Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shouta looked over at his partner as he let out yet another distressed groan. He has been trying not to say much to Hizashi’s noises as they sat there.. He knew Hizashi was anxious.. He was anxious too.. Hizashi just tended to be more vocal about it.

But he couldn’t ignore them anymore when Hizashi started to vocalize his anxiety.

“They aren’t going to let us foster”, he said, looking down as he bounced one of his legs up and down in anxiety, “We did all of this and we aren’t going to get a kid, Shouta”.

Shouta closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath and letting it out through his nose, “We will be able to foster, Hizashi. They need more foster parents, especially ones who want older kids, and ones who want to adopt”.

“Then why did they have us come here instead of talking to us on the phone”, Hizashi asked, “If it was just basic questions then they would just call us”.

Shouta sighed, reaching over and grabbing Hizashi’s hand and placing it in his lap and rubbing his thumb over the back of it, “Zashi, we have nothing to worry about”, he said, though he knew he didn’t fully believe himself.. In fact, he knew he was just as anxious..

“Aizawa-Yamada family”, a soft voice called out, and that is when Shouta saw their caseworker, Paislee walk out of her office.

Hizashi quickly tightened his grip on Shouta’s hand as the two of them stood up and walked over to Paislee.

Ugh, the pit in his stomach wouldn’t fucking stop.

“Hi guys, how are you two doing today?”, Paislee said with a smile.

“Fine”, Shouta said at the same time that Hizashi said, “Very nervous”, before he let out a small anxious laugh.

Paislee’s face grew concerned as she let the two of them step into her office, “I hope everything is alright”.

“Me too”, Hizashi said, again very anxiously.

Shouta sighed, leading Hizashi to sit in the chair in front of Paislee’s desk as he sat in the other one, “He is nervous you are going to tell us we aren’t allowed to foster”, he said matter of factly, causing Hizashi to give him a look as he sat down in the chair.

“Oh my goodness, absolutely not”, Paislee said, as she closed the door, walking over to her desk, “If anything it is the very opposite. I think I have a kid you might be interested in, and might be perfect for you but-”, she trailed off nervously, very clearly trying to pick her next few words out very carefully.

“But what?”, Hizashi asked.

“Give her time to think”, Shouta said.

Hizashi sighed but nodded as he crossed his arms.

Paislee let out a small breath before she started to talk again, “On your forms, the two of you stated that you wanted an older child in the range of ten to fifteen. You also said that you don’t mind if the child has disabilities or anything that would cause the need for special care. Foster parents that are willing to take children like that are very rare.. And we are currently in desperate need of a family just like that as a child that has been with our agency for a very long time lost their placement…. But he is…… a lot to take on”.

“How so?”, Shouta asked, his interests very much peeked.

“Well.. he is extremely behavioral”, Paislee said, “He isn’t mean though, at all. He is actually a very sweet kid.. He just needs someone who is willing to work with him and understand him”.

“What do you mean by behavioral? Like he yells and stuff?”, Hizashi asked, quirking his eyebrow as he looked at Paislee.

“He does yell.. He screams quite a bit as well…. But those aren’t the behaviors that typically make people unwilling to foster him….. He has a history of violence. He kicks, bites, hits, pushes, and causes damage to property. He also has on occasion found knives and other weapons. He also has violence related to his quirk and has a very hard time controlling it.. That is one of the reasons I think you two might be great for him”.

“I can help him with that”, Shouta said, a very small smile forming on his face at the thought, “That is literally my job”.

Paislee nodded and smiled, “I know…. He also… has applied for UA…. so if you feel like that could cause issues then I understand”.

“No.. I think that would be perfect actually. Does he want to be a hero?”, Hizashi asked.

“He does. He is a sweetheart, and anytime you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he just says he wants to be a hero and help people”, Paislee said.

Shouta felt very hopeful. This kid sounded perfect.

“Tell us more about him”, Hizashi said, shifting so that he was leaning forward, the same way he always did when he was very interested and excited about the conversation.

Paislee’s smile grew as she grabbed a few pieces of paper out of a folder, “Well.. we can go over some information today, and then I can give you this full run down of his history to take home if you decide he would be a good fit”.

“Alright”, Shouta said.

“He would be a good a fit”, Hizashi said, slightly rocking back and forth, “We want him, right Shouta?”.

Shouta let out a breath, grabbing Hizashi’s hand and squeezing it.. Oh his sweet spouse.. His heart was too big.. And he was too impulsive.

“I want to hear more about him before we commit”, Shouta said, softly, “What is the source of his behaviors? I hope this doesn’t sound bad, but I have a hard time imagining that a neurotypical abled kid would have such extreme behaviors”.

“You…. would be correct”, Paislee said, “So…. he has extensive trauma which has resulted in PTSD, intermittent explosive disorder, and Dissociative Identity Disorder. He is also autistic and has several learning disabilities, as well as adhd, derealization and depersonalization disorder, binge eating disorder with occasional aggression with food, severe separation anxiety, major depressive disorder, tourettes, and cyclothmia. We also suspect that he has a cluster A or C personality disorder but he is too young to be diagnosed. Are you familiar with those conditions?”, Paislee asked.

“Yes”, Hizashi answered, before Shouta could, as his rocking back and forth intensified a little bit, “Is his seperation anxiety typically with his foster parents?”.

“Currently it is in relation to me and his boyfriend.. But it has been with his foster parents in the past”, Paislee answered.

“He’s queer?”, Hizashi asked with a smile.

“Oh! Yes, he is. He identifies as bi and genderfluid and uses all pronouns”, she said with a small smile, “And he does have a boyfriend. You will have to be willing to allow him to see his boyfriend quite frequently.. Since he has been living with me the past few weeks the only times he has physically hurt me or my family is when he isn’t allowed to see him. This goes back to the separation anxiety as well as strong abandonment issues. He has extreme fears of those he loves abandoning him”.

Shouta nodded, looking over at Hizashi who was very obviously interested. Shouta squeezed his hand making Hizashi look over and give him a quick smile, before he looked back over at Paislee, “We would definitely be able to work around that”.

“As long as they keep things appropriate”, Shouta added, knitting his eyebrows together in concern.

“Yes, of course. It is expected that you will have certain rules and expectation about what is and isn’t allowed in your home.. I am just letting you know that if you were to not allow them to see each other that there will most likely be issues. Hanta just really means a lot to him”, Paislee said.

Shouta nodded, “Right”.

“I think he is perfect”, Hizashi said, again.

Shouto sighed, squeezing his hand again. He couldn't help but agree. But he had to be the voice of reason here, “How is he with animals? Does he have any aggression towards them? We have cats, dogs, guinea pigs, and a bird. They are like kids to us, and they are rescues, their safety is extremely important to us”.

“Oh, he loves animals”, Paislee said with a smile, “So no, he has never had any issues with them”.

“And if we agree to take him, we will be able to reach out to you still about any questions we have a long the way?”, Shouta asked.

“Of course”, Paislee said, “I try to be available at all times of the day over text.. And especially with Denki, as he is my most…… difficult….. Child to place”.

Shouta nodded.

He felt nervous. But also.. Excited.. Maybe?

Something in him told him that this was right. That this was supposed to be their child. That this was going to be the child they adopted.

“He’s perfect”, Hizashi said, again.

Shouta sighed. They had a room set up for a kid. They had money to go out and buy stuff that he would be interested in. And they would have Paislee’s full support at all times of the day.

What reasons did they have to say no.

“Yes, he is”, Shouta said, with a small smile.

He did sound perfect.

Chapter Text

When Shouta stepped out of the bathroom after his shower and nighttime routine, he was very surprised to see that Hizashi wasn’t in bed.

She had been in bed when Shouta has gone into the bathroom.. plus they had both agreed that since Denki was coming early tomorrow morning that they would go to bed earlier than normal.

So he expected her to be in bed still.. maybe not asleep.. but in bed at least.

“Zashi?”, Shouta called out, not fully in a yell, but louder than his normal voice.

And he got no answer.. which of course made him a little anxious.. but not too much.. If Hizashi had her hearing aids in then yes, it would be odd for her to not respond.. but if she had taken them out then she definitely didn’t hear him.

Shouta sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face as he walked out of their room, “Hizashi?”, Shouta called out again.

“In here”, Hizashi responded back from somewhere in the house…. from Denki’s room specifically.. and there was a bit of panic in his voice.

Of course.. Shouta should have seen this coming.

Shouto walked further into the hallway and into Denki’s future room. When he got there he leaned against the doorway, watching as Hazashi moved around a few of the Littlest Pet Shops they had bought for Denki, trying to get them in the ‘perfect’ position.

“What are you doing babe? You need to get to bed”, Shouta said.

Hizashi let out a frustrated sound, “Not yet, I have to make sure everything is ready for Denki.. he deserves a good room to come to”.

Shouta crossed his arms, “Paislee already said that what we have done is above and beyond anything that his other foster parents have done for him”.

“And that’s the standard we are going for?”, Hizashi asked with a scoff, shaking her head, “This needs to be perfect for him Shouta, he deserves it”.

“He does deserve it.. but it is impossible to make it perfect”, Shouta responded, “I think it looks pretty damn amazing already though”.

“Just go to bed Shouta”, Hizashi said, moving back from the shelf with the littlest pet shops on it, before going over to the dresser and messing around with the starlight they put there, “I’ll be there in a sec”.

“Zashi..”.

“Please”, Hizashi said, her voice edging on slight anger and Shouta knew that it meant she was close to snapping…. and it was all because she was anxious.

And Shouta knew better than to push her when she was like that.

“Alright.. just come to bed soon, okay?”, Shouta said before he let out a small laugh and added some fondness to his voice, “I really need some Hizashi cuddles before I go to sleep”.

Hizashi looked from where she was adjusting the stuff on the shelf and gave him a small smile, even through her anxious annoyance, “I’ll be there in a minute, okay?”.

Shouta nodded, giving her a small smile. He knew that the way he was going about it was going to get her to come to bed sooner, but without making her upset, “Alright.. love you”.

“Love you too”, Hizashi said, before she contained to adjust things in their room.

—

Shouta woke up to the feeling of the bed shifting next to him. He groaned scrubbing his hands over his face before looking in the direction of the movement. A small smile played on his lips as he saw Hizashi getting into bed, putting her hair up in a ponytail.

Ughh.. she was so fucking pretty.

But she also should have been in a bed by now.

“What time is it?”, Shouta asked, blinking a few times at her.. but she didn’t respond, “Zashi?”.

Oh shit.. she probably had her hearing aids out.

It was then that Hizashi turned, about to lay down, but she locked eyes with Shouta and must have realized he was waiting for some kind of answer.

“Huh?”, Hizashi asked. Her voice was loud and unrhythmic just like it always was when she verbally spoke without her hearing aids.

Shouta shook his head fondly, waving his hand a little bit as a ‘don’t worry about it’ gesture, before he held his arms out, inviting Hizashi in so he could hold her.

Hizashi smiled, laying down fully and relaxing in Shouta’s arms, nuzzling against his chest and he squeezed her tight against him.

Shouta let out a content sigh. He felt a little bit nervous about tomorrow, but he tried to not focus on that and instead worry about getting a good night's sleep, with his partner in his arms.

And with that, he slipped back into sleep.

—

Shouta took in an anxious deep breath as he picked up his phone after hearing it buzz. He knew that Denki was going to come soon.. They were just waiting for Paislee to be able to get him in the car.

Apparently it was a rough day for him.. And he was less than excited about coming to their home. Which had made Hizashi pretty sad to hear.. But Shouta tried to reassure him that it had nothing to do with them and that Denki was just struggling with this because he has been through so many foster families.

And it seemed to make Hizashi a little less upset.. But Shouta could tell he was still sad.

Shouta wasn’t sad though.. He was a little disappointed maybe.. Of course, he wanted Denki to be happy that he was coming to live with them.. But he kind of expected this.

If anything, he was nervous.

He was nervous he was going to do something wrong and mess everything up with this kid who had already been through hell and back.

He was so scared he was just going to become one of the people who made his life hell.

So when he picked up his phone and read the text from Paislee, ‘on the way. He is calm right now after some meds, don’t give him anymore for six hours.. But I will go over meds with you again before I leave. Should be there in ten minutes’.

‘Ok. see you soon.’, Shouta quickly texted, before taking his laptop and putting it off to the side and standing up from the couch and walking down the hallway.. This time he didn’t bother to even call out to Hizashi.. He knew where he would be, plus he had told him earlier this morning that he was having a bad sensory day so he wasn’t putting his hearing aids in until Denki came.

Shouta turned the corner, walking into the room that was only minutes away from belonging to their new foster child, to his spouse, folding and putting away clothes that they had bought for Denki a few days ago.

They had decided to leave it in the bag for Denki to go through when he got here.. But apparently, in Hizashi’s anxiety, he has decided to go ahead and put it away for him.

Shouta flipped the lights on and off a few times, alerting his spouse that he was wanting his attention without accidentally startling him.

Hizashi instantly looked up, turning to see Shouta, and giving him a questioning look.

‘They are on the way’, Shouta signed.

Hizashi’s eyes widened and he put the shirt he was folding into the drawer, before nodding and walking out of the room, kissing Shouta’s cheek before walking in the direction of their room, most likely going to grab his hearing aids.

..

It was almost exactly ten minutes later when a van, similar to the one the foster agency had given them for transporting Denki pulled up in their driveway. They had been waiting there already, of course, Hizashi couldn’t stay inside and wait.. The second he put his hearing aids in, he quickly rushed their dogs, pancake and Flapjack into their crates, and put the cats in their room, and then grabbed Shouta’s hand and dragged him outside.

Shouta wasn’t really able to gauge Hizashi’s full emotions. He could tell that he was excited, but he knew his spouse well enough to know that there had to be more emotions there as well.. He just didn’t know what they were.. And there was a good chance Hizashi didn’t even know, himself.

“They’re here”, Hizashi said, standing up off of the swing on their porch, pulling on Shouta’s hand to get him to stand up as well.

“Patience, Zashi”, Shouta said, standing up, but holding on tightly to Hizashi’s hand to stop him from running off of the porch like Shouta knew he wanted to. If Shouta were to be honest he also wanted to go down there to greet them too, but he didn’t want to overwhelm Denki, “He has had a rough day, remember? We don’t want to overwhelm him”.

Hizashi got a tight frown on his face, but nodded.

Shouta leaned over and kissed his cheek, before looking back at the van in their driveway.. And his heart instantly melted as he saw Paislee open the back door to the van and a blonde haired teen walked out.

He had his shaggy short blonde hair pulled up into a half ponytail and was wearing a baggy orange hoodie and even baggier ripped jeans, and an old pair of beat-up converse shoes. Shouta definitely took note of the frown on his face and the way he instantly looked down, as he carried a garbage bag of what he assumed to be Denki’s things, over his shoulder.

“Hey Denki”, Hizashi said, letting go of Shouta’s hand and rushing down the stairs of the porch to see him. Shouta sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face as his partner did exactly what he had just said not to do, and slowly followed him down the steps.

Denki looked up at him, an insecure frown on his face before he looked up at Paislee, who was walking behind him with a comforting hand on his back. He then let out a small growl, a slight bit of his colorful braces showing as his mouth opened a tiny bit, “Fuck off”, he said in a grumbled voice.

Hizashi frowned, stepping back just a tiny bit. It broke Shouta’s heart and he made sure to put his hand on his spouse’s back to try to make the rejection a little less harsh.

“He is going to be like this for a while.. We can talk more about it once he is in his room”, Paislee said, rubbing Denki’s back.

Denki let out another small growl, looking down as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

Shouta nodded, squeezing Hizashi’s shoulder in a comforting gesture, “Understandable”, he said, before turning toward their house, “Follow us and we can show you both around”. He tried to remember some of the stuff Paislee had told them, when Denki is feeling insecure don’t single him out, talk to everyone in the room.

“That sounds lovely”, Paislee said.

Shouta nodded, squeezing Hizashi’s shoulder one more time, before letting go and opening the door for them. Denki walked inside, definitely instantly eyeballing Shouta as he did. Paislee stayed next to him, not moving her hand off of his shoulder, and Hizashi followed behind them, clearly feeling a little insecure.

Once they were in the living room Shouta watched as Denki looked around for a second. He stayed quiet, trying to give him time to process before overwhelming him with sound.

“You guys must be pretty fucking rich”, Denki said, a small laugh followed, “It does make sense.. Present Mic being a hero and all..”.

Shouta smiled a little bit, happy that he was getting some words out of him that weren’t hateful, “Did you know I am a hero as well”.

Denki shrugged, looking down for a second, “That’s what Paislee said.. I don’t know who you are though”.

“My hero name is Eraser Head.. I try to stay out of the spotlight though”, Shouta said, crossing his arms a bit, taking a step toward Denki without trying to intimidate him, “But my real name is Shouta Aizawa, did Paislee tell you that?”.

“Yeah..”, Denki said, “Should I call you Shouta?”.

“If that’s what you want to call me”, Shouta said, “Whatever makes you comfortable. Also that’s my spouse, Hizashi Yamada”, Shouta said, gesturing toward Hizashi who was standing pretty still in the back, “Sorry if he overwhelmed you a little bit, he was just excited to see you. We both love you a lot already”.

“.......Cool”, Denki said awkwardly, before eyeballing Hizashi, “I wasn’t trying to be mean.. I’m just……… Ugh……. I don’t know”.

“That’s okay”, Shouta said, “We will go at your pace with everything.. Do you want to see around the house or just go up to your room”.

“I want you to take the knives out of your kitchen”, Denki said, very bluntly, “I stabbed my old foster dad in the leg. I don’t want to do it again”.

Shouta nodded, trying very hard to show no reaction to that, “Paislee told us, we put them where you can’t reach them. Thanks for letting us know”.

Denki nodded, “I like you”, he said, slightly kicking the carpet with his feet, “I want to tear up your carpet”.

“I really like you too, Denki. We both do”, Shouta said, taking another step forward, slowly, “But is there anything else you can do, besides tear up our carpet? Hizashi really likes our carpet, it helps him not get too overwhelmed by a hard floor”.

Denki scrunched up his nose and turned to Hizashi who suddenly looked like a deer stuck in the headlights, “You’re autistic, makes sense..”.

Hizashi let out a small laugh, “I sure am.. Is that a good thing, kiddo?”.

Denki shrugged, “I like autistic people better than allistic people.. they understand me more”, he said, before looking down, “Where is my room?”.

“It’s right this way”, Shouta said, looking over at Hizashi, who gave him a small nod, reassuring Shouta that he was okay, before he started to walk down the hallway.

“You know, Denki”, Paislee said, “Hizashi and Shouta have a lot of animals”.

“You told me”, Denki said, plainly.

“Isn’t that good?”, Paislee asked, “You were excited when I told you”.

“I guess”, Denki said.

“Okay, here it is”, Shouta said, stopping at the first door in the hallway, “Hizashi has spent a lot of time setting it up for you.. But if there is anything you want to change then let us know and we will do it”.

Denki nodded, and Shouta opened the door. Denki stepped in first and Paislee followed, giving him some space as he entered the smaller room. Shouta stayed out, but continued to look through the doorway, putting his arm around Hizashi who was anxiously rubbing his hands together as he watched Denki look around the room.

Denki walked over to the shelf and looked at the littlest pet shop that Hizashi had been messing with last night, “It’s rare.. Discontinued.. a lot of money like $300.. Right?”.

“The price doesn’t matter.. Paislee told us you have been looking for that one”, Hizashi said with a small, nervous smile.

“But it was $300, right?”, Denki asked, “Either that or you stole it and that doesn’t seem very heroic”.

“Yes, it was $300”, Shouta answered, “But it's no big deal”.

Denki let out a small laugh, “Rich people are fucking crazy.. I haven’t had a foster family try to kiss my ass this badly in years”, he then looked around the room, “It’s pretty nice, I guess. I wanna hang out in here. Can you guys leave?”.

Paislee gave Denki a small smile, before looking back over at the two of them.

Respecting Denki’s wishes over his space was another thing Paislee had told them about, so clearly she was trying to do that.

“We can do that”, Paislee said, before turning to Shouta and Hizashi, “We will have plenty of stuff we need to go over”.

“Cool”, Denki said, stomping his feet a little bit against the carpet of the room, “sorry if I fuck up the carpet”.

“It will be okay. We can figure out what to do with the carpet if it really bothers you”, Shouta responded.

“Cool”.

–

“He doesn’t like me”, Hizashi said, with a sigh as he walked out of their bathroom and into their room.

“He doesn’t dislike you”, Shouta said, sitting on their bed and taking off his shirt, throwing it in the hamper in the corner of the room.

Hizashi let out a small grumble, “Thanks babe”, he said sarcastically.

Shouta sighed, “Zashi, he will come around to you.. He just needs time”, he said, grabbing the pink scrunchie that had once belonged to Hizashi, but Shouta stole, and pulled his hair up in a ponytail.

Hazhi sighed, shrugging his shoulders as he walked over to their dresser, grabbing a matching pair of pajamas and starting to put them on, “He likes you”.

“I just know how to talk to insecure kids.. It has nothing to do with me.. Trust me, he is going to end up loving you. You two are practically the same person, from what Paislee told us”, Shouta said.

Hizashi groaned, flopping down on their bed as soon as he got his pajamas on, “Promise?”, he asked, holding out his pinky in Shouta’s direction.

Shouta sighed, smiling a little bit at his adorable spouse, before wrapping his pinky around Hizashi’s, “Promise”.

Hizashi sighed, moving his pinky away and taking his hearing aids out, putting them in the case near their bed, before he laid down and signed, ‘i love you’.

Shouta smiled, leaning down and placing a kiss on his lips before he signed back, ‘i love you’.

Chapter Text

As soon as Shouta woke up, he was very much glad that he had the day off of Hero work and that school was on break. He was exhausted.. More exhausted than usual. But he also knew that even though he didn’t have to get up and do work, that would inevitably leave him more exhausted, he still had to get up.

He knew he wanted to be awake before Hizashi, so that they wouldn’t have to be alone with Denki.. If that happened then there was a huge possibility that they would get nervous.. Which would make them very loud and animated.. Which would overwhelm Denki.. And then Hizashi would feel more rejected by him.

It was going to be a bit of a rough balance for awhile.. Shouta knew that going into this. He knew this would end up working out, even if he was a little nervous about it all. But he also knew that Denki and Hizashi would have a slightly hard time for awhile.

So he got up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he did. He looked over at Hizashi who was still fast asleep, curled up in a little ball, facing away from Shouta. He leaned over, kissing the back of their neck before fully getting up and heading out to the direction of the living room.

He still felt extremely groggy as he walked through the living room and over to their kitchen, ready to make some coffee to give himself at least some energy, but was startled as he heard a voice.

“I fucked up the carpet in my room.. There is wood under it.. Do you hate me?”, Shouta jumped, defintally not expecting anyone to be awake, let alone fully awake and dressed for the day, sitting on the couch of the living room like he had been awake for hours.

He quickly regained his composure, letting out a breath, “No.. I don’t hate you. You have oppisite sensory needs from my spouse.. That’s okay.. We will figure out what to do about the carpet in here later”.

Denki blinked at him a few times, “What are your dogs names? They went in the backyard, is that okay?”.

“Their names are flapjack and pancake.. And yeah its okay, they like to stay out there most of the day”, Shouta responded, going over to the kitchen side of the room and starting the coffee as he kept looking over at Denki to continue the conversation.

“Cool”, he said, as he started to rock back and forth, “You have a lot of animals, why do you have a bird in your room?”.

Shouta felt a little startled hearing that for a moment, since he had no memory of Denki going into their room.. But that is when he remembered Paislee saying that Denki had a habit of going into different rooms when he felt like no one was there to see him.. So he must have come in their room when they were sleeping last night.. Which was a little unnerving.. But he didn’t mean anything weird by it.. So he tried to show no reaction.

“We do have a lot of animals”, Shouta said, “Our bird is named Sandwich, he is a macaw. He and our guinea pigs were from an exotic pet store that got shut down for not treating their animals well”.

“Oh”, Denki said, “Your cats have their own room.. Rich people are crazy”.

Shouta let out a small laugh, “They do have their own room.. It’s so they don’t drive the dogs crazy while Hizashi and I are both working”.

Denki nodded, as he started to rock back and forth a little bit more, “What are the cat’s names? Do they always stay locked up in there? I guess not because you just said it’s for when you are at work. Why were they locked up when I got here?”.

Shouta smiled a little bit, leaning against the counter. He could tell just by the way Denki was talking that he was starting to feel more comfortable around him, “No, they don’t stay locked in there all the time, we just didn’t want them making a bunch of noise and scaring you in the night. Our black cat is named deep fried, our pink sphynx is named pickles, our white and grey cat is named tater tot, our calico sphynx is named toast, and our fuzzy calico is named doughnut. They were from a hoarding situation”.

Denki nodded, his rocking back and forth getting more intense, “What about the dogs? Where did they come from? They seem pure bred, right? Are they rescues too?”,

“They are rescues, both of them are from a puppy mill that got shut down. Pancake is a pure bred Great Dane and Flap Jack is a pure bred Chihuahua”.

“Cool”, Denki said, starting to flap his hands as he rocked back and forth more intensely, “Can I have a fish tank in my room? I like your fish pond”.

“Sure, do you want to get one today?”, Shouta asked.

“Sure. Yeah. Maybe. I don’t know”, Denki said, before letting out a grumble as he flapped his hands harder, “Can I have my meds?”.

Shouta instantly stood up, no longer leaning against the counter, “Shit”, he said under his breath, reaching up to the top shelf and grabbing the pill box of Denki’s morning meds out of it, “Yes you can, sorry”.

“It’s okay. You’re tall”, Denki said, standing up and walking over to where Shouta was standing in the kitchen, “Why are you so tall? Present Mic is taller though. I looked it up. He is six foot one and you are six foot. I shouldn’t call him Present Mic should I? Hizashi. I should call him Hizashi”.

Shouta let out a small laugh, and handed Denki the pills for the morning, “I’m sure they don’t care if you call them Present Mic until you get used to calling them by their first name”, Shouta said, grabbing a cup out the cabenet and filling it with water for Denki to take his pills with.

Denki nodded, quickly swallowing his pills before he started to jump up and down, “They?”, he asked, “I thought they used all pronouns? Should I use they/them for them?”.

“Oh, they do use multiple pronouns, he/they/she, but it switches everyday depending on what they are feeling”, Shouta said, “That’s why we have that white board over there”, he nodded his head in the direction of the white board that was on the wall by the fridge, “When they wake up they will write on the board what pronouns feel right, today.. You use multiple pronouns too, right? Do you also want to write your pronouns up on the board? Or are you always okay with all pronouns”, he asked, right as the coffee maker made the sound, indicating that it was ready, so he turned around and got a mug out of the cabinet.

“No, that’s okay. I don’t care what pronouns you use, most people just use he/him since I am AMAB but I don’t really care”, Denki said, still jumping up and down.

Shouta nodded, pouring the coffee in the mug, “Well if you ever change your mind, let us know.. Do you want some coffee?”.

“No, it makes me feel like I’m dying”, Denki said, before he added a spin to his jumping, flapping his hands quickly.

Shouta nodded, “Do you want anything to drink or eat? I can make you something”.

“Not right now. My body feels bad”, Denki said, shaking his head quickly as he kept flapping his hands, “I needed my meds. It needs to kick in. I will get angry if I don’t move right now. I don’t want to get angry. I don’t like getting angry. I hate being angry. Everyone thinks I like being angry, but I don’t like it”.

“I don’t know why anyone would think you like being angry”, Shouta said, taking a sip of his coffee, “I don’t think anyone likes being angry. It’s just something that people have to feel.. you just feel it differently than most people.. that doesn’t mean you like feeling that way”.

“I really like you”, Denki said, his jumping up and down slowing but he kept flapping his hands.

“Like I said, I like you too, kid”, Shouta said, taking another sip.

“You’re really quiet and calm, but in a cool way. You are also blunt. I like it”, Denki said, now just bouncing on his toes as he still flapped his hands.

Shouta let out a small laugh, not exactly sure what to say to that, “Thanks, kid”, he said, affectionately, “You’ll end up liking Hizashi too, they are just a bit……. much…. at first”.

“They are okay”, Denki said, “I like them as a hero.. they are actually my favorite.. They just want to rush me and for me to be something I’m not and I’m not doing that anymore. You won’t adopt me. I know that. I’m not sucking up to them so that you guys will. I’m just going to do my thing and enjoy it here while I can”, Denki sighed, his arms going down by his side as he clenched and unclenched his fists instead of flapping, “I’m tired of pretending to be all happy and nice for foster families who end up dumping me when they find out I can’t stay that way forever”.

Shouta blinked a few times, trying to figure out how to respond to that. Paislee had said that Denki says stuff like this sometimes, and she also said that when he does say that, that he shouldn’t reassure him that they will adopt him. There were a few reasons for that, one being that no matter what there was no way for them to promise that.. Things happens and no matter how much they intend on adopting him something may happen that makes that not happen, and two being that the reassurance makes Denki defensive.

“Hizashi doesn’t want you to be something you are not.. They have been talking to me about how perfect you sound since Paislee mentioned you”, Shouta said, hoping that was a good response.

“They just want to fix me”, Denki said, angrily, looking down.

“You can’t fix something that isn’t broken”, Shouta said plainly, taking another sip of his coffee, trying to play it off like this was a casual conversation, hoping that Denki wouldn’t escalate it.

Denki looked down at the floor, his eyebrows scrunching together as he bit his lip, “Y-you don’t-”, Denki cut himself off, letting out a small sound as he kept clenching and unclenching his fists, “You can’t say that after just meeting me”.

Shouta was about to say something in response, but his thoughts shifted as he saw Hizashi walk down the hallway and enter the area between the kitchen and the living room. He kind of hoped that another person entering the room would get Denki’s mind out of the dark place it was inevitably heading.

‘Good morning’, Shouta signed, before turning around grabbing a mug out of the cabinet, and filling it with coffee, before holding it out in Hizashi’s direction.

Hizashi smiled, signing ‘good morning’, back to Shouta, before turning to Denki and waving to him with an anxious smile. Denki looked back at them a little confused, but waved back. Hizashi then grabbed their mug and signed, ‘thank you’, to Shouta before walking over to the white board and grabbing a yellow marker with the hand that wasn’t holding the mug. They then wrote on the board she/he. She then went back over to them and signed, ‘I’m going to sit on the porch’.

Shouta nodded, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek, before Hizashi walked past him. She then put his hand on Denki’s shoulder, squeezing it in a comforting, very much motherly way.

Denki blushed a little bit and stiffened, but a small smile played on his lips and Shouta could tell that he was definitely starting to warm up to this being his life. This made a warmth fill Shouta that he had never felt before.. He was feeling like a parent.. And he felt like his whole life was falling into place.. He felt like this was the perfect moment that would stick out to him forever.

“I forgot she is deaf”, Denki said a bit anxiously, rubbing his hands together as he bounced on his toes, which took Shouta out of his thoughts, “He talks all the time though”.

“He wears hearing aids in public. At home she takes them out sometimes though, especially in the mornings when he is still waking up”, Shouta explained, “Do you know any sign language?”.

Denki shook his head, looking a bit concerned.

“That’s okay, we can teach you if you want to learn.. If not that’s okay too.. We can find other ways for the two of you to communicate”, Shouta explained, trying to sound as understanding as possible.

“I want to learn”, Denki said, instantly.

“Okay, then we can work on it”, Shouta said, with a small smile.

Denki nodded, looking down a bit awkwardly, “I want to go get a fish tank today”, he said anxiously.

Shouta could tell that Denki was trying really hard not to admit that he liked it here and that he was starting to feel comfortable.. So he tried to not acknowledge it, “Sounds perfect.. We can also go to a few other places, pick up some stuff you might want, like toothpaste and deodorant.. We didn’t want to get you any of that incase you had sensitivities”.

Denki nodded, giving him a thumbs up, before walking away, shrinking in on himself a little bit as he walked down the hallway and into his room.

–

“Hey kid”, Shouta said, knocking on Denki’s door, remembering the rule to always ask permission to go into his space, “Can I come in”.

“Yeah”, Denki said, his voice sounding like he had just got done laughing.

Shouta opened the door, trying not to react to the extremely torn up carpet that was everywhere and instead looked over at Denki who was sitting on his bed with his phone in front of him, “What are you doing?”.

“Facetiming Hanta. I wanted to show him my room. Now we are talking about fish”, Denki responded.

Shouta had a small smile play at his lips, happy that Denki was happy enough with the room they had designed for him that he was showing it off, “What kind of fish are you thinking about getting?”.

“Piranha”, Denki said with a big smile and a laugh coming through it.

Shouta’s eyes widened a little bit, trying to figure out how to lightly tell him that he wasn’t getting a Piranha. But then a jokingly chastising voice, that Shouta assumed must be Hanta, came from his phone, saying “Denki..”.

Denki rolled his eyes, “Ugh.. I’m just joking”, he said, “But we were looking at some fish online and I think I want some fancy goldfish”.

“I’m sure that can be done”, Shouta said, crossing his arms as he leaned against the door frame, “Well whenever you are done talking to Hanta, would you like to go get some lunch with us?”.

Denki’s face scrunched up as he sat up on the bed, putting his phone down, face up clearly not hanging up but moving his attention fully to Shouta, “Like.. go out to eat.. In public?”.

Shouta gave him a confused look, “Yes.. if you want to, that is”.

Denki looked down as he started to rock back and forth, which confused and concerned Shouta. He thought he had done everything right, he gave Denki space, he didn’t make him stop talking to Hanta just asked if they could do something when he was done, he gave him warning of the change of plans to go out to eat, and gave him the choice to not go. So what was wrong?

“You….. are okay with taking me in public?”, Denki asked, “Like.. for fun?”.

Shouta nodded, trying to figure out what was happening.

“What if something happens?”, Denki asked.

“Such as?”, Shouta asked.

“What if I get upset?”, Denki asked, rubbing his hands together.

“Then we will figure it out”, Shouta said, “we aren’t worried about it”.

Denki nodded, but looked down, “Won’t you be embarrassed?”.

“Definitely not”, Shouta responded, “Why would we be?”.

“My last foster family didn’t like to take me out in public”, Denki said.

“Well if it brings up bad memories then we don’t have to go out to eat. We can eat something here and then just go out to get the fish”, Shouta said.

“No I want to go!”, Denki said quickly, “I want to go j-just give me like an hour.. I want to talk to Hanta some more and then I have to get ready to go out”.

Shouta nodded, a small smile playing on his lips, “Alright.. Take your time”.

–

“Are you sure this is okay?”, Shouta heard Denki ask anxiously from the back of the van as they pulled up to one of their favorite sushi restaurants.

“Of course it is kiddo”, Hizashi said from the passenger seat, turning to look back at Denki, “We want you to go out and have a fun time”.

“I don’t want to ruin your hero ranking”, Denki said.

This instantly made Shouta incredibly sad. Denki had been told so much throughout his life that he was just an embarrassment that now all he could see himself as is an embarrassment.

But Shouta knew he wasn’t that at all. In just his short time knowing him he could see that Paislee had been right. Denki was a sweetheart. He didn’t want to be the way the he was, the world had just forced it on him.

He was a victim of circumstance.

“You won’t ruin my hero ranking”, Hizashi said, “And even if something happened that affected it then it wouldn’t matter. I’m proud to be your foster parent, and I know Shouta feels the same way”.

“I do”, Shouta said simply, as he parked the car, “Everything is going to be fine, Denki”.

He looked back as Denki nodded, though he looked a little anxious, before unbuckling the seatbelt, “Thanks again for not putting the lock on the seatbelt”, Denki said, anxiously, my old foster dad…… towards the end he wouldn’t let me go in the car at all without it being locked”.

“We aren’t going to lock it unless we have to, kiddo”, Hizashi said, “It’s just there to keep you safe, not to lock you up for no reason”.

Denki nodded, “Yeah.. thanks..”.

..

“So Denki”, Shouta said, after they were seated in a booth, Denki sitting across from him and Hizashi, “Tell us about yourself”.

Denki looked at him and his eyebrows scrunched up, “What do you want to know?”.

“What do you want us to know”, Shouta asked.

Denki started to rock back and forth, “I don’t like that question. Be more specific”.

“What kind of stuff do you like?”, Hizashi spoke up, “Paislee told us a little bit, but I personally want to hear it from you”.

“I.. like.. Littlest Pet Shops”, Denki said, “I like to line them up. I love to orgnaize them in ways that I imagine them having conversations with each other. I like.. I like Littlest Pet Shops a lot. They used to talk to me sometimes. They don’t talk to me as much with my new meds. I know its supposed to be a good thing but it makes me kinda sad. Umm.. uhh.. sorry.. Anyway”, Denki said, shaking his head, “I like video games. I like Five Nights at Freddy’s. My favorite character is Bonnie. I also like Mangle. I relate to Mangle.. I uhh.. I.. um.. Anyway.. I like umm.. I like Heroes.. Y-you are my favorite Hero”, he said looking at Hizashi before looking down, “I want to be a hero. I’m going to be a hero. My favorite color is yellow. I like Yellow….. and orange too. I uhh.. I like my boyfriend too.. I uhh.. I like animals.. I like.. Squishmallows.. I like.. Stuffed animals… I like Monster High Dolls….. Uhhh… yeah”.

“That’s all really cool, Denki”, Hizashi said, “Do you want to tell us a little bit about your boyfriend?”.

Denki nodded, rocking back and forth a little more, “Yeah.. yeah.. Yeah.. yeah.. I-I do. He umm.. His name is Hanta, you know that though. We have been dating since we were twelve.. almost thriteen.. it sounds young but we both have been through a lot and i guess we are kinda…. mature? for our age in that way…. that sounds stupid though.. sorry . Uhh he lives next door to my old foster family, that's how we met. He is my best friend. I love him more than anything. He means everything to me. He loves me more than anyone has ever loved me and he isn’t going to leave me, I know that. He is special. Like a truly amazing and special human. He umm.. What would you want to know. His favorite color is orange. He is really pretty. He is my pretty boy. Umm.. He also applied at UA. He would be an amazing hero, but he doesn’t think so. He has a tape quirk, he can shoot tape out of his elbows and he has been working on using it to climb things. He is going to be like spiderman”, Denki said, letting out a small giggle as he flapped his hands, “He is perfect. He is the most perfect human”.

Shouta looked over at Hizashi, who had a huge smile on her face, “Do you want to show us a picture?”.

“Yeah. Yup, yup, yup. Yup”, he said as he grabbed his phone out of his pocket, he scrolled on it a minute before holding the phone out to the two of them.

Hizashi grabbed the phone, smiling as he looked at it. Shouta leaned over a little bit so he could look at it. It was a sweet picture. It was a selfie of the two of them with some kind of filter on it. In the picture Denki was kissing Hanta’s cheek as Hanta smiled at the camera.

Shouta wasn’t actually sure how he picture Hanta looking, but his apparence didn’t surprise him or anything. He was taller than Denki. He had a tooth missing in the front on the bottom, and in the picture a heart monitor was very clearly visible through the top of his hoodie. He was dark skinned, had a medium length afro, and was wearing the same orange hoodie that Denki was wearing yesterday.

“He seems sweet”, Hizashi said.

“He does”, Shouta agreed.

“Yeah.. he is”, Denki said, with a nod. He then blinked a few times, looking up in the corner of the room and then down at the table and then back over to them.

“Is everything okay?”, Shouta asked.

“Y-yeah.. Yeah yeah yeah yeah, I’m fine.. I just.. We umm.. Someone is co-conscious with me and I feel a little blurry”, Denki said casuaully as he started to rock back and forth a bit more. He then shook his head and looked up at them a bit more anxiously, “Do you know stuff about DID? Do you know what that means? Does it bother you if we talk about it?”.

“We know some”, Hizashi answered, “we tried to do a bit more research when we learned you had it, but feel free to talk about it, kiddo. Do you want us to know anything about your system?”.

“Uhh..”, Denki bit his lips, “I-I umm.. I’m co-conscious with scruffy. Th-they are-.. They are cool.. They are a water creature. All of the alters besides me, Denki, are non-human. I feel non-human though. I feel like none of us are human. We are all not human enough to be human. Umm.. scruffy, is cool.. They aren’t fully here, I am here more than scruffy right now.. But they are here”.

“Okay”, Shouta responded, “Are you okay?”.

“Yeah.. yup.. Yeah.. like I said, just blurry. I want to stay here though, I want to be the one to go to the pet store. I also want to be the one that is here.. I like hanging out with you guys. You guys are cool. I really like you guys.. Sorry.. Sorry.. I ugh… that’s weird.. Sorry that’s weird.. I-I umm.. I feel like I need to move. Can I go move?”.

“Of course, do you want one of us to take you outside?”, Hizashi asked.

Denki nodded, anxiously,”Y-yeah.. You, Hizashi”, Denki said, wrapping his arms around himself, “You make me feel safe”, he said, but then looked over at Shouta anxiously, “Y-you make me feel safe too I-I just.. Since Kenzo…. N-no ughh.. Since my old foster dad.. Being alone with men when I am upset.. I-It just- I’m sorry- I-”.

“It’s okay”, Shouta interrupted, “I’m not upset. I want you to do what makes you feel safe”.

Denki nodded, and got up from the table, “I need to move around”, Denki said, again.

“Okay, let’s go”, Hizashi said, looking up at Denki before shifting his gaze to Shouta, “We will be right back”, she said, kissing his cheek, before standing up.

Shouta nodded, “Okay.. just text me if you need anything”.

Hizashi nodded, and it was then that Denki let out a scream before hitting himself on the head a couple of times, before looking up at the two of them with fear in his eyes, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry”, he said, looking around at the people in the restaurant who could not mind their own damn business and were staring at him.

“It’s okay”, Hizashi said, walking over to Denki and putting a hand on his shoulder as she lead him out of the restaurant, giving the people in there dirty looks as he did, “It’s all okay, let’s just go outside”.

“I’m so sorry”, Denki said softly again as the two of them walked away.

—-

“How are there so many fish here? There are a lot of fish. I don’t know if I have ever been to a petstore before. I can’t remember ever going to a petstore before. Do you always go to this one? What makes it an exoctic pet store? Is it locally owned? It seems small? Do you always go here? Why aren’t you answering me? How many fish are here do you think we can count them all? No thats borning. Why aren’t you answering me?”, Denki said, bouncing up and down as they stood in the middle of the fish section at his and Hizashi’s favorite exotic animal and fish store.

“Kiddo, just give us a second to answer, okay?”, Hizashi said in a calm voice.

“There are so many fish here because they focus on fish a lot. It is an exotic pet store becuase they dont have stuff like dogs and cats. I don’t know how many fish are here. Are there any you are interested in?”, Shouta asked.

Denki flapped his hands, looking around, “I know I said I want fancy goldfish.. But do you know anything about Oscars? I think they are kinda cool”.

“Yeah, we used to have some Oscars back when we first started dating actually”, Hizashi answered, before Shouta could, wrapping her arm around Shouta’s waist, “Do you think you want some of those”.

“Yeah.. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah”, Denki said, jumping up and down, “What all do we need for them? A big tank right? Can we get the really big ones? I want the really big ones”, he then stopped jumping and went over to the large tank with full grown Oscars, putting his hand carefully on the glass, “Look this one is the size of my hand. I want him. I want him to fit your animal name themes. I want to name him wonton. Can I get him?”.

“You sure can”, Shouta said, with a small smile, “They need a 175 gallon though so it will take up a lot space in your room, is that okay?”.

“Yeah.. yeah yeah yeah yeah”, Denki said, excitedly, “Can you guys get the borning stuff and I can pick out the fun stuff? Is that okay? I want to decorate the tank. I don’t want to pick out the tank. That’s borning. Is that okay?”.

“That’s fine”, Hizashi said, with a smile, “Go have fun”.

Denki let out an excited sequel flapping his hands as he ran off in the direction of the tank decorations.

“Kid, don’t run”, Shouta said, in a voice that he made sure wasn’t too loud and didn’t sound like he was getting on him.

“Okay!”, Denki called out, “Sorry”, he said, before speed walking to the fish decor secontion.

“Okay, babe.. Let’s go pick out the boring stuff”, Hizashi said, with an amused smile on her face, grabbing Shouta’s hand and bringing him over to fish tank section.

..

It was about fifteen minutes later when Shouta and Hizashi almost had all of the supplies they needed together, they had picked out a large 200 gallon, with a stand that they thought Denki would like, a bunch of water conditioner, filters, heaters, and stuff that makes tanks cycle in an hour (because it’s the future and that exists now), and some food.

But suddenly there were quick footsteps that approached them and Shouta felt someone grab his shoulder, using it as leverage before the person started to jump up and down next to them. It startled him at first, but he calmed down as soon as he turned around and saw it was Denki who had a cart full of colorful decorations in it.

“Can I get a bug? I want to get a bug. Can I get a bug? Can I please please please please please please please please get a bug?”, Denki asked.

“What….. Kind of bug?”, Hizashi asked with a very nervous tone in his voice.

Shouta let out a small laugh, shaking his head, knowing full well that bugs were one of the only things that really scared his spouse.

“A praying mantis!”, Denki said, bouncing up and down, moving his hand off of Shouta’s shoulder to flap his hands, “Please please please please please please please please please! They have a whole bunch here and they are really cool and pretty and big and I want one. I really want one! Please!”.

Shouta shook his head affectionately, “It’s up to Zashi.. I’m not the one who is afraid of bugs”, he said with a laugh.

Hizashi looked at him in a faux angry way, “I-I guess that’s fine”.

“Yipee!”, Denki said, bouncing up and down a few more times, flapping his hands as he ran off again.

“Are we getting the borning stuff for it?”, Shouta called out to him.

“Yup!”, Denki said, responded, followed by a giggle.

–

“It all looks so cool”, Denki said, looking at the huge tank that was now in the corner of his room, “And I can’t believe I have a mantis”, he said, looking over at the tank that was near his littlest pet shops on the shelf, “I have always wanted one!”.

“We are just glad you are happy, kid”, Shouta said, with a small smile.

“I am! I am very very very very very happy!”, Denki said, getting closer to the fish tank and looking at the biggest of the four oscars, “Thank you. This is really really fucking cool. And thank you for letting me get a stand for sandwich for my room, maybe one day he will sleep in here with me ”.

“maybe.. and It’s no problem”, Hizashi said, also stepping closer to the fish tank and putting a hand on Denki’s back, “And if you show us you can take care of these guys properly and if you do some research and want something else just let us know, okay? We love animals so as long as they are taken care of it won’t bother us”.

“Really?”, Denki asked, looking at him with wide eyes as he flapped his hands.

“Really”, Shouta responded.

“You guys are the fucking best”, He said, “Can you guys please leave though.. I want to watch them and I want to show them to Hanta”.

“Of course, kiddo”, Hizashi said, “Just come down when you are ready for dinner. Let us know what you want, we can instacart the ingredients for stuff if we don’t have it”.

Denki let out a small giggle that warmed Shouta’s heart, “I fucking love it here”.

—

“You guys are really cool! I think I like it here! You guys are nice! I want to stay here forever! I’m so happy! I have been really happy today! I like it here a lot! I like my fish. I like my bug. I like all the pets”, Denki said enthusiastically, jumping up and down and flapping his hands as Shouta and Hizashi got their dinner ready.

Shouta didn’t really know if he was actually talking to them and expecting a response or if he was just talking.. but either way.. he loved it.. he loved seeing this side of Denki and he loved that he was starting to feel happy and comfortable.

He was sure they still had a long road ahead of them.. and he was sure this comfort would most likely come and go, and that this was just the effects of them having a good day together but still it was a very good step in the right direction.

Hizashi smiled at Shouta, taking her eyes off of the pan full of chicken and vegetables he was cooking for their stir fry that Denki had requested, “I’m so happy”, she said, a little bit of a choked sound coming with his words, giving away that he was trying to hold back what Shouta hoped were happy tears.

Shouta smiled back, wrapping his arms around his spouse and giving him a quick kiss, “Me too”, he said simply, giving him another quick kiss before they both looked at Denki who was still jumping up and down and flapping, but he was quiet aside from a humming.

“We finally have a kiddo of our own”, Hizashi said, “And he likes it here. He likes us. He is happy”.

Shouta nodded, resting his head on Hizashi's shoulder, “I know.. but be prepared that this is going to be an up and down thing. He is going to struggle”.

Hizashi sighed, “I know..”, she said a bit sadly, “But for now he is happy”.

Shouta nodded again, kissing Hizashi’s cheek before looking back over at the rice he was cooking. He stirred it for a second before looking over at the pan Hizashi was supposed to be paying attention to, “Zashi, your food is burning”.

“Shit”, Hizashi said, quickly turning from where he was staring at Denki and quickly looking over at the pan, “Ughh.. These pieces already burnt”, Hizashi said in a slightly aggravated tone, “Flapjack, pancake!”, he called out to the dogs that were somewhere in the house.. and suddenly the sound of two sets of dog paws came towards them from somewhere in the hallway.

Shouta smiled as the dogs appeared, Pancake resting her head on the counter and Flapjack spinning in circles as she watched from the floor.

“Here ya go guys, enjoy”, Hizashi said with a laugh, giving Pancake one of the burnt pieces before throwing the other down on the floor for Flapjack.

It was a nice moment.. another one of those moments that he had many times today where Shouta just realized how lucky he was to have this amazing life.

“How long till the food is done”, Denki asked, suddenly appearing next them, leaning on the counter.

Shouta hadn’t noticed him moving over there, but Hizashi must have since she didn’t jump or anything.

“Eh, maybe a half an hour”, Hizashi responded.

Denki pouted, leaning against the counter, “Ughhh, I’m hungry”.

“It’ll be done soon, just have patience”, Shouta said in what he hoped was a kind tone.

“Can I have something to eat while I wait”, Denki asked, starting to sway back and forth a little bit.

“Just wait till the food is done. I don’t want you to spoil your dinner”, Shouta said before he could even think through his words.

But he knew he messed up the second he said it. ‘Never deny him food’, it was something Paislee told them over and over again. Yes, he needed help managing his binge eating disorder, but that was something that had to wait till after a lot of trust was formed.. right now Denki needed to learn that food was always there and available to him.

Denki groaned a little bit, stepping back as he covered his face with his hands, “Th-that’s n-not-”, he stuttered out, before rubbing his hands over his face.

Hizashi gave Shouta a nervous look before taking a step towards Denki, “We can get you some food, okay? what do you want, kiddo?”.

“Shut up!”, Denki yelled, “Just! Ugh! hold on! shut the fuck up!”, denki groaned again, rubbing his hands over his face, “I need to.. I-I need”.

“Denki.. tell us what you need and we will get it for you”, Shouta said softly, turning the burners off and moving the pans off of them, “We can help”.

“Shut the fuck up!”, Denki yelled, and Shouta could see a small spark of electricity come off of him.

He hesitated for a second, deciding not to use his quirk yet, to first figure out what was going on.

“Get the dogs back”, Shouta whispered in Hizashi’s ear, “He won’t hurt them on purpose, but I don’t know what is about to happen”.

Hizashi frowned but nodded, gently grabbing Pancakes collar as Flapjack followed after them down the hallway.

“Denki-“.

There was a small buzz that escaped Denki’s mouth, cutting Shouta off as his stomach dropped.

He hated how anxious he got. He hated how much fear he had. He has fought villains, he has taken down so many people who wanted nothing more than to kill him.. but this was different. This was a child.. a child he was very quickly starting to consider his own.. and he knew what was going on and he still hadn’t fully made a plan in his head on how he was going to handle it when it happened.

Denki had switched.. which was fine.. he had DID of course it was fine and expected. But that buzz meant that he had switched to Hexapod.

Hexapod lived fully on survival instincts and was animalistic and could be violent in some situations. Paislee described them like a scared feral animal. She said that it was heartbreaking to see.

And Shouta had told himself he was going to come up with a plan on how to handle a situation with them.

But he just hadn’t done it yet.

“Hi, Hexapod”, Shouta said in his best attempt at a higher pitched comforting voice, “Everything is okay”.

Hexapod instantly raised their head up, moving the hands that Denki had put over their face down and stared at Shouta with fearful and angry eyes, before a growl escaped their mouth.

Shouta backed up, putting their arms up in a surrendering gesture, not out of fear, but to show them that he meant no harm. “Everything is okay”, he repeated.

Hexapod let out another growl and moved forward, pushing Shouta out of the way before they stared at the food that Shouta had taken off of the stove. They reached forward, picking up a piece of the rice and sniffing it, before throwing it back down, making a slight gag gesture.

Shouta watched carefully as they then walked into the living room, looking around at everything.

He felt a little relieved that so far the most violent thing they had done was push him.

It was then that Hizashi walked into the room again, looking over at Hexapod who was still looking at everything in the room. They very much eyeballed Hizashi as she walked in, but they didn’t do much else.

“What is he doing?”, Hizashi whispered as she stepped forward, slowly making his way towards Shouta.

“They switched”, Shouta whispered back, “I think that’s Hexapod”.

Hizashi nodded, and stepped closer to Shouta, as they both watched Hexapod look around the living room.

They let out a small buzz, before walking over to the glass door and pulling on the handle.. and in that moment Shouta was so thankful that it had a child lock on it.

Hexapod let out another buzz as they continued to pull on it, and then a growl, and then an animalistic scream as they pulled harder and harder on the door but it wouldn’t open.

They then stopped pulling on it, letting out another scream before they looked around the room frantically clearly trying to find an exit.

“Hexapod, it’s okay”, Shouta tried again.

Hexapod’s eyes widened and they let out another scream, before suddenly scratching at the door.

Shouta knew one of them had to do something.

“Hey, Hexapod. I’m Hizashi, okay? This is my husband Shouta, we are taking care of you right now. We are keeping you safe”, Hizashi said in what Shouta knew was his best attempt at a soft voice, but it was still a little too loud, “everything is okay”.

Hexapod let out a small growl as Hizashi approached them, but stopped scratching at the window, not moving.

Shouta watched, not moving, seeing if his spouse could keep Hexapod calm.

Hexapod then suddenly arched their back a little bit, letting out a cat like hiss before they screamed, backing away from Hizashi and running over to the wall before they started to throw themself against it in a clear attempt to get through it.

And Paislee was right, the fear on their face was absolutely heartbreaking.

“Hexapod. Let us help you”, Shouta said, stepping forward in an attempt to see if he could help.

But Hexapod let out another scream, throwing themself at the wall harder, before they fell to the floor kicking and screaming.

And Shouta knew that unfortunately the only thing they could do was wait it out, make sure they stop them from hurting themself or them, and just keep trying to calm them down the best they can.

—

It was an hour before Denki switched back.. and after that it was another hour until Denki calmed down.

He had been scared and confused and ended up punching and kicking Shouta and biting Hizashi on the arm multiple times.. but eventually he calmed down fully and was aware of what was going on.. and he was instantly apologetic.

The fear and desperation in his eyes as he begged for forgiveness hurt Shouta in a way that he never knew was possible.

But of course they told him that he didn’t have to apologize and that it was okay.

Denki very clearly didn’t expect that reaction and he started sobbing.

Eventually he stopped, and they ate dinner, and then Denki surprisingly cuddled with Hizashi on the couch.

Neither of them had expected that, but Denki kept insisting that he wanted Hizashi to comfort him.

And even asked if Hizashi could come back to his room until he fell asleep.

“He’s asleep”, Hizashi signed as she walked into their bedroom about a half an hour after Shouta had gone back to their room.

Shouta nodded from where he was lying in their bed, ‘Where are your hearing aids?’, he signed.

Hizashi put her hand in her pocket and pulled them out, walking over to their bedside table and putting them in the case, ‘everything is too loud’, they signed in a very dramatic way, ‘i took them out once Denki was quiet. I couldn’t take it anymore’.

Shouta frowned, ‘are you having regrets?’.

Hizashi’s eyes widened, ‘no’, she signed very firmly, ‘i love him and i have no regrets. they were just loud and i didn’t expect it. next time i may take out my hearing aids when they start screaming i just wasn’t expecting it’.

Shouta nodded, ‘we will know what to do more once we get used to everything. we will develop a system’.

‘yes’, Hizashi signed, as she got into bed, ‘sorry’, he signed before scrubbing her hands over her face, and then looked up at Shouta again, ‘im very overwhelmed‘.

Shouta gave him a sympathetic look, ‘i know. i’m sorry. you did well though, you can’t say he doesn’t like you’.

Hizashi smiled, ‘he was sweet. he wanted me to play with his hair. Paislee said he tends to cling to ‘mother figures’ I can definitely see that now ’.

‘and you’re the perfect mother figure for him’, Shouta signed before letting out a sigh, ‘but we need to sleep now. i’m exhausted.’

Hizashi nodded, ‘same’, she signed with a very dramatic look on his face, before he leaned over and kissed him, ‘i love you’.

Shouta kissed him back before kissing his head, and signing back, ‘love you too…. now sleep’.

‘you too, insomniac’, Hizashi signed with a playful smile.

Shouta let out a small laugh, playfully pushing Hizashi down, which just made her lay flat on the bed, ‘fuck you’, he signed sarcastically.

‘love you’, Hizashi signed, with a wink and a huge smile on his face, before rolling over, curling up and pulling the blankets up over her.

Shouta rolled his eyes, before leaning over and kissing her cheek one more time and then he curled up behind him, wrapping his arm around her and trying to go to sleep.

Chapter Text

It had been two weeks since Denki had come to live with them. It had gone pretty well so far, of course there were some bumps in the road. Denki had some up days and some down days.. But that was okay.. Shouta and Hizashi both understood that, maybe not to the extent of Denki.. But they still understood.

There were some days when Denki was happy and seemed to be 100% comfortable with them. Last Saturday they had a movie night and by the end of it, Denki had told them that they were his favorite foster family he ever had.. And last night was another movie night that had ended the same.. And about 60% of the other days were very similar. But the other 40% were rough. Sometimes it was just a few small things that would happen.. But sometimes there days that from start to finish were very very rough.. They were filled with Denki kicking, screaming, hitting, biting, and other things.. But they made it through. And Shouta and Hizashi both loved being his foster parents.. And Shouta knew with no doubt in his mind that one day they were going to adopt him and be his parents.

Shouta knew he wanted Denki in his life, to be part of his family, forever.

Even during the rough days.

And he wondered if that was because he and Hizashi also had the rough day sometimes. He wondered of the fact, that each of them struggled just inslightly different ways, is what made them have compassion and understanding for Denki other families apparently hadn’t.

Shouta woke up to the sound of someone screaming. It was unfortunately not an abnormal sound for him to wake up to.. The sounds of the hundreds of people he was unable to save haunting him in his nightmares.

But it only took Shouta a minute to realize that this scream wasn’t a nightmare, it was real. He looked over to Hizashi, expecting it to be them having a nightmare.. But it wasn’t.. They were fast asleep, obviously unable to hear the screams without their hearing aids. Which.. Made sense.. The screaming couldn’t be Hizahsi, it sounded…….. Further away than that. But still close enough that it was in their house.. So what was it?

DENKI!

His tired brain pieced it all together and suddenly he was getting out of bed at lightening speed, and running down the hallway. Denki’s door was shut, and Shouta considered knocking on it for just a second, but he didn’t. If Denki was in danger than he needed to get in there as soon as possible.. And as he got closer he could also hear a faint banging, so Shouta knew he had to get in there as soon as possible.

So he opened the door quickly, running through and looking around preparing for a fight.

But there was no fight to be had..

It was just Denki, screaming as he sat on his knees, banging on his closet door with both of his fists as he cried.

Shouta let out a breath he hadn’t realized that he was holding in. He of course didn’t like the sight in front of him, but at least he knew that Denki wasn’t in any danger.

“Denki”, Shouta said, in a quiet and calm voice, not wanting to scare him further. Denki instantly stopped screaming and turned to look at him with huge, scared eyes.. Which almost instantly took a confused turn.

He looked at the door, down at his hands, and then back to Shouta, “I-I don’t understand”, Denki said quietly, before he turned over, curling in a ball on his side, “I don’t understand”.

The sight in front of him broke his heart. He took a small step forward, “What do you not understand, kid?”.

“I feel-”, Denki started to say, before he bit into his lip, “I am here. I am here and you guys are nice.. But I thought- I thought you sent me back to the hospital. I thought I stabbed you and you sent me to the hospital and they kept me in the room and they took away my food and they were hurting me and it was scary and I thought I would never see you again but you are here and I am here and I don’t understand”.

Shouta let out a sigh, giving him a sympathetic look. He almost took another step forward, but stopped, “It was a nightmare, Denki. You are still here with us. You have food and you can leave this room whenever you want. Do you want me to wake Hizashi up and you two can go to the kitchen and get some food?”.

“You don’t trust me?”, Denki asked.

Shouta gave him a confused look, “What made you think that?”.

“You said that you wanted Hizashi to take me”.

“Oh.. that’s because you said you trust them when you are upset and that they make you feel safe. If you want me to go with you, I can though”, Shouta explained.

Denki shook his head, “I don’t trust you.. Sorry”, he then sat up, “I want Hizashi to make me noodles”.

Shouta nodded, feeling a little bit guilty for having to wake Hizashi up.. But this was part of being parents, the kids had to come first, “Okay.. I will be right back”.

Denki nodded, “Thank you.. Sorry”.

“No need to apologize, kid”, Shouta said, before walking out of the room and back into theirs. He kneeled down by their bed and gently nudged Hizashi’s shoulder. Hizashi stirred a little bit, but didn’t fully wake up, so Shouta gently tapped his fingers along their cheekbone. This made Hizashi’s eyes slowly blink open and they looked at Shouta confused.

‘Denki needs you’, he sighed right infront of his face so that he could see in the dark room.

Hizashi sighed, sitting up and turning on the lamp next to their bed, ‘is he okay?”.

Shouta nodded, ‘he had a nightmare. He was scared and thought he was sent to a hospital and was kept in a room without food. He wants you to take him to the kitchen and make him some noodles’.

Hizashi let out a small grone, nodding before rubbing their hands over their face. They then got up and headed for the door.