Work Text:
"alright, bud. what's wrong?"
izuku has been acting off all day. shouta noticed he was unusually quiet in class, not participating like he usually does, not even perking up during heroics. even out of class, he had excused himself from having lunch with his friends to sit out alone, seemingly not wanting to socialize today.
had shouta been anyone else, he would've simply assumed izuku wanted alone time- perhaps tired or simply not being in the mood for other people- he could relate to that. but there seemed to be more to it. izuku seemed... upset. almost constantly throughout the day. frustated. annoyed.
yet, not lashing out once.
shouta wasn't able to pin down the exact source of his son's persistent irritation but he watched as it slowly grew as the day progressed. they were never anything significant but it was like every little thing, every little inconvenience fed into his son's ire.
forgetting his homework at home, misplacing his favourite pen, cutting himself on a papercut, tripping over air.
it was just not a good day for izu.
every little thing seemed to pile up, bit by little bit throughout the day until the green-haired teen was practically vibrating in silent fury. like a bottle filled and filled and filled to the brim, ready to burst, only held back by a single strand of restrain pulled taut.
it was impressive that the school day went by without izuku snapping. shouta was almost bracing himself for the kid to explode. instead, he let the boy be when they went home, though, he could see izuku almost trembling to keep himself from physically acting out. it was like it took him an unreasonable amount of effort to not angrily lob his bag pack onto the living room floor, to not slam the doors, to not punch something, to not scream. yet again, izuku managed, seething silently as he hid himself in his room.
shouta let him go without a word, hoping some alone time would allow the kid to cool off.
now, sitting at the dinner table, watching izuku grip his fork so tightly that his knuckles turned white, it was obvious the few hours of alone time did little to help izuku calm down.
well. damage control time, it seems.
"c'mon, izu. talk to me," he coaxed gently, not wanting to set what might as well be a ticking bomb in front of him but not willing to let his kid take to war in his own head any longer.
shouta watched as izuku's fingers dug into the fabric of his pants, his fists clenched tight for a moment before he released his hold. he took a deep breath before raising his hands to stiffly sign.
if i speak i'm going to say something mean and regret it.
shouta raised an eyebrow at that, the kid's gaze was still firmly glued to the ground.
"are you angry?"
yes.
"at me?"
izuku seemed to hesitate at the question, before his hands were moving again.
at everything.
well, then. at least it was nothing shouta did specifically. just an off day. he could deal with that. "do you need to hit something?"
the way izuku's eyes flicked up to meet his for the first time tonight gave him his answer.
shouta cracked a kind, understanding smile at that. "alright, then. finish your dinner and we can head down to the gym to work out some of that energy, yeah?"
dinner was a quiet affair but the atmosphere was less tense. food gone and dishes done, the pair didn't waste any time heading to the apartment's private gym, the walk silent.
the space was thankfully empty, and they started doing their stretches in silence. shouta watched izuku's mouth stay clamped shut, his jaw clenched hard.
"you can yell, kid." again, green eyes met his, but the kid still didn't open his mouth to speak.
i'm gonna be mean.
"that's fine." shouta didn't really mind but his son made a face at that, clearly not sharing the sentiment.
don't wanna be mean to you.
and shouta can't help but melt at that. even through his emotional turmoil, his kid had a heart of gold through and through.
he nodded in understanding and trudged over to the lockers on the side. he roots around for a bit before padding back over to the mats. "its okay," he said, showing izuku the earplugs in his hands, stuffing them firmly in his ears. "be as mean as you need."
izuku's eyes seemed to flicker in brief conflict before he settled and nodded.
erase my quirk for me?
"sure thing kid," shouta agreed easily. it would be a pain to uphold the request, literally. his eyes already stinging at the mere thought of it, but he decided it was a small price to pay to provide izuku with this outlet.
taking their stances, shouta barely gave the kid the heads up to start before he was forced into defence against his pent up son.
izuku did not hold back his punches. shouta let him throw his hits, swinging as hard as he could, carefully dodging and blocking, allowing izuku to set the pace with offense. he spaced out his quirk activation, hyper aware of the green lightning flickering around his son, quick to cancel out his quirk before he did any damage.
as they sparred, shouta saw izuku's mouth moving but the earplugs stayed firmly in his ears, preventing him from hearing anything, the constant movement not giving him a chance to lip read either. although, he did not need to hear what he son was spitting out to know he was emotional. his punches were sloppy, his stance open and unprotected, movements uncoordinated and distracted. he was purely fueled by anger and as they sparred, shouta was reminded why it was so important for a hero to keep their emotions under wraps during work.
izuku kept it up for a long while.
until his hits grew weaker, his energy slowly draining out, the anger fading. until finally, he drops forward, his dad catching him in those strong, safe arms.
he didn't know how long he stayed there, how long it took for the ringing in his ears to stop and for his dad's voice to seep into his attention.
"hey, now, bub. you're okay. you're okay, hun." izuku lifts his face up from where it was buried in shouta's chest, confused at his dad's almost frantic soothing until gentle calloused hands cups his face, thumbs brushing away tears.
he hadn't't realise he started crying.
suddenly embarrassed after the entire day of basically sulking and stewing in red anger, izuku hides his face into his dad's shirt while shouta held him together. he remained quiet, content to lean his weight onto his dad's and listen to shouta's quiet reassurance while he catches his breath and allows the thump-thump-thump of his heart to slow.
"i'm proud of you for not acting out on your anger and communicating when it was difficult," shouta murmured into izuku's hair uncaring of it being a sweaty mess. he felt smaller hands tighten their hold on his shirt, and returned the squeeze in earnest. "strong little bunny, so proud of you."
izuku slowly pulled away, looking up to his dad with a weak but genuine smile that shouta returned warmly. "thanks, dad," he whispered, voice a little raw from disuse for the entire day.
if shouta felt his heart grew twice it size in that moment, it was for him and him alone to know.
"lets get clean, hm? we're gross," shouta said teasingly, making a show of wrinkling his nose.
he felt his soul lit up at the sound of izuku's quiet giggle and all was right in the world again.