Chapter Text
“Cool.”
“Yeah.”
Recovery Girl walks back in, Aizawa behind her.
“What the fuck happened?” Aizawa immediately asks, any semblance of professionalism between him and Shinsou having been cold and dead for months.
“Shouta!” Recovery Girl chastises.
Aizawa ignores her, walking over to talk to Shinsou who sits up. “What happened?” Aizawa repeats, tone considerably softer and more compassionate.
Shinsou shoots a nervous glance at Recovery Girl.
“Wait outside.” Aizawa says, immediately picking up on Shinsou’s look. “Both of you please.”
Bakugou looks at Shinsou before moving to leave, asking if he really should. Shinsou reassures him with a nod. The two step out, leaving Aizawa and Shinsou alone in the room.
Aizawa leans against the hospital bed behind him. “Are you okay?” Shinsou’s about to respond when Aizawa corrects himself. “I mean, obviously you’re not okay. But in this moment. In this moment are you okay? You’re safe right now?”
Shinsou nods, once again staring at his lap. “Yeah.”
“Okay,” Aizawa says, sounding relieved. “ Okay. ” He repeats, this time more to himself than anybody else.
The two just sit with that for a moment. Shinsou doesn’t know why Aizawa would have even bothered to have come this late. He hasn’t checked the time but moonlight is slipping in through the medbay window only to cease to illuminate anything as it’s overpowered by the fluorescent lights from above. There’s faint beeping come from some sort of machine in the room which Shinsou is only now conscious of. He hears the faint dripping of the tap from when Bakugou got him water and must have failed to fully turn it off. He notices only now that Aizawa is still wearing a pair of flannel pants and a ratty UA alumnus shirt; pajamas. He must’ve been pulled away from bed for this.
“I’m sorry.” Shinsou cuts the silence.
“Huh? Why?” Aizawa questions.
“That you have to deal with this in the middle of the night.” Aizawa doesn’t respond and Shinsou looks up from his lap to gauge the response.
Aizawa’s brow is wrinkled in confusion. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Right, but I- But you- I mean-” Shinsou gestures vaguely at their general surroundings for lack of a better way to articulate what he’s trying to say.
“Kid, you got hurt. That’s not your fault.”
“Yeah, but… I didn’t have to come here. I-” He sighs. “I didn’t have to make it your problem.”
“Hitoshi,” Aizawa responds, voice firm but compassionate “you get to make it my problem. Not only is quite literally my whole job making your problems my problems, but you especially get to do so.”
Shinsou just shakes his head. “I can deal this on my own- I can-”
“Yeah, but you don’t have to.” Shinsou freezes as Aizawa continues. “I fully believe you can handle this on your own. But you don’t have to, okay? I’m here to help you.”
Shinsou looks at him in shock for a moment. “I…” He lets it trail off. He doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t think this is real.
Thankfully, Aizawa starts to talk where he’s at a loss. “So, I’m guessing foster care hasn’t been going great?” When Shinsou’s only response is continuing to stare at his shoes, Aizawa supplies. “I’ll take that as a yes. I know it’s rough, kid. I didn’t exactly enjoy my time in the system either.”
This gets Shinsou’s attention as he looks up in shock. “You...?”
“Yeah.” Aizawa responds. “And I know how much it sucks. Which is why… I- Well I have an idea, alright?”
Shinsou nods to cue he’s listening.
“I was thinking- Well- Okay, there’s a program, I guess, you could call it.” He takes a deep breath to calm himself. “What I mean is, if you think it would be beneficial, instead of being essentially under the custody of the system, you could become a ward of UA. However being a ward of the school requires you to have a faculty member essentially function as your legal guardian. But if you wanted to pursue this, I’d be happy to fill that roll.”
Shinsou stares at him in shock for a moment. And then a bit longer than a moment. And then what started as a moment has stretched into a minute and a half of awkward silence. Aizawa wants to adopt him ?
“Uh… Shinsou?”
“You want to adopt me?” Fuck... Fuck! That was supposed to stay a in the head in thought .
“Uh… Well, I suppose it is pretty legally similar to adoption. You’d be on my health care plan, you’d stay at Hizashi and mine’s apartment during breaks, you’d be under my legal care. So, I suppose… yes. Yes, I do.” Is Aizawa’s curt answer.
Another moment which stretches into longer than a moment which stretches into a minute and a half of awkward silence.
“Shinsou?”
“Okay.” Shinsou immediately responds once shocked out of his stupor.
“Uh… really?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.” Aizawa responds, looking tired but resolute. “ Okay. ”
“Okay.” Shinsou echoes, sounding equally exhausted and sure.
“Well…” Aizawa coughs awkwardly. “This is gonna be paperwork.” He says, gesturing vaguely to their surroundings. “And so is the, uh… the adoption stuff. But, uh, we can deal with that tomorrow. You look like you could use some sleep.”
Shinsou nods, even though he knows even tonight he probably won’t manage to actually get to bed. He starts to stand up.
The two of them walk over to the door out of the medbay and into the hallway. When they open the door Shinsou is surprised to see Bakugou sitting in one of the plastic chairs waiting for him.
“ Everything good? ” Bakugou signs as he stands up himself.
“ Yeah, actually .” Shinsou signs back, almost shocked by his answer himself.
Aizawa shoots the two boys an almost amused look. “ I have to stay here and clear some stuff with Chiyo. Get to bed. And stay out of trouble on the way there. ” He signs.
The two boys pause with surprise for a moment upon realizing Aizawa knows sign.
Bakugou is the one to come to his senses first. “I… Uh… Yeah. Yeah, will do.”
Aizawa shoos them off with a gesture. The two boys take off at a slow pace down the halls of the school in relative silence save the growing chirps of the morning birds starting to wake up and the shuffling of their own feet. A cool breeze blows in over the balcony and trails them casually.
“I think Aizawa is going to adopt me.”
Bakugou immediately stops walking. “What?” It’s not angry. No sharp T. No underlying sharpness that resides in almost everything Bakugou says, even the kinder things. He almost sounds soft.
“Well, there was some technical stuff about the school and legal guardianship but that's the jist of it.”
“I- You- Wow.” Bakugou lands on. “ Wow .”
“Yeah,” Shinsou agrees, mirroring his surprised tone. He doesn’t linger on it though. Still too fresh. Like he’s still not sure it’s real. “Suns rising,” He muses lazily, walking over to the railing. They’re on the third floor of an east facing hallway so they have a full view of the sun cusping over the horizon.
Bakugou walks over to the railing too to stand next to him. “Kinda pretty.” Bakugou comments gruffly, though his face has melted into something kinder than Shinsou presumes is usual for the other boy.
The two of them watch the sunrise like they had watched the blurring city scape on the subway only a few hours earlier.
“You’re not the worst. By the way. Out of all the people I could have to deal with and patch up in the middle of the night, you’re not the worst.” Bakugou comments roughly. His tone is off. His unpracticed attempt at nonchalance and kindness.
But Shinsou understands the intended sentiment and appreciates it.
“You’re not the worst either.” Shinsou responds, a little bit more practiced at the upfront kindness but not by much.
The sun spills orange and red across the horizon and for a moment everything is soaked in something warm. It cuts away at the bitter morning chill leaving everything casted in something golden and new. He thinks he might feel okay.
It’s the first time it’s happened.
It’s nice.