Chapter Text
That night when he and his Pops finally got home, Izuku ran into the familiar sight of his Dad fast asleep on the couch with Dusk curled up on his chest. She opened an eye and instantly rose when she saw Izuku, using Shouta’s face as a springboard to leap into his awaiting arms. It had the added bonus of waking his Dad up despite the man’s chagrin. But when Shouta spotted Izuku he sat up as fast as he could in his sleep addled state and asked tiredly, “How’d it go?”
“You’re looking at the officially licensed Provisional Hero: Nyx!”
Much like Dusk, Izuku wasted no time in leaping into his Dad’s awaiting arms, revelling in the comforting smell of worn books and fine coffee that always clung to Shouta. His Dad carded his hands through Izuku’s curls, and he could practically feel the man’s small smile.
“I’m so proud of you Izu. Every day, you make me so glad I found you all those years ago. You’re already an amazing hero, but one day you’re going to be an amazing Pro and this is just one of the many steps.”
He couldn’t help but tear up at his Dad’s praises, and the absolute certainty there was in the man’s voice.
“Your phone has been going crazy, I could barely nap with how much it was buzzing.”
Izuku chuckled and detached himself from his Dad before slinking to his room with Dusk hot on his trail. As soon as he collapsed onto his bed face first, she loafed on his back and he chuckled as she felt him kneading her paws, it was weirdly soothing on his aches. He pulled his phone off charge and finally decided to brave it. It seems Kacchan had sent his number to Class 1-A and all of them had sent him good luck messages throughout the day. It seemed he’d been added to the class’s group chat which explained why his phone had always been going off. Hagakure had sent an onslaught of memes which were responded to by a flurry of Vine references from Kaminari and Jirou, promptly followed by Kacchan telling them to all be quiet. And then the messages Kacchan had sent were a whole other matter.
Kacchan
06:05 Morning nerd, good luck today. Kill those fuckers!!!
08:34 Oi nerd, if you’re free, I need your advice on what to wear to the mall
16:55 Zuku, I think fucking Shitty Hair has a second quirk or something, the fucker is giving me palpitations
16:56 How’d the exam go?
17:44 Nerd
17:45 Nerd
17:58 NERD
18:00 I stg you fucking nerd, if you don’t respond I will kidnap the furball
Zuku
18:01 YOU WOULDN’T
Kacchan
18:01 He lives
18:02 How’d it go
Zuku
18:03 *Attachment Sent*
Kacchan
18:03 FUCK YES NYX, THAT’S MY BEST FRIEND YOU EXTRAS!!!!!
Zuku
18:07 Kacchan’s the best
Kacchan
18:08 Damn right nerd
He spent the majority of his evening responding to the various messages that had been sent his way from the members of 1-A until one in particular caught his attention. One that had come in early, but he somehow missed in his nervous state in the morning.
XXX-XXXX-XXXX (Maybe: Shinsou Hitoshi)
01:44 Hey Izuku, Bakugo sent this number on the group chat. I remember you saying you had your licensing exam today. I know it’s not worth saying good luck to you, you’re definitely going to pass, but I felt like saying it anyway. So good luck. I also wanted to say my offer still stands if you’re free after to hang with me and Uraraka, or tomorrow if you’re free. I get if you’re tired and don’t want to meet, it’s all good.
Izuku promptly buried his face in a pillow and screamed, his face a dazzling tomato red as he imagined Shinsou sleep-eyed and drowsy, typing that message to him, when he could’ve been sleeping. Blushing like a schoolgirl, Izuku’s fingers flew across his screen as he typed out his response
Yamazawa Izuku changed name to ShadowCat
ShadowCat changed XXX-XXXX-XXXX to PurpleCat
ShadowCat
18:38 Hey Hitoshi, thank you!!! It means so much to me!! And guess what…
18:38 *Attachment Sent*
18:39 You’re officially chatting to a Provisional Hero!!!!
18:40 I’d love to hang but I will probably be super sore and barely able to walk tomorrow
PurpleCat
18:46 Congrats Izuku!! So happy for you!! And, it’s fine I get it, I’ll see you at school on Monday
ShadowCat
18:47 BUTTTT I was going to say, do you want to come over? I may be bed-ridden but I’d still like to hang out
PurpleCat
18:48 I’d love to
ShadowCat
18:48 Amazing!! I’ll send you my address, me and Dusk can’t wait to see you!! (ps, pls don’t freak out over who my parents are)
---
The message had had Hitoshi pondering all night and he wished he could say it was for good reasons. Call him biased, but he didn’t have the greatest experience with parents or authority figures in general. So when his crush friend had warned him to not freak out when they met, Hitoshi could only assume the worst. Were they like his fosters. Surely not, Hitoshi knew Izuku was a Ward of U.A., there was no way any of the staff would be like that. Which begged the question, out all the staff, who actually were Izuku’s parents?
He was answered when Hitoshi knocked on the door of the flat at the teacher’s dorm. Midnight had thankfully spotted him lurking outdoors and she’d already been told to expect him which is how he found himself outside, waiting for the door to open. And as it did, Hitoshi’s heart dropped. Because if anyone would be overprotective of their child, if anyone would gladly risk murder to protect Izuku it would be–
“Shinsou,” Aizawa-sensei said curtly. “Welcome to my home. Tell the others Yamazawa is my son and I’ll disembowel you.”
“Duly noted sir.”
“Izuku’s in his room right now, napping. You can go ahead and wake him up.”
Aizawa-sensei moved out of the doorway for Hitoshi to step into a large yet cozy open plan home with a living room to his right and separated kitchen to his left, and a dining table tucked away. The older man nodded to a set of stairs just beside the front door that Hitoshi had passed upon entering. Venturing upward, Hitoshi came across a few more doors until he recognised one covered in paw print and star stickers. It had to be Izuku’s
He knocked gently and upon no response, Hitoshi gently opened the door. And the wind was knocked from his lungs because Izuku looked angelic. His curls framed his face perfectly as they splayed out on his pillows. His cheeks had a rosy sheen to them despite the chill in the room and he was pouting ever so gently in his sleep. It took everything in Hitoshi to not tear his eyes off the other boy into a very loud mewl broke his attention and he looked to the foot of Izuku’s bed to see Dusk staring at him. And Hitoshi swore it was almost as if she was judging him.
Hitoshi sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and avoided Dusk’s gaze as he walked over to Izuku quietly. Placing his hand on the other’s shoulder he gently shook Izuku until his eyes opened and Hitoshi was met with dazzling emerald.
“’Toshi?”
His heart wouldn’t survive the night if all it took to go mad was Izuku saying that goddamn nickname in that goddamn voice.
“Hey Izu,” he managed to say, his heart hammering. “How’re you feeling?”
“Tired. Sore. Cold.”
“I’ll bet, it’s freezing in here. Holy shit, your arm!” Hitoshi didn’t know whether to back away or cradle Izuku’s arm that sported a nasty burn in a straight line, the flesh lightly mottled and bubbling although part of it looked like it had burst at some point. It was then Hitoshi glanced over Izuku’s bare arms, and his eyes widened at the amount of small bruises peppering Izuku’s skin. “What the fuck happened to you?”
“Sensory hell. Never let the Commission of Nedzu make you a personal exam,” Izuku muttered sleepily as he sat up and slid over, patting the now empty side of the bed.
Hitoshi took the hint and slid in beside him, careful not to jostle Izuku. Or Dusk, there was no way he was getting on her bad side. “How did it go?”
“It was good overall. Capture the flag type thing for round one, and I had to go against the Big Three from U.A., but that wasn’t too bad. The second round was this set of rooms, like a fake villain base. Had to find hostages. But there were lasers, and then these rubber bullets firing while a strobe light was on. Oh yeah, and then there was a lava pool!”
Hitoshi’s mouth gaped a moment. “I want to say you’re sleep talking but this is Nedzu we’re on about. But you passed Izu! Or should I say Nyx.”
Sue him, maybe Hitoshi had laid it on a little thick when he dropped his voice and leaned in a bit but he’d just expected Izuku to laugh and shove him away, not for his rosy cheeks to turn scarlet red and for Izuku’s eyes to widen to a comical degree.
“I–”
“Boys, lunch is ready!”
Hitoshi could kill his mentor in that moment. He needed to know what Izuku was about to say, but as if reading his mind, Dusk pawed her way over the bed and swatted his face with her paw before sitting to face Izuku and lick his nose.
She seemed to purr deeply a moment before Izuku yelped out and picked her up, eyeing her with a glare. “Dusk, you heathen. Do not say something like that again.”
Dusk simply looked at Izuku, turned to look Hitoshi, and then back to Izuku before she mewled once and Izuku shrieked, dropping her.
“Lunch now. Dusk is in timeout,” Izuku stammered, rushing out his bed and pulling Hitoshi with him while the cat simply lounged on the bed, once more giving Hitoshi that assessing look.
The two picked at the array of snacks and nibbles… Aizawa-sensei had prepared. That was going to take some getting used to. Hitoshi had imagined his mentor just hanging upside down from the rafters at night in his sleeping bag, suckling on a juice pouch like some sort of cryptic overgrown bat. He never would’ve expected his mentor to have a son, let alone wear hot pink sweatpants that said ‘Juicy’ along the back. Izuku just snickered at Hitoshi’s expense, the sound warming Hitoshi in ways he didn’t know possible.
It was as he was chewing on a carrot stick that he turned to Izuku. “So what’re the plans now you’re licensed?”
“Hopefully some light patrolling with Dad, and I can start taking on more responsibilities at school. I’ve been petitioning to do some one-on-one analysis with each Hero student, but the board said only licensed heroes are allowed to give advice in that capacity, but nothing in the official U.A. policy specifies what level of licensing one has to have.”
“I love a good loophole.”
“As any good person should. Then I’m also thinking of adding a new lesson to the curriculum that’ll be mandatory for all students in their first years, including first aid, hacking and all that jazz. It’s dumb support and Gen Ed have to do the Sports Festival but aren’t offered training at school. We have the money and resources.”
“True, I always kind of planned to get into the Hero Course through the Sports Festival. I never imagined I would’ve passed the exam.”
“Noble either way,” Aizawa-sensei piped up. “It’s how I did it, but be proud you made it in through a biased exam. Not many can say such a thing Shinsou.”
“Thank you sensei,” Hitoshi murmured, shrinking under his mentor’s praise.
“Not sensei here kid. Just Aizawa.”
Hitoshi could only nod.
“I still think you’re underplaying yourself. You did so well in the Entrance Exam, the way you beat the robots off with a pipe was amazing,” Izuku said with a grin.
“You saw?” Hitoshi asked.
Aizawa snorted. “He was up all night watching the Entrance Exam footage for analysis. And he spent a good half an hour telling me all about the purple haired enigma he couldn’t get over.”
“DAD!”