Chapter Text
Hizashi’s apartment was small. But not that much smaller than Shouta’s had been. The red and yellow paint was obnoxious, but the kitchen was fully stocked, and they’d managed to find a place to store most of Izuku’s drawings and toys, and a small twin bed for the boy, though Izuku still preferred to fall asleep most nights on the couch. Shouta was all right with that and fell asleep with him most nights anyway.
There were doctor’s visits. Some were for Aizawa. Most were therapist visits for Izuku. There were home visits too - lot’s home visits, though nobody seemed to actually want to take Izuku away. Izuku had been through a lot and everybody seemed to agree that routine, was the best thing to help Izuku heal. They should talk about things that had happened, and Izuku should continue to see his therapist, absolutely, but routine was the best way to heal slowly, but surely. That meant cartoons, and days spent at the park, and of course, school.
It was that last part that Izuku seemed to be struggling with at the moment.
“I don’t feel good,” Izuku mumbled shyly to his feet. He fiddled quietly with the straps of his backpack looking nervously at Shouta. “Maybe...I should stay home today. With you?” he suggested, glancing at the door nervously.
Shouta, for his part, was unimpressed. “You didn’t feel good yesterday either,” he said sternly. “You’re not running a fever, you aren’t throwing up, and you’re not coughing, so you can’t feel that bad. Get your shoes on,” he directed.
Izuku raised his arm and coughed weakly into his elbow, staring hopefully at Shouta. “Shoes, Izuku. Or We’ll be late,” Shouta repeated firmly, his arms folded across his chest. Izuku looked at Shouta pitfully a moment longer, before sighing and moving to pull on bright red tennis shoes, perfect for spring. “Come on, Izuku,” Shouta repeated as Izuku played with the shoes a little longer than was strictly necessary.
“I don’t want to go,” Izuku muttered to his shoes, after a moment, his lower lip jutting out about as far as it would go. “I want to stay here with you,” he said. “You could stay home and nap?” Izuku suggested, a little desperately. Shouta sighed, bending down to help put the shoes on. It was just faster that way and he had a feeling that if he insisted Izuku do it, they were never going to get out the door.
“You’re going to be okay. It’s okay for a couple of hours. You want me to carry you, or do you want to walk?” Shouta sighed as Izuku immediately reached up his hands to Shouta. He’d figured as much. “Come on then,” he said, swinging the boy up into his arms. Almost immediately a pair of small, yet surprisingly strong arms wrapped around his neck. It was a familiar feeling now.
Shouta didn’t even manage to get the door shut before Izuku piped up again. “What if something happens?” Izuku pressed his fingers gingerly against the scar on Shouta’s cheek. It hurt a little, but it was mostly healed now.
“Hizashi will come and pick you up,” Shouta answered shortly. “And he’ll probably buy you ice cream and spoil you rotten while he’s at it,” he would have said nothing was going to happen, but the last time he’d said so Izuku had only been more anxious. But what if, he’d insisted.
Besides, it was a fair question, considering everything that had happened to Izuku.
This time Izuku just made a sound that was most likely agreement, though Shouta thought it still might have been anxiety. Shouta sighed, patting Izuku’s head awkwardly as they walked down the sidewalk. It wasn’t far. “I still want you to pick me up,” Izuku finally muttered.
“I’m planning too,” Shouta sighed.
“Why can’t I go with you,” Izuku asked. It was a familiar question at this point, one that Izuku had asked almost every day for the last week and a half when Shouta had first begun to mention his returning back to school. Shouta was almost positive that it wasn’t going to be the last either. The doctor had called it separation anxiety, one of just a host of problems that Izuku was currently working through.
Shouta didn’t blame Izuku one bit. Izuku was entitled to be anxious. He’d gone through a lot in a very short period of time. You couldn’t expect a child to completely drop all of those fears in just a couple of months. It would probably take years. Many, many years.
He just wished it was less painful to deal with.
“Because children need to go to school and adults need to work,” Shouta answered tiredly. “It’s only a half day, you’ll be fine,” he repeated. Part of his teaching agreement included only teaching two classes for the first year until Izuku was old enough for elementary school.
“I want to go to my old school,” Izuku mumbled into Shouta’s shoulder. “With Kacchan. I like it there.”
Shouta shook his head, “This is a better school. And it’s closer,” Shouta repeated as they walked. There were a few other reasons he’d picked the school. It was run by a few ex-pro’s and tended to cater to children of other Pro’s, as well as children of government officials. The fact that it was only two blocks away from U.A. and that Shouta could sprint there in three minutes in an emergency was an added bonus. “You can make new friends,” He added tiredly.
Preferably ones that weren’t so loud.
He glanced down to see Izuku chewing on his lp anxiously, and sighed. He gently bounced Izuku. “Hey. You trust me, right?” he asked and Izuku gave a small nod. “Then believe me when I say it’ll be fine, alright?” He said. Izuku nodded quietly and Shouta sighed, bouncing him again. “It’s gonna be fine, kid - try not to bite your lip too hard,” he said softly as they continued their walk.
It didn’t take long. Their new apartment was within walking distance and it was only a few minutes before the cheery, yellow brick building came into view. The front door was decorated with various flowers, trains, and other cheerful looking items. “Looks nice,” Shouta commented to Izuku, who still didn’t seem entirely convinced that it was a good idea.
Shouta sighed as he opened the door, a little bell giving a small ding to alert the caregivers to his presence. He grimaced at the burst of sound and ignored the friendly wave a young woman gave him. Instead, he glanced at the various children that positively littered the area. Most of them were too absorbed in their own activities to notice Shouta’s presence, or Izuku’s. Some were busy playing with small dinosaurs, or mini action figures of Pro’s, and a few seemed to be playing dress up. One little boy who had clearly just recently discovered his Quirk was simply running in circles around the room, at a speed that was just fast enough that he left a faint aftertail. But one little boy with red and white hair looked up, and a girl with dark brown hair as well. They almost immediately went back to coloring.
“Alright,” Aizawa muttered, gently easing Izuku down to the floor. He didn’t make a fuss as the Izuku snagged his hand, squeezing on as if it were the only real thing in the world.
“...I don’t feel good,” Izuku mumbled again, bouncing up and down on his feet anxiously. He did look a little green now, look he might throw up. Shouta grimaced slightly - they were still doing a lot better than he could have hoped for.
“I know you don’t,” Shouta sighed, as one of the nursery workers approached. Izuku made a faintly unhappy noise and moved slightly behind Shouta for safety. Shouta didn’t push him forward, instead, letting Izuku peek at the nursery worker with nervous green eyes.
The nursery worker - a chipper young woman who Shouta had met about three weeks ago - didn’t seem to be particularly perturbed by Izuku’s complete lack of desire to get to know her. “Hey there sweetie,” she said, crouching down next Izuku and extending a hand towards him with a gentle smile. “Are you here to come to play with us today?
Izuku shook his head vehemently. “Izuku,” Shouta sighed.
“If you’re worried about your daddy, I’m sure he’ll be okay,” the woman said, “And while he’s away. We’ll have lots of fun,” She promised.
Izuku looked back up at Shouta. “...Mr. Aizawa,” he said, nearly whining. Shouta raised an eyebrow - Izuku didn’t usually. He must have been very desperate then.
Almost immediately, the daycare worker looked apologetic. “Oh, I’m sorry, is he not your daddy?” She asked.
Izuku frowned, “...Mr. Aizawa is my dad,” He said, still clinging firmly to Shouta’s leg. The Nursery worker continued to look confused, glancing over at Aizawa for confirmation.
“I am,” Shouta said firmly, before he looking down to Izuku, who looked, if possible even less pleased about being here than he had previously. Great. “I think we’re going to need a minute,” he said, and the woman nodded brightly.
“We’ve got a room over there if you would like to talk for awhile,” She said brightly, having apparently recovered from her confusion. “Please take all the time you need - we look forward to getting to play with you Izuku,” she added, as Shouta began to walk Izuku into a small room off to the side. He shut the door - and the sounds of laughter behind him.
Neither of them talked immediately - Izuku seemed to have a lot of those moments where he didn’t necessarily seem like talking. Shouta still wasn’t sure how common this had been before his mother’s desk, but since Shigaraki’s attack, Izuku seemed to have more of them. And nightmares. The kind where he’d wake up screaming from Hizashi’s couch. The therapist had suggested that they might never go completely away, but they might lessen with time and love and understanding. Lot’s of time and love and understanding.
“I really wanna go with you,” Izuku blurted, his eyes shiny with tears. “Don’t make me stay,” He said, all but throwing himself at Shouta, sobbing. Shouta caught him easily and lifted him back in a hug sighing softly.
So. Damn. Hard.
He stepped back a little, and eventually found a small, child-sized chair to sit in Izuku cried. He didn’t say anything, because really, what was there too say. Izuku didn’t want him to go, but he had to. He sighed, gently running a hand through Izuku’s hair until the crying slowed down to hiccups misery. “...You’re going to make lots of friends,” he said after a moment, which prompted another hiccup. “Hey,” Shouta muttered, pulling Izuku back so he could look him in the eye. “It’s only going to be for a couple of hours,” he said.
Izuku shook his head, “But,” he started, looking as if he were ready to break into a fresh wave of sobs.
Shouta shook his head. “You’re my son,” Shouta murmured softly, placing both hands on Izuku’s face. “I will always come back for you. Always,” he said, looking in Izuku’s eyes. “So, I need you to be brave and wait for me. Okay?”
Izuku hesitated, stilling hiccuping, but nodded. Shouta nodded in approval, stand up and placing Izuku back on the floor.
Shouta slowly led Izuku back over to the group of children. “I’ll be back soon,” he said gruffly. “Go on. You’ll be okay. We’ll go home soon,” He said walking towards the door. He paused as he felt a little hand grab onto his, tugging him down. Shouta obliged leaning down as Izuku requested. “Yeah?”
“...You promise you’re going to come to pick me up?” Izuku asked again, his eyes on the ground.
Shouta didn’t get mad, even if was the seventh or eighth-time Izuku had asked. He’d answer as often as Izuku needed him too. “I will pick you up,” Shouta repeated. “And we will go home. Together,” he said and finally started to see some of the tension in Izuku’s shoulders fade away.
“Because we’re family?” Izuku mumbled shyly.
“Because we’re family,” Shouta repeated softly. He placed a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “I’ll be back before you know it,” he repeated, standing up. “Go play. Be brave,” he repeated gruffly, opening the door. The little bell in the corner chimed softly as he closed it behind him, and shoved hands in his pockets. He had to keep himself from looking back - it was going to set a terrible president if he went back in, no matter how much more convenient it might have been.
Still, as he started to walk towards U.A. he couldn’t quite help but mull the word over in his head a few more times, even though he’d thought about it almost obsessively for the past few months. Family. It had a nice ring to it.