Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

A couple that will go down in legend

Chapter forty-seven: Of marriage pacts and adoptions

Aizawa, as he had been brought along by Hizashi and Sekijiro, was chilling with them at the local bar after a long day of teaching classes over at U.A. High School, the top hero academy in Japan. The three men were taking time to unwind and enjoy some drinks, although Aizawa just wanted to simply go home and crawl into bed, as he had quite a lot on his plate to deal with at the moment in regards to the two youths that he had recently taken in as foster children, although both youths have different reasons for falling under the underground hero's guardianship.

There was the first foster child that Aizawa took in, the little horned girl Eri. Her story is quite the twisted, complicated affair, as she was connected to a now-defunct off-shot of the Yakuza, which was under the control of the now-imprisoned Overhaul. Ultimately, Eri was entrusted to Aizawa, as he was best equipped to handle Eri should her potent quirk go out of control as he can simply whip his quirk out and erase the power.

Then there was Aizawa's other foster child, his protégé Hitoshi Shinso. The brainwasher had lived quite a horrible life at home due to a physically abusive father, who took things out on Shinso, blaming him for the fact that his mom died during childbirth. After one incident that had gone too far, Shinso's biological father was arrested and stripped of parental rights by the law, thus effectively leaving Shinso orphaned. Aizawa took Shinso in less than twelve hours after all of that business had gone down.

Truth be told, Aizawa never saw himself as ever having a family; he simply didn't see it as being something that would happen to/for him. But the time that he has had ever since he became the person legally responsible for Eri and Shinso has been…oddly satisfying to him. He has actually enjoyed being a father, though his story is far and away from the traditional standard. It was due to how he has enjoyed being there for Eri and Shinso that Aizawa felt as terrible about what was due to happen within short enough order.

"Don't sweat it, Sho," Hizashi said in a reassuring tone as he patted the underground hero on the back; Aizawa sat at the bar counter, on the stool between the one that Hizashi was on and the one that Sekijiro was on. "The two of us will help you figure this out."

Aizawa turned to look at his co-worker and friend, his fellow pro hero. "Can you and Vlad really help?" Aizawa asked, a hint in his expression suggesting that he was close to actually breaking down in tears. "There's a highly likely chance that Eri and Shinso may end up being removed from my custody." Aizawa turned back around to face forward, allowing his head to fall down onto his left arm as it rested across the bar space in front of him. "I might end up losing my kids here, damn it."

"Well what all do the folks over at Youth Services think is wrong?" Sekijiro asked, a curious hint in his tone, "I mean, you are a pro hero, and you also work as a teacher at a hero academy. You've also proven that you're a stable-enough person, and you have been able to provide a good home for the foster kids you took in. It also helps that you can afford to support two foster kids." The homeroom teacher of U.A.'s class 1-B took a swig from his mug of beer before going on. "I personally fail to see why Youth Services sees all of that as not enough."

Aizawa was about to speak up, but before he could get a word out the door to the bar was thrown open, and in walked a number of women, supporting one of their own as she was not only crying her eyes out, but it was clear by the sounds of said crying that the woman has already gotten drunk before she had even showed up at the bar. Aizawa, Hizashi and Sekijiro all turned to look and see what was going on, and what they saw specifically surprised the lot of them.

The women of the group consisted of Mitsuki, Pixie-Bob and Nemuri, supporting a drunk and clearly upset Emi. The men were all rather surprised to see Emi, who is known commonly as the Smile Hero Ms. Joke, in such a mood that was so unfitting for the kind of air she liked to put on around other people. Additionally, the men saw U.A. student Izuku Midoriya walk in after the women, asking Mitsuki if she and the others would be needing any help.

As the women got Emi settled down in a booth in the bar, Aizawa got Izuku's attention and had him come over to talk to him, Hizashi and Sekijiro. "Midoriya, I don't suppose you'd care to tell us what's up with Ms. Joke, do you?" Aizawa asked.

Izuku gave an indifferent shrug. "I honestly don't know why she's so upset, Aizawa-sensei. All that I am aware of is what Mitsuki told me about her friend being upset due to getting close to being thirty. Mitsuki didn't even give me any details on the matter."

"Ah, I think I see what's going on," Hizashi remarked, a sly hint of knowing amusement in his tone, "Emi is a wreck due to getting close to being thirty, yet she's not only still unmarried but she has yet to have any children. Tis a curse that many women all over have come to fear might end up becoming their lot in life." The cockatiel-haired hero gently shook his head as he gave a 'tisk-tisk-tisk' sound. "Emi fears that she is getting close to being past her prime."

"Feh," Sekijiro remarked, "Knowing her, Emi may end up doing something desperate and morally questionable, like getting ultra-plastered and hooking her nails into a boyfriend around half her age, if not a little less than half her age." Placing his right hand on his hip, Sekijiro said as he gestured with his other hand, "Women who prey on boys that young are the-"

Aizawa cut his co-worker off by jabbing him in his side before pointing Izuku out to him. With a look of realization on his face, Sekijiro quickly changed his tune. "So, umm, have the other women said anything about what to do to cheer Emi up?" Sekijiro asked as he and the other men all regarded Izuku.

The green-eyed boy gently shook his head, a mildly resigned look on his face. "They haven't said anything, I'm afraid. All that Mitsuki and the other women seem intent on doing at the moment is trying to cheer Ms. Joke up. They'll probably focus on solving whatever issues she has after she's more coherent."

"Hoo boy," Hizashi said, letting out an appropriate-sounding whistle, "Hopefully Emi won't remember right now how she and Aizawa here have a marriage pact. She'll need to be more sound of mind in order to handle that business."

"What?" Sekijiro, Izuku and Aizawa all said in unison as they all turned to regard Hizashi. All of the guys were looking at him with wide-eyed looks of shocked surprise, Aizawa especially so.

Nodding in the affirmative, Hizashi said, "Oh, hells yeah. Around the time us adults had all graduated and started off on our respective pro hero careers, Aizawa and Emi made a marriage pact with one another, saying that if the both of them were still unmarried by the time both of them were thirty, then they would get married to one another." Clapping his hands together, he went on saying, "Emi's close to thirty herself, so it won't be long until I suspect that she will come to collect on the promise that she and Aizawa made with one another."

"You cannot be serious, Hizashi," Aizawa said, "Yeah, sure, Emi and I really did do that. But being reminded of that now, when Emi's too drunk and upset to function properly and I'm having to deal with the hot mess on my plat, is not the best thing in the world!" The underground hero crossed his arms over his chest, giving Hizashi a firm look. "This is something that will have to be tackled at a much later time, after Emi and me both clean up what we respectively have to deal with."

Aizawa was going to say something else, but he was cut off when Sekijiro placed a hand on his shoulder, making him turn around and face him. Likewise, Hizashi and Izuku both turned to look at the 1-B homeroom teacher as Aizawa turned to face him. "…Actually, Aizawa, I'm seeing a potential solution to both your problem and Emi's problem," Sekijiro remarked.

"Oh?" Aizawa arched a wry eyebrow at his fellow pro hero and U.A. teacher. "And what is it that you've come up with?"

"First off, let me ask a question to confirm why you're worried about your problem," Sekijiro began, "Is the reason that Youth Services plans to remove your foster kids from your custody due to the fact that you're raising them alone? Did Youth Services say that they would rather that Eri and Shinso be raised by a couple rather than a single parent?"

"Wait a minute here, what's going on now with Eri and Shinso?" Izuku asked, a hint of alarm entering his expression.

Aizawa gestured for the green-eyed boy to hold that thought. After a few moments, Aizawa let out a resigned sigh as he said, "…Yes. They think that a single person cannot properly raise a foster child, much less two at once." Crossing his arms over his chest, Aizawa went on, "But I fail to see how that involves solving Emi's problem along with my own in one fell swoop."

Sekijiro wore an amused smirk as he laid a hand on Aizawa's shoulder. "…Here's what I'm thinking. You and Emi collect on the little marriage pact that the two of you have between one another a little early. After you're both together, you should have enough of a stand to retain custody of Eri and Shinso. Hell, you and Emi may even be able to straight up adopt the two of those kids, giving them a new permanent home."

"…You're saying that I should marry Emi now…" Aizawa said, "…So that the two of us can keep Eri and Shinso straight up." Sekijiro, an assured smile on his face, nodded affirmatively. Hizashi also nodded along with the plan, seeing that it has a lot of value. Even Izuku seemed to like the sound of Sekijiro's plan, as it would save Eri and Shinso from future trouble.

Aizawa let out a troubled sigh as he closed his eyes, holding a hand over his face as he gave the notion some serious thought. Honestly, Aizawa forgot that he even had the marriage pact between him and Emi going (as well as forget why he had it going), although knowing Emi she would have been more than glad to remind him of it when she officially reached the big three-o. But then again, Sekijiro did have a point on how Aizawa and Emi collecting on it a bit early would not only solve Aizawa's problem in trying to retain custody of Eri and Shinso, but it'd also help to bring Emi out of her depression.

However, there was one main issue that Aizawa had with this plan. "…It seems that this plan is structured mainly for me to take advantage of Emi so that I would not lose Eri and Shinso. I don't want her thinking that I'm using her, which the plan seems to be revolving around. I'm not one to act like someone who likes to use others. That's just not me."

"Then we'll approach this differently," Hizashi replied, "Instead of you bringing up the marriage pact in regards to the two of you getting together so you'd have enough of a stable base to keep custody of Eri and Shinso, you'll simply tell Emi that you want to hook up with her so that the two of you can adopt the kids. Just give Emi enough time to recover before you tell her about how you want to hook up with her so that the two of you can become new parents."

Aizawa saw how Hizashi and Sekijiro were looking at him, as if they both expected him to go on and carry out the plan. Even Izuku looked like he was hoping that the right choice in regards to Eri and Shinso would be made. Letting out a resigned sigh as he saw that there wasn't a whole lot of other options available, Aizawa agreed to give things a shot, hoping that Emi wouldn't be all that upset or whatever with the plan.

Aizawa discovered, to his mildly piqued interest and mild surprise, the following morning that Emi was more than willing to agree to the plan.

The Smile Hero was very much on board with the plan, as it not only solved her issues with being single, but it would also make her a mother. And all without losing the slim build that she had come to favor as of late. Aizawa was surprised with how quickly Emi took to the idea, although he was happy that Eri and Shinso would be saved from being tossed about in the dark realm that was Youth Services. And besides, Aizawa had to admit to himself that, speaking from a rational standpoint, things between him and Emi could actually work out rather well. Having someone always willing to back him up beats being on his own constantly.

The only issue is that Aizawa can't honestly see Emi being an underground hero, same as him. But that's an Emi problem, not an Aizawa one.

There was also the fact that Emi had to get used to the two minors that, when the plan is fully carried out, will become her adopted children. The Smile Hero right away took a liking to little Eri, and she was amused by the fact that she would have a son who is already in high school. "Welp, it looks like that chances are I'll be rather young for a grandma," Emi remarked as she gave Shinso's shoulder a playful slap, eliciting an embarrassed expression out of Shinso. Giving the brainwasher a playful nudge with her elbow, Emi said with a sly expression, "Name your first daughter after me, won't you?"

Shinso, with a bit of a wide-eyed look of shock on his face, replied, "…Umm, I'm still a first year in high school."

"Well I mean when you're a stable adult contributing to society, obviously," Emi remarked, letting out a bit of a laugh as she looked at the embarrassed look on Shinso's face. Eri, for her part, was all smiles and giggles the moment Aizawa introduced to her and Shinso their 'tentative mommy who may become their for-real mommy' (Aizawa used the word 'mother' instead of 'mommy', but Eri made the word change in her little girl mind).

Speaking of Eri, Emi let out a happy squeal when she first laid eyes on Eri, picking her up by hooking her hands under the little horned girl's armpits then holding her close to her chest, supporting Eri's seat with her right arm. "And aren't you the most adorable little princess that I've ever seen," Emi said.

"Ooh, ooh, big brother has a really pretty girlfriend," Eri said.

"Oh does he now," the Smile Hero replied, sounding amused as she shot Shinso a quick, knowing look before quickly turning her eyes back to the little horned girl.

Nodding a few times, Eri said, "Yeah huh! Big brother's girlfriend has kitty ears, and a kitty tail, and she's really squishy!"

"Huh?" Emi replied, a bit taken aback by Eri's description. Sighing in a resigned tone, Shinso took his smartphone out, opened a picture album, scrolled through it, and found a photo he was looking for. Turning his phone around, Shinso showed Mrs. Joke a full body picture of Sakaki. After taking a quick look at it, Emi said, "Ah, so it's a girl with a cat-themed quirk that gives her cat-like ears and a cat tail."

"I first met Sakaki back when she and this one boy in class 1-B were students at Vulcan," Shinso replied as he put his phone away.

Mrs. Joke nodded a few times in understanding. "Yeah, I got it from Aizawa that you like cats, so it doesn't surprise me that you found a cat girl." A hint of amusement entered the Smile Hero's expression as she regarded Shinso. "…Although I never would have guessed it that you like your girls with generous amounts of cushion for the-"

"Please don't say phrases like that around Eri," Aizawa's voice called out, cutting Emi off and making her and everyone else turn to see Aizawa come walking over. Gesturing to Eri, Aizawa said to Emi, "It's bad enough that she had been calling herself a horny girl without knowing how people tend to interpret that phrase."

Poking the little horn that was growing out of her head, Eri said with a hint of mild confusion in her tone, "But I have a horn growing out of my head papa, and I'm a girl. Doesn't that make me a horny-"

"The proper phrase to use in that instance is horned girl, sweetie," Aizawa said, cutting Eri off before he gave her a gentle ruffle on the top of her head. The little horned girl decided to do as her papa says, giggling cutely a bit as the underground hero gently ruffled the top of her head. Turning to look at Emi, Aizawa said, "Anyway Emi, given our plans, I figure that you would like it if we did things in a formal, traditional sense."

Emi had a blank, mildly confused look on her face as she regarded the underground hero. "What do you mean by that, Shouta?"

Letting out a resigned sigh, Aizawa proceeded to explain, "I mean to say that before we actually get married, you'd want me to take you out to a nice dinner and pop the question to you there."

"I know this awesome steakhouse that's the fanciest place in town, outside of that Italian restaurant that only rich folks like the family of that Yaoyorozu girl in your homeroom class can afford," Emi replied right away, "They have this awesome salad that like a regular salad but it has small bits of fruit in it without it becoming a full blown fruit salad, also they have the finest-"

"Just give me the address and I'll look into taking the both of us there this Friday," Aizawa replied, "I'm also going to have to find a sitter for Eri in that time, as I would like the dinner to just be between you and me." Emi, nodding in understanding, agreed to let Aizawa handle all of the details for the night that will make her the happiest woman in Japan, if not all of the world.

That Friday evening, as Aizawa and Emi walked into the steakhouse that the latter suggested, Aizawa was glad that so few people knew about him and Emi planning to get married. Outside of the soon-to-be couple themselves, there was only Hizashi, Sekijiro, Izuku, Shinso and Eri, and none of them told anybody else. The underground hero was glad the only others who knew about things could be counted with just the digits on one hand.

The steakhouse wasn't the kind of restaurant where you could reserve a table ahead of time (it wasn't that fancy), but it still was pretty top tier for those who weren't really rich. And even with the lack of reservation, Aizawa and Emi were still seated at a table in next to flat. As the two pro heroes sat at their table, eating their respective appetizers, Aizawa decided to pass the time until he felt would be appropriate to pull the ring out and pop the question formally (around dessert). "So yeah, Emi," Aizawa said, "Considering the damage that Ketsubutsu suffered back during the monster siege, Loukar decided to enroll Eunice at U.A. I told Nezu about what all Eunice would be needing, prompting him to get right on the matter of setting up a department to assist students who are special needs."

"Yeah, I did hear about that," Emi remarked, her tone taking on a hint of piqued interest, "I never met Loukar's kid, but I heard that she's an absolute marvel."

"Exactly," Aizawa remarked as he pointed at Emi in a commending manner. As the underground hero ate a boneless buffalo wing, he perked up a bit when both he and Emi heard a woman's voice call out to him. The two pro heroes looked over and saw Beru Asui walking over, looking like she was passing by after having returned from the bathroom.

"Oh, aren't you my daughter's homeroom teacher over at U.A.?" Beru asked as she stopped by, "Fancy running into you here, Mr. Aizawa."

Chewing then swallowing his mouthful of food, Aizawa replied, "Oh, you're Tsuyu's mother, right? Yeah, I was getting dinner out here."

"So you're the mother of one of Shouta's students, huh?" Emi asked, turning to face the frog-like woman, "What brings you by here?"

Beru, with a bit of an amused smile, replied, "Oh, my husband Ganma got a really nice bonus at work, so we're having a family dinner out tonight here." Letting out a bit of a chuckle, Beru went on, "Ganma works over at Yaoyorozu Offices, and he's been doing rather well ever since he got his promotion."

Nodding in understanding, Aizawa remarked, "I believe Tsuyu told me about that. She also said that her brother is somehow partly responsible for the promotion?"

"Oh yes," Beru replied, "I'm sure you heard how it was actually Samidare who saved the business from going under, saving not just his father's job but the job of every person working there." Giggling a bit once more, the frog-like woman continued, "Samidare is also partly responsible for Ganma's bonus, since he's helping the accountant sort through all of the years of accounting records that were mismanaged by accountants who were secretly villains trying to syphon funds to their cause out of an honest company."

Emi let out an amused laugh. "Well hot damn! That older brother of Aizawa's student must be hella smart if he's already helping out at his dad's place of work!"

"Umm, Samidare is actually Tsuyu's younger brother, Emi," Aizawa corrected, "He's about ten, if I recall correctly." The underground hero turned to Beru, who nodded in confirmation.

"Well wowee, he must be one of those kid geniuses," the Smile Hero remarked, "I just hope that he doesn't let all of his accomplishments go to his head."

Gently shaking her head, Beru said, "Oh no, Samidare is still rather humble in his manners. You can't ask for more of a little angel. Oh!" Holding up an index finger, Beru said, "Samidare's eleventh birthday is actually coming up. It'll be a challenge managing a birthday party for him given that a lot of people will be showing up, and that might make him a bit uncomfortable as it might grate against-"

"Mom, dad sent me to find you because the waiter came back with-" Tsuyu's voice called out, stopping short when the frog girl herself walked up and saw who her mother was talking to. "Aizawa-sensei?" Tsuyu said, her tone showing that her curiosity had been piqued, "What are you doing here?" Seeing Emi out of the corner of her eye, Tsuyu then asked, "And it that really Mrs. Joke that's with you kero? What's going on?"

Aizawa let out a resigned sigh as he thought about what to say. "…Asui, you told me that your younger brother is autistic, right?" the underground hero began.

"He is, yes," Tsuyu replied, with Beru nodding in the affirmative.

"You also said he had a pair of headphones he wears to drown out noise, right?" Aizawa continued, "Did you guys bring those headphones?" Again, both Tsuyu and her mother nodded in the affirmative. "Good, he's going to need to put them on soon, because it will get a little bit loud, I suspect." Emi, knowing what Aizawa was getting at, giggled a bit as if she was a rather excited schoolgirl.

Beru and Tsuyu both returned to the table that the Asui family was using. After they were both gone, Aizawa and Emi turned back to one another, glad to have the time to themselves again. After appetizers and the main course (Emi rather ravenously devoured her meal, causing a good bit of surprise to Aizawa in the process) came the dessert, at which point Aizawa got to the point that the Smile Hero had been anticipating the entire night.

The underground hero got out of his seat, walked over to stand right next to Emi, got down on one knee, pulled out a small box and opened it so that Emi could see the ring that was inside as he asked her to marry him. Emi tearfully agreed as she leapt out of her seat, her arms held out towards Aizawa as she wrapper her arms around his shoulders. Everyone who saw what was going on the moment Aizawa got on one knee and opened that ring box began cheering loudly for the now-engaged pro hero couple.

When she and her family looked over in the direction that the main event was happening in, Tsuyu knew then why Aizawa gave her and her mother a sound warning. Beru was able to keep Samidare from freaking out by getting his special headphones out.

The following school day, Aizawa walked into his homeroom class. Even though Izuku, Shinso and Tsuyu, the only ones who knew in advance, all agreed to keep quiet about his getting engaged to Mrs. Joke, the whole of class 1-A cheered for him the moment he walked into the classroom. As a giddy Mina explained to her sensei while showing him an online pro hero news article, when two pro heroes get engaged, it tends to make the news fast.

As such, pretty much everyone in class 1-A knew about their teacher getting engaged about an hour or so after he popped the question to Emi. Not only that, but those in 1-A who were dating students in class 1-B proceeded to inform their respective dates, who helped to spread the news to the rest of Sekijiro's students. Aizawa was able to get his brats to settle down so that he could go over a few things with them.

He told them that the wedding won't be for a while, as he and Emi still have to take care of a few issues of business that comes with getting married. There's also having to come with who all to invite to the wedding, and as it will be a wedding between two pro heroes, there's no fucking way in hell the media won't pick up on it and try to stick their noses in it. It was then that the underground hero then realized that he had to teach his students a lesson that he never thought he would have to teach them; the ins and outs of pro heroes getting married.

END, CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Author's notes;

Yes, I'm actually doing this. I'm actually having Aizawa and Emi get married. Aizawa is one of my favorite pro hero characters from the series proper (along with, among others, Edgeshot, Fat Gum and Ryukyu), and I've seen some instances of him and Ms. Joke getting together in other stories. I always liked seeing that, and it's something that I've been wanting to work with here; I've also been wanting to make it more of a sweet deal for Emi, so I included that by hooking up with Aizawa, she'd also end up as mom to two kids.

Anyway, the next chapter will see Izuku and Mitsuki out enjoying their time alone together, only to end up tagging along with Tsuyu and Tokoyami, who were out together and also had to bring along Tsuyu's younger siblings as there was no one else available to watch them. Having the chance to interact with the little kids will help Mitsuki with her character.