Chapter Text
Hizashi hoisted the last box from his trunk to carry up the stairs. The new apartment was nice, way nicer than the one they’d last had together—bigger too. Turns out, when you combined a couple salaries like theirs and actually knew what you were doing this time around instead of picking the first place that met the bare minimum, you could actually end up with something pretty kickass.
The key clicked easily in the lock and he shouldered through the door to his and Shouta’s new apartment. The curtains they’d hung that morning were thrown wide, boxes in stacks and furniture set down in the nearest convenient spot. Hizashi took a deep breath of the still-unfamiliar smell of hardwood, cleaning solution, and the unused space waiting for them.
Yeah, they could make something out of this.
Hizashi checked his watch out of habit, but it was Saturday, and nothing was vying for his or Shouta’s attention. The move had been happening in bits and pieces all week, whenever it worked for their schedules. Sometimes it was with both of them, other times they added Nemuri to their numbers—who’d only been a little completely insufferable about the whole situation—and other times still Hizashi independently brought over some boxes. It wasn’t like there was any pressure to do it all at once either; they still had their suites in the UA teachers’ dorms for when duty called and Shouta or Hizashi had the night shift to be around in case a student needed them.
Hizashi maneuvered through the maze of boxes to the room the one in his arms belonged to. They weren’t the only ones with two places to lay their heads now. Hizashi glanced around the bedroom and its many color-swatches stuck to the walls as it waited to be painted something more fun, leaving the box by the door. Their new apartment, like their old apartment, had two bedrooms. This time, though, there was just one for him and Shouta. The other was for when Eri visited.
There weren’t any adoption papers involved; Eri was still under the care of UA, with a big, funky family that boasted far more heroes than most. But he and Shouta were most definitely the two in the mix that were doing the dad thing. These days Shouta was a comfortable mixture of ‘Dad’ and ‘Mr. Aizawa’ and ‘Mr. Aizawa is my dad.’ Meanwhile she’d finally taken to calling Hizashi ‘Pops’ after he’d suggested it as a potential option for her to try out. He was Mr. Mic too, sure, but he thought he made a pretty good Pops.
Speaking of Shouta, Hizashi couldn’t hear him, and adjusting his hearing aids revealed nothing new.
He wasn’t hard to locate, though. All it took was poking his head into their shared bedroom to find exactly where he’d gone. Shouta stretched out on a thick futon that seemed like he’d barely gotten it unrolled before he collapsed face-first onto it. A smile tugged at Hizashi’s lips looking at him, his head pillowed on his arms so he could better block out the light. They’d have to put up the blackout curtains in here.
Hizashi lay down next to him, carding a hand through Shouta's dark hair as he did, Shouta shifting from his cat nap to scoot closer to him. “That was the last box,” Hizashi told him, and his heart thudded like it had just made the realization itself. Shouta turned his head to look at him. “We’ve got us an apartment.”
Shouta grunted, hiding his face from the light once again. “We’ve had the apartment since we put down the deposit two weeks ago,” Shouta pointed out, only to be a pain and Hizashi knew it.
Hizashi snorted, falling onto his back at Shouta’s side. “Food?”
Shouta nodded into the futon before reluctantly rolling over. “Yeah,” he said. “Delivery?”
“Sounds perfect to me.”
A phone call later and Hizashi let his phone slip from his hand onto the futon, simply basking in the quiet of their (their!) new bedroom. It could use some music, Hizashi thought, but he was in no rush to leave this moment. Shouta dozed lightly at his side. Eri was with Nezu and Yagi at a park. Boxes, mostly Hizashi’s, waited patiently to be unpacked when they got around to it. Nemuri wanted a housewarming party on their behalf and said she’d make it happen when they had the time.
Hizashi reached to entwine their fingers; Shouta squeezed his hand. It felt like they had all the time in the world.
Hizashi grinned up at the ceiling. “Our team debut, part two—Mic and Eraser: pro heroes and roomies.”
Shouta was silent long enough that Hizashi worried he’d fallen asleep, but there was a smile in his voice when he said: “Not the worst ring to it.”
Hizashi snorted, bringing their joined hands up to kiss Shouta's knuckle. Yeah. They could make something out of this.