Chapter Text
You know, there's not a ton about my father that I remember that doesn't suck. But he used to tell me that there are no coincidences. Everything that happens, happens by design, and there's nothing we can do about it; forces greater than us conspire to make it happen. Fate, destiny, whatever you wanna called it, the point is... maybe we met for a reason.
Once Upon a Time, 2x14 "Manhattan"
Shouta returns to the teachers’ dorms to find Hitoshi, Eri, and Nejire gathered around a table in the common room. It’s not a strange sight, exactly, though Hitoshi seems to be getting along with Nejire better than he’s seen previously. It’s not that Hitoshi dislikes Nejire, but…her excitable nature can be a lot for Shouta as well.
As soon as the door shuts behind him, all three kids look up with wide eyes, like they’ve been caught doing something they shouldn’t. As far as Shouta can tell, however, they’re just coloring with Eri. So long as Hitoshi and Eri have both completed their schoolwork, there’s no reason for them to fret.
“Good afternoon, Sensei!” Nejire chirps, bouncing to her feet. “I finished up my work early today, so I hope you don’t mind me stopping by. I wanted to visit a few of the other teachers and students too, but I had to see Eri-chan first, and then we, um. Got a bit distracted.” She smiles sheepishly.
Shouta shrugs. He hangs his coat on the rack by the door, then slowly makes his way towards the kitchen. Many of the teachers have moved out of the dorms, now that it’s no longer required for staff to live on campus, so he’s not sure if someone else has plans to make dinner tonight or not. If Hitoshi and Nejire are staying, he’ll have to figure out something to feed four.
Maybe Nejire would be willing to help cook.
“Have any of you seen Yagi-san today?” Shouta calls out. Whether or not he concerns himself too hard with dinner contemplation will likely depend on how Yagi is doing. He’s taken a liking for cooking in the months since the war, but there are some days when he simply doesn’t have the energy, even staying in his wheelchair.
(And there’s the reason Shouta, Yagi, and Nemuri have elected to stay in the dorms. One of Nezu’s first orders of business concerning UA after the war was to increase accessibility everywhere. To accommodate for the permanent injuries so many sustained in the fights. Staying here is easier than searching for an apartment that is wheelchair accessible.)
When Shouta’s question does not elicit an answer from any of the three kids, he turns to look at them. “Well?”
Hitoshi clears his throat. “Not since class this morning. He had his cane, though, so it’s probably a better day.”
Or he’s pushing himself too hard again, Shouta thinks. Hypocritical coming from him, but—
Whatever.
He hums in response. He opens the fridge, skimming its contents for approximately five seconds before he shifts his leg and grimaces at the pain that sparks through what’s left of it. He should sit down. The kids might have to settle for leftovers or fend for themselves.
He drops heavily into a chair, just as the door opens again and a loud voice declares, “We are here!”
Shouta glances up and finds Yagi and Hizashi walking in, both with wide smiles on their faces. As Hitoshi said, Yagi has his cane today, and he seems to be doing well with it, which is good. He watches as Eri rushes over to greet them, and Hizashi scoops her up into his arms. She immediately launches into an explanation about her day while Hitoshi and Nejire clean up the coloring supplies on the table.
Yagi makes his way over to Shouta.
“How’s your leg?” he asks, carefully lowering himself into the seat beside Shouta’s.
Shouta grunts in response. It encapsulates his feelings better than words ever could.
Yagi offers him a dry smile, and Shouta buries the bottom of his face in his capture weapon. He wishes Yagi would stop looking at him like that. It’s too familiar—too much like something Shouta thinks he could get used to seeing for the rest of his life.
It’s ridiculous, honestly. All Might has no reason to stick around someone like Shouta. The only reason they spend so much time together is because they’re in similar circumstances after the war, and because they work together. That’s it.
But when Yagi reaches forward, tucking a strand of hair behind Shouta’s ear, it’s strikingly hard to remember that.
He clears his throat. “I haven’t asked if Hadou is staying for dinner. Did you have plans to cook?”
Yagi nods. “Hizashi found a new recipe he wants to try out. I’m sure there will be enough for the kids.”
Shouta looks past Yagi, to where Hizashi is setting Eri back on the ground. He ruffles her hair, then starts towards the kitchen. Shouta doesn’t even like cooking, and he knows Hizashi isn’t harboring a stupid, fruitless crush on the former Number 1 Hero, but irrational jealousy still spikes in his stomach at the thought of them cooking together.
He frowns at himself, shaking his head slightly. He needs to get his feelings under control.
He pushes himself up from the table. “I’ll let them know,” he says. His frown deepens before he adds, “And then I’ll call Nemuri; I haven’t seen her since this morning.”
Yagi nods, grinning brightly.
Shouta’s heart stutters in his chest.
As soon as he approaches Eri, Hitoshi, and Nejire, their hushed conversation drops into silence. He doesn’t worry about it, because he knows he can trust his kids, and Nejire has never proven to be a bad influence in all the times she’s babysat Eri. Though he still finds the situation slightly strange, he chalks it up to the fact that he simply does not know what it means to have normal children.
He is a UA teacher, after all.
“Hitoshi, are you and Hadou-kun staying for dinner?”
Hitoshi looks to Nejire, who beams and says, “Only if it’s not too much trouble! Will Midnight-sensei be here? I was hoping to see her before I left campus. We’ve been working on a case at the Ryuukyuu Agency that I just know she’d love to hear about, and I haven’t talked with her in ages anyway, and—” she takes a breath, and Hitoshi interjects with a simple:
“Yes.”
Shouta nods. “Very well. Dinner should be done soon.” He shoots one final glance back towards the kitchen, where Yagi and Hizashi are standing side-by-side at the counter.
Ridiculous, he thinks.
He excuses himself to go call Nemuri.
Two days later, Eri tugs on Shouta’s sleeve and asks, “Can we have a movie night this weekend?”
Shouta raises an eyebrow. “Who is ‘we’?”
“You and me and Toshi-nii and Yagi-san!” She frowns, bottom lip sticking out in a slight pout. “Midnight-san and Mic-san said they’re busy.”
Shouta frowns. Busy? he thinks. When they were younger, Hizashi and Nemuri were always dragging him out on the weekends, but these days, they tend to stay in.
“So can we?” Eri asks. “Please? Toshi-nii was telling me all about a new movie with cats and they go to space and it sounds so cool!”
“I’m fine with that,” Shouta agrees, because he’s never been very good at saying no to Eri. Especially with something harmless like this. “You’ll have to ask Yagi-san if he wants to, though.”
“Yay!” Eri cheers, jumping up and down. “I’m gonna go find him now. Okay, bye!”
And then she rushes off.
Which is how, on Saturday night, Shouta finds himself in the living area of the dorm, crutches hooked under his arms, frowning at Eri laying sideways across the recliner as she fiddles with the remote. Generally, when they watch movies together, Eri will either sit on Shouta’s lap on the recliner or lay across the couch with Hitoshi. He doesn’t mind switching spots, exactly, except for the fact that Yagi is joining them tonight, and there’s approximately half of the couch left for them to share with the way Hitoshi is lounging on the other half.
“Eri,” he starts.
“I wanna sit all by myself!” she declares. “And Toshi-nii said they want to sit with you since I’m always the one who gets to.”
“Hey!” Hitoshi protests, cheeks coloring. “That’s not—”
Shouta sighs. His arms are starting to ache from the crutches, so he figures this isn’t worth the fight. It’s just a movie. He’s watched movies with Nemuri draped across his lap and Hizashi snoring on his shoulder; he can handle one night respectfully sitting next to Yagi.
He drops himself onto the couch beside Hitoshi, then lays his crutches on the floor at his feet. Foot. Whatever.
A moment later, Yagi arrives, balancing three bowls of popcorn in his hands.
“Where’s your cane?” Shouta asks him as he hands one bowl to Eri.
Yagi smiles sheepishly. The second bowl goes to Hitoshi, and then he takes the empty spot beside Shouta. “I couldn’t carry everything with it. It wasn’t a far walk; I’m fine.” He holds the third and final bowl out to Shouta. “For you.”
“You could’ve asked for help,” Shouta argues. “And did you not make a bowl for yourself?”
“Oh, I can’t eat too much of it,” Yagi waves his concern aside. “All the butter and salt isn’t good for my stomach. I figured I could steal some of yours.”
Shouta raises an eyebrow. “Who says I’d let you?”
Yagi tilts his head. “Would you not?”
He’s playing innocent. Shouta cannot stand him. He wants to kiss him so bad.
He turns away, clearing his throat. “Whatever. You should stop walking around without your cane, though. Even short distances. It’s not good for you.”
Hitoshi snorts. Shouta glares at them.
“Shhh!” Eri demands. “I’m gonna start the movie, so you gotta be quieter.”
“Sorry,” Hitoshi says, not sounding particularly sorry. “I’ll get the lights.”
They set their popcorn bowl down on the couch right next to Shouta, so he can’t move over without also moving the bowl. It seems almost intentional, but Shouta shakes that thought away. Hitoshi is smart; even if they have figured out Shouta’s feelings for Yagi, they must also know nothing will come of it, and they wouldn’t waste their time meddling in something like that. They don’t seem the type to waste their time meddling in relationships at all, considering how much they’ve complained about the constant PDA in the 2-A dorm common room.
Hitoshi shuts the lights off, and once they’ve returned to their seat, Eri starts the movie. It’s clearly geared towards children, given the bright colors and simple dialogue, but Shouta can’t deny that it’s a cute film.
Though, he may be a bit biased, given the fact that the main characters are all cats.
True to Yagi’s word, he ends up stealing a few pieces of popcorn from Shouta’s bowl. When their hands unintentionally brush, Shouta has to bite back the feeling of being on some silly high school romcom date. With anyone else, he would be annoyed, but with Yagi—
“Sorry,” Yagi murmurs, just loud enough for Shouta to hear. His breath ghosts against Shouta’s ear, and he fights to suppress a shiver.
“It’s fine,” Shouta manages, barely. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches Yagi bring the popcorn to his mouth. He can imagine Hizashi and Nemuri relentlessly teasing him for it, but he can’t quite manage to tear his focus away from Yagi and back to the movie.
What finally diverts his attention is a pressure against his thigh.
He turns to find Hitoshi has slid down even further, so their feet are now digging into Shouta’s leg. Their eyes are shut, though, and they appear to be asleep. Shouta won’t wake them when he knows how they struggle with getting enough sleep—their insomnia is bad enough to rival even his own—so he simply moves a bit closer to Yagi, trying to give Hitoshi as much room as possible, allowing them comfort while they doze.
As the movie plays on, Hitoshi gradually slides further and further down, nudging Shouta closer to Yagi as they do so. He grits his teeth and takes it, because he already decided he won’t risk waking Hitoshi up by moving them, even if it makes focusing on the movie all but impossible when he ends up pressed so close to Yagi.
It’s stupid, he tells himself. Illogical. Don’t get worked up over it.
(It’s easier said than done.)
But Shouta has never been one to entertain himself with flights of fantasy, so before long, he’s managed to relax once more. Yagi doesn’t seem upset by their proximity, and it is rather nice, and Hitoshi is sleeping soundly, so really, there is nothing lost. He keeps his eye trained on the TV screen, even if he has very little idea what is happening in the movie at this point, and all is good.
Until something thumps softly against his shoulder.
He freezes, blood turning to ice, because there is only one possible explanation for this. Yagi is beside him, and he is now resting his head on Shouta’s shoulder. Likely because he’s fallen asleep; he doesn’t come across as the overly-cuddly type. Not towards friends, at least—perhaps it would be different with a lover.
Which is something Shouta should not think about.
His mind has already begun to wander, though, wondering what it might be like to date Yagi—what it would be like if this closeness was something he was always allowed. The weight of Yagi against him is comforting, and while Shouta is rather picky when it comes to who he allows to touch him, he’s found he doesn’t mind much when Yagi is the one doing it.
It’s a privilege he’s afforded very few people—Hizashi and Nemuri took it for themselves, weaseling their way into Shouta’s life and draping themselves over his shoulders until he simply grew used to their presence, and Oboro had been the same way. Hitoshi and Eri are the only other people Shouta doesn’t mind touching him freely, though those situations are different entirely. Not to mention Hitoshi is even more touch-averse than Shouta himself is, so they rarely seek out physical affection from anyone.
It means something that Shouta is comfortable enough with Yagi to not instinctively flinch away from his touch. And it means even more that some part of Shouta craves it—that he wants to reach back out, to wrap an arm around Yagi and hold him close, to play with his hair and admire him as he sleeps.
He blinks.
Shit.
His gaze slides down to Yagi, looking at him from the corner of his eye, and his breath hitches. There’s nothing particularly special about the sight—Shouta can’t even see him very well, between his limited vision and the fact that he refuses to move a single muscle—but it’s so…
Warm.
Domestic.
And Shouta is struck by a sharp sense of longing—of wishing that he could hold onto this moment forever. He wants Yagi to stay in his life, for more movie nights and quiet moments like this. He wants more than what they already have, and wants it with a fiercer fire than what he could ever consider a silly, stupid, crush. His feelings for Yagi have already far surpassed that, without him having noticed at all.
He’s fucked.
He takes a breath, closing his eye, and tells himself this is not a problem to worry about now. He’s going to lock it away in a box in the back corner of his mind, where it can’t bother him, and then he can have a breakdown over it later.
(And by later, he means. Never.)
He nods to himself, satisfied with the decision, and then fixes his gaze on the TV screen so he doesn’t have to think about anything else.
—
Shouta blinks his eye open slowly, grogginess still clinging heavily to him. He must have fallen asleep as well, he thinks vaguely. The TV is off and the room is dark, which Shouta will use as the excuse for why it takes him so long to realize that at some point, he curled his body into Yagi’s, to the point where the two of them are practically cuddling.
Briefly, he despairs.
His heartbeat picks up its pace in his chest, despite his best efforts to keep his composure, hammering so loudly against his ribcage he fears it may wake Yagi. Such irrational thoughts and actions are unbecoming of him, so Shouta blames it on the fact that he’s still waking up rather than the truth of the matter. Which is that the former Symbol of Peace has reduced him to someone with an obsessive high school infatuation.
As Shouta slowly gains more consciousness, he realizes that the popcorn bowls have been cleared away, and someone draped a large blanket over him and Yagi. Hitoshi, most likely, given the fact that they and Eri have both disappeared from the room and he can’t imagine Eri would’ve had much luck handling a blanket of this size.
Shouta breathes in, and then out.
Carefully, he lifts his head, and he intends to disentangle himself from Yagi straight away, but he stops when he catches sight of his sleeping face. There’s just enough light seeping in through the window, from the streetlamps outside, that Shouta can admire the peaceful expression Yagi is wearing. It’s not often the worry lines on his face soften out like this, painting a picture of someone calm and relaxed.
It’s a good look on him, Shouta thinks. One he wishes he could see more often.
He promptly cuts that thought off before it can grow legs and run away from him, and then extracts himself from the two-person cuddle pile he and Yagi accidentally created. As he’s pulling away, Yagi stirs, which is for the best, truthfully. Neither one of them should spend an entire night sleeping on the couch; he can’t imagine such a thing would do any favors for bodies already afflicted by chronic pain.
(Shouta can already feel an ache forming in the stump of his right leg.)
“Hey,” Shouta greets, voice rough from lingering sleep. “Movie’s over.”
Yagi offers him a soft smile, small and tired and not at all like the wide grins he stretches across his face in an endless attempt to make the people around him feel safe. This smile is a private one, meant only for Shouta.
His chest seizes.
He is not thinking about this right now.
“C’mon, let’s head in,” Shouta says. “I’m not letting you sleep on the couch. You’ll regret it in the morning if you do.”
Yagi grimaces. “I’m aware.”
There’s not anything left to clean up apart from the blanket—Shouta will have to thank Hitoshi and Eri for that in the morning—so he and Yagi simply make their way to their respective rooms without any additional fanfare. They bid each other polite goodnights before parting ways.
And as soon as Shouta has closed the door to his room behind him, he all but falls into his bed and mutters an emphatic, “Fuck,” into the pillow.
He needs to figure out some way to deal with these feelings, and fast.
Shouta dares to think he’s in the clear after a week passes with no further incidents. His feelings have settled back into the depths of his chest, where they’re easy to ignore, and Hitoshi and Eri have not been acting as strange—at least, not where he can see it. He’s ready to chalk it all up to one weird occurrence when he returns home to the scent of fresh-baked cookies.
He frowns as he hangs up his jacket. Hizashi and Nemuri were both meeting with students after classes today, so he knows neither of them could be in the kitchen right now. And Eri knows better than to use the oven on her own. Someone else must be here. Hitoshi isn’t big on cooking, but he supposes Eri could have convinced them…
He passes through the entryway and finds that it isn’t Hitoshi at all, but Yagi who is seated at the kitchen table with Eri. She’s watching with wide eyes as he pipes icing onto a heart-shaped sugar cookie. Shouta looks around, half-expecting to find someone else here as the core perpetrator of this, but he comes up empty.
He sighs as he unwinds the capture scarf from around his neck. He drapes it over the back of the couch, then continues out to the kitchen. “What’s happening here?”
Both Yagi and Eri start in unison, which causes affection to well in Shouta’s heart. He stamps it down best as he can, leaning forward against one of the empty chairs for support as he eyes the cookies. Several are already decorated—though he’s honestly not sure which ones were done by Eri vs. which ones were done by Yagi. It seems they both have an affinity for excessive amounts of sprinkles.
“Hi, Dad!” Eri exclaims. “We’re making cookies. You should join us!”
“You seem to be done with the ‘making’ part,” he points out, raising an eyebrow.
“There is still one pan in the oven,” Yagi says. As if on cue, a time goes off, and Yagi grimaces. He starts to set down his icing bag, but Shouta moves faster.
“I’ll get it.”
Yagi smiles sheepishly. “Thanks.”
Shouta removes the final tray of cookies from the oven, setting them on a hot pad already laid out on the counter. He makes sure to turn the oven off before returning to the table and sliding into the chair he’d previously been leaning against. “Can I ask what inspired this?”
“We wanted to do something nice for you,” Eri says resolutely, leaving no room for argument.
Shouta turns his gaze to Yagi as he replies, “Did you, now?”
Yagi looks away, stammering out an incoherent reply. Shouta’s heart does something funny in his chest. He should put a stop to this now, before his feelings begin to spiral out of control all over again, but then Eri cuts in with puppy dog eyes and a pleading, “Will you decorate them with us? Please?”
Shouta likes to think of himself as hard-hearted—stubborn and taking no nonsense from anyone—but Eri is always the one exception to this rule. She’s had him wrapped around her finger since the first week she was placed into his care and back then, she didn’t even know how to do so on purpose. At this point, she can weaponize her cuteness to get pretty much anything she wants from him.
He relents easily, though he huffs out a performative sigh. “Fine,” he agrees. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.”
“YES!” Eri cheers. She hops up from her seat and darts over to the counter, grabbing an empty piping bag and another can of frosting, then skips back over and sets them down in front of Shouta. “Um. I have to go to the bathroom, but I bet Yagi-san can help you fill the bag!”
She rushes off again before Shouta can get a word in edgewise.
He finds himself looking helplessly at Yagi in Eri’s absence.
“It’s not difficult,” Yagi assures him, as if that’s his only concern. Maybe it is—maybe there’s nothing out of the ordinary happening here and Shouta is on edge for no reason. But the moment he lets himself relax, some new surprise will jump out at him (as proven by this situation he has found himself in right now), so his shoulders remain tense even as Yagi opens the new container of frosting and reaches for a spatula.
Despite his insistence that it isn’t a hard task, Shouta ends up doing most of the work scooping frosting into the piping bag, simply because Yagi’s fine motor skills are not what they once were. It’s only to be expected, given everything his body went through, but Yagi still appears frustrated with himself.
“Don’t worry about it so much,” Shouta tells him.
“Easier said than done,” Yagi returns.
“Fair enough.” Shouta takes an empty plate and carefully places a cookie in the middle of it. “Was there a reason for the cookies, or were you simply bored?”
Yagi chuckles. “It was Eri-chan’s idea. She suggested we make them for you, actually, but you returned home sooner than expected.”
Shouta freezes.
He tells himself it’s nothing. It’s just Eri wanting a chance to be a kid. Either she liked the idea of heart-shaped cookies, or that was the only cookie cutter they could find—regardless, it was her idea. The cookies are more from her than they are Yagi. Right.
It’s nothing.
It would be easier to convince himself of this if Yagi weren’t offering him the soft sort of smile he rarely shows anyone else—the real smile; not the All Might Smile he pulls out for the students and fans and reporters. His eyes crinkle around the edges, and his expression is softer than anything Shouta deserves. Like even if the cookies were Eri’s idea to begin with, Yagi wanted them to be a gift from him just as much as from Eri.
Shouta looks away.
“I see,” he says, hoping his voice doesn’t sound as strained as he fears. “I suppose I should apologize for interrupting and ruining the surprise.”
“Nonsense,” Yagi argues. “I think we’ll have more fun decorating them with you here to join in.”
Yagi’s niceness is going to be the death of him, Shouta realizes. How could he not have fallen for him?
And how can he ever expect to get back up now?
Shouta stares at Hitoshi, but they remain unyielding.
“I thought it was dumb too,” they say, “but you know how Iida-kun gets. Better not to fight it.”
It’s not a big deal—it’s just a meteor shower, which Hitoshi had asked Shouta to watch with them tonight, since they were planning to stay at the teacher’s dorms for the weekend. But instead of having their things ready to go when Shouta stopped by the student dorms after class, they explained there had been a change of plans. Apparently some of the girls decided to watch the meteor shower together, and word spread to Kaminari and Midoriya, and then suddenly it was a full-class activity that Iida decided to mandate participation in.
There’s just something strange about Hitoshi’s behavior; something Shouta can’t quite put his finger on. They don’t seem nervous, exactly, but it’s a close thing.
“I’m not upset,” he assures them, because he’d agreed for Hitoshi’s sake rather than his own. Meteor showers are nice, but it’s something Shouta has seen before. He, Hizashi, Nemuri, and Oboro had watched one from the roof of some building they definitely were not supposed to be on top of, back in Shouta’s second year of high school. He’s happy Hitoshi will be able to have a similar—albeit less illegal—experience with their friends.
“O-oh, that’s—” Hitoshi smiles sheepishly, scratching the back of their neck. “I mean, uh… Thanks. I really was looking forward to spending the evening with you, but…” they shrug. “I’ll come over tomorrow morning. Maybe not for breakfast, but definitely before lunch.”
Shouta nods. “I’ll let the others know.”
“Okay.” There’s a pause, and Shouta expects a farewell, but instead, Hitoshi tacks on—almost like it’s scripted, “Oh, I forgot to say—I actually texted the others after I found out about this, and Yagi-san said he’d watch the meteor shower with you!”
Shouta’s lips part.
“He seemed really excited about it, too!” Hitoshi barrels on. “Mic-san has his radio show, obviously, and Midnight said she’s going with him tonight, so it’ll just be the two of you. ‘Cause I’m sure it’ll be too late for Eri to stay up.” They clear their throat. “Anyway. Have fun! Bye!”
And then, with a wave over their shoulder, they rush back into the Class A dorm building.
For a moment, Shouta simply stands in place, unsure how he’s managed to find himself in yet another date-like scenario with the former Number 1 Hero and Symbol of Peace, who he already likes far more than is logical. It’s as if the universe is laughing at him, taunting him for feelings that he knows will only lead to heartbreak if he encourages them.
He sets his jaw and turns away, intent on informing Yagi that there’s no need for him to feel as if he has to watch the meteor shower with Shouta. With any luck, he’ll agree to drop the idea entirely, and they can both just go to sleep instead.
—
Several hours later, Shouta finds himself on the roof of the teachers’ dorm building with Yagi.
Eri is fast asleep in her room, having pouted only a little at not being allowed to stay up so late before ultimately agreeing to go to bed so long as they had waffles for breakfast in the morning. Shouta is well aware she was taking advantage of his willingness to do just about anything she asks, but he can hardly be upset about it when she’s using the power for something as simple as a nice breakfast. Waffles are far easier to make than pancakes anyways.
He had, in fact, tried to weasel his way out of this by insisting Yagi shouldn’t feel like he had to cover for Hitoshi. But Yagi replied saying he was actually looking forward to the meteor shower, as it had been a long time since he’d seen one and even longer since he’d watched one with a friend. And then he’d smiled at Shouta in that terrible affectionate way of his, and how was Shouta supposed to turn him down after that?
So they’re on the roof.
It’s a chilly night, so they’ve both bundled up. Yagi brought two thermoses of tea and a blanket for them to sit on, which was very thoughtful of him. Shouta is grateful for the darkness and the scarf wrapped around the bottom half of his face preventing any chance for Yagi to see the way his cheeks flush when their fingers brush as he passes the blanket over.
Shouta spreads it out, then takes one thermos, and they both sit.
“You’re sure you really want to do this?” Shouta questions once more, wrapping both hands around the thermos to warm his fingers through the thin knit fabric of his gloves. “Hitoshi did sort of throw this on you last-minute.”
“I’m certain,” Yagi assures him. “Even if it weren’t something I was interested in myself, I enjoy spending time with you, Aizawa-kun.”
Shouta’s breath catches in his throat.
He turns away, because he’s not sure how to respond to that. He’s never been particularly good at niceness, though it’s something that comes naturally to Yagi. Shouta had assumed, for a long time, that it was just part of the All Might act—that he amplified his best traits and put on a show of being kind so the world would feel comfortable trusting in him to be their Symbol of Peace—but the more Shouta gets to know Yagi, the more he’s come to realize that he’s just like that.
He unscrews the lid of his thermos and takes a sip, just to give himself something to do. He ignores the way the tea burns his tongue.
He hates how much this feels like a date, but he hates the fact that he doesn’t know what to do with it even worse. There’s no reason for him to sink into a fantasy of romance just because this scenario resembles the real thing, but to spend the entire night on edge will only serve to tire him out, and he’s already exhausted. He’d like to simply relax, but it seems every time he does that, the universe throws some new curveball at him, forcing him to confront his feelings for Yagi all over again.
He lowers the thermos, breathing out a silent sigh. At this point, he’s starting to believe he’s doomed to spend the rest of his life pathetically pining for All Might, of all people.
“You said you’ve seen a meteor shower before?” he asks, grasping for any sort of conversation that might ease the silence that’s fallen between them.
“I have! It’s been some time now, but I remember it was quite the sight to behold. How about you?”
“Once.” Shouta lifts his gaze towards the sky. “In high school. With Hizashi, Nemuri, and—another friend. It was Nemuri’s idea, of course, and she dragged the rest of us into it. We brought pillows and blankets and snacks, and snuck up onto some rooftop.” A smile tugs at his lips. They were always doing that—mostly at UA, but other places too. His Purple Highness’ agency building saw them on top of it more than once, as did the agency where Hizashi was doing his work-study. Oboro always said it was where he felt most free.
Shouta understood, though he never admitted as much aloud. When the four of them were on a rooftop with only one another for company, there was no one they needed to worry about impressing. They could just be themselves. It was freedom, in a way.
“That sounds nice,” Yagi says gently.
“It was,” Shouta agrees. He risks a glance towards Yagi and finds the other man already looking at him. He can’t name the expression on his face, and it’s hard to make out between the darkness around them and his limited vision, but something deep inside of him wants to call it fond.
(Something even deeper, some traitorous part of his heart, wants to use a stronger word. But Shouta will not give the irrational parts of himself such satisfaction.)
Shouta averts his gaze, not wanting to dwell on such things. “Nemuri taught us the constellations, too,” he says, for lack of anything else to talk about. “I decided my favorite was a cat constellation that was declared obsolete a long time ago, and Nemuri hated it. But I refused to give her any other answer for my favorite.”
Yagi chuckles. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”
They spend several more minutes discussing constellations, until the first streak of light breaks through the darkness. It’s only then, when Shouta looks to Yagi on instinct, wanting to see his reaction more than he does the sight above them, that he realizes how close they are to one another. Yagi’s knee is pressed against Shouta’s thigh, and Shouta knows he should move, but the contact is warm and grounding. Yagi doesn’t seem to mind either—or hasn’t yet noticed, at least—so he finds himself simply settling into it. He relaxes, instead of tensing, and if that pushes him even further into Yagi’s space, well…
He isn’t doing himself any favors by encouraging his feelings like this, but for just tonight, he won’t worry about that. There will be time for chiding his lack of self-control tomorrow, when Yagi isn’t sitting so beautifully beside him and chasing all logic from his mind.
He tears his gaze away, directing his eye back towards the sky in search of more falling meteors. And he’s long since lost faith in such silly things, but he still finds himself offering a silent wish to the next shooting star, for the impossible world where Yagi wants Shouta in all of the same ways Shouta wants him.
“Hey, hey, hey!!” Nejire greets as soon as Shouta steps into the dorm building. She’s bouncing in place, waving at him with a bright grin. “You’re just in time!”
Shouta pauses. It’s not uncommon for any of the Big Three to visit Eri, so he wasn’t particularly alarmed to see Nejire here. But now, there are warning bells going off in his mind—something is most definitely wrong. He doesn’t see Eri anywhere in the common room—nor does he see anyone else, for that matter—and Nejire is, by far, the most inclined towards chaos out of the Big Three.
Sometimes, he thinks she would fit in well with his hell class. He’s grateful she’s only close with Uraraka and Asui.
“Hello, Hadou-kun,” he greets slowly. “Dare I ask what I’m just in time for?”
She beams. Shouta can already feel a migraine coming on.
“Wellll… I was talking with Eri-chan and Shinsou-kun the other day, and they told me you’ve been working way too much lately. So!” She claps her hands together. “We came up with a perfect solution!”
Shouta raises an eyebrow. It’s usually Hizashi or Nemuri forcing him to take a break, and he’s not always fond of their ideas to help him relax. If this idea came from his kids, at least he can rest easily knowing it won’t involve loud bars or Nemuri propositioning sex.
“Gimme a sec,” Nejire says, and then darts down the hall and out of sight before Shouta has a chance to respond. He sighs to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose. He tries to ignore the clamor of hushed voices and how it only serves to increase his wariness when he can pick out Eri and Yagi alongside Nejire. He unwinds his capture scarf slowly, hanging it on the oddly bare coat rack by the door. Maybe he should see if Hizashi or Nemuri texted him any sort of warning?
But when he pulls his phone from his pocket, all he finds is a message from Hizashi saying he’ll be home late, as he’s helping Hitoshi and a couple other students with homework.
Shouta frowns.
Before he can dwell too much on the feeling that Something is wrong, Nejire is pushing Yagi’s wheelchair into the common room, with Eri skipping happily along beside them. She rushes up to Shouta, shoving a piece of paper into his hand. “Look what Nejire-chan got for you!”
Shouta braces himself for the worst.
The slip of paper, he finds, is a gift certificate for a dinner-for-two at a nearby restaurant. A rather expensive one, if Shouta is thinking of the correct place. A good place for a date—not a…whatever the hell is going on here.
“Ryuukyuu and I saved the restaurant owner from a villain attack the other day!” Nejire exclaims. “He gave both of us a gift certificate as a thanks, but I don’t really like Italian food much, and I don’t have anyone to go with anyway. I can’t take just Mirio or just Amajiki, because that would be totally unfair, and I offered to give it to the two of them, but Mirio said he couldn’t possibly take it from me and you know how Amajiki gets in social situations—”
“So you and Yagi-san get to use it instead!” Eri cuts in. She jumps up and down, grinning widely. “Isn’t that super awesome?!”
“Yes,” Shouta hears himself say, because he doesn’t want to disappoint Eri. He also very much does not want to do this. It’s not as if any of this was his idea, but it still feels like—taking advantage of Yagi’s niceness, in a way. How many date-like situations have they found themselves in over the course of the past month? And Yagi has done nothing but smile through it, being open and kind and friendly, making Shouta fall for him over and over and over again. There has to be a point where Shouta should cut this off, right?
But Eri looks so excited about this, and Shouta can’t find it in himself to say anything that would risk her smile falling.
He looks back to Yagi, waving the certificate vaguely. “Let me guess, you’re the hypocrite who agreed with them that I need a break?”
Yagi’s face flushes slightly, and he scratches the back of his neck. “Ah, no. They wanted to force me to take a break, too. That’s why I’m—” he gestures vaguely at the wheelchair.
Shouta hums. He’s not sure if this revelation makes things worse or better. He shouldn’t think about this too hard right now—it’s clear Nejire and Eri won’t be taking no for an answer, and Shouta already decided he would agree the second Eri turned her excited gaze on him.
The things he would do for this girl…
He huffs. “Very well. Let me change, and then we can leave.”
He pointedly ignores the cheers that erupt behind him.
—
The restaurant is even nicer than Shouta expected it to be.
Nejire set up the reservation for them, and the owner himself comes to greet them, babbling about how lovely it is to meet one of Nejire-chan’s former teachers and what an honor it is to host All Might. Shouta spends most of his spiel wishing he’d brought his scarf so he could bury his face in it. Instead, he’d let Nejire and Yagi convince him to leave it behind because it ‘wouldn’t fit the unspoken dress code’.
Fuck unspoken dress codes, honestly. Shouta misses the comfort of his typical day-to-day attire and his hero costume. Why couldn’t Nejire have saved the manager of some fast food restaurant with a drive-thru?
Finally, Yagi manages to politely coerce the owner into showing them to their table, which Shouta is endlessly grateful for because his leg is starting to ache after a full day of teaching, and the unexpected walk to the restaurant in which he offered to push Yagi’s wheelchair. It’s fine—he’s suffered worse—but being able to sit down is a welcome relief.
Yagi orders a bottle of Shouta’s favorite wine, even though he doesn’t drink himself, and Shouta sort of wants to disappear. The feeling only multiplies when Yagi smiles at him as the waiter walks away.
He’s beginning to think the universe truly does just delight in his suffering—dangling everything Shouta wants right in front of him all while knowing he will never be able to hold it in his hands. It’s unfair that Shouta gets to experience this; that he gets to see Yagi dressed up for a nice dinner or cloaked in domesticity at home, when he could go anywhere and do anything and date anyone he wants. All Might has enough money to renovate an entire apartment building to suit the needs of someone who spends half his time in a wheelchair now.
But he’s elected to stay on UA’s campus instead.
In his retirement, he could finally allow himself a chance to breathe—a chance to be anyone other than Number 1—and a chance for a partner or family like he couldn’t have while holding the weight of the world.
But he’s being forced to waste his time with Shouta instead.
The worst part, Shouta thinks, is how he takes it all in stride. How readily he agreed to the movie night, and stargazing; how happy he seemed to help Eri bake cookies; how nonchalant he is even tonight, filling the silence between them with idle chatter when it’s clear Shouta won’t be the one to do so himself. He’s never been big on small talk, preferring instead to get straight to the point.
He should probably put in more of an effort right now, though. It’s the least Yagi deserves from him.
He clears his throat as Yagi’s voice is trailing off. He searches for something to say, but all he can manage to come up with is, “Have you ever been to a restaurant like this before?”
Yagi frowns. “Italian?”
Shouta scoffs, a smile playing at his lips. “No. I meant something so…” he gestures vaguely, “fancy.”
He thinks it’s a dumb question as soon as it’s out of his mouth, but Yagi grimaces before admitting, “Not really, no. I’m sure you can imagine how the media would have reacted if prime-era All Might appeared to be on a date with someone.”
Shouta blinks.
Quickly, Yagi waves his hands and backtracks with, “Not that—a date is the only reason—it’s just, the media will pick apart anything— I mean, surely you saw Hawks-kun’s weekly dating scandals!”
Shouta snorts. He takes a sip of his wine, because he finds it slightly endearing to watch Yagi play around with his napkin as he waits for a response. “Yes,” he says, “I do understand how it would look for All Might to arrive at a place like this with some beautiful woman on his arm. I presume that’s why Hadou-kun and Eri sent me with you instead of Nemuri.”
“Well,” Yagi chuckles, “I think Kayama-kun would gladly eat up the attention.”
She absolutely would. But Shouta knows the real reason she wasn’t shoved into this is because she knows how to take a break when she’s reached her limits. Unlike Yagi, who has no concept of what retirement is supposed to mean, or Shouta, who simply doesn’t have anything better to do with his time. Nemuri is far better at listening to her body than the rest of them, but she’s always been more grounded in herself than Shouta, who spent the majority of his youth wishing he didn’t have a physical form at all.
He gets the feeling Yagi is much the same way now as Shouta was at age sixteen.
In a perfect world, he might be able to reach out and say I know how it feels—to hold Yagi in his arms and promise that his skin fits him just fine. But Shouta is not the type for pep talks, so with the reality he lives in, he’ll stick to offering silent support in whatever way he can and save the hypeman-ing for Nemuri.
“For what it’s worth,” Yagi says quietly, “I’m glad to be here with you.”
Shouta’s heart stutters in his chest.
Before he can make heads or tails of that statement, the waiter returns with their food, and the conversation falls to the wayside as Yagi exchanges pleasantries with him before they begin to eat. But the words burn through Shouta’s brain, so eerily similar to his assertion before the meteor shower, that he simply enjoys spending time with Shouta regardless of what it is they’re doing.
If Yagi isn’t careful, he is going to squander any lingering hope for Shouta to put his horrible infatuation to rest.
He’s lucky Shouta has never been the type to place feelings over logic. And logic says there is no reason for the former Number 1 Hero to ever see Aizawa as something other than a friend, so Shouta will continue to be merely a friend and hope the longing for something more fades over time.
Eri has spontaneously decided aquariums are perhaps the most interesting thing in the world, and so of course, Shouta finds himself being dragged towards the entrance with Eri ahead of him, her hand held tightly in his. She’s chattering about pufferfish and how Midoriya says they remind him of Bakugou and Bakugou didn’t think that was funny but Todoroki did when Shouta finds himself stopping short as he sees who is waiting for them outside of the museum entrance.
“TOSHI-NII!!” Eri cheers. Shouta lets go of her hand so she can rush over to them, throwing herself into their arms. And beside them is Yagi, leaning on his cane. Shouta sincerely hopes he does not intend to walk around the aquarium after he nearly collapsed from pushing himself plus ultra two days ago.
Shouta comes to a stop across from him. “What a coincidence,” he drawls, knowing full well Hitoshi was aware of he and Eri’s plans for the weekend. They’d claimed they wouldn’t be able to make it, but either that was a lie, or their plans with Jirou fell through. “What did they say to drag you into this?”
Yagi hums noncommittally. “They wished to surprise Eri-chan, and I happened to be the only one free to accompany them off campus.”
Shouta raises an eyebrow. It’s not required for students to have a chaperone if they wish to leave the dorms; only that they’ve gone through the proper procedures to note their absence in case of an emergency. Nor has Shouta banned Hitoshi from leaving without an adult accompanying them. Which means there’s something Yagi isn’t saying.
Under his stare, Yagi relents. “They invited me to join, because they thought it would be fun if the four of us could do this together. They assured me they talked it over with you, though I have reason now to believe that may have been a lie.”
“I was not aware Hitoshi would be joining us at all,” Shouta informs him. He glances over towards his kids, who aren’t paying any attention at all to him and Yagi; they’re too busy looking at some video on Hitoshi’s phone. “I’m beginning to suspect the surprise wasn’t for Eri, but for me.”
Yagi nods slowly. “That may be possible, yes.”
Shouta hums. “I’m not complaining. It’s always nice to see Hitoshi, and your company is…tolerable as well.”
Yagi grins, clearly hearing Shouta’s words for the compliment they are. He’s not good at soft truths like Yagi is, but he’ll occasionally offer what he can, and those who know him best understand the intentions written between the lines.
They enter the aquarium together, with Eri confidently leading the way until they get to the ticket desk, at which point, she turns tail and hides behind Shouta’s legs. Yagi buys tickets for all four of them, despite Shouta’s insistence that he can pay, and Eri thanks him politely as he hands her ticket down to her. She tucks it carefully into the red crossbody bag she wears whenever they go out.
Hitoshi, too, thanks Yagi—but only after Shouta nudges them so they look up from their phone for a couple seconds. Kids these days, he thinks, and then realizes how old that makes him sound.
“We’re not here so you can text your friends in different lighting,” Shouta grumbles. “You can do that at home with some LED lights.”
Hitoshi flushes, mumbling an apology as they put their phone away.
The aquarium is nice, for the first twenty minutes or so. Eri has a great time looking at the various sea creatures, and even Hitoshi brightens up, helping Eri assign various fish to the students from Class A. Yagi offers his input when they’re determining which underwater creature Midoriya should be, and then Eri and Hitoshi start debating which fish he would be, which is about the time when Shouta realizes something is wrong.
It’s not obvious—Yagi is far too experienced with putting on a smile for that—but Shouta knows the signs of a body giving out because he faces them himself. And, as he’d suspected when he first saw Yagi with a cane instead of his wheelchair, he’s pushed his body past its limits already.
Yagi won’t say anything himself, for fear of ruining their day out, and while Shouta doesn’t particularly want to cut this trip short, he knows both Eri and Hitoshi would understand if Yagi needed to tap out early.
He places a hand on Yagi’s arm, silently drawing his attention while Hitoshi reads an information card aloud to Eri. “You should sit for a little while,” he suggests.
Yagi winces. “Is it that obvious?”
“Not to the kids; just to me.”
Yagi purses his lips. They’d passed a bench in the previous room, so Shouta escorts him back there, trusting Hitoshi will be able to watch over Eri on their own for a minute. “I didn’t want to interrupt,” Yagi explains, as if that wasn’t obvious by virtue of who he is as a person.
“You should’ve come in your wheelchair,” Shouta tells him bluntly. There’s no reason to beat around the bush.
“I thought I would be fine!” he protests. “Besides, I wasn’t sure the wheelchair would be manageable here. I didn’t have a chance to look at the accessibility.”
Shouta sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He’s a hypocrite for being exasperated, because he would’ve done the same thing if he’d been the one having bad pain days recently, but at least he has the excuse of Eri being his daughter. Yagi does this for anyone, like he’s still trying to be All Might in any way he can.
“You don’t always have to Plus Ultra, you know,” Shouta hisses. “You’re retired for a reason.”
Yagi ducks his head, clearly feeling guilty.
Shouta huffs out a sigh, then sits on the bench beside him, because his leg is protesting at having to stand in one spot for too long. “Eri and Hitoshi are understanding,” he says, trying to make his voice a bit gentler. “If you’re in pain, you can just take a break.”
Yagi looks away. “Easier said than done.”
Before Shouta can assure Yagi that he’s aware of that, he hears a voice calling out, “Aizawa-sensei!”
He tenses on instinct, only to find Eri rushing over to him and Hitoshi trailing behind, smirking.
“Don’t call me that in public,” he grumbles.
“You were a bit too distracted to hear Eri calling you ‘Dad’,” Hitoshi points out. “It was only logical.”
Shouta hates when his kids use his own arguments against him.
“Are you okay?” Eri asks, eyes big and wide. “We got worried something happened.”
Shouta silently chides himself for not informing Eri of what he was doing beforehand—he’d intended to return before she noticed he was gone. He reaches out, ruffling her hair. “I apologize. Yagi-san needed a break from standing for a little while, and I didn’t want him to have to walk back here alone.” He’s kind enough to not say he was worried Yagi might fall, which is the real reason he’d walked with him.
“Ohhh,” Eri says. “Okay.”
Hitoshi clears their throat. “If you two want to stay here, I can take Eri through some of the other exhibits.”
Eri’s eyes light up. “Yeah!” she cheers. “You two should rest, because it’s good for you. Toshi-nii and I will take lots of pictures to show you afterwards.” She pats Shouta’s knee, then turns to Hitoshi. “I want to see the frogs and pet the manta rays!!”
Hitoshi looks to Shouta, waiting for permission.
Shouta glances over at Yagi.
“Don’t feel as if you have to stay here on my account,” he says weakly.
Shouta sighs. “No, Eri is right. I should take a break too. You two have fun, and call if you need anything.” It’s not the full truth, exactly—Shouta could definitely make it through the frog and manta ray exhibits at the least, but he’s loath to leave Yagi alone when he was dragged into this by Shouta’s kid. Even if it’s his own damn fault for leaving his wheelchair at home.
Besides, Shouta doesn’t really need to see any more tanks with fish swimming through them—he doesn’t care much about aquariums anyway. He’s just as happy to sit here with Yagi.
Once Eri and Hitoshi are out of earshot, Yagi mumbles, “You didn’t have to stay.”
Shouta hums. “Maybe I just like spending time with you.”
A hesitant smile makes its way onto Yagi’s face, and Shouta’s heart skips a beat.
“That’s nice to hear,” Yagi comments, leaning back. He looks relaxed now, finally. “You’re good company, Aizawa-kun.”
Shouta thinks he might die if Yagi continues complimenting him like this. But he brought this one on himself, so he supposes he’ll be lying in a grave dug by his own hands.
“Thanks,” he murmurs.
And when Yagi’s fingers brush against his, he doesn’t move away. If the universe is going to be cruel enough to taunt Shouta like this, he might as well take what he can before it all goes up in flames.
The following weekend finds Shouta at a cat café with Yagi in the seat across from him. He’s attempting to grade papers while waiting for Hitoshi and Eri to arrive, but the sight before him is rather distracting, and he finds himself simply staring at Yagi cooing over kittens on more than one occasion. He’s grateful he elected to wear his capture scarf, if only so it hides the flush in his cheeks.
It was Hitoshi’s idea to come here, and Eri readily agreed before they’d even finished talking. Originally, Hizashi and Nemuri were supposed to join them, but Hizashi was called in to deal with a villain emergency an hour ago and Nemuri ditched them for Joke, so for now, it’s only Yagi and Shouta waiting for the kids to arrive. Hitoshi spent the morning training with some of the kids from Class A while Mirio took Eri to the mall. Hitoshi agreed to pick up Eri on their way here, but their planned meeting time was fifteen minutes ago, and there’s no sign of either of them.
Shouta tries to tell himself that, most likely, Eri wanted to look around some store for a little longer and Hitoshi couldn’t say no to her, but he has yet to receive a text informing him about such a thing, so it’s hard not to worry.
He looks up, intending to ask Yagi if he should try calling Hitoshi, when he spots a flash of purple through the window.
He turns, but it’s already gone.
“Is everything alright?” Yagi asks, eyebrows pinched in concern. He’s still idly stroking the soft fur of a calico cat, and it’s unfairly adorable. Shouta might step outside to make his phone call just so his heart can catch a break.
“I’m worried that the kids aren’t here yet,” he answers, a beat too slow. He looks back to the window, because he’s almost positive what he saw was Hitoshi’s hair, but there’s no sign of them anymore. If they’re here, they should be coming inside, but the door has yet to open. “Maybe I should…”
His voice trails off when he spots the same flash of purple again, and it’s definitely Hitoshi’s hair. Something weird is going on here, and Shouta is going to get to the bottom of it.
“Excuse me for a moment,” he says, pushing himself to his feet. “I’m going to call Hitoshi.”
“Take all the time you need,” Yagi replies pleasantly.
Shouta does pull out his phone and dial Hitoshi’s number as he steps outside. Hitoshi’s phone is perpetually on silent, so he isn’t expecting much, but after a moment, the call connects.
“Oh, hi,” Hitoshi answers, sounding out of breath. Shouta can hear their voice coming from two places—through the phone speaker, and from…around the corner? “We got a bit caught up, but we’ll be there soon, sorry—”
“You’ll be here soon?” Shouta asks, coming to a stop in front of Hitoshi, Eri, and Nejire, who are seated with their backs against the side of the building. Eri is sandwiched between the other two, and Hitoshi has their phone pressed to their ear.
“Fascinating,” Shouta states as he hangs up the call.
Hitoshi grimaces. Nejire’s eyes widen. Eri looks about two seconds away from crying.
Shouta sighs. He pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’m not mad,” he starts, because he doesn’t want Eri afraid she’ll be hurt for…whatever is going on here. “I just…why?”
The three kids look at each other, seemingly attempting to have a silent debate about what they should say. It doesn’t work, because both Hitoshi and Nejire start talking at the same time.
“We didn’t want to—”
“You two are just so—”
They stop. Look at each other.
Eri says, quietly, “We just want you to be happy.”
Shouta frowns. “That…does not answer my question. Why are you two out here when you’re supposed to be meeting us inside, and why is Hadou-kun with you?”
Eri turns to Hitoshi, fearful.
“I said I’m not mad,” Shouta reminds her.
“Well!” Nejire jumps to her feet. “It all started with Mirio and Amajiki—”
“We’re trying to set you up with Yagi-san,” Hitoshi interrupts.
Nejire deflates. “Yeah.” She gestures vaguely in Hitoshi’s direction. “That. You two are just so cute together!”
Shouta opens his mouth, and then snaps it shut. He runs through the events of the past month and a half in his mind—through the series of date-like situations he and Yagi have found themselves in. And he realizes—
Every single one of them was perpetuated by his kids.
The movie night was Eri’s idea. Eri wanted Yagi to make cookies. Stargazing was thanks to Hitoshi. The fancy restaurant was a combined effort with Nejire. The aquarium was thanks to Eri’s pleading, and Yagi ended up there because of Hitoshi. Even the cat café today was Hitoshi’s plan…
All this time, Shouta believed it was some cruel hand of fate playing with his heart, but it was just—
“I’m sorry,” Eri whispers. “It was my idea.”
“Well.” Shouta’s gaze sweeps over the three of them. “Clearly you weren’t alone in your mastermind-ing.”
She curls in on herself.
“I’m still not mad at you,” he promises. He’d crouch down to her level, but he doesn’t feel like struggling to get back up at the moment, so instead, he steps closer and says, as softly as he can manage, “Eri.”
Eri looks up at him with wet eyes.
“You said you just wanted to make me happy. I wouldn’t get angry at you for something like that. And even if I was upset, I wouldn’t hurt you.”
Eri nods, sniffling. Then, she launches herself towards him, wrapping her arms around his good leg and burying her face in his pants. He rests a hand atop her head, and while she can’t see, he turns a glare on Hitoshi.
Hitoshi raises their hands in defense. “Don’t get mad at me either. I wasn’t going to help, but it’s kind of painfully obvious that Yagi-san likes you back.”
“Yep, yep!” Nejire agrees, bobbing her head up and down. “We wouldn’t have done any of this if we weren’t totally completely sure the feelings were reciprocated on both ends!”
Hitoshi sighs, pushing themself to their feet. “Listen, I’m not—” they glance towards Nejire, who nods encouragingly. “I don’t know much about romance. It’s not something I’ve ever felt, and I doubt I ever will. But it’s painfully obvious to even me that the two of you like each other.”
“Mhm!” Nejire rocks forwards on the balls of her feet, clasping her hands behind her back. “Your kids care about you a lot,” she tells Shouta. “It’s really sweet. And they both want you to go for it, so you should tell Yagi-san how you feel!”
Shouta’s shoulders drop. He looks down at Eri, who is still clinging to his leg.
He sighs tiredly, already knowing what he’s going to do. Even if his kids are wrong, Yagi will let him down gently, and Shouta is already nearing the end of his rope when it comes to hiding his feelings for Yagi. Thanks to these absolute menace children who have spent the past several weeks forcing him to go on dates with the guy he’s pathetically pining for.
“No more meddling in this,” he instructs.
All three kids nod solemnly.
“Now, if you expect Yagi-san and I to spend the afternoon alone together, I suggest you make yourselves scarce.”
Nejire’s eyes light up. “You got it, Sensei!” She hooks one arm with Hitoshi’s, and takes Eri’s hand with the other. “C’mon, let’s leave them to it!”
“Good luck,” Hitoshi calls over their shoulder as Nejire drags them across the street.
“You can do it!” Eri cheers.
Shouta turns away before they can see his smile.
—
As Shouta slips back into his seat, Yagi asks, “Did you talk with Young Shinsou?”
“I did, yes. Hadou-kun wants to take them and Eri to watch some show this afternoon, and I told them that would be alright. So I suppose it’ll just be the two of us.”
Yagi hums. He still has that calico cat in his lap. “I don’t think I mind that at all,” he says softly, and Shouta wonders how he didn’t see it sooner. Was he really too busy assuming the worst that he couldn’t comprehend the truth right in front of him?
How illogical.
He’s fairly certain his kids did not actually leave and have instead elected to watch what happens, but he can’t find it in himself to care too much. They’ll find out sooner or later anyway, and Shouta sees no reason to drag this out any longer.
He clears his throat. “Yagi-san.”
Yagi looks up. “Hm?”
“You are, of course, free to turn the offer down. But since this outing is now only the two of us, how would you feel about calling it a date?”
Yagi’s eyes widen, almost imperceptibly. For one terrible moment, Shouta thinks perhaps his previous doubts were correct and he’s made a mistake.
But then Yagi smiles. He reaches across the table, taking one of Shouta’s hands in his. “I would like that very much.”
It feels almost too easy, but Shouta is not going to look this gift horse in the mouth. The cruel whims of the universe turned out to be nothing more than his kids pushing him towards something they thought would make him happy, so maybe this is nothing more than the dust finally settling.
Maybe he can finally allow himself to hold onto something good after so much time spent longing for it.