It would be the last time Eraserhead snuck out of the house to go heroing in the middle of the night.
Shosuke was so little, and so sick, and you -poor thing- were down with what you thought was food poisoning (but would turn out to be Ren). Shouta had packed you off to bed early, secure in the knowledge he had everything under control.
So when you woke to your son crying, you expected to hear the deep soothing tones of your husband’s voice. Maybe the clunck of his prosthetic coming up the stairs. But the house was otherwise quiet… of course Shouta could nap in a roomful of teenagers so sleeping through a cry was… unusual but not unheard of. So you dragged yourself to the nursery, checked your son’s temperature, held him until he was safely back to sleep.
Only then did you start to wonder.
Only then did you do a sweep for your spouse.
Only when you saw his boots gone from the doorway did you realize… the scarf is missing.
And you tuned into the 24 hour news. Sure enough one of the former class A kids had a routine arrest turn into a major villain incident, and the classmates had rallied around and dealt with it. Cleanup was in progress, no casualties, minimal injuries. Bakugo Katsuki is yelling at a camera crew to get out of the way.
Something inside you snaps. How dare he. How dare he respond like this was the middle of the day. Like this is normal.
You put on the coffee, even though the thought of the acid turns your stomach.
It’s half an hour before the door opens and -
You don’t get to do this, you don’t get to disappear on us! I know you’re worried about them but they are grown, they are heros, they are the best of the best because you made sure they were the best of the best, and that class - that class?! They have each other’s backs Shouta! They learned to look after themselves and eachother. You taught them! They’re not your kids anymore! They don’t need you out there. We need you. Not Eraserhead, not Aizawa sensei, YOU.
-is what would have come out of your mouth; except, by some miracle, you realize you are staring down not the combat-ready terror of Naruhata but a man in bright pink sweats and an oversized sweater.
A man whose neutral exhaustion is taking on a wide-eyed concern. And blurring. Why is he blurry? Why is your face wet?
“Kitten?” He’s setting down a shopping bag, carefully gathering you to him. “What’s wrong, honey?”
“We….. we woke up ….and… and—and y-y-you were-“
“Shhhhhhhhhhh,” he holds you tight, making sure you feel the steady motion of his breathing, “I’m here, I’m right here, you’re okay, it’s okay.”
You stay like that for a long time. Until you start to relax into him, until you’re dangerously close to falling asleep on your feet, until you wobble just a bit and he bends just enough to get his arms under your legs and hoist you up so easily like you weighed no more than the toddler upstairs.
He talks softly as he carries you back to bed. That he went to the all night convenience store, how many cats he saw on the way, the medicine he picked up incase Shosuke runs too hot, the sale on his preferred eyedrops - so he got extra even though he goes through less of them these days. The broadcast he heard about Red Riot, he’s proud of his old students: how they look after themselves, the way they have each-other’s backs, that they don’t need the old timers coming to their rescue.
“And you don’t need to worry about me,” he sighs setting you down and crawling in beside you, “not that i can stop you, not that I dont appreciate it. I promise- No more covert late night missions..”
“You’ll wake me next time?”
“No.” He smooths a stand of hair from your face, “But I will leave a detailed note, okay?”
A small laugh escapes you, soft to match his barely perceptible smile.
Notes: I got halfway through this and realized I was working through something- but it’s fine now and the story changed with that, hurrah for everyone!
Huge shout out to @queen-of-gotham who gave me _indescribably_ perfect names for the kids during her holiday special event https://www.tumblr.com/queen-of-gotham/801463286606528512/holiday-chaos-with-the-aizawa-family
