Chapter Text
Hizashi stretched contentedly, warmth pooling over his bare skin as sunlight poured through the window. It felt good, he didn’t want to move. But, he couldn’t nap forever. Reluctantly, he rolled over and slipped out of bed to continue his day. Shouta would be home eventually, and he wanted to have dinner ready when he did.
He hummed as he moved through their apartment.
As a teenager in the foster system so many years ago, he never would’ve believed that he could have a life like this .
A good life.
One where he had married his best friend, who had in turn become an absolutely wonderful alpha and loving husband that Hizashi adored with everything he had. One where he had good friends that he trusted with their lives, and multiple fulfilling careers that he loved. (Though Shouta thought Hizashi a little crazy for pursuing three careers at once, but he’d supported him nonetheless.)
A faint shift low in his belly drew a dopey smile to his lips as he entered the kitchen. Hizashi smoothed a hand over the gentle swell of his abdomen and set to work meal prepping. That was another thing, adding to the happiness of his life.
Most recently, they also had a baby on the way.
It hadn’t been planned.
He and Shouta had talked a time or two about having children, but it had always been in a ‘in the hypothetical future’ sort of way. An agreement that ‘yeah, that would be nice, we’ll have to do that someday’, and they’d moved on. And while Hizashi wasn’t opposed to carrying a baby, they’d also talked a great deal about adopting too. They’d both had a rough go of it as kids and they wanted to provide a stable home to other kids like them. They’d just always been so busy , and it never felt like the right time…
And then Hizashi’s birth control had failed.
He’d been injured in the line of duty. Nothing super serious, but given the nature of the quirk that had been used, his doctor had prescribed him a full course of antibiotics. Just as a precaution.
His doctor had also neglected to mention that said antibiotics would negate his implanted birth control.
Which… Hizashi wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
On the one hand, it could’ve been an honest mistake. But on the other, he’d heard horror stories from other omegas about their doctors withholding information like that and leaving them vulnerable to pregnancies. Particularly omegas working in fields that traditionalists didn’t deem ‘suitable’ for an omega.
While Hizashi being a high school teacher wasn’t exactly untoward, most traditionalists though omegas were better suited to younger grades. And that didn’t even touch on his being a popular radio host, let alone a popular and successful hero.
Oh yeah, traditionalists had been furious over his life choices for years .
If his doctor had betrayed him like that, then Hizashi needed to find a new one. He also needed to open up a lawsuit for himself and any other omegas who had fallen victim to such malicious negligence. Nezu had listened to his concerns, and promised to look into it. As the hands down best intelligence hero on the scene, Hizashi and Shouta had been content. If there was anything to find, Nezu would find it, and he would happily help them nail the bastard to the wall. The rat hated people who infringed on another’s bodily autonomy.
But, Hizashi hadn’t known any of that back then when he’d been injured.
All he’d known was that he’d be out of action for a month and a half at minimum. And as he’d already been benched from heroics while he healed (and at the recommendation of his doctor), they’d decided that now would be a good time to go off his heat suppressants and have a heat while he had the down time. It would take a few weeks or so for the suppressants to work their way out of his system. And he needed to have a heat occasionally for his own health. By the time the heat kicked in, he should be healed enough. As long as Shouta was gentle, there was no risk of Hizashi’s mostly healed injuries reopening, so they might as well take advantage of the time off. Shouta was always attentive to his needs, that had never been a concern for Hizashi. He’d settled in to rest and recover and wait for his heat.
Except, the heat had never come.
His mandated recovery time had come and gone, with nary a sign of his heat. Which shouldn’t have been the case. Two months went by. Three. And then Hizashi had gotten sick.
Curled over the toilet in their bathroom, with Shouta holding his hair and rubbing his back, a suspicion had started niggling at Hizashi’s mind. A quick jaunt down to the pharmacy the next day had given him what he needed to confirm it. He was pregnant. Had likely been pregnant for a couple months, as he and Shouta hadn’t started fooling around until near the end of his first month of recovery. His aching body had been decidedly less sore by then, and easily able to handle a bit of fun with his husband. He’d also still been taking the antibiotics. And hadn’t that been a fun thing to learn later when trying to figure out how this was possible.
It had been a shock, to be sure.
They hadn’t planned for this to happen so soon. But, after the initial hit, the shock had slowly given way to joy. It hadn’t been their immediate plan, but they were adaptable. Happy little accidents and all that. And they were in a good position economically to do it. Keeping the pup hadn’t been a difficult decision to make.
Hizashi had informed his agency immediately that he was expecting, and they had made the necessary adjustments to ensure that what few patrols he did were covered, and that he was taken off the roster of heroes available for missions. He kept teaching though.
And he kept up with his radio show, recording dozens upon dozens of shows in advance to ensure that once his bundle of joy was here he wouldn’t have to worry about anything but them. He’d already had a bunch of ‘canned’ shows, but they were generic. Intended to be played whenever something kept him from being able to make it to the station. The ones he recorded in preparation for his baby were a bit more up to date on current affairs, and had shout outs to upcoming events. They wouldn’t be needed for long, since he could take his pup with him to the station once they were a bit older.
But it was nice knowing that he had backups and could take as long as he needed if something came up.
He and Shouta had started turning the office in their sun drenched apartment into a nursery. They hadn’t decided on a theme yet, but the office furniture was out, and Hizashi had already ordered a rocking chair and a changing table. He hadn’t decided on a crib yet, but he’d get there. And he wanted to paint the room once they had a theme! Maybe put a mural on the wall!
Their friends were already pestering them about when they could throw the two a baby shower. But Hizashi wanted to wait until school was out at least. And preferably when he knew what they were having and he and Shouta had hammered out a name! Heaven knew that if he left it up to Shouta their poor pup would just be named ‘Kid’ or ‘Pup’. Or something equally horrifying. He had named a cat ‘Dumpster’ after all.
Life was good , and Hizashi wouldn’t change a thing.
Another squirm from his abdomen drew him out of his thoughts, and the blond omega gave an amused huff. He put the pan in the fridge, all he’d have to do was throw it in the oven later just before his mate got home. Shouta would have time to take a shower, and dinner would be ready when he got out.
It was only in the last few days that Hizashi had started to be able to feel his pup.
The ‘quickening’, that was what they called it, when the baby began to move enough for their parent to notice. He’d always heard it described as butterflies in the belly, or something of the like. And it did, on occasion. But other times it felt more like a squirm down there, or like bubbles going off. It’d been a little disturbing the first few times it had happened, if he was being honest. Like yes, that was his baby, but also that had been the first confirmation he’d had that something else was living in his body . He adored his tiny pup already, but for someone who’d been shown the pre-quirk movie ‘Aliens’ at far to young an age by snickering teenagers, it’d still been a disquieting realization to have.
Gods bless Shouta for being such a good alpha.
He hadn’t dismissed Hizashi’s feelings, or told him he was being silly. He’d listened to him, and cuddled him in their nest, and done everything he could to comfort and support his mate. A dash of body horror had not been on their pregnancy bingo card, but they were rolling with it. And the cuddles had helped in the moment. As had a talk with his therapist later.
While it still caught Hizashi off guard sometimes, he thought he could get used to it eventually. And even look forward to the day the movements were strong enough for Shouta to feel.
It would probably be in a week or two, if he understood the timeline of how babies were supposed to progress. And he never went anywhere without his phone for fear that it’d happen and he wouldn’t be able to catch Shouta’s face on camera when he felt his pup kick for the first time. There was a bet that Sho would cry when he felt their baby move and on god Hizashi was going to get video evidence one way or the other!
Their sweet little bean was getting more active by the day.
More hungry too.
Hizashi cast a rueful smile at the fridge. He hadn’t had any weird cravings yet, but the bean apparently had a sweet tooth in general. And a thing for mochi in particular. Which was currently a problem, as he already knew they didn’t have any in the apartment. He’d cleared out his stash earlier that morning.
… damn, he was going to have to go get some more, wasn’t he?
Shouta would be more than happy to pick some up on the way home, but he wouldn’t be home for hours yet...
He rubbed a hand over his belly. “I’m going to be eating my weight in mochi a hundred times over for you, aren’t I?” There was no response from the pup. Hizashi sighed and went to fetch his shoes. “Fuck it. I’m not even five months pregnant yet, I’m perfectly capable of going to the corner store.”
He grabbed his keys and wallet and a decorative scarf to cover his hair and flounced out the door. It was only a few blocks, and Shouta wouldn’t be home for hours yet. He had plenty of time to get his mochi and get back…maybe he’d stop and grab a boba tea, that sounded good with the mochi…
Yeah, that sounded good. Nothing could ruin his day!
He took it back, today was bound and determined to try him.
He’d made it to the store just fine. Had even gotten his mochi haul on sale which was a huge plus! He’d gotten a few extra boxes just because. And the cashiers had been super nice! There had been an awkward moment when some tourist woman had just touched his belly without permission, and he had snapped at her. But he’d manage to escape without causing too much of a scene. Hizashi had taken a breath and slapped a smile back on. He refused to let some entitled weirdo ruin his mood!
And the day outside was gorgeous!
Clear blue skies, tons of sunlight, and just enough fluffy white clouds to make the sky picturesque. Bag of sweets in one hand, Hizashi had stopped into a cute little cafe he liked along the way to get the boba tea he’d wanted. And rather than juggle his sweets on the way home, the omega had set up shop at one of the super cute tables outside to enjoy the gorgeous day before he had to go home.
Sipping at his boba and nibbling on the mochi, Hizashi people watched.
And people watched him . He wasn’t dressed for show. He wasn’t trying to be eye catching like when he was Present Mic. He’d dressed down in something loose and flowy, both for comfort and because he just didn’t get to wear that kind of thing often. But objectively, he thought he looked good.
The people eyeing him as they passed seemed to reaffirm the fact.
He hadn’t bothered to put on his scent blockers before leaving the house. He hadn’t been planning to be gone long, and he lived in a safer area of town. He shouldn’t have needed them. But, years of being a hero and a life time of being an omega had taught him that people very often sucked . Given the opportunity, they could and often did choose to be the most sucky version of themselves they could possibly be. And he had to be wary of that. But he also refused to live his life in fear because some people were stupid.
A toddler edged closer, little nose twitching as she followed his scent. He offered a kind smile to her embarrassed mother, the tiny thing couldn’t have been older than two. Her mother mouthed a quick ‘sorry’, and gently shepherded her daughter away. Hizashi flashed her a thumbs up.
He truly didn’t mind.
He smelled good, it was normal for omegas to have scents that others found pleasant. Some more than others, and Hizashi had one that most people liked. For some odd reason he’d ended up with a personal scent that reminded people of hot cinnamon roles fresh from the oven with a sweet citrus glaze. If anything, his scent had only become more appealing to pups more recently. There was no mistaking the honeyed milky scent of a pregnant omega, and that was a scent that equaled safety and comfort in kids' minds. The younger they were, the stronger the effect. This wasn’t the first time he’d attracted a small child’s attention, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.
Hizashi took a break from his mochi to curl his lip warningly at an alpha that eye’d him a little too long. The alpha startled and hurried away.
It took a special type of stupid to make someone try knot-headed behavior with a pregnant omega. Most alphas would find his scent less and less sexually attractive as the scent became stronger and it became more and more obvious that he was carrying another alpha’s pup. Especially one with their alpha’s scent ingrained as deeply into their scent as Hizashi had. Shouta was a possessive bastard on the best of days, and one hundred percent willing to throw down in the face of someone trying to hurt his mate on any day. The instinct had only gotten stronger since they’d realized he was pregnant. Hizashi might as well be waving a neon flag that said ‘I’m pregnant and my mate will flay you alive if you lay so much as a finger on me’. Hizashi was perfectly capable of telling an alpha to get lost, and make them, if the situation called for it. He was a pro hero for god's sake. But if it made his alpha feel better to give him a protective scenting, well, Hizashi didn’t mind.
It was nice to know he had that extra bit of protection while he was vulnerable with the pup.
Besides the scent, the swell of his abdomen was obvious. His belly wasn’t super uncomfortable yet, but it was already making wearing t-shirts difficult. Loose clothes were quickly becoming his best friend, and even still hid the bump somewhat if he wore something baggy enough. Like one of Shouta’s sweatshirts. The flowy blouse he was wearing today only partially hid it. Not that he was trying to.
He was pregnant and happy, he didn’t see any point in hiding it.
Hizashi had spent almost an hour people watching, nibbling on mochi and finishing his boba. But, eventually he had to get headed towards home, bag of treats looped around his wrist and nibbling on the last piece of mochi from the package he’d opened.
Unfortunately him being so obviously pregnant had also marked him out as prime hostage material.
Gunshots rang out around them, voices shouting threats and civilians screaming. A hand fisted into his hair and jerked him back against a chest. The smell of sweat, cordite, cheap cologne, and angry alpha stung his nose. Hizashi reached back, trying to get a grip on that hand. Maybe dig his nails in hard enough to get them to let go.
Something hard and cool dug into the skin of his temple, and a repugnant voice snarled “Stay still, bitch. Do as I say, and you might make it out of this with the welp still in your belly.” The voice was so close that he could feel their breath on his ear. A loud click sounded. As if to emphasize the point.
Hizashi went dead still.
“Awe, come on guys! We were having a good talk, there’s no need to start taking hostages!”
Hawks?
Glasses sliding down his nose, Hizashi tried to look towards the hero. It wasn’t a particularly successful endeavor, seeing as the hostage taker still had a fist full of his hair and didn’t seem to be inclined to let go anytime soon.
At his back, his captor cursed and dragged him backwards toward the building behind them. Hizashi swallowed, cradling his hands over his belly. He had to be so very careful . One wrong move and it wasn’t just his life on the line but his baby . He had the element of surprise at least, his captor had no idea he had a combative quirk. Or that, in a stroke of really bad luck (for his captor) he’d managed to snatch the one off duty hero on the street .
And Hawks was a good hero, he just needed an opening .
They backed into a store, presumably for cover from the aerial hero. Which was frankly stupid. Hawks was best known for those massive wings and his aerial speed, certainly. But his control over his feathers didn’t magically disappear if you stepped indoors. If anything, you limited your own options, because you cut down on your own ability to dodge them.
Store bell jingling as the glass door closed, Hizashi finally got a better look at the situation. Two more villians stood outside. A man, whose face Hizashi could only describe as ‘pointy’, with some sort of fire quirk was doing a pretty good job of menacing Hawks. The hero was having a hell of a time getting around the fire without his feathers ending up incinerated. The omega winced in sympathy. That can’t have felt good. The other had more of a swarthy look and was trying to get in a car. Hizashi wanted to snort. A car against Hawks ? One of the fastest heroes in the business at the moment?
Yeah right. Good luck with that.
Crimson feathers cut through the air. At a truly dizzying speed, they punctured all four tires. Then they staked the stocky would-be getaway driver to the concrete.
Cursing, the fire user dove out of the way of a fresh barrage of feathers. He rolled and came up swinging, fire dancing across his knuckles…
… only for the fire to die away in a wisp of smoke.
Shouta .
The gun left his temple. Hizashi’s captor leaned forward over his shoulder, gun lowering in his distraction. “Takeo? What the hell are you doing…?”
Now or never.
Hizashi turned his head and shrieked.
Three things happened in quick succession.
Item the first: Hizashi’s scarf tangling in his fingers and sliding out of his hair, his captor yelled and let the fuck go of him, stumbling away. Given that that was exactly what he was going for, Hizashi was rather pleased with that outcome. He twisted, arm drawn back to land a hit or two of his own.
Item the second: The gun went off.
This was a decidedly less desirable outcome. In fact Hizashi could say with complete confidence that there wasn’t an outcome he’d wanted less . That gun could kindly shut the hell up now, please and thank you. On a note that was both related and sidelined at the same time, Hizashi’s shoulder was on fire and he’d somehow ended up on the floor. Which sucked ass . 0/10, would not recommend.
Item the third: The pissed off alpha’s eyes started glowing.
Said glowing eyes was definitely the worst case scenario. If Shouta was holding true to pattern he was up on the roof across the street. Which meant that he could definitely see Hizashi laying in a bloody pile on the floor… But not the alpha about to use his quirk on him near the back of the store.
“You bitch! ” The alpha thrust a hand out towards Hizashi, eyes going from a dark green to a brilliant glowing lime. “I’ll kill you, you little slut!”
Hizashi dropped, the floor abruptly gone from beneath him. For half a second, he thought he was being rescued. That a hero with a portal quirk had arrived on scene and was whisking him away out of the line of fire…
But the edges of the portal above him was the same toxic green as his captor’s eyes.
Black and green and purple flashed past him in a dizzying kaleidoscope of colorful void. There was nothing to grab. Nothing to catch himself. Nothing to do as the portal back to where he’d been got further and further away. And then abruptly it snapped shut with a flash of toxic green light, and his back slammed into something hard .
His head collided, and everything went black.