Izuku didn't expect three things.
The first being that he didn't expect was for his father to come back for him. When Izuku was four, he could remember when he heard his mother talking to Bakugou's about an argument she had with him over the phone, that his father wanted to keep his distance from now on but he was still willing to help pay for Izuku. He could remember Mitsuki-san slamming her hands down and shouting about what a fucking disgrace his father was and his mother telling her to calm down, swearing like that when child were in the next room wasn't good. His mother didn't tell him that his father wasn't coming home and Izuku never asked, he had never met him before so it didn't seem like a big deal.
The second thing he didn't expect to happen was getting adopted. When the nice lady with purple skin had taken him to his foster parents' house, a couple that was currently taking care of two other foster kids, Izuku might not have been so sure, but after a few days, the other kids made sure he knew. It wasn't as bad on the first day, Izuku kept his distance and the other two seemed to respect that but after the husband had mentioned Izuku was quirkless to his wife, causing her to become irritated with Izuku, they seemed to follow after her. It was almost like Kacchan, who he hadn't seen in almost three weeks because the foster care system requested Izuku not go back to daycare until they were sure he was ready, when he would walk by they would shove him, when he tried talking to them he was either ignored or told to go away, and they both seemed to make an effort to make sure Izuku knew he wasn't going anywhere, that no one wanted a quirkless child. The husband tried to get them to stop while the wife didn't seem to care.
Finally, Izuku never expected to see Ai-sama again. While he liked staying with Ai-sama, he didn't want to bother him either. Izuku knew the life of a pro was bound to be busy and Ai-sama seemed like a very busy man. It was nice though, he didn't make Izuku talk about things, he waited until Izuku wanted to talk instead of pushing him, and if he cried, Ai-sama would hug him.
His hugs were like his mom's.
Izuku wasn't expecting any of those things, so when his foster father told him almost two weeks into staying with them, that someone wanted to see Izuku, he almost didn't believe it. When he said it was a man named Aizawa Shouta, Izuku couldn't help being excited. He didn't care that the other two kids were mad at him and were more pushy than usual, all he cared about was seeing Ai-sama again.
When Aizawa came by the next morning, Izuku had ran straight to him and started to cry as he pulled Izuku into a hug because Ai-sama was nice and funny and wasn't mean to him because he was quirkless.
His foster mother had started to apologise for Izuku's behavior when Aizawa waved her off and explained the reason for his visit.
Izuku didn't think he could have cried harder.
Aizawa had started to sort out the paperwork with the Adoption Care a few days before. The same purple skinned girl, Ryoko, sitting at the front desk greeted him when he entered the building. She didn't seem surprised to see him, the smile she gave seemed like she was expecting him.
When he started the paperwork, Ryoko assured Aizawa that he could get Izuku as soon as it was done and he was approved by the foster system to take in a child. Since it was obvious that Izuku already had an attachment and that Aizawa had already taken care of him before the adoption process might actually go faster.
They would still need to have an interview of course, surprise visits and meetings with the school every now and then to make sure Izuku was adjusting over the required months Aizawa would foster Izuku before adoption but Ryoko seemed to think everything would be fine.
Since Izuku was taken in by the foster system because his father still wasn't responding and also stopped providing for the family since the beginning of the year, Aizawa wouldn't have to worry about custody from him. Honestly the whole situation with the father made Aizawa dislike the man more and he wonder why Ms. Midoriya didn't just divorce him.
As Aizawa walked down the street, checking his phone for the address of Izuku's foster home, he almost regretted not asking Nemuri to borrow her car again. The house was only 15 minutes from the train station but the train ride was at least an hour. It would've been more comfortable for both of them but then again you can always sleep on a train.
A cry of joy caused Aizawa to jerk his head up right as Izuku came running forward into his legs. Izuku was sobbing out how much he missed him as Aizawa got down to lift Izuku up into a hug, not missing the dark circles under his eyes, 2 weeks and the kid still wasn't sleeping.
Awkwardly patting Izuku's back as he sobbed, Aizawa almost missed the boxy looking woman running out of the house in front of him. Her face went from being annoyed to forced worry when she saw Aizawa.
Stopping before him, she bowed slightly "I'm so sorry about this! Little guy is always running off" opening her arms she gestured for Izuku to come to her while saying tensely "come on now Mido, let's leave the nice man alone."
Izuku shook his head and hid his face in Aizawa's scarf which made the woman's eye twitch before Aizawa shifted Izuku on his hip and held out his hand, "It's fine, I'm actually here to see Izuku, I'm Aizawa Shouta, Goda Ryoko called yesterday to say I was coming?"
Relief flooded her face before she replaced it with a strained, and definitely fake smile as she shook his hand lightly "Higuchi Sai, it's a pleasure to meet you! Please, come inside. Mido should have everything ready."
Aizawa heard Izuku mutter something against his shoulder about not liking being called Mido as Aizawa followed behind Sai.
Setting Izuku down by the door, Aizawa nodded for him to go get his things before he continued to follow Sai into her living room. Her husband, who introduced himself as Ikuro, seemed like the nicest of the 4 people living there. The 2 other foster kids acted polite but like Sai, seemed like they were faking it, which annoyed Aizawa. Especially when Ikuro excused himself to help Izuku get his things, leaving Aizawa alone with the other 3.
A few minutes of mindless chatter from Sai, short responses from Aizawa, and one brat asking him why he even wanted Izuku, which ended with said child being scolded but it was obvious Sai didn't actually care that much, passed before Ikuro came down the stairs carrying a large suitcase which held Izuku's clothes, and some of his toys and books while Izuku came down with a backpack the contained the remaining books, pencils and toys.
Izuku held Aizawa's hand tightly as they said goodbye to the foster family, Aizawa not missing the glares the two other kids gave Izuku. The husband seemed to actually be happy for Izuku though, Aizawa had a feeling he was the only one who might have been nice to Izuku during his stay, considering he was the only one Izuku actually seemed to want to say goodbye to. The whole thing left a bitter taste in his mouth.
The walk to the train station was mostly quiet, except for the rolling of the suitcase. Izuku did ask if he could actually stay with Aizawa, which Aizawa assured him he could, causing Izuku's eyes to mist.
The train came shortly after they arrived and Aizawa gave the suitcase to one of the attendants before finding them seats near the back of one if the carriages. Izuku seemed to be nodding off but when the train started to move he jolted awake and instead decided to look out the window.
Aizawa watched him for a moment before pulling out his phone and trying to continue working out shifts and such. Asking Izuku a few questions about the past 2 weeks cemented that Aizawa did not like the other three members of that house. Izuku didn't saying anything directly but he didn't hide the flinch he made when Aizawa asked if he liked the other two foster kids.
Putting his phone away, Aizawa glanced back to watch Izuku stare intently out the window as the scenery passed by.
Closing his eyes and leaning back Aizawa hummed "Anything interesting?"
Izuku shifted around slightly before he responded "Sometimes, but that's why you have to watch, to make sure you don't miss anything."
"I don't know how you plan on catching anything when you're that tired kid." Aizawa huffed
"I'm not tired."
"Those things under your eyes are called bags and you usually get them when you're tired."
This time Izuku huffed "I don't wanna sleep."
"Sleep is pretty great." It was both a blessing and a curse, Aizawa could remember the amount of times he didn't sleep in favour of working. Yamada once said he look like a raccoon, Aizawa said he both looked and sounded like a shrieking cockatiel.
Shaking his head as a response, Izuku buried his face into his arms, at this point he was losing battle.
Aizawa sighed and sat up, Izuku was still probably having nightmares, so it made sense that he wouldn't want to sleep. It left a sharp feeling of guilt but he tried to ignore it. Sleeping through the train ride would probably be easier and there was still 40 minutes left to go which wasn't necessarily that bad.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Aizawa held out his hand which Izuku took without hesitation before he pulled Izuku down so that his head was on Aizawa's lap and began to run his hand through Izuku's curls. "How about this, you try to sleep now and if it doesn't work, you don't have to do it until it's dark outside."
Izuku yawned and patted one hand up and down in either protest or surrender. Aizawa didn't really know which but it looked like Izuku was falling asleep which meant he could sleep so he was going to take that as a win.
Or he was until he felt his phone buzz in one of his pockets
Hissing, he pulled it out to find the bane of his existence.
Yamada: Shooouta
Yamada: are you done?
Yamada: what are you doing?
Shouta: stop
Yamada: Shouta!
Shouta: no, I'm someone else
Yamada: aww
Yamada: very funny
Yamada: but more importantly
Yamada: is he there?
Yamada: I wanna say hi to the little listener!
Shouta: he's asleep
Yamada: :0
Yamada: you should send pictures
Shouta: no
Yamada: betrayal
Yamada: I'm coming over when are you getting back
Shouta: why
Yamada: I said I wanna say hi shouta
Yamada: you should listen more
Shouta: say something that isn't bullshit then
Yamada: you will taint that precious listener
Yamada:how dare you
Yamada: also I'll bring food
Shouta: fine
Yamada: and a billion presents
Shouta: no.
Yamada: fine, 20
Shouta: do not overwhelm the brat
Yamada:...
Yamada: 1?
Shouta: will you stop texting me?
Yamada: yes
Shouta: fine, there's still 30 minutes left on the train and it takes 20 minutes to walk back to my apartment
Yamada:!
Yamada: I'll get Nemuri's car!
Yamada: also what does the little listener like to eat?
Shouta: Katsudon now shush, I'm trying to sleep
Yamada: it's a miracle
Yamada: okay love you see you don't sas everyone byyyye
How one man had so much energy he would never know.
Sighing, Aizawa let his head hit the window. Izuku stirred and buried his face deeper into his side but didn't make any other signs of waking.
Yeah, sleep sounded nice
"I already told you to be quiet, if he wakes up I'm going to murder you." Aizawa grunted as he pushed open the door to his apartment, he had Izuku's backpack and Izuku himself, asleep, on his hip. "and stop taking pictures, his suitcase goes in the same room as before."
Another snap from a phone had Aizawa glaring daggers at the man behind him.
Yamada had one hand on the suitcase, the action figure of All Might he had gotten Izuku dangling from one of it's pockets, "he likes All Might cause he's alright!" "I change my mind go away" "Shouta nooo!", bag of food dangling from the same arm he was trying to take pictures with "Nemuri said I could borrow her car if I got pictures, payment's payment."
Setting Izuku carefully down on the couch, Aizawa grabbed both the food and Yamada's phone before setting them down on the counter "Room, it's right next to mine, you've slept in it before."
Ignoring Yamada's pout, he grabbed dishes from the cabinet and started to dish the food out from the styrofoam boxes. Despite his appearance, Aizawa was more likely to make food, he wasn't the best cook but he still preferred it to take out. He wasn't going to eat out of a styrofoam box even if it did mean he'd have to do the dishes after.
Aizawa glanced over right as Yamada came back into the living room, carrying the All Might doll and sitting down on the coffee table in front of Izuku. "He's really small, kids are really small"
Grabbing the 3 dishes and some silverware, Aizawa went to join him "Is there another reason you call him "little" listener? And get off the table, I need to set these down."
"Well yeah, kids are small but I mean, he's small" flopping down on the floor and ignoring the glare, Yamada rolled over and sat up facing the t.v while he continued to wave his hands around "like there's small and then there's small, he's the small and how do you even wake him up? Should you wake him up? I wanna wake him up but I kinda don't want to cause he looks worse than you. I also still kinda wanna say hi to the little listener."
Aizawa stood staring at Yamada for a moment before taking a deep breath and sitting next to Izuku "He needs to eat, so yes we wake him up, he can sleep afterwards."
After receiving a nervous nod from Yamada, Aizawa set the dishes down and gently shook Izuku's shoulder. Izuku's face twisted before he slowly began to blink open his eyes.
Sitting up he almost seemed dazed and Aizawa held a hand up before Yamada could say anything, signaling to wait until Izuku adjusted.
Izuku blinked slowly and rubbed his eyes before he seemed to realize where he was. Letting out a small gasp Izuku had jump forward and hugged Aizawa's arm.
Patting Izuku's head, Aizawa tried to get him to focus on the food when he heard another snap and looked up to see Yamada waving while he tried not to laugh as he took another picture.
After they had finished eating, and Izuku had started to drift off clinging to Aizawa, he had taken Izuku and gotten him ready for bed before starting to sort out a schedule with Yamada for taking care of Izuku while he worked.
Since Aizawa worked night shifts and they both doubted that anyone would babysit throughout the night, either Yamada or Nemuri would come by and watch Izuku while he slept to make sure nothing went wrong. Aizawa would come back in the morning and whoever stayed the night could go home.
When Izuku would begin daycare again in a few weeks, Aizawa would come back from his shift and take him to daycare, sleep while Izuku was there, and then wake up before Izuku needed to be picked up, then spend the rest of the time before his shift working and taking care of Izuku.
Aizawa had a few days that his agency had insisted he take off, courtesy of the fact that he never took sick days or holidays, so that gave him some time to get Izuku settled before he had to go back.
It was almost midnight when Aizawa had to practically shove Yamada out of his apartment. He knows Nemuri is probably going to be just as bad when she insists on seeing Izuku.
Dragging a hand over his face, Aizawa leaned against the door when he saw a mess of green disappear around a corner. So Izuku woke up already?
Walking over to the guest room door, well technically now it was Izuku's, he knocked lightly before pushing it open to see Izuku with his blankets over his head, clutching the doll Yamada had brought, the thing had practically given them both a heart attack when Izuku had started to cry until they realised Izuku was actually crying because he was happy with the gift.
Izuku sniffed and tried to rub his tears away but still managed to look pathetically sad, especially when he tried to hide his face in the blankets.
Izuku slept fine when someone was with him but every time he was left alone he would wake up. The first week if Aizawa stayed in the room Izuku would fall asleep without a problem but after he left Izuku would undoubtedly be awake the next time he came back in.
Aizawa had a tight lipped frown on his face before he nodded to himself. If the kid needed someone with him, he would be there with him.
Picking Izuku up, he carried him back into the living room before going back and getting a few pillows, a comforter and his sleeping bag.
Setting everything in the couch, Aizawa got into his sleeping bag before setting Izuku on top of his chest, running a hand through Izuku hair, since it seemed to help him calm down.
Izuku buried his face in Aizawa's chest and continued to cry softly, before muttering that he missed his mother.
Lying back, Aizawa sighed and continued to comfort him "I know kid."
As Izuku grip weakened as he began to drift off again and Aizawa pulled the comforter closer around both of them.
"I know."
