Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters. The "Erasermic Week 2021" prompt list is by EMWeek2k21 of Twitter.
I had this story in mind before I found out about the Erasermic prompts, so I finally have a good excuse to write this out. This is also kinda disconnected from the previous fic, so no, the fics aren't connected together.
Day to Day
(Erasermic Week 2021 Day 2: Daily Routine)
Chapter Summary: Day 2 - "Daily Routine." Hizashi loved the quiet moments in the morning. And being the first thing Shouta woke up to, even if the blonde was already at work.
As much as Hizashi hated waking up, there was a certain magic to four in the morning. Shouta called him insane for it, but Hizashi loved the beauty the new morning provided.
The phone under his pillow vibrated viciously, shaking the whole of his hand. The blonde felt the sudden sensation, jerking his head up from the pillow and pushing himself to sit up. Green eyes fluttered open, a yawn already overtaking his mouth, and flicked over to the prone body at the other side of the bed.
Shouta was dead to the world, curled up under the sheets that were pulled up past his head.
Love burned in his chest. Even as Hizashi fished for his glasses and digital hearing aids, he kept his eyes on his husband, letting the cheery smile settle on his face.
He knew exactly what Shouta would look like an hour from now, and the picture was more than enough to drag him from bed and chuckle mischievously under his breath.
The moment Hizashi slipped out from under the covers, Shouta let go of his pillow and rolled over, grasping at the empty space the blonde had been in not a moment before.
"Just missed me, Shou…" he sang, stretching out his arms and heading for the little closet they shared.
A tiny grumble left the man still in the bed, but Hizashi knew Shouta hadn't been able to hear him. The underground hero could sense when any one of his kids were about to start something, but when it came to sleeping, anyone trying to reach him with something that wasn't an immediate emergency had better luck screaming at a brick wall.
The blonde threw on a loose sweatshirt and long pants, fishing out his hero costume and tucking it over his left forearm. Just as the first scratches and demanding meows pattered against the bedroom door, Hizashi slowly opened the door.
An army of cats breezed past him as he eased open the door wide enough for all of them to come through. More than a dozen different breeds of cats headed straight for the bed, immediately claiming Hizashi's empty spot and nearly every space on Shouta's unmoving body.
In less than a moment, Shouta was covered and surrounded with cats.
The evil, knowing grin pulled one corner of his mouth higher than the other. The cats weren't hungry. For now. But cats were creatures of habit, and their breakfast time would come much sooner than Shouta would want it to.
Hizashi closed the door, leaving a small crack for any kitty to slip through, and headed for the apartment's main bathroom. A sight like that, even so early in the morning, never failed to bring a silly smile to his face.
He closed the door to the bathroom, reached over to the small speakers, and tapped a button on his smartphone's screen. His morning mix, lowered to a tolerable volume for the morning and quiet enough as to not to scare Shouta into thinking they were being attacked, reverberated around the bathroom's walls.
A content sigh left him as he flashed his brightest smile to his mirrored self and scooped up his toothbrush. Time to get ready for the workday…
It was an unspoken rule that everyone had to be at a bearable volume for the morning people shuffling in.
Not everyone was a morning person, and even the morning people needed a moment of quiet before the energy of the day set in. The night shift group did their best to transition everything off to the morning group, easing tired hands still waiting for the coffee to kick in to the places they needed to be. A sudden burst in volume would scare everyone half to death and no doubt anger anyone who wasn't having the greatest day. Hizashi respected that, and even he needed a bit of peace and quiet before the day inevitably flipped upside-down with whatever UA decided to throw at him.
Most of his assistants, not that he ever made them feel like assistants, nodded to him as he walked into the station. A coffee cup rested in every other hand, not unlike the extra-large styrafoam cup in his own, and as everyone sipped at their drinks, updates for the day echoed softly around the station's hallways.
"Got a hero by the name of Earthshaker that apprehended several convenience store robbers last night-"
"Weather's supposed to be a high of 18 degrees Celsius and a low of about 12-"
"Should we incorporate some global issues happening currently, or focus on some of the smaller stuff to keep up morale-"
"Alright, alright," Hizashi said as they all piled into the small meeting room. He shook his head, letting his casual hairstyle swish in the morning chill. No one at the station, not even the cheeriest morning person, was up for changing into their hero clothes before the day really began. "The night shifts type up a guideline sheet for today?"
A few assistants murmured. One of them nodded and passed along a two-paged packet that was full of the daily information Hizashi needed to pass along to his listeners.
"Perfect!" he chirped. Once the information was in his hands, he tucked the sheet under his arm and looked over the morning shift group.
All of them turned their gaze to him. They all knew he could turn up the volume if he wanted to, so giving attention and waiting until after the morning announcements went through was better on their foggy brains and tired ears.
"Alright, everyone, time for another show. The usual this time around, same-old, same-old with a touch of flair for some variety." Hizashi looked out over the crowd, just catching someone slip in through the door. "Ah, and there's today's guest. Everyone, this is Slipknot, an underground hero that's been rising through the ranks lately with her ability to break through any defense."
"Sorry I'm late," the hero threw out. The woman rubbed at her tired eyes, yawning as someone wordlessly offered her a full coffee cup. After a slow sip, she waved her hand at Hizashi. "I'm so sorry, but mornings are the complete opposite of how I work."
"No problem. My partner's the exact same when it comes to mornings."
Slipknot looked confused, then leaned over as one of the newer assistants whispered the usual "Present Mic is married but secrecy is there to protect his partner" talk.
Once she was filled in, Hizashi went back to the daily announcements. "Right, our guest is here. Any birthdays or special achievements to share for the morning before we get started?"
Everyone fell quiet for a moment before one of the older staff members raised his hand. "I know it's not the most important thing, but my cat's turning three today. Wife and kids are planning on throwing a little party for the scamp later today."
"Hey, a birthday's a birthday," Hizashi said, shrugging his shoulders. "If you have any new pictures of Wasabi though, I'd love to see them and show them to my partner."
The man smiled and nodded, lifting up his coffee cup for yet another sip.
"Anything else?"
Everyone stayed quiet, and a few murmurs rose up from some workers helping others reorient themselves to the new day.
"Well, if that's all said and done…" Hizashi peaked up the volume of his voice just a decibel, just enough to let everyone at the back know. "Let's go, everyone! We got a lot of people to wake up this morning, besides yourselves."
A few laughed at the joke, and as the coffee finally started to kick in, several of the assistants and workers called out to each other with jokes and minor updates on their familial lives.
Green eyes flicked up to the digital clock on the wall.
Twenty minutes until showtime.
Slipknot stayed stationary. It was hard to tell if she had woken up early or was fighting off the effects of an all-nighter.
"Hey, it's great to have you here," the blonde started. He stepped over to the hero, stretching out his free hand. "Thanks for letting us have you, and thanks for taking time out of your work week to come down to see us."
The underground hero paused, shaking her head. Her free hand lifted up, messing with the light purple hair. "Sorry… You're the Present Mic guy I'll be talking to? I thought you were always super loud and ready to start a party at the drop of a hat."
Hizashi wiggled his eyebrows. "Oh, he's still here. He just doesn't come out til after seven in the morning," he joked.
"Any reason as to why?"
The joking nature fell from Hizashi's face, and a bashful look replaced it. "Oh, I try to stay quiet to help ease the morning staff and my partner into the morning. They would toss me off the roof if I gave them a sudden boost of volume."
Slipknot smiled. "Your partner too? Tossing you off the roof for being too loud? Isn't that what they get when they decided to date you?"
Hizashi nodded toward the door, and began leading them out of the meeting room. "Compromise, for one, and two, for the added grumbling I get when I see them later in the day after they wake up. They're very cute when they're grumpy and sleepy and have nothing to complain about."
Slipknot chuckled, following the blonde through the halls. "Any interesting physical qualities you can share about them to help give me a picture of who'd be glaring at you?"
"Well…" He tapped his nose in a cheeky manner. "I know that they're currently buried underneath a blanket, a comforter, and about an entire army of cats." Hizashi laughed under his breath. "Blankets pulled up past their head… maybe cuddling one of the cats that slipped under their arm… right in the middle of a dream about being in school…"
"That doesn't help at all, but I'll keep in mind that we're waking up a blanketed lump that's probably a crazy cat person."
One side of Hizashi's mouth lifted higher than the other. "The craziest cat person of all cat people, and I'd have it no other way."
By the time they reached the recording room, set up for the both of them to chat into the microphones and relax in the office chairs provided, Slipknot was just starting to wake up more. The hero jittered in her seat as Hizashi explained to her the rules and guided her through the set-up. Even with the repeated assurances that everything would go smoothly, the underground hero was flighty and nervous for her first time on the show.
It brought back memories of Shouta's first time.
They chatted a little more, waiting for the rest of the team to prep the show. The clock counted down, and once the final minute ticked down, the team set the usual show opening through the airwaves.
"And we're on in five… four…"
At three, the manager counted down on her fingers, pointing at Hizashi the moment the 'On Air' sign lit up with a soft red glow.
"Good morning, my wonderful listeners!" Hizashi kept the volume low, but the cheer in his voice was firm enough to let people know that the wake-up call coming through their speakers was real. "We've got another fabulous morning show to help you all wake up for the day! I've got a special guest with me for today, but first, a bit of information to make sure you all have the most rockin' day possible!"
As he read off the usual day-to-day news from his sheet, his mind pictured Shouta.
Even though he wasn't there, he could see the scene in his mind's eye. The radio alarm clock would click on at six. Shouta would be fast asleep, ramming his head into his pillow and softly groaning at Hizashi's voice. He'd snuggle up a cat just for good measure, something to give his body another few moments in bed.
The problem, with having so many cats, was that they were vicious alarm clocks when it came to feeding time.
"Right, with that all out of the way, it's time for the special minute I have to wake up my partner for the day."
Hizashi knew what would happen. Shouta would get all grumpy about him trying to wake him up on public radio, as if the twenty pairs of cat paws kneading every part of his body wasn't enough. They'd shove their little heads against the lump under the blanket, purring like crazy, but Hizashi was the one that was cursed to be the one that had to give the final push to get his husband out of bed.
"Come on, sweetheart, you know you've got stuff to do today." Hizashi purred into the microphone, and he had no doubt that the cats were about to unleash their full volume at his next words. "Lots of people to talk to, lots of daily tasks to do… Got to get in a good breakfast first before things get crazy."
Hizashi didn't need a special Hearing-based Quirk, nor did Shouta need a Voice-based Quirk, for him to hear the tired groan get drowned out by an army of cats meowing at Shouta for their breakfast. The word "breakfast" was more than enough to get the cats up in a frenzy, and Shouta had too soft of a heart to feed them any later than their schedules demanded it.
He laughed under his breath, knowing that most of his usual listeners understood that it was an inside joke, and turned to his guest star. "But enough about my life for today… We've got a guest for our show: the infamous underground hero, Slipknot. She's known for her ability to break through almost any lock or defensive system known to man with her Quirk, Live Radar. Slipknot, thank you for joining us here at the station today."
She laughed, picking at the dark-blue uniform covering her body. "It's great to be here, Mic. I've been rising through the ranks for a while now, but before we get all into that, I wanna thank some personal heroes of mine that got me to this point-"
And as the show went on, the scene in Hizashi's mind changed. Shouta feeding the cats; Shouta throwing on his hero outfit and lacing up his capture weapon; Shouta brushing his teeth but still not turning off the radio where his husband was slowly turning up the pep and cheer…
It happened every morning, along with the quiet between the time he got up to the time he went to work, but Hizashi treasured it for all it was worth.
Song Inspo: "Perfect" by One Direction and "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars.
Another one I'm not too sure about, but practice makes perfect. Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope to give another story soon! :)