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2024-07-28
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2024-12-21
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6/?
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Every step of the way

Chapter 6

Summary:

I just started rewatching MHA season 5 so I’m reminded that Aizawa’s scar is below his right eye, not above. My apologies that I got that wrong.

Chapter Text

“Alright, Eri,” said Recovery Girl, standing before the girl with a soft smile on her face. “Are you ready for your final test?” 

Eri nodded confidently. She pumped her little fists and emitted a soft but firm sound of agreement. “Yes, Ms. Chiyo,” she said eagerly. 

The two stood in Recovery Girl’s infirmary, with Shouta off to the side and sitting on one of the beds and Hizashi standing beside him. Eri had been coming to quirk counseling for almost 4 months, and her progress since the start was staggering. With Recovery Girl’s help, they’d learned a lot about Rewind. 

She’d had Eri practice on starfish originally, where at first a laceration was made to part of a limb and she would rewind it back to perfect health, though not de-age it. Then, she would have her rewind the cut only part way through recovery, allowing her to develop finer control of her power (she had some trouble with this for a few weeks, but managed to persevere). Further testing revealed that, if a limb from a starfish had been completely amputated, and Eri connected them and used her quirk, she could restore the starfish to full functionality with no loss of health to the limb, no dead cells and the nerves were completely intact. 

Through further testing, making multiple different size cuts on the same starfish, they also discovered that her power doesn’t focus on any particular site of injury but rather it extends over the whole body and rewinds at an equal rate. The shallower cuts would rewind to completion first while the deeper one’s lagged behind, but eventually all would be restored. And while an injury was being rewound, the rest of the body was largely unaffected until the wound had been healed.

After practicing on starfish, Eri moved on to bugs. She’d reverse a butterfly back into a chrysalis and then into a caterpillar. The caterpillar was then allowed to develop normally, reforming its cocoon and then sprouting out as a butterfly once again. This showed that Rewind reversed a being to a point, but that the being would then follow its normal progression through the life cycle with no defects later on. They’d tested this process on multiple bugs of the same and of different species to verify this claim.

From bugs she moved onto lizards, and she slowly but surely made her way up to humans. At first, Recovery Girl would use a lancet to poke herself in the finger, and then have Eri fix the damage. When Eri was done, there wasn’t even any scar tissue left over. Recovery Girl’s hand looked exactly as it did before the prick of the needle. After it was deemed safe, Eri was then allowed to practice on willing students who came in for various scrapes and bruises. Midoriya was a frequent visitor, and had no hesitation in being there to help Eri practice, and Eri appreciated the company of her hero. 

Today was the day of Eri’s final test in quirk counseling. Recovery Girl had told Shouta about the particulars of this exam, and while he was reluctant at first he did agree it would be the greatest test of how much control Eri has over Rewind. He’d talked it over with Hizashi, who was equally reluctant, almost aggressively so, but eventually he too was talked into it. But he made it a point that he would be present for it.

If Eri passed this test, Recovery Girl would allow Eri to attempt Rewind on Togata to see if his quirk may be restored. Eri knew this and was even more determined to succeed as a result.

After giving Eri her final pep-talk, Recovery Girl turned towards the caregivers off to the side. “For your test, your patient will be… Shouta Aizawa.”

Eri’s eyes almost flew out of her head. She turned toward her caregiver with her mouth agape, taken completely aback by this declaration. “Mr. Aizawa?” she questioned. 

Recovery Girl nodded. “Indeed,” she replied. “You see, Eri, at the start of this school year, Eraserhead suffered a head injury while protecting his students during the USJ raid, and as a result the nerve in his eye was damaged. This caused a decrease in the vision in his right eye, as well a decrease in how long he can use his quirk. This is damage that I can’t fix with my quirk, but you can. For your test, you’re to undo the damage from that incident. I don’t expect you to fully restore Eraser to what he once was, but if you can manage any improvement in him at all I’ll consider it a pass.”

Eri stood in silence, processing the challenge before her. She’d heard stories about the USJ incident from Deku and some of his friends, and how hard Mr. Aizawa fought to defend them when a big scary monster appeared with the League of Villains. Apparently, that’s how he got that scar above his eye, she just wasn’t sure of the particulars until now.

Eri had grown more confident in her power, thanks to Ms. Chiyo’s training. She had no reservations about using it, because she knew how to control it and she believed she was using it for good. But the thought of using it on Mr. Aizawa? This was man who’d brought her into his home, taken care of her, supported her, built her up, showed her what love felt like, him and Mr. Yamada. If she didn’t do this right…

“Shuzenji, are you sure about this?” Hizashi asked nervously. He believed in Eri’s capabilities, he knew how well she’d gotten at controlling her quirk, and the work up until now proved that the job itself was within her power, but it was difficult to accept the idea that they were using his husband as a kind of guinea pig for this test. More so, if Shouta was the one Eri was using for practice, he might not be able to use Erasure on her and stop her if she lost control. “What if-”

Shouta cut off his husband, raising a hand to him as he interrupted. “It’s fine, Hizashi,” he declared. “Everything that Eri’s done in the last 4 months has shown me she’s ready. I wouldn’t have said yes otherwise. I accept the risks because I believe in her, and I know she can do this.” He reached out to hold his husband’s hand, and gave it a gentle but firm squeeze as he smiled without fear. “You should believe in her, too.”

Recovery Girl’s smile perked up, ever so slightly but noticeably. “Well said, Eraser,” she said proudly. 

Hizashi looked back and forth between Shouta and Eri, and couldn’t help but smile as well. “Of course I believe in her,” he replied, gripping back Shouta’s grasp, proudly and without hesitation. He turned towards his charge and flashed a toothy grin at her. “I believe in you, too, Eri. I know you can do this, and I have no doubt you’ll pass this test. Do your best!”

Eri’s eyes watered at the grownup’s words. They believed in her… they trusted her, not only with her power but with healing Mr. Aizawa. The way his eyes shined through the lens of his sunglasses at her now erased any shred of doubt she had before. She looked at the other adults, seeing proud, reassuring stares all in her direction. They all believed in her…

Steeling herself for her mission ahead, Eri used her sleeve to wipe away the tears. She pumped her fists eagerly at her sides, and nodded. “I won’t let you down!” she declared, all but running to the bedside and standing firmly in front of Shouta. She stood confidently as she mentally prepared herself.

Hizashi let go of his husband’s hand, stepping back behind Eri and next to Recovery Girl. No words needed to be said as Eri raised her hands to Shouta’s temples, planting them on either side of his head. Shouta closed his eyes, placing his full and complete faith in Eri.

“Remember, Eri, start out by slowly releasing your energy into your palms. Feel the energy as it’s moving from your horn, through your body, out of your hands and into the patient. Feel where your power is affecting the patient. Concentrate on that feeling, and as soon as you feel that your power isn’t doing anything for the injury anymore, you stop.”

Eri nodded at her teacher’s instruction. She remembered all the time she and Ms. Chiyo spent training, how many hours they’d dedicated for her to understand how the energy from her quirk leaves her body and rewinds whatever it touches. She remembered all the praise she got from her caregivers and Hitoshi when she progressed. She knew she could do this, Mr. Aizawa knew she could, so did Mr. Yamada and Ms. Chiyo! She wouldn't let them all down!

Hizashi and Recovery Girl watched as Eri’s horn lit up, a gentle, warm yellow glow emanating from it. The glow extended slowly from her outstretched arms to Shouta’s head, and spread over his entire body. They watched with bated breath as they watched this little girl work her magic. 

Shouta could feel it. A warmth had radiated throughout his body, right from the fingertips of this little girl. He could feel some of his old scars being affected, his hair felt like it was slowly receding into his scalp, some of his older wear-and-tear aches were beginning to fade, and the dull pain in behind his eye was getting more and more dull. Slowly but surely, he felt the effects of Rewind turning back the hands of time on his body. 

Hizashi watched Eri with amazement. He’d seen her use Rewind before, though never quite to this degree. He remembered the scared child that walked through their door, timid and fearful of everything. He remembered how insecure Eri was when it came to her power, to her horn, her very existence, and that was not the child before him today. This was a determined, happy, proud and beautiful little girl that wanted to prove herself, and he felt damn proud of her for it. Any reservations about this test had long since been buried by this wonderful showing in front of him. 

That’s my girl,’ he thought. ‘You can do it, Eri.’

Five minutes silently passed before the light began to fade. The light that surrounded Shouta was reduced to a glimmer, fading wisps of her quirk slowly disappearing, and before long the light had disappeared completely. Eri stood back to look at what she had done, sweat dripping from her brow but her confidence unshaken. Hizashi and Recovery Girl walked up beside her to see exactly what was done.

At first glance, the scar above Shouta’s right eyebrow had disappeared completely, like it never happened. Shouta slowly opened his eyes, softly placing a hand to where the scar had been, and noted the complete absence of pain or discomfort that was usually there. Calmly, he looked in a nearby mirror and saw that the mark had indeed been erased. 

Recovery Girl walked up to him, pulling a penlight out of her coat. She turned it on and flashed the light briefly into each of Shouta’s eyes. A proud grin stretched across her face. “How do you feel, Eraser?” she asked, practically knowing the answer already.

Shouta smiled back at her. “Like there’s no longer a rock in the back of my head,” he answered. His eyes flashed red as he activated Erasure. They all watched as his hair levitated above his head while he looked around the room in different directions, up, down, sideways. As quickly as it went up, the untangled black locks fell down once again, and Shouta’s irises returned to normal. “And my quirk seems stronger too, just like it was a year ago. And a few other small aches and pains seem to be gone as well.”

“Well then, I guess there’s only one thing to say…” Recovery girl turned towards her student and gave her a proud smile. “Congratulations, Eri, you’ve passed with flying colors!”

Eri barely had time to gasp before Hizashi had scooped her up from behind and twirled her around like a spinning top. “YOU DID IT!” he screamed excitedly, letting Eri giggle and laugh as she was spun around. He stopped spinning only so he could pull her in for a bone-crushing bear hug with her face pressed firmly into his chest. “Eri, I can’t tell you how proud of you I am. How proud we all are! You did it, you really did it!” 

Muffled shouts could be heard from beneath Hizashi’s jacket, along with a rapid pounding of a small open hand against the leather.

Shouta chuckled. “Hizashi, you’re suffocating her,” he said derisively, though he really had no room to judge. If it weren’t his husband smothering the child, he’d have done it himself. He was equally proud of her, not to mention grateful, but still preferred to let Hizashi express emotions for the two of them. 

Hizashi yelped, pulling Eri away from his chest and letting the girl take a deep breath in. He chuckled awkwardly. “Sorry, little listener. Forgot you need air for a second there.”

Once she regained her composure, she smiled back up at the blond man holding her. Her big red eyes glistened with pride, and the pure joy from her expression was practically contagious. “I passed!” she exclaimed. “I can really control my quirk now! I did it, Papa, I did it!”

Everyone in the room seemed to be hit by the same bolt of lightning that froze them all. No one moved or made a sound, simply stuck in place as they all processed what Eri had just said. 

“Wh-... What did you say, Eri?” Hizashi asked, cautiously, almost in a whisper. 

Realizing her freudian slip, Eri’s joy quickly morphed into embarrassment. Her eyes grew even wider, a bright red flush spread across her face, and her smile had fallen into a gaping frown of worry. “N-Nothing!” she stuttered, burying her face in Hizashi’s jacket.

Shouta stood up from the bed, walking to stand next to his husband and their charge. Running a hand over her scalp and through her hair, he spoke. “Eri, is that how you feel?” he asked. “Do you feel like Hizashi is Papa to you?” The ‘...and me your Dad?’ was left unspoken but no less felt by all.

Eri whined in behind the jacket, silently kicking herself. She didn’t even know where it came from, she was just so happy from passing her test, happy that she pleased her teacher, happy that the two most active roles in her life were there for it. She hadn’t even realized she said it at first, not until they all looked at her with such disbelief in their eyes. She shouldn’t have said that, she wasn’t their kid, not officially like Hitoshi, and she went and made it all weird by saying that! 

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, pushing herself off from Hizashi’s chest. “It was an accident, I didn’t…”

“Eri,” Hizashi said, his voice stern and clear, quickly grabbing the girl’s attention. She watched as streams of tears fell down from his eyes as well, and a huge, loving smile plastered across his face. “Don’t you ever feel sorry for that. You hear me? I’m thrilled! I… I’m so happy - SO happy - to hear you call me ‘Papa’ I can… I can barely-!”

Recovery Girl seemed to anticipate the fact that Hizashi’s weakened knees were about to give out on him and pushed a rolling chair up behind him, just in time to catch him as he fell. He and Eri both let out a grunt as they fell in the chair unexpectedly. 

Hizashi’s grin didn’t falter, and a few chuckles escaped his lips. “...stand up straight.”

Shouta knelt down beside them, drawing Eri’s attention to him again. Shouta’s expression was much more reserved, it always was compared to Hizashi, but he smiled unabashedly as he looked into Eri’s eyes. “Eri, ever since you came into our lives, we always thought of you as our child. Even if it's not legal, as of yet. And if you want to think of us as your fathers, me your Dad and Hizashi your Papa, we welcome you to do so. We both love you, and want you to be a part of our family forever. Always have, always will.”

Eri didn’t even realize it, didn’t allow herself to dream of it, that that was exactly what she wanted, too. She wanted Mr. Yamada and Mr. Aizawa to be her fathers, her Papa and her Dad. She wanted Hitoshi to be her big brother. She just didn’t allow herself to realize that it could be real, that it could be permanent. They wanted her, just like she wanted them.

She wiped away the tears and smiled, back and forth between them. “Really?” she asked, hope dripping in her voice.

“Really,” Hizashi continued. “In fact, from now on, I am forbidding you to call us anything else! If you call us Mr. Yamada or Mr. Aizawa again, no dessert for you! We’re Papa and Dad now, I refuse to accept anything else! Those names don’t exist anymore! Forget they ever existed!”

Eri giggled at Mr. Ya-… Papa’s antics. “Okay… Papa.” 

Hizashi smiled tearfully, his lip quivering and excitement bubbling just under the surface. He swiftly passed Eri off to Shouta’s expectant arms, jumped out of the chair, ran to the end of the room and opened the window. He stuck his head out the window, took in a deep breath, and uncontrollably screamed, “YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!!”

The few students walking around the grounds of UA fell to the ground and covered their ears, the painful sound of Present Mic’s quirk reminding everyone how he gained the moniker “Voice Hero” and questioning what had happened to elicit such a scream on an otherwise peaceful day. 

The sound was so loud that even those in the room had to shield their ears. They could almost feel the rattling of the windows from Hizashi’s quirk. Even so, Eri smiled through it, safe in her Dad’s arms. ‘Dad…’ she thought, feeling tingly in her chest at the elated feeling that came over her even just by thinking it. ‘Dad and Papa… my Dad and Papa.’

It took a minute for Hizashi to stop screaming. He retracted his head in from the window, exhausted and out of breath. Even through all the huffing and puffing from trying to get the air back into his lungs, the smile stretched across his face never wavered, and the tears of happiness didn’t stop either. 

Watching the Voice Hero struggling to breathe gave the okay for everyone else to uncover their ears. Shouta smirked at his husband as Eri glanced at him with worry. “Get it all out of your system?” he asked mockingly.

“I… might need… one or two more… of those on the way back…” the blonde replied in between breaths, hunched over with his hands on his knees. He let out a big WHOOOOA as he stood upright again. “But… I think I’m good for now.” 

Shouta braced himself as his husband came running at the two of them. He wrapped his long arms around both of them, peppering kisses to both of their foreheads back and forth. Shouta groaned, secretly loving the affection but he’d take it to his grave before he admitted it, while Eri giggled. 

“P-Papa! That tickles!” she protested, unrelenting laughter still not far behind.

Hizashi stopped only long enough that he could wipe away his happy-tears and smile at the girl in his arms. “Sorry Er-Bear, no can do!” he replied, kissing her forehead several more times for emphasis. “One of Papa’s most important duties includes showering their kid with kisses whenever possible, even if it annoys them!”

Eri tried to protect herself from more kisses, but found it for naught when she heard Papa squawk as Dad grabbed a handful of his long, blond, spiked-up hair and yanked. Hard. “And one of Dad’s most important duties is to make sure Papa respects his children’s boundaries,” Dad added, his voice dripping with disdain.  

“Sh-Shouta, come ooooon!” Hizashi pleaded, whining desperately while he struggled under his husband’s grip; a grip that seemed to be getting tighter. “Let me have thi- OW OW OW OKAY, OKAY! I YIELD! I YIELD! UNCLE!” 

Shouta contemplated his options for a moment, but ultimately let go… after one final tug, resulting in Hizashi screeching at an octave that Eri hadn’t even been sure a man was capable of producing until now. Collecting himself, he checked the nearby mirror and gawked when he saw that his perfectly styled hair had a huge, bundled up chunk at the end where his husband’s grip had been. He turned angrily to Shouta, shouting, “You know how long it takes me every morning to get my hair right!!” 

Without missing a beat, Shouta replied, “I am aware. The gel company sends us thank you gifts every year at Christmas for all the business you give them.” To add insult to injury, he wiped his hand on his pants to remove the fistful of hair gel he’d stolen from his husband’s locks, never once turning his gaze away from the fuming man standing beside him.

“Why you-!” Before Hizashi could offer a rebuttal, for which Shouta was ready to parry, the two were stopped by the eruption of laughter coming from the small girl in Shouta’s arms. Eri couldn’t help it, she found the couple’s antics so entertaining, comedic even, that she couldn’t stop herself from laughing. It hurt, right in the center of her belly, to laugh as hard as she did but she couldn’t stop herself. Her young, high-pitched laughter echoed the nurse’s office while the corners of her mouth stretched so much that it hurt.

Shouta and Hizashi looked at the little girl, laughing so hard at the two of them. It was far from the first time they’d argued like that, but this was only the second time that such an altercation had elicited a response of joy and laughter from anyone. 

The first time this had happened was when they fought in front of Hitoshi, right after they first started fostering him. They didn’t know what was happening at first. One second Hizashi was yelling at Shouta for dressing so lazily, a jumper and (barely) matching sweatpants after getting ready to go to some hero banquet, while Hizashi was dressed to the nines in a designer suit and tie, with Shouta offering the well-thought-out response of “I didn’t even wanna go in the first place, so I’m dressing how I want. If someone has a problem with it, they can kiss my ass.” This led to the same sort of back and forth that the couple was ultimately known for, forgetting their charge was still in the room. The next, there was a barking laugh coming from the teenager. An uncontrollable laughter that stopped the fight and drew their attention to the boy laying on the couch, clutching his stomach because he was laughing so hard. There were even tears prickling at his eyes, and his pale cheeks were suddenly flushed. 

That was the first time either of them had seen Hitoshi smile, much less laugh. He’d never been so comfortable in his new home that Hitoshi would offer much expression of any emotion, not until he was busting a gut laughing at his foster parents having a stupid argument over how one dressed. 

That was when they both knew that Hitoshi was happy in their home. He’d finally expressed something other than disdain and moody teenager rebuttals of “whatever.” It felt like he had finally become part of their family. 

It was the same thing for Hitoshi then that they felt for Eri now. Laughing at the couple’s antics seemed to be a tradition of ingratiating oneself into the Aizawa-Yamada household. Feeling comfortable enough to laugh so brazenly at her fathers having a silly argument. And it brought each of them a sense of longing and love for the child that erased any and all desire to fight and made them want to hug their kid.

Hizashi and Shouta smiled softly, once again engaging themselves in a three-person hug while their little one calmed down enough to embrace them back. In unison, as if they’d rehearsed for a lifetime for it, the couple said, “We love you, Eri.”

Eri beamed, clutching tightly into her father’s grasps. With a big smile plastered to her face, and small trickles of jovial tears in the corners of her eyes, she replied. “I love you, too, Dad. I love you, too, Papa.”

All the while, Recovery Girl stood to the side with a proud smile, wiping away joyful tears of her own at this wonderful family moment she’d been lucky to witness.