Forest

It’s been a while since Izuku has seen Himiko or Dabi, they hadn’t interacted in a few weeks other than the few exchanged texts to make sure none of them were dead. Izuku missed them, not that he would ever admit that to anyone, but he also knew they were busy. He didn’t know what with and he didn’t plan on asking. But today he wanted company, it was a few days until he started his school year at UA, and he was nervous.

Groaning, Izuku flopped backwards on his cot. ‘Why do my only friends have to be busy, come on. I need a distraction.’ Izuku complains to himself, before suddenly startling up. He has more than two friends now.

Pulling out his phone, Izuku quickly texts Hitoshi to see if he is busy. He immediately gets a response. ‘Of course,’ Izuku thinks laughing. ‘Hitoshi is always on his phone.’ Izuku grins when he reads the text, and pretty soon Hitoshi has agreed to meet him at the library in an hour.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Hitoshi!” Izuku calls out, spotting his friend waiting at the entrance of the library.

“Hey Izuku, what do you want to do today?”

“I don’t know to be honest, my nerves are insane over the start of the school year.”

“You know,” Hitoshi ponders. “I know something that always calms me down.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Cats,” Hitoshi grins, looking at Izuku for his response but is surprised to see the other boys green eyes open wide with something almost like excitement.

“Oh my gosh! Cats??” Izuku repeats.

“I mean, yeah. I love cats, I have four of them.”

“Four cats!?” Izuku exclaims, now nearly bouncing in excitement. “I can’t believe you have four cats! Cats are so cute and fluffy oh my goodness!”

Izuku may be well known and badass, but he’s also a sucker for animals. 

“Yeah,” Hitoshi laughs. “You wanna come meet them?”

“Can I?” Izuku pleads.

“Yeah sure,” Hitoshi grins, the other boys excitement contagious. “Now calm down, you are literally bouncing.”

Izuku startles and quickly stops the movement. He hasn’t done that since he was a kid, he supposes maybe he just hasn’t been that excited in a long time. 

“Come on,” Hitoshi says, grabbing the other boys arm. “My house is this way.”

Izuku lets Hitoshi lead him to an apartment, that he, naturally, assumes is Hitoshi’s. 

“Be prepared,” Hitoshi says, grabbing the doorknob. “The youngest, her name is Sock, tends to get excited.”

“Sock?” Izuku laughs, unprepared for that to be the cat’s name. 

“Yeah,” Hitoshi says, shrugging. “I didn’t pick it.”

With that, Hitoshi proceeds to open the door. Before Izuku can even step into the apartment, he sees a ball of white fur flying straight for his face. Izuku’s instincts take over as his hands shoot out, grabbing the kitten from midair and immediately tucking her into his arms. Izuku looks over at Hitoshi who is gaping at him.

“Dude,” Hitoshi says. “Where did those reflexes come from? Even I still get hit in the face by her when I come in, and I’m used to it.”

“I don’t know,” Izuku says, deflecting the question. “It was instinct.”

“Some damn impressive instincts you have,” Hitoshi states, before turning back. “Okay so the one in your arms is Sock, that brown and grey one is Caramel, he doesn’t like anyone so don’t be offended. The orange and white one is Cheese, she’s nice but lazy, she doesn’t do much. Lastly, the one by your feet is Orange.”

At that Izuku starts laughing. “Your all black cat is named Orange?”

“Again, I didn’t name them.”

“So you have Sock, Cheese, Caramel, and Orange?” Izuku says, his laughter increasing in volume.

“Okay, fine, I can see how that could be amusing,” Hitoshi says, the corner of his mouth quirking up, before he notices two figures standing nearby.

“Oh hey Dad, hey Pops,” Hitoshi greets casually. 

Izuku’s head shoots up from where he is crouched petting Orange and Sock. He looks over to see two men standing in the doorframe to the kitchen. The one on the right is smiling at him and Izuku notices he has long blonde hair, and is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, headphones around his neck. The other man is just staring, long black hair tied back into a low ponytail. He’s holding a mug of what smells like coffee, and is wearing black sweatpants and a black t-shirt.

“Holy shit,” Izuku whispers, quickly standing up. “Oh my god.”

Izuku’s head whips to Hitoshi who is clearly trying to suppress his laughter. 

“Hitoshi!” Izuku whisper-yells. “You didn’t say they were home! I forgot they- I can’t believe- oh my gosh!”

At that point Hitoshi can’t contain his laughter and he starts cackling.

“Oh my god Izuku, you should see your face! You are so red! Holy shit!”

A stern ‘language’ coming from nearby makes Izuku’s head snap over to the two pro heroes and then back to Hitoshi so fast Hitoshi is surprised Izuku didn’t give himself whiplash. 

“That’s- they-” Izuku stutters, embarrassed at his stuttering but too baffled to create proper sentences. “Present Mic and Eraserhead! That’s Eraserhead and Present Mic!”

“Yes I am well aware who my parents are, thank you very much for the clarification though,” Hitoshi says, still cackling.

Finally, Present Mic steps forward and extends his hand to Izuku.

“Hello,” the blonde man greets, his grin still on his face. “I’m Hizashi Aizawa-Yamada, though just Hizashi Yamada to most. It’s nice to meet one of Hitoshi’s friends!”

Izuku reaches out to shake the man’s hand but is apparently still unable to form coherent sentences. Hizashi steps back and guides his husband forward to greet Izuku as well. As Eraserhead extends a hand to greet him, Izuku squeaks. He genuinely squeaks.

Izuku’s face goes red, as his hand immediately shoots to cover his mouth. At this, Hizashi laughs slightly. Izuku’s embarrassment triples as he shifts to hide behind Hitoshi, which doesn’t work very well. Hitoshi may be taller than Izuku, but he is also much skinnier as he doesn’t have the muscle Izuku does. 

“Say, Izuku,” Hitoshi starts, his amused grin never leaving his face. “Didn’t you tell me once that Eraserhead is your favorite hero?”

At this, Eraserhead’s expression changes from indifferent to one of surprise and Izuku just groans.

“I seem to recall you ranting about how cool Dad is for nearly fifteen minutes, and I’m sure you would have continued if you hadn’t been interrupted.”

At this Izuku simply turns, opens the door to the apartment, and steps out, closing the door behind him,

“Did he just walk out?” Hizashi asks, baffled that the boy would just leave.

Hitoshi literally collapses to the ground in laughter, and is immediately attacked by the cats which only makes him laugh harder.

“Hitoshi,” Shouta says. “What just happened?”

“Sorry, sorry. He loves heroes and I may have neglected to mention that you guys were going to be here. Don’t worry, he’ll be back. He walked out on me once too. We were at the mall and this guy who was at the register winked at him, and Izuku literally froze until a dragged him from the store,” Hitoshi cackles again at the memory. “I then proceeded to tease him about it and eventually he just walked out. Full on left the mall, before coming back completely composed and acted as if nothing happened. He isn’t the best at social interaction, I don’t think he talks to people much.”

Shouta and Hizashi both hum in acknowledgement, before turning and exchanging a look that Hitoshi can’t quite decipher but has seen them exchange before. Hitoshi hasn’t seen it in a while, though he saw it quite a bit when they first took custody of him around five years ago. 

Before any of them can say anything else, the door opens again and in walks Izuku, looking completely composed. Sock comes shooting at Izuku’s face again, and he does the same thing as last time.

“Listener, those are some impressive reflexes!” Hizashi exclaims. 

“She did it last time too,” Izuku states as way of explanation before setting the kitten on the floor once again. 

“Still impressive! I’m pretty sure we all still get hit in the face by her sometimes and we are used to her!”

“Sorry about earlier,” Izuku apologizes bowing slightly to the adults in front of him. “My name is Izuku Midoriya, it’s nice to meet you both.”

‘It’s like a whole other kid,’ Hizashi and Shouta both think, surprised by Izuku’s ability to completely compose himself that quickly.

“Nice to meet you Midoriya!”

“Yeah, nice to meet you kid. I’m Shouta Aizawa-Yamada, or just Shouta Aizawa to most.”

Izuku startles slightly when Eraserhead speaks for the first time, before he breaks out into an excited grin.

“It’s so nice to meet you Eraserhead! And Present Mic, please call me Izuku.”

“Of course! Feel free to call me Hizashi, I’m not working right now!”

“Oh!” Izuku startles, baffled by the idea of calling a pro hero by their name. “Of course.”

“Shouta or Aizawa are both fine, kid.”

At that Izuku just gapes before he literally shakes himself, much like a dog, to clear his head. Hitoshi starts laughing again.

“Oh my gosh, your so rude,” Izuku says, playfully hitting Hitoshi in the arm.

“Yep, the rudest.”

“I can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me they are here!”

“I wanted to see your reaction,” Hitoshi confesses. “And let me tell you, that was gold.”

“Well I’m sorry I lack the ability to perform social interactions,” Izuku sighs, though his voice holds an amused undertone.

“You sure do,” Hitoshi agrees before hitting Izuku in the back of the head to get back at him.

“Gasp,” Izuku says. “I can’t believe you.”

“Did you just say gasp,” Hitoshi laughs.

“Indeed I did mister, how dare thee make fun of me. Bow down to me peasant,” Izuku replies in a flat tone, though his is body shaking with repressed laughter.

“How’s this for bowing down to you,” Hitoshi says, crouching down into what is almost a bow before sweeping his leg out to knock Izuku’s legs out from underneath him.

Izuku has to suppress his natural reaction of a backwards flip, knowing he would get some questions for that, and instead falls on his ass. 

“Le gasp,” is Izuku’s only response before rolling over to grab Hitoshi, who is still crouched on the ground, into a light headlock.

Hitoshi doesn’t even try to fight back, both of them physically shaking with the force of their laughter. At this point the two boys have completely forgotten the two pro heroes standing near by looking at the boys with an amused expression. Neither of them have seen Hitoshi interact with someone so lighthearted and openly, and they are unbelievably glad that their son has found a good friend. They have of course heard plenty about Izuku over the few months that Hitoshi and Izuku have been friends, but it is nice to see the green haired teen in person. They both agree he seems like a good kid. 

“We are going to go begin dinner,” Shouta states, causing the boys to look up at him from their position on the floor. “Feel free to join us Izuku, we will call you when the food is ready. Hitoshi, you should show Izuku around.”

“Okay Dad,” Hitoshi says as Izuku releases him from the headlock and the boys both stand up.

“Thank you Eras- uh, Shouta?” Izuku corrects, hoping that it was okay to call him Shouta.

“Yeah, sure kid,” the man says, downing his cup of coffee as he and his husband turn and walk into the kitchen. 

Izuku sighs in relief, taking that as an okay, and turns to Hitoshi.

“I still can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me,” Izuku says, though he’s less embarrassed and more amused now. “That sounds more like something I would do.”

“Maybe you are rubbing off on me Zuku,” Hitoshi says, turning to give Izuku a tour before he freezes.

“Zuku?” Izuku questions quietly.

“I’m sorry,” Hitoshi panics, afraid that his friend is upset with him. “It just slipped out, I didn’t mean to.”

“Hey,” Izuku says, turning the other boy around. “I’m not upset.”

Hitoshi looks at him in disbelief, before noticing that the boy means it. In fact he looks happy.

“I’ve never really had a nickname before,” Izuku smiles. “I like it.”

“Really? So I can keep calling you Zuku?” Hitoshi asks.

“Of course Toshi.”

“Toshi?” 

“You call me Zuku, I call you Toshi. That’s the deal,” Izuku grins, ruffling the other boys purple hair.

Slowly, Hitoshi starts to smile, before turning around and beginning the tour of his house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A knock comes at the door, and Hitosi and Izuku both startle. Turning to look at the door, before remembering what they were doing.

“Shoot!” They both exclaim, turning back to focus on their game.

“Come in!” Hitoshi calls once he has focused again. 

“What are you kids doing?” A loud voice asks, the boys don’t look up but given the volume it is evidently Hizashi who has walked in. 

“Mario Cart tournament,” they both state, eyes never leaving the screen.

“Who’s winning?”

“Me,” Hitoshi grins proudly.

“Hey! It’s hardly a fair tournament! I’ve only ever played like, one video game and I don’t even know what it was called.”

“Well dinner is ready,” Hizashi says, sounding amused. “You boys should come down when your done with this game.”

“Okay,” Hitoshi agrees, making a shooing motion at his dad.

“Don’t shoo me,” Hizashi laughs, leaving the room.

“Shit!” Izuku exclaims, when Hitoshi beats him once again. 

“To be fair, you did really well for your first time playing the game.”

“Thanks Toshi,” Izuku grins. “But I’m definitely going to beat you next time.”

“Uh huh, sure,” Hitoshi laughs. “Let’s head down to dinner.”

Arriving in the kitchen, Izuku’s mouth is watering like crazy at the amazing smell. He startles as he realizes he hasn’t had a meal like this in eight years.

“Wash your hands before you eat,” Shouta directs them, motioning towards the sink.

Once the boys are seated with freshly washed hands, Hizashi places food in front of everyone.

“Thank you so much!” Izuku says, looking at both Shouta and Hizashi.

“Of course kid, dig in!” Hizashi says.

Izuku waits until everyone else takes a bite before taking one himself, and when he places the fork into his mouth his eyes widen a comical amount. ‘Holy shit,’ Izuku thinks. ‘This is fantastic! The only real meals I ever have are when I am willing to spend money at a restaurant, but this is so much better than that! I am so hungry! Oh right, I haven’t eaten in two days. That would explain it.’

Hizashi, Shouta, and Hitoshi all notice when Izuku begins eating rather quickly, but know better than to comment on it. Izuku finishes his food and then looks around sheepishly when he realizes that no one else is done yet.

“You want some more?” Hitoshi offers, slightly concerned at how hungry his friend seems.

“No, it’s okay,” Izuku smiles at the offer. “Thank you for the food though! It was fantastic!”

“Don’t feel bad kid,” Shouta says gruffly. “If you want more, take it.”

“No, it’s okay,” Izuku repeats.

At that moment Hizashi seems to realize that there is no way Izuku is going to get himself more food, so instead the blonde just stands up, grabs Izuku’s plate, and serves Izuku seconds.

“Thank you,” Izuku smiles when the plate is placed in front of him again. “I really don’t need more food though, I don’t want to take advantage of your kindness. You didn’t need to give me dinner.”

“You aren’t taking advantage of anything,” Hitoshi states, looking at Izuku. “Just eat the food Zuku.”

Izuku knows he isn’t going to win this so he just turns back to his food, nodding. He is honestly very appreciative of them giving him more, he was still quite hungry.

Once they are done with dinner, Izuku helps them clean up, much to the frustration of Hizashi who tries to convince him he doesn’t need to help. Izuku knows they don’t need help, but he wants to do something for the people who just gave him the best meal he has had in eight years. After they are done cleaning Izuku informs them that he should probably head home before it gets too late. Hizashi offers him a ride, but he declines. He can’t exactly tell them that he lives in the garbage at Dagobah Beach. 

“Okay kid, get home safe.” Shouta says as Izuku walks out the door. “Feel free to come back whenever.”

Izuku smiles, a light blush tinting his face because his favorite hero just said he was welcome in his house, and thanks them for their hospitality. 

Izuku wasn’t sure at first but he ends up making good on Eraserhead's offer, hanging out with Hitoshi every day after that. He checks with Hitoshi every time, but Hitoshi always welcomes him over and neither Present Mic nor Eraserhead seem upset at his presence. 

The day before school starts, Izuku heads over to the Aizawa-Yamada house earlier than he normally would. He doesn’t know why, but Hitoshi invited him to come over at 9am and he was always up for hanging out with the purple haired teen. 

When Izuku arrives, the door opens to reveal Hizashi and Shouta in their hero outfits. 

“Wow!” Izuku exclaims, looking at their costumes. He had seen them on video plenty of times before, but seeing them in person felt different. “That’s so cool!”

“Thanks little listener!” Hizashi says, but before he can begin to walk back to the kitchen Izuku is in front of him blocking the way.

“The speaker can focus your voice right? Is that not kind of big? I’m sure you could make that smaller. That must get in the way when fighting. Do the headphones protect you from your own quirk or are they just for appearances? How loud can your voice get? Is your costume bullet proof? Brute force weapon proof? That sounds weird, but you know what I mean. Is that like armour type stuff on your shoulder? I’m positive you can make that less bulky. I know the glasses are for appearances, but I bet you could make those useful. You could probably add tech to them, and you should probably make them attach to your headphones or something so they can’t come off in battle. Those boots seem bulky too. Interesting.” Izuku rambles to a completely shocked Present Mic, not giving him any time to respond. 

“And you,” Izuku says, moving to Eraserhead. “I know you are more of an underground hero but come on, I have seen from fights that your jumpsuit is just a jumpsuit. At least give yourself more protection. Your boots are better than Hizashi’s though, so that’s good. The belt is nice but could be much more practical. Why in the world do you have slits in your goggles? That makes no sense. You want to protect your eyes, at least add some sort of protection between the slits. Something that isn’t shatterable of course. You could also probably make them dispense eye drops, in mist form of course, because I’m sure that with your quirk your eyes get dry. Ooh! You could probably make them so that you still have all of your vision, so no more slits, but looking at you, people can’t see anything. Like the same concept as a one way mirror, or those car windows that you can’t see in. Your scarf is super cool though! That’s made of metal alloys right? Something similar to Nitinol? I’m sure there is another component though, i’ll have to think on that. Oh, hey Toshi!”

Izuku notices Hitoshi in the doorway, and makes his way over to him leaving two baffled adults in his wake. Hitoshi notices his Dads’ looks and laughs.

“Did Zuku do that analyzing thing?”

Hizashi just nods in confirmation. 

“Yeah he’s pretty good at that,” Hitoshi grins at Izuku.

“Eh not really,” Izuku says, blushing a little from the compliment. “I just enjoy analyzing, I’m not all that good at it. It’s really just a hobby.”

“What are you talking about little listener?” Hizashi exclaims, his volume dropping halfway through his sentence as his husband erases his quirk. “That was amazing! Sorry for being so shocked, but I don’t think either of us were expecting that. Gave me a lot to think about!”

“Thanks!” Izuku grins, and then seems to process something. “Wait, so why are you guys in your hero costumes?”

“Hitoshi didn’t tell you?”

“Nope, I was just asked to come over today at nine.”

“I figured we could tell him when he got here,” Hitoshi shrugs.

“Hitoshi,” Hizashi scolds. “You can’t just invite him and not tell him what you’re inviting him to.”

“It’s fine!” Izuku assures the adults, looking up from where he has crouched down to pet Cheese and Sock. “I don’t have anything else to do anyways.”

“Well okay,” Hizashi says. “We are going to UA! Shouta and I need to get some stuff ready for our classes, and we figured you wouldn’t mind getting acquainted with the building.”

“Seriously?” Izuku asks, eyes alight with excitement.

“Yeah kid! You wanna come with?”

“Of course!” Izuku exclaims, standing up and startling when he feels a sudden weight on his back. Glancing behind him he realizes that Hitoshi has jumped on his back. “What the heck Toshi?”

“You were doing that bouncing thing again,” Hitoshi laughs.

“So you jumped on my back?” Izuku asks, though he is laughing along with Hitoshi now.

“Time to go,” Shouta states, motioning to the door, mug of coffee in hand.

Hitoshi attempts to slip off Izuku’s back but Izuku grabs his legs to stop him.

“Nope. You jumped up there, so you stay there. Onward ho!”

“Zuku oh my lord, did you really just say onward ho?”

“Why of course,” Izuku says as Hitoshi laughs. 

“Come on listeners!” Hizashi says. “We really do need to go.”

“My apologies Presentation Michael,” Izuku says, beginning to head to the door.

All three other people in the room freeze, or as close to freezing as possible considering Hitoshi is on Izuku’s back. Then suddenly, both Hitoshi and Shouta start laughing.

“What?” Hizashi asks.

“Presentation Michael,” Izuku repeats, voice completely serious as he stops to look at the adult.

Hizashi still looks confused and Shouta snorts.

“Zashi, your hero name? Present Mic? Presentation Michael.”

“Oh, oh , oh goodness. If you all start calling me that, I swear,” Hizashi sighs. 

“We would never do that to you Presentation Michael,” Hitoshi says.

“Never, not to Presentation Michael,” Shouta echoes.

“You all are going to be the death of me,” Hizashi sighs, though Izuku notes amusement in the man’s voice.

“Come along Presentation Michael,” Izuku laughs. “We need to go!”

Shouta and Hitoshi snort as Hizashi just smiles at Izuku’s antics, and they head out the door. Izuku has to crouch to avoid hitting Hitoshi’s head on the doorframe.