Chapter Text
Shota resisted the urge to slam his head against the wall. Again. Just barely. The urge was there, and it was only being fuelled by the wry smirk on the detective's face. With a deep sigh, the Hero turned to face Tsukauchi. Wordlessly, the detective offered Shota a steaming cup of coffee. Shota downed it in one before tossing it into their dedicated waste bin for coffee cups.
"He's homeless," is all Shota said.
Tsukauchi's smirk fell. He slammed his head onto the desk.
"Of course he is. Of course he is."
"It's a recent development," Shota tried to placate. "Roughly two weeks, from what he said."
Tsukauchi sighed. "Right. Well. That... changes things?"
Shota shrugged. "You're the one in charge. I'm just dragged along."
"And that's why you asked for adoption forms, isn’t it.” It wasn’t a question, so Shota just stared back in response. Tsukauchi sighed. “I thought you didn't want a kid, and now you're trying to snag a vigilante?"
"I'm not trying to snag-"
"Right. Of course. You're just going to head over to the nearest orphanage and ask them to bring out the vigilante and then kindly offer to give them a home. Aizawa, we know nothing about him."
"We know he's in middle school, preparing for high school."
"Since when?"
"Since last night."
Silence stretched between the two perpetually tired men. It had become a routine occurrence over the last two years since a child vigilante appeared in their lives. As with the previous few vigilante cases they'd worked on together, their caffeine intake increased and their time asleep decreased. There was no saying one was worse off than the other; they'd willingly (albeit also semi reluctantly) agreed to put in the effort, and any consequences were just taken in stride. That said, neither expected the case to run more than two years.
Tsukauchi sighed. "Right. Give me some details. How'd last night go?"
Shota grunted as he fell into the seat across from the detective. He wondered, briefly, if one of his sleeping bags was still hidden somewhere in the precinct... and if he could find it before having to report. He shook the thought from his head, resigning himself to the job at hand.
"Met up with him just after three, as usual. Sat and chatted for a bit, and he said he was 'officially homeless' - implied that he'd been waiting for his mum to kick him out. Didn't seem all that bothered, though perhaps a bit annoyed at it being before he was of legal age. Said she wasn't physically abusive to him, though that still leaves everything else under the sun as an option.
"Doesn't have a place to stay yet, and has missed school for the last two weeks while looking for somewhere. No idea where he's sleeping in the meantime. Once he has something arranged, said he'd sign up for online classes. Is confident he can pass any tests, but acknowledged he may have to push school back a year depending on how long it takes to find a home."
Tsukauchi nodded along as Shota spoke, noting everything down in Malachite's ever growing folder.
"Still no Quirk or other identifying details?"
"Aside from likely last year of middle school? No."
"That... doesn't exactly narrow it down. Though, it's possible somebody will have noticed his absence. I'll keep an eye out for any reports that come in." Tsukauchi hesitated. "You do realise that, even if you manage to adopt him, he'll still be facing charges that come with being a vigilante, right? Any ramifications can be lessened on account of his age and circumstances, but they'd still be on his record."
Shota grunted. "We can figure that out when it becomes a problem."
The detective stared at Shota, his gaze deadpan. "Aizawa. It's already a problem."
The hero simply grunted, refusing to rise to the bait, and stood from the chair. Tsukauchi sighed and waved his hand to the door, and Shota took that as his just dismissal.
It was early afternoon as Shota made his way home. After returning from patrol, he’d barely managed a greeting for his husband before falling asleep, and by the time he woke up Yamada was already off at work. It was a blessing, Shota mused, that he’d expelled all his students for the year, otherwise he wouldn’t’ve gotten any sleep.
The problem now, however, was discussing how to go about adopting a vigilante. Shota suspected that Yamada wouldn’t be too against it - the loud blond had been trying to convince Shota to adopt for years, and had become enamoured with the child vigilante whenever Shota complained about the kid’s actions.
Rounding the last corner to their apartment, Shota barely noticed the young teenager he passed. A boy with dark green hair in a faded black hoodie with two small duffle-bags slung over his shoulders. By the time the Hero realised the oddity of the sight, and spun to try and catch another glance of him, the boy was gone. Frowning, Shota resumed his trip home and was made no wasted time in falling into a doze on the couch once the door was kicked shut.