedly lacing his fingers with Aizawa’s, letting his eyes close and willing sleep to whisk him away, along with the day that had started off so well.
Hizashi was in the kitchen a few hours later, starting to make dinner, when he heard Shouta shuffling into the room. Hizashi glanced back at him, giving him a soft smile. Shouta looked exhausted and worn out, their comforter wrapped around his shoulders, the bags under his eyes looked worse, despite sleeping for almost 3 hours.
“Afternoon moonbeam,” Hizashi greeted, turning back to the stove. Shouta grunted in reply, leaning his head on Hizashi’s shoulder. The two were silent for a moment, the only sound being the food cooking on the stove and Shinsou coloring in the next room over.
“m sorry, Zashi. I couldn’t get it under control,” Shouta muttered, sighing softly. Hizashi was quiet for a second, turning off the burners before turning to face Shouta, gently cupping Shouta’s cheeks, forcing the other man to look at him.
“Shou, you have nothing to apologize for. Shit happens and this is in no way your fault,” Hizashi reassured him, pushing Shota’s hair out of his face, smiling softly at him. “Childhood trauma is a bitch and it takes work to make things a little more okay. We’ll get there one day, when they’re nothing more than shitty memories with no power over us anymore,” Shouta sighed, but nodded anyways, leaning into the hand still on his cheek.
“I don’t remember falling asleep,” Shouta muttered, glancing into guilty green eyes. “Nemuri?” Hizashi nodded, chewing his lip and avoiding Shouta’s gaze.
“Yeah, I know you don’t like it when she does that to you, but you, you were too far gone and I didn’t want you to have to ride the whole thing out,” Hizashi muttered, dropping his arms to his side.
“I understand. It’s alright sunshine. I’m not mad,” Shouta replied, pressing a kiss to Hizashi’s cheek. “Just exhausted,”
“Well let’s eat dinner, and then we can all lay down and watch a movie. Shinsou’s been wanting to watch Monsters Inc again,” Shouta nodded, glancing at their son, who had perked up at the mention of his favorite movie.
“Yeah, that sounds great,” Hizashi smiled, pressing a kiss to Shouta’s forehead before turning back to the stove, dishing out a serving for each of them.
“Things will get better,” Hizashi reassured him, heading into the living room with a bowl for himself and Shinsou. “For all of us eventually.”
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