Heeeey...So, This one took a while. By about halfway through this chapter, I had caught up with everything I had had planned. I mean, it's not that I had finished everything I wanted in the story, it's just that as I'm writing a story, I plan in my head exactly how it's going to go, even to sentences and quotes, and then I write it while planning even further ahead. And...this time I didn't have anything planned for more than halfway through this chapter. So, I needed to fudge the last part of this chapter, and make more up as I went, before I could get to what I had planned for the epilogue. Which, by the way, is next. Yup, that's right, this is the last chapter before the epilogue, so prepare to say goodbye to this story soon, at least for a while.
Anyway, that's all unnecessary information for you to read this chapter, so...onto the actual pertinent information.
All the previous chapters used to have it as Izuku's mom having died four years ago, since that is what I had said at the beginning. But I realized just a bit ago that, since he was fifteen when he first started UA, his birthday is July 15th, and the school year starts in Japan starts in April, by the time this story takes place, Izuku would have turned sixteen. So, I still have it that his mom died when he was eleven, I just went through and updated how many years my story said it's been since then. I think I updated all the places it was mentioned, but if you notice anything off in regards to this, or any discrepancies regarding anything, really, please point them out to me!
Sorry for the really long Author's Note! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Shouta looked up from the police reports spread out on his lap, which he had been looking through for one of his cases for hero work. Izuku was still sleeping on the couch across from him, after having fallen asleep watching Shouta sign the adoption papers.
The mere thought of it had the man smiling softly. Izuku wanted to be adopted by him. He was going to be Shouta's son, officially, in a bit. Shouta hoped Nezu ran that paper work through quickly.
The smile disappeared from his face a moment later, however, when he remembered the events of earlier that morning. Izuku's fever had spiked again at around six thirty in the morning. He had been delirious, frantic, twisting on the bed and muttering incoherently.
Shouta even had to use his quirk to deactivate Izuku's once, when the greenette activated his own in his delirium, lightning having sparked across his limbs. Shouta had erased his quirk quickly, almost frantic, himself, with worry, and the boy's quirk faded. But Izuku had still been restless and burning up.
Shouta was surprised that that was the first time Izuku's quirk had activated on its own, since that was a pretty common thing for when people got sick. But it made sense, he supposed, since Izuku's quirk wasn't originally his. His body didn't recognize it as a natural part of him as much as if he had it genetically, and so it wasn't as likely to activate automatically. Of course, it still did, but only once Izuku's fever got high enough.
At a few points Shouta had been close to taking him to the hospital, especially at one point when his fever was over 103 °F. He didn't want to make Izuku uncomfortable, however, so he held off. And the worry had mostly left him when Izuku's fever lowered a couple hours later, hovering around 100°F. That was when he had decided to get out of his room, get some breakfast, go to the bathroom, just refresh himself generally. Of course, Izuku woke up frantic while he was gone.
Shouta shuddered at the memory of the fear he felt when he heard his student calling out to him, calling out for "Dad". He liked it when Izuku called him that, don't get him wrong. In fact, it warmed his heart in ways he never though it could. But he didn't ever want to hear it called out with so much panic, terror, and desperation again. It hurt to see Izuku hurting that much, especially when he knew it was his fault. It was because he left him, even if just for fifteen minutes.
But it was alright now. Izuku was sleeping, his fever was calmer, his stomach didn't seem as upset, and he had gotten some food and medicine into his system. Shouta would probably have to give him some painkillers and maybe more medicine when he woke up, depending on how long he slept. Izuku hadn't asked for painkillers, and he hadn't wanted to pump the kid too full of medicine when he just woke up, and Shouta wasn't sure how much his body could handle. But that would all come later.
He tried to go back to reading through his reports, but found his eyes and mind wouldn't focus on the small writing anymore. Huffing a sigh as he decided it was a lost cause, Shouta heaved himself out of the chair, flopping the report on the table, and stretched his back, satisfied with the few pops he heard. He meandered into the kitchen, and stacked a few dishes in the sink. He would do them later.
He stepped back into the living room and looked at Izuku's face from over the back of the couch. His student's face was calm, for now, yet it was still too pale, and still slightly flushed with fever.
His fingers twitched as he resisted the urge to run them through the green hair. What was wrong with him? He had never been like this before. Sure, he cared about his students, but since when had he been this soft? And he had always been protective, but he never would have imagined himself raking All Might, the Number One Hero, over hot coals for one of his students. Not that he would have ever imagined a situation where that was necessary.
A grin stretched over his face at the memory, the grin his friends would call terrifying, and run away from. He had thoroughly enjoyed that conversation with All Might, even if he didn't entirely enjoy the circumstances that had led to it.
"Yagi, we need to have a talk about Midoriya's quirk."
A simple sentence, but it led to a conversation that was anything but simple.
"Ah, Aizawa, what can I do for you? Is something the matter at the school?" The retired hero's voice had answered. Shouta had to push down the slight guilt he felt, for what he knew was coming next. All Might was a good hero, and a good man. Just not a good teacher, or mentor.
"The school is fine. Midoriya is sick. Turns out he's an orphan, and his quirk previously belonged to you? Know anything about that?" His voice had been dead as he spoke, forcing his gaze away from the sleeping Midoriya at the time.
Spluttering was the only answer he had received for a minute, then a: "What?! O-orphan? And he...he told you about One for All?"
Shouta had held onto his temper, his calmness, for a few more minutes, but he clearly remembered when he lost his cool. When he yelled at All Might, stating all the things he did wrong when it came to Midoriya, how he could have done them differently, and how it had affected Midoriya up 'till now.
The former Number One Hero had hardly had a chance to get a word in edgewise, except for the occasional splutter, and tripping defense of his actions. Yah right. Shouta hadn't given him a chance to speak, after he had said all he wanted to. He had just hung up right away, running his hands through his hair and trying to calm down.
He didn't lose his cool often, but he felt that he had been justified in that situation. All Might had directly influenced Izuku's life, impacted him greatly, and not all in the best way. There were consequences, and Shouta was the one who had to deal with them now. That was okay though. He would do anything for his kid.
Shouta sighed, and ran his hand through his hair once more. He had just sat down in his easy chair again, when a knock sounded throughout the room.
The man's head shot up to the boy sleeping on the couch, and grimaced when he could see Izuku stirring. Shouta stood up and walked quickly to the door, opening it before the person on the other side could knock again. Hopefully Izuku could go back to sleep, but if the person on the other side was who Shouta thought it was, then there was very little chance of that.
Shouta only barely choked down his sigh. It was who he though it was. "What do you two want?" He asked quietly, only holding the door open by about a foot, hoping that his company would leave, and maybe Izuku could go back to sleep. That wasn't to be, apparently; his friends were too pushy.
"Well, that's no way to treat your best friend, Shouta!" Hizashi yelled, luckily not using his quirk this time. His voice still carried though, and Shouta heard more stirring from behind him. He didn't look, but he could practically feel how much Izuku was moving around. There was no doubt he was awake, now.
Shouta pondered whether to be rude and shove his friends away, which would make them suspicious since even he wasn't usually that cruel, or whether to let them in and probably make Izuku uncomfortable, which he would do anything to avoid. Before he could ponder any longer, however, the decision was taken out of his hands.
Hizashi pushed past him into the apartment, Nemuri a step behind, and Shouta closed the door again, not bothering to hold back the sigh this time.
"It's been a day already, Shouta, so don't think you can get out of hanging out with us for any longer. We let you have your time, now it's time to chill with your best buds," Hizashi was saying as he and Nemuri exchanged their shoes for the indoor slippers Shouta kept in his entrance.
Shouta zoned them out, and while they were bent down, he glanced back into his living room, meeting Izuku's gaze. The greenette was still laying on the couch, his head pointing to the entrance, where Shouta had positioned him, but he was propping himself up on his arms, and twisting his body around, to look at the three pro heros, though casually dressed at the moment, in the entrance.
Grimacing, Shouta mouthed out, "Sorry." And he meant it, he really wished he had been able to stop his friends from entering, but they were pushy, and he wouldn't normally push back. They would have gotten suspicious, started drawing random conclusions, and still wouldn't have left him alone. Izuku gave a small smile back, although it was more of a half smile, half wince. It comforted Shouta, just a little bit, knowing that Izuku didn't blame him for the disturbance.
Now he just needed to know whether Izuku wanted to tell them about everything or not. Well, they would find out eventually, as well as the rest of the teachers and class 1-A students. But Shouta didn't want to rush Izuku into an explanation so soon, especially since he was still sick.
Knowing that it was all out of his hands at this point, Shouta tuned back in to his friends' voices, catching the tail end of their rambling, which didn't make any less sense than if he had heard the whole thing, most likely. They still hadn't noticed Izuku, which made Shouta roll his eyes. Yes, they weren't in the field right now, but they were pro heros. They should always be aware of their surroundings.
"...So that's where we decided we would eat out, today. Sound good to you, Shouta?" Nemuri was asking, as she and Hizashi finally turned around from putting their shoes up on the rack. Obviously they were planning to stay for a while.
In the minute it had taken for the whole interruption to happen, Izuku had managed to push himself up to a sitting position on the couch. Well, mostly sitting. He was leaned over quite a bit, his whole body seeming to droop. He was still feeling pretty sick, then, Shouta deducted.
The underground hero hid a smile, actually kind of excited to see the two's reaction to Izuku being there. Well, as excited as Shouta ever gets, anyway.
As expected, it was priceless. Hizashi literally took a step back, frozen in shock, and mouth hanging limply. Nemuri also had her jaw unhinged, it seemed, but she had simply stopped, rather than stepping back. It only lasted a moment, however, before they were smiling, and talking even more than before.
"Hey, listener!" Hizashi called out, his Present Mic smile fixed on his face. "What's up, aren't you supposed to be on break?"
"Ooh, little Midoriya!" Nemuri squealed. "What are you doing here, did Shouta here snatch you up because he finally realized how adorable you are? How are you?"
"Uh, umm, eep!" Izuku squeaked out, face quickly heating up, even more than it already was from the fever, with an embarrassed blush. Nemuri was right, it was cute, Shouta agreed internally. But he managed to keep his small, fond smile internal.
Shouta stuffed his hands in the pockets of his black sweatpants, and walked back towards the living room. Izuku tried to straighten up more as he walked towards him, but didn't get very far. That was fine. Shouta sunk down into the middle seat of the couch, next to his kid. Hopefully it would make him less uncomfortable around his other teachers. And Shouta didn't think Izuku would be uncomfortable with him being so close, considering the kid had literally been clinging to him not two hours ago.
Hizashi and Nemuri piled into the room after him, luckily being quieter after seeing how nervous Izuku was.
"So, what is the listener doing here? Shouldn't he have gone home like the rest of the students?" Hizashi asked, as he and Nemuri stepped over to the chair Shouta had occupied not too long ago.
Shouta glanced down at Izuku, unsure how much he should say. Izuku glanced down, avoiding his eyes. It was enough of a response for Shouta.
"Midoriya is sick, I found him in his room yesterday, so I emailed his mother, checked with Nezu, and he has been staying with me yesterday and today. And will be staying with me still, at least until he gets better."
It was the truth, even if it was omitting some details, and it was pretty accurate for something Shouta came up with on the spot.
"Ahh, cool!" Hizashi explained, shooting Izuku finger guns. "So you get to hang with my bud, Shouta, here. Learn any juicy secrets I could use for blackmail?" He leaned forward from where he was sitting in the chair. Nemuri was leaning against the side of it with her arms crossed, an amused smile on her face.
"It's not like you never see me, you don't need him to spy for you," Shouta replied dryly. He had waited a few seconds to see if Izuku would respond, wanting to give the kid the chance to make his own decisions on whether to talk or not, but Izuku had stayed looking down shyly, and his hand had subtly shifted until he was lightly gripping the bottom of Shouta's t-shirt. Shouta could see it on Nemuri's face that she noticed the action, but, luckily, she had enough sense not to mention it at the moment.
Hizashi threw his hands in the air dramatically and leaned back, slouching in his seat. "Noo! You never show me anything I can use as blackmail. I need inside information!"
Nemuri lightly slapped him across the head, a smile on her face. "Shut up, Hizashi." For a second Shouta thought she was doing a three-sixty in character, and was going to be mature for once. That hope was dashed a moment later, when her smile turned to an evil grin, and she said, "this just means we need to hang around Shouta more if we want good blackmail."
"You've literally known me for years, and keep bugging me! You don't need to do it any more than you already do. In fact, please hang around less. You're annoying," Shouta said wryly, forcing a grimace to his face. In all honesty, he loved his friends, and wouldn't have them any other way.
A second after he had stopped speaking, just as Hizashi opened his mouth to refute, a sound came to Shouta's ears, warming his chest and filling it with a fuzzy feeling. Izuku was laughing. It was quiet, and soft, and he still kept his head down. But when Shouta glanced over, he could see a light in Izuku's eyes, and a small grin on his face. Izuku kept chuckling, bringing a hand up to his face to cover his mouth. It brought a smile to Shouta's mouth, an actual, warm, genuine smile.
Hizashi and Nemuri were quiet, but when Shouta glanced back at them, their faces told all. They were smiling softly at Izuku, their eyes were teasing Shouta, indicating that they saw his smile, and their gazes were conveying the message that they needed him to explain to them, because they knew there was more going on.
"Whelp, I think I'm gonna grab myself a drink," Hizashi exclaimed, slapping his hands on his knees, and using that leverage to jump up from his seat. With one last wink at Izuku, he strode off to the kitchen, whistling a cheery tune.
The three of them sat in silence after that, broken only by Hizashi's whistling, and the sound of Izuku shifting on the couch, trying to sit up straighter.
"Shou!" Hizashi's voice rang from the kitchen. "Where do you keep your tea?"
Shouta sighed, but it was more for Izuku's sake than anything. Both he and Nemuri knew that Hizashi knew where the tea was. It was just the blonde's way of calling Shouta to go talk to him in the kitchen, without Izuku understanding.
Leaning over to touch Izuku's shoulder to grab his attention, Shouta murmured, "He wants an explanation, how much can I tell him?"
Izuku glanced up at him, then over to Nemuri, who was now sitting on the chair. The female hero was leaning over the arm of the chair, staring to the side at a picture on the wall, and seeming to not be interested in their conversation.
Hizashi was still moving around in the kitchen, Shouta could hear the water in the sink running.
"Uh—Umm," Izuku stammered, flicking his gaze between Shouta's eyes and his hand, which was still fiddling with the hem of Shouta's shirt. "They... they'll find out about... about everything, anyway, right? I mean...not about my...my quirk, but... everything else?"
"Yes, all the UA staff will need to know, and Class 1A will almost certainly find out too, if not more students than that. It just depends on when and how you want them to find out. Midnight and Mic may seem pushy, but they'll respect your privacy if that's what you want. It's completely up to you, Izuku. And yes, no one else will be finding out about your quirk." At some point in that speech, Shouta had apparently brought his hand up to run through Izuku's hair a few times. Once he noticed it, he stroked through the curls once more, then lowered his hand.
Izuku bit his lip, thinking for a few seconds, before he caught Shouta's gaze and held it, then nodded. "You can tell them. I trust you, and...and them. And...I don't want to hide it. It's not... something I'm ashamed of."
Shouta breathed out a relieved breath at that, something in his chest loosening up that he hadn't even realized had been tight. "Thank you, kiddo. That means a lot to me." He smiled down at his son, and grabbed his hand, squeezing it once before letting go. "You'll be fine out here with Nemuri? Or would you rather I bring her with me, or tell them sometime else? Your choice."
"You can...umm, bring her with you? That way you don't have to explain it twice? I'll be fine out here. I might, umm, go to the bathroom, and grab my phone."
"That's fine, Izuku. You can even go back to your room and sit there, or take a nap there or here on the couch. Whatever you want."
"You mean your room?" Izuku asked wryly, a small smile on his face.
"I suppose for now it's our room, until Nezu can get me an apartment with an extra bedroom for when you need to stay over between school. Or whenever you want to," Shouta replied easily.
Izuku nodded stiffly, and with one last pat to his kid's knee, Shouta stood up, groaning as his knees popped. He made a head gesture to Nemuri when her eyes glanced over to him, and then he walked into the kitchen, expecting her to follow.
When he walked through the kitchen door, he saw Hizashi leaning casually against the counter, kettle on the boil, and a tea pot sitting on the counter, complete with a tea bag in it.
"So, what's up?" Nemuri asked, as she went to lean against another counter, having taken Shouta's hint to follow him into the room. "Did something happen to Midoriya's mother?"
"Yes," Shouta sighed, slipping his hands into his pockets and slouching his shoulders. He looked at a spot in between them. "Something happened to her five years ago. She died."
"WHat?!" Hizashi exclaimed, pushing himself off against the counter as his face contorted in shock. His quirk had activated out of surprise for a second, but Shouta had anticipated his reaction, and so had been able to eraseit right away. Once Hizashi leaned back numbly, face slack, Shouta released his quirk, feeling the familiar burn in his eyes as his hair fell around his shoulders.
Nemuri's face had been shocked when he said it, her jaw slack, but now it was just set in a firm line, her eyes holding a rare seriousness to them.
"Tell us everything," she said.
Shouta sighed, rubbing the crease in his brow, which was furrowed. He then took a deep breath, and began to explain.
"Midoriya's mom, Inko, died from natural causes, it's not really known what caused her death specifically, about five years ago, when Midoriya was eleven." He found it amusing how difficult it was for him to use Izuku's last name again, after getting used to just using his first name. Guess he would have to get used to it for in class again. "He was put into the system, since he had no other relatives, or anyone willing to take him in. He, somehow, forged his entrance documents for UA, so that we wouldn't know. Nezu knew, of course, but chose not to tell anyone, for whatever his reasons may be." Shouta was still a bit bitter about that. "Midoriya kept up the act, emailing us using his mother's email account, or one with her name on it, anyway, and then came to live in the dorms when the dorm system was implemented.
"When I went to check on him yesterday, to make sure he got out of school to go home for the holidays, I found him really sick. I emailed his mother, of course, but then I saw the email going to Izuku's phone. So I called Nezu, and he explained it to me. I took Izuku here to make sure he didn't die."
He slipped up there, calling Izuku by his first name, but chose not to backtrack. Maybe Hizashi and Nemuri wouldn't notice. Although, from the glance they exchanged, they did. He had thrown in that little bit of dry humor at the end, while keeping his signature straight face, in an attempt to not let them know how much he cared about the boy. He had a feeling it didn't work, and they would probably find out how much he cared soon anyway, if they didn't already know. They knew him too well, and he wasn't very good at hiding things from them. It irked him.
"He's been slowly getting a bit better, although he's still sick. He's a lot better today than yesterday, for sure. And then you two showed up." He leaned back after he finished his explanation, and pursed his lips slightly. Let's see their reactions, he thought.
Hizashi, it seemed, was speechless, his mouth slightly open, and his eyes wide circles.
Nemuri was a bit more composed, and managed to ask, "Is that it? And what will happen to him after? Will he stay with you until school starts up again, and what about after that, when the students all go home other times? Are you just going to send him back to the orphanage? Shouta, you can't do that!" Her voice grew more frantic at the end, rising in pitch and volume until Shouta was worried Izuku would hear it. Not that Shouta wanted to hide anything from him, but the boy didn't need to hear them arguing about where he would stay.
"Yes, he will be staying with me until school starts. And he will be staying with me after, too, if he ever needs somewhere to go. I'm adopting him, after all." He put on an air of nonchalance, staring over at his kitchen cabinets, instead of at the two other people in the room. The water was about to boil, if the amounts of steam coming from the kettle were any indication. He reached over and took it off the burner, so that it wouldn't squeal, then turned off the stove.
"You're what!?" Hizashi shouted, literally lurching forward where he stood, and throwing his hands in front of him like he wanted to strangle something. Or someone, which would probably be Shouta.
"I'm adopting him," Shouta glanced back to them. "Nezu already had the papers drawn up, and everything prepared. All I had to do was sign the documents, and send them out. Which I did this morning, a couple hours before you showed up."
"So...let me get this straight," Hizashi began, putting his face in his hands and rubbing his eyes vigorously. "The little listener's mum died when he was eleven, he's been living at an orphanage ever since then, he can forge documents, and now you're going to adopt him?"
"Yes."
"Shouta! You can't just adopt a kid! Do you even know how to be a father?" Nemuri asked, aghast.
"No," Shouta responded, serious, staring her in the eyes. "I don't know how to be a father, but I know that I can be what that boy needs. And I'm not letting him go back to that place. I need him to be my son legally. I already consider him mine, I need him. I love him; so much." The last part was said quietly, and he turned his head down towards the floor, uncrossing his arms from around his waist, to let them hang at his sides. It seemed it was easier to admit that he loved Izuku, after having already said the words to the boy, himself, earlier.
"Oh, Shouta," Nemuri's voice was softer now, as she stepped forward. She put a hand on his arm, and rubbed it up and down. He didn't look at her. "Of course you're what he needs. If you love him, and consider him to be your son, and he wants to be, then of course you need to adopt him. We support you the whole way."
"Yah, of course we do, buddy. I think it's awesome, you're doing what you want. And, if you can help him, while also making yourself happy, then of course I'm all for it." Hizashi came over and wrapped his arm around Shouta, then pulled Nemuri close to join the hug.
"Thanks," Shouta croaked out as he stood there, surrounded by the arms of his two best friends. He wouldn't call himself an emotional person, but as a tear escaped his eyes and rolled down his cheek, he admitted that even he wasn't completely cold hearted. Which, he supposed, was a good thing if he was going to be Izuku's father. After all, Izuku was the most emotional member of class 1A.
A few seconds later, Shouta broke away from the hug, his friends releasing him when they felt him pull away, and quickly scrubbed his face free of tears. Taking a deep breath in, he said, "Alright, so that's what happened in the last couple days. Umm... I'm going to go back and see if Izuku is alright."
He turned away, sending them one last, grateful look, then strode back out into the living room. Izuku was sitting on the couch, legs pulled up onto the cushion, and typing rapidly on his phone.
When Shouta walked into the room, Izuku raised his head, glancing back at the man. His fingers were poised over his screen, as he stared at Shouta.
The hero stuck his hands in his pockets in forced casualness that he didn't feel, and slumped down onto the couch beside Izuku. He left about a foot of space between them, not wanting to crowd the boy and make him uncomfortable.
"Texting your friends?" He asked, not looking at the phone to check. There was no point in invading Izuku's privacy, when the boy could tell him himself. And he would tell him if it was important, Shouta had faith in that.
"Yah, there were a few from the last couple days. I think my friends were worried about me. Which is really cool. I mean, it's nice to have friends, but they really didn't need to worry, I mean, I'm sure they had better things to do. They should have been visiting with their family, really, not worrying about me."
Shouta cut in to Izuku's rambling, not wanting Izuku to keep depreciating himself. "Your friends care about you, kiddo. And you deserve for them to worry about you. Plus, you need someone to worry about you," he added wryly, "since you always seem to be getting in situations that require some worry."
Izuku ducked his head, looking up at Shouta through his bangs. "Well...uhm..." He stammered, "I don't...I don't mean to worry you. And...uhm...I didn't have too many texts, just a few from Iida, Ururaka, and Todoroki mostly. And there was some activity on our group chat with everyone, but, uhh...yah."
Shouta smirked, placing his hand on Izuku's hair and ruffling his hair. The boy's head ducked under his hand, but he leaned up into his touch after. "I'm glad you have such good friends, Izuku."
"Umm, yah," Izuku mumbled, blushing, "me too."
Shouta's smirk turned more into a soft smile, and he rubbed his hand along Izuku's head once more before he pulled back.
Hizashi and Nemuri still hadn't shown up yet, he noticed. They had probably stayed behind to discuss everything in the kitchen. It was a lot to take in; it had taken him at least a day to fully process everything.
He settled back into the couch, and just sat there while Izuku tapped away at his phone. It was silent, but that was fine. It was comfortable, and Shouta was used to silence anyway.
A few minutes later, the silence was broken by the sound of footsteps on the floor: Hizashi and Nemuri were entering the room. They walked back over to their spot by the chair, yaking up their previous positions, with Hizashi sitting in it, and Nemuri leaning against it. The voice hero had a mug of tea in his hand, which he took a sip from, then set down on the coffee table as he sat down.
It seemed they had gotten over their initial shock, and had worked through everything. They had their usual expressions and stances; everything was as it should be. It made Shouta relax.
"So, Midoriya, I hear that your mom passed a few years ago," Hizashi started with, making Shouta tense right up again immediately after he just relaxed. "I'm so sorry to hear that, little listener." His face had an expression of sincere sympathy on it, and Shouta didn't doubt that it was genuine.
It seemed that Izuku didn't doubt it either, from the way he lowered his phone and looked down at his lap, after glancing at Hizashi.
"Same here, kiddo," Nemuri added, a soft expression on her face, as well.
"Thanks," Izuku said lowly, eyes still downcast to his lap. "It...uh...was a while ago, but...I still appreciate it." He started chewing his lip, but it wasn't that roughly, so Shouta let it go. Although, if Izuku started biting it too hard, he would have to intervene.
"I hear Shouta here will be adopting you," Nemuri continued with. Shouta didn't know where they were going with this, or why they were talking about it, but he supposed it would do no good for them to avoid the subject, after all.
Izuku just nodded and let out an affirmative hum as a result, but Shouta could see the way his fingers fiddled with his shirt, and the small smile that was on his face.
"Well, that's great. That makes him your dad, which makes me your uncle!" Hizashi exclaimed, poking his thumb into his own chest, a huge grin on his face. "You can call me Uncle Zashi, if you want. Or just Hizashi, or Present Mic, or Mr. Yamada, whichever is more comfortable for you. But you could definitely call me Uncle Zashi!" This time his fingers molded to form finger guns, which he pointed at the teen.
Izuku's face snapped up, surprise written clearly in his eyes, and his mouth forming a little "o".
"And I'm now your Auntie Nemuri! But, of course, like Zashi said, you can call me whatever you're most comfortable with, okay, sweetie?" Nemuri said softly, yet still excitedly.
Shouta resisted the urge to groan, and bury his face in his hands; but just barely. He should have known this would happen, but he didn't think he could survive if Izuku started calling his two friends Uncle and Auntie. Not that it was completely off, since they were practically family to him. But still, it was weird.
Izuku seemed to like it, though, if the stars that were practically shining in his eyes were any indication. His eyes were large circles, and shining with enthusiasm and joy.
"Really?!" He exclaimed, leaning forward on his seat, and discarding his phone entirely. "You don't...you don't mind?"
Shouta sighed to himself. Of course Izuku would love that. And he deserved it, he deserved to have more family. He deserved so much more than that, and Shouta would give him everything he was able to.
"Really really, kid!" Hizashi exclaimed, his own voice rising in volume. Luckily it wasn't enough that Shouta would have to activate his quirk yet. That would be a pain.
"Okay, Uncle Hizashi, Auntie Nemuri," Izuku said hesitantly, his voice soft, as he tested the words on his tongue. They were a bit awkward, but Shouta didn't doubt that they would get more natural as time went on.
And as Izuku swung his face around to look at Shouta, a huge grin on his face, practically bouncing in place, Shouta knew that it was alright. Things would get better, Izuku would be loved, and cared for. He had family, and friends, people who loved him. He had Shouta, and Shouta had him. And they had their friends.
And, of course, Izuku still had to recover from his sickness, but he was already doing so good. After he was completely recovered, and Shouta got the adoption papers back, the only thing left would be to tell the class.
Shouta's eyes widened at that, he wasn't looking forward to it. But his class this year was made of good kids, they would take it well, and if they didn't, well, he had been kind of itching to expel someone anyway.
Yah, everything would be alright. And as Shouta looked around the room, at the smiling faces as the three other people chatted, Izuku starting to warm up to the two heros, he knew it would be true.
So, that's the last actual chapter. Next is just an epilogue. Which, knowing me, will basically be a whole chapter anyway, lol. I seriously thought this chapter wasn't too long, maybe by the time it was done, I thought it was about as long as all the other chapters. Turns out it's about a thousand words longer than the last one, and definitely the longest one I've written. Oops.
But, I really hope you enjoyed it! I'm so excited to finish this fic, and get on to all the other fics I have planned. Some are MHA, some aren't. But most are MHA, lol.
As far as Aizawa yelling at All Might goes, I know some people had said that they would like to see that, while many others told me just to do what I felt like. Which I super appreciated, thank you! So what was in this chapter was it. I think I said before, but I will repeat it here just because, this fic was more about Aizawa helping Izuku heal, with some sickfic and adoption because I love it. So yah, the focus was not on the past, it was on the future. Plus, I'm just really terrible at people arguing, lolol.
So, keep an eye out for the epilogue, or don't, if you're following the story, or reading it after it's all published, lol. But, hopefully that will take me less time, since I have most of it planned out, and it should be a lot shorter. "Should" being the key word there.
Thanks for reading!