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Hitoshi's alarm goes off at the crack of dawn and for a moment, he's filled with so much unbridled rage that his body floods with adrenaline, before he remembers why he set the alarm in the first place.
It's today. The day, the important day, is today and that thought alone is enough to make Hitoshi almost excitedly jump out of bed.
He hums under his breath as he gets ready and he's still humming when he steps out of his room and makes his way to the kitchen, only to falter when he spots Yamada leaning against the counter.
A quick glance around thankfully reveals that he hasn't started on breakfast yet and so Hitoshi's plan did not crumble.
Everything is still good.
Yamada stares at him with as much surprise as Hitoshi had stared at him first and for a moment, Hitoshi unsurely shuffles on his feet, even though he knows he's allowed out here.
"What are you doing up, kiddo?" Yamada asks, his gaze going towards the clock mounted on the wall. "It's so early."
It's before sunrise, really, but Hitoshi planned it like that, so it's all fine.
"Trouble sleeping?" Yamada gently asks and there's genuine concern in his voice because it's not unusual for Hitoshi to be unable to sleep much or at all, sometimes.
But at least today Hitoshi's "No," is not at all a lie because he did sleep pretty well all things considered and it's by design that he's up and about already.
"Ooookay?" Yamada almost unsurely replies and Hitoshi bites back a laugh.
"I wanna make breakfast," he says instead and Yamada blinks at him for a moment.
"Sure?" he finally says and moves away from the counter. "You need anything?"
"No, I've got it all here," Hitoshi confidently says because he's planned this and he has all the ingredients he needs for this.
"Ah, that's where all that stuff comes from," Yamada says with understanding when Hitoshi starts to pull food out of the fridge. "I was wondering. Shou only shrugged, but I knew it couldn't have been him."
Hitoshi outright snorts at that because of course it wasn't Aizawa. Hitoshi doubts he even knows how to cook anything, has certainly never seen him in the kitchen in all the time he's been here for anything other than eating or preparing his coffee and to think that Aizawa went out of his way to get all of this for breakfast is hilarious.
"Course it wasn't him," Hitoshi mutters as he gets started and Yamada huffs out a laugh.
"Yeah, yeah, sue me for believing that miracles can happen. You need any help?" he then offers, peering around Hitoshi, who pushes him away.
He tenses for a moment when his audacity registers, but Yamada moves easily and his expression doesn't change and Hitoshi is allowed to do these things here, he knows that.
It's still sometimes hard to believe but he's getting better at it.
"No. Let me do this. Go sit or something," he orders and it’s still marvellous that he gets to do that without having to fear for his physical well-being and instead of blowing up in his face for daring to speak to him like that Yamada only nods and takes a seat at the kitchen table, his cup still safely clutched in his hand.
"What's the occasion?" Yamada wants to know after a while and Hitoshi presses his lips together.
Trust Yamada to figure out that this is not for nothing. He really is too perceptive for his own good, but Hitoshi is not going to tell. Not yet.
He has plans, after all.
"Can't I just make breakfast?" he asks and he can practically feel Yamada's gaze burning in his back.
"You can. You just generally don't, and especially not at this time. And this seems planned, with how you had everything ready rather than a spur of the moment thing, so what's going on, kiddo?"
Hitoshi turns around to him, briefly forgoing his preparations and he levels Yamada with a look.
"I have a plan and you're going to let me stick to it," he simply says, not explaining anything else, because that part comes later and to his credit, Yamada immediately nods.
"Sure. But, just for confirmation, there's something going on."
"There is," Hitoshi admits because he just knows that Yamada is never going to let it rest shouldn't he admit to at least that and thankfully, Yamada drops it immediately.
"Go ahead then," he allows and Hitoshi bites back his smart-ass comment and simply turns back around to get breakfast on the table before Aizawa crawls out of bed.
He makes it, if only just barely, but he counts it as a win, anyway, especially when both Aizawa and Yamada dig in as if they haven't ever eaten anything in their lives and then praise Hitoshi on top of it.
Hitoshi doesn't allow them to clean up afterwards because this day is all about them and while Yamada is apparently more than happy to let this play out, Aizawa's eyes keep narrowing.
"You're plotting," he finally accuses Hitoshi when he puts a new cup of coffee in front of him and Hitoshi shrugs.
"Guilty," he admits because that's easier than lying to them, especially since Yamada already knows that something is going on.
Aizawa sits with that for a moment, taking a sip and humming in appreciation, before he speaks up again.
"You managed to get us both out of work today," he guesses and Yamada's eyes go big when Hitoshi's lips twitch up with a smile.
"You orchestrated that?" Yamada blurts out and Hitoshi lets the smile take over.
"I had help," he admits, because there's no way in hell the radio station and both their agencies would have listened to Hitoshi but he had Kayama handle that part of his plan and she had managed to wrangle a day off out of their bosses hands for them.
"Nemuri," Aizawa hisses and Hitoshi nods. "Explain."
"No. It's too early. The plan is still ongoing."
"The plan," Aizawa repeats and Yamada tilts his head.
"You're doing stuff for us. To say—thank you?" he guesses and even though he’s spot on, Hitoshi only shrugs, for once thankful for his resting bitch-face because at least like that he doesn’t give anything away.
It only seems to make them think harder but Hitoshi doesn't want to reveal the reason too soon. He doubts they are going to figure it out on their own, because it's not one of the really big things to look out for, and something that probably only really stood out to him, but ever since it happened, Hitoshi has kept it close to his heart, because today, one year ago, his life had started to really change for the better.
And he's going to properly say thank you to them.
"What else is planned for today?" Aizawa asks, a contemplating look on his face and Hitoshi knows him well enough by now to know what he's thinking about.
"Don't worry, you'll get to nap," he tells him and Yamada huffs out a laugh.
"Kiddo got you all figured out, Shou," he happily says and it almost sounds proud and even Aizawa doesn't seem offended.
"And he knows what's important," he says with a grave nod. "But what else is planned?"
"We're going to the cat café later," Hitoshi admits and Aizawa hums.
"It's Saturday. It's going to be packed. What are the alternatives?"
"None, cause I reserved a table," Hitoshi says and now that gets their attention because the cat café is notoriously known for never doing that.
"How?" Yamada asks, his eyes full of wonder because even though Aizawa and Hitoshi are the obvious cat freaks, Yamada is in no way any lesser enamoured by the little creatures.
"I'll have to help out a few days next month. They are short-staffed, apparently."
"What a hardship for you," Aizawa says with a smile because he knows Hitoshi.
"Yeah, however will I survive," Hitoshi agrees and Aizawa snorts.
"Are we allowed to try and figure out what this is about?"
"Sure," Hitoshi says with a shrug, pretty confident that they are not going to come even close but apparently that answer is enough for Aizawa because he hides behind his coffee cup, clearly thinking.
"You got any plans until then?" Yamada asks, apparently knowing that Aizawa is out for the count and Hitoshi shakes his head.
He just wants to spend the day with them, but now that he's being asked directly he finds the words stuck in his throat, suddenly embarrassed by the sentiment.
"Alright then, TV time?" Yamada suggests and Hitoshi's eyes burn with how grateful he is for that.
He doesn't quite trust his voice though, so he only nods, accompanied by a grunt from Aizawa who pushes himself up, his cup of coffee still clutched in his hand, and shuffles off to the couch, curling up in his corner, apparently ready to get to that part.
"Sounds like a yes to me," Yamada says with a wink to Hitoshi and they quickly relocate to the couch, too.
That's how they spend a few hours, clicking through the channels and trash-talking whatever is on, until it's time to leave for the café.
By the time they arrive, both Yamada and Aizawa are apparently deep in thought, clearly trying to figure out what this could be about but it isn't until they are seated—at their reserved table—and with beverages in front of them, that they turn their entire attention on Hitoshi.
"So. What's this about?"
"Any ideas?" Hitoshi shoots back because he wants to see if they are even close and Aizawa slumps further over his coffee.
"It's an anniversary," he says and he doesn't even make it a question so Hitoshi nods.
"It can't be the festival, cause that one-anniversary was four months ago," Yamada immediately says and Aizawa seamlessly takes over.
"Can't be the anniversary of me offering to train you cause that was shortly after the festival," he goes on and Yamada nods.
"The anniversary of you coming to live with us is still two months away—"
"—and the adoption papers only came three months ago, so it can't be that either."
It's incredible, to know that they have all these dates memorised and that they think of all these as important, and even though none of these are why they are here, Hitoshi can still feel tears gathering in his eyes.
Aizawa of course notices almost immediately and his gaze sharpens.
"You good, kid?" he asks and it makes Hitoshi let out a wet laugh, because that, right there, is why they are here.
"This, this is why we're here," he says, his voice heavy with tears and it only seems to confuse Aizawa and Yamada because both of them frown, so Hitoshi takes a deep breath and then explains.
"We're here because exactly one year ago you sat me down and asked me if everything is okay, if I'm good and then you listened to me. You didn't just blindly believe when I lied because it was more convenient but you just sat there and listened and asked and then believed me."
Hitoshi takes a shaky breath.
"It's the anniversary of someone taking me seriously and not choosing the path that was most convenient to them and it marks the start of my life getting better."
Aizawa offering to train him had been mind-boggling, for sure, but it hadn't changed Hitoshi's shitty life. In some ways it even made it more complicated, because suddenly Aizawa was giving him a meal plan he expected to be followed, and he wanted Hitoshi to stay some afternoons which meant that his responsibilities at home took second place and it didn't make for a few relaxing months, that's for sure.
But then, one day, Aizawa and Yamada had sat him down, bribed him with dinner and very seriously asked him if everything at home was okay, if he was good and safe and happy and when Hitoshi had instinctively lied to them—because he had been lying about that for so long at that point—they hadn't believed him.
They had prodded, asked pointed questions, called him out on his bullshit answers and even though in that moment it had been terrifying, it was the start of things getting better.
Because suddenly Hitoshi had people who were concerned about him; suddenly he had people he didn't have to lie to anymore—people who were safe for him.
It had been novel, and terrifying and strange and the single best thing that had ever happened to him, and sure, being allowed to stay with them and the adoption—those are the two big things that make Hitoshi incrediblyhappy.
But it had all started with that one single question one random Wednesday afternoon.
"Oh, Hitoshi," Yamada breathes out, his eyes already glistening with tears and even Aizawa seems strangely touched. "Oh, kiddo, come here."
Yamada immediately gets up and pulls Hitoshi into a hug, one he readily falls into because it's warm and safe and feels like home.
"I just wanted to say thank you, I guess," Hitoshi mutters into Yamada's shoulder and he's almost surprised when a hand on his arm moves him out of Yamada's arms and right into Aizawa's chest.
"Kid, you don't ever have to say thank you for that," Aizawa mutters and yeah, maybe he's right, maybe Hitoshi shouldn't have to say thank you for something as simple as that but he had such different experiences than any other kid he knows that he definitely has to.
"But I am," he gives back, clinging to Aizawa as if his life still depended on it and Aizawa holds him just as tightly, even as he lets out a rough breath.
"Fine, you're welcome then," Yamada says, patting Hitoshi's head and Hitoshi is so incredibly grateful to them, for everything that they have done for him, for simply being there for him, that the tears spill over.
"Thank you," he breathes out once more and for a moment, they just stay like that.
"You didn't have to do all of this, though," Yamada finally says and Hitoshi laughs before he moves away from Aizawa.
"I know. I just—simply saying it didn't feel like enough," he finally admits with a sheepish shrug, because in all honesty, even this doesn't feel like enough.
Nothing could ever be enough to convey how grateful he is but for now, this has to do. It's a start, at least.
"It would have been, kid. I promise you, it would have been. And even if you didn't say anything, it would have still been enough for us because having you with us is enough for us."
It's so completely mind-blowing to hear Aizawa say this—still—that Hitoshi needs to sit with it for a few long moments.
He never thought he'd have this—a family, parents who like him, who love him and Aizawa and Yamada are by no means shy at telling him, at showing him.
Aizawa is not a man of many words but he cares so much and Yamada is just so very vocal with his love and his affection and it's incredibly, scarily wonderful.
"Thank you," he breathes out once more, because Hitoshi doesn't think he can ever say it enough, and knowing that it's not needed, that they would never expect it from him only makes it that much more important.
Yamada and Aizawa must realise that, because they share a look between them, before they turn their attention back to Hitoshi and then, as if they truly do have one mind, they both say, at the same time: "You're welcome."
And even though he cries some more at that Hitoshi also smiles because yes.
He is welcome with them.