Chapter Text
"Edgeshot! Say something! What's your current location?!"
Shinya made a fatal mistake as a hero, especially an underground hero. He knows that he did when one moment of hesitation upon seeing the villain allowed the man to use his quirk against him. Of course, Shinya uses Foldabody against the villain, cutting off his blood flow to his brain before feeling the effects of his quirk.
So there he was, collapsed in a dark alleyway with the unconscious villain nearby, realizing that these might be his last moments as an uncomfortable, tight feeling grows on his side. According to the reports on the villain, he can make a mass of your own duplicated cells form together and eventually burst out of your body, resulting in the victim quickly bleeding out and dying.
"In a-an alley… c-couple of b-blocks down… got h-hit with t-the q-quirk…" Edgeshot struggles to reply, his energy speedily sapping away from him as the mass of cells rapidly grows on him.
The sensation is becoming more painful by the second, and Shinya can't help but feel frustrated that he was only a hero for six months and he's already going to die. The good thing about this is that the villain will now be captured, and it's one less person with a dangerous quirk using it for evil. It's probably the best way for Shinya to die, he supposes as he falls unconscious.
The last thing he sees is the feet of his friend and hero he's a sidekick for, Best Jeanist.
~~
The next time Shinya comes to, it's in a hospital bed without his hero costume and a sore side.
Shinya has to blink a few times before his vision focuses enough for him to know that. He lets out a small groan at the fact that he somehow landed in a hospital, asking himself what happened before he was hit with memories of the last mission he was on. His eyes widen before sharply sitting up, regretting the action when his side's soreness becomes a dull pain.
"Woah there, Kamihara," He hears from one of his friends from Shiketsu, Sakamata Kuugo, more well known as Gang Orca.
The man is quick to gently push Shinya back down on the bed, his familiar, orca-like head coming into view. Shinya lets it happen, sighing in relief as the pain slowly leaves him before looking over to him.
"Senpai, it's been a while," Shinya says, his voice feeling slightly raspy as he talks.
Kuugo quickly hands him a cup of water, which Shinya takes a few gulps out of gingerly. Kuugo shakes his head before staring at his younger friend in deadpan.
"You nearly died, Kamihara. I came here once Jeanist contacted me about you,"
Shinya can't help but smile at his words, especially considering that Kuugo is his best friend despite being two years his senior.
Kugo starts smiling back at him, and that's when Shinya realizes that his mask isn't on, instinctively reaching to touch his face. Kuugo's smile drops, but Shinya just shrugs since it's not the first time the man sees his face. Thankfully, Kuugo hands him his casual mask, and Shinya slips it on, immediately feeling more comfortable with it, and just in time for a doctor to walk in.
"It's great to see that you're awake now, Edgeshot. My name is Doctor Kenji," The tall Doctor says in a kind tone, making the sidekick calm down.
This is Shinya's first time getting hospitalized, and he had always heard of a section of every hospital specifically for heroes for the sake of better security and privacy. For any hero, especially underground heroes who need to keep their identities and quirks secret, that kind of privacy is valued.
"It's great to realize I survived. I guess I have you to thank, among others," Shinya replies before inclining his head towards the physician.
While doctors aren't pro heroes, they are heroes in their own ways for their work to help and save others just like heroes; it's only in a different way.
"Your thanks are appreciated, but it's my pleasure to have been able to save you. Especially since everyone else found to be hit by this particular quirk is found dead, or is too late to be saved by the time they're found," The Doctor says with a slightly grim expression before looking at the chart in his hand.
He then does a quick lookover of Shinya's vitals, humming satisfactorily before looking at him and Kuugo with a small smile.
"How are you feeling since waking up?"
"I'm fine for the most part. My side is just somewhat sore, but that's to be expected," Shinya readily replies before his eyes widen in realization.
"I will go onto that shortly," Doctor Kenji says, watching as Shinya reluctantly nods.
"While your surgery was somewhat difficult, we were able to successfully remove the fetus from your body, saving both your life and his," The Doctor continues, almost hesitating when he got around to mentioning the baby.
Kugo makes a choked sound, looking between the relieved Shinya and Doctor Kenji.
"You'll be making a full recovery, and I already advised Best Jeanist that you should be free from hero work for at least 2 weeks to let your body heal,"
"And the baby?" Shinya immediately asks.
"The baby was on assisted oxygen for about 36 hours before being able to breathe on his own. Besides that, he's perfectly healthy. And speaking of him, we have a social worker that has been waiting to talk to you,"
At those words, it finally hits Shinya that he technically has a baby. He's 18 years old, a recent hero graduate, and he was attacked by a quirk that gave him a baby, his baby, a supposed baby version of himself. An infant who will need someone responsible enough to take care of him.
"Right," Shinya murmurs, not really knowing how to feel due to his conflicting feelings at the moment.
Even if he's from a quirk, the baby deserves to grow up feeling loved and taken care of just as any other child should be, unlike how Shinya was treated growing up. Doctor Kenji's expression softens at the young man before making a decision that changes everything.
"Before anything else, would you like to see him?" he asks him, watching as Kuugo's eyes widen along with Shinya's before he gives the faintest nod.
"Kamihara, are you sure about this?" Kuugo asks his dear friend.
Shinya turns to Kuugo and nods again, saying, "I'm sure," softly but firmly.
Kuugo sits back in his seat, letting out a resigned sigh as the Doctor turns around to leave, presumably to go bring the infant.
"I never got to see many baby pictures of myself before… you know. Might as well see what I would've looked like," Shinya says in a low tone.
Kugo chuckles lightly, wanting to avoid making the mood dip since he's aware of how little Shinya even mentions his background leisurely. He had only gotten to making small jokes about it recently, and Kuugo doesn't want to ruin any kind of progress Shinya may be making. Shinya ends up finishing the cup of water when the Doctor comes back with a bundle of purple blankets in his arms.
Shinya sharply inhales, almost entranced as his eyes track the Doctor until he's being sat up before being handed the infant into his own arms. Doctor Kenji and Kuugo give Shinya a few pointers on how to hold him properly, and all the teen could do is stare down at the small, gray-haired baby in his arms. The infant squirms in his arms slightly before quietly settling.
Shinya feels his heart stop beating when the infants' eyes slowly open, and a pair of gray eyes darker than his own stare up at him. Upon seeing him, the infant smiles and coos, making Shinya's eyes water. He decides to pull his mask down to let the baby, to let his son look at his face, even if he probably can't see that clearly.
"Hello there," Shinya softly tells him, smiling despite the tears running down his face as he lets the infant grab onto his pinky finger.
Upon seeing his friend's expression, Kuugo smiles in defeat, knowing that he very well may have someone to consider a nephew from now on. He just knows that Shinya wouldn't be able to live with himself if he put the baby up for adoption. He knows that Shinya would want to try to be the best parent he could be, the parent he never really got to have.
"What would happen if I chose to keep him?" Shinya questions after wiping away some of his tears to look up at the Doctor.
Doctor Kenji looks at the young hero in shock at the fact that he's even considering keeping the infant, considering his current life and occupation. Despite that, he decides to answer the question without saying anything else since it's not his place to tell a patient what to do with personal situations like these.
"Nothing. He may have been born from a quirk, but he is still an infant, and he was born from you. He's your son, should you want him to be yours,"
Shinya looks from the Doctor to the baby again, watching with another soft smile as he keeps cooing at him, still having yet to let go of his pinky.
"Then I want to keep him," Shinya finally says.
"You'll be discharged tomorrow, so you'll have plenty of time to bond with him, as well as fill out his birth certificate. I assume you may also want educational tips on how to take care of a baby?" Doctor Kenji asks with a smile.
"I got that covered, Doctor. I'm the oldest out of my siblings and we live nearby each other," Kuugo speaks up, getting an understanding nod from the Doctor while Shinya looks at him with a grateful expression.
"I'll be back with the birth certificate. Of course, you don't have to choose a name right at this moment, but it may be ideal to give him one before being discharged tomorrow," Doctor Kenji advises before leaving the room again.
"So, any names coming to mind?" Kuugo asks, leaning over to get a closer look at the baby.
Of course, he tries not to lean in too far so that the infant wouldn't be terrified of his appearance, but it's too late when those dark gray eyes look towards him. Kuugo freezes, not knowing what to do when the baby starts cooing again instead of screaming and crying. Shinya chuckles at that, muttering a small "cute" at his son before a name idea comes to him.
"Remember one of my hero name options that I told you about?" Shinya asks his friend, watching as recognition falls across Kuugo's face.
"You mean scarecrow? You're planning to name your son scarecrow ?" Kuugo questions, saying the name in English as Shinya planned to have before deciding that Edgeshot fit him better in a different matter than that.
Of course, Shinya laughs at that suggestion before shaking his head.
"Of course not. Scarecrow isn't an option, but Kakashi is," Shinya clarifies with slight proudness seeping through his tone.
"The Japanese name for it. Of course," Kuugo deadpans, cracking a smile when Shinya chuckles some more and nods.
"He'll be my little scarecrow. Isn't that right, Kakashi?" Shinya asks, getting a small coo from the infant.
Shinya smiles widely at his son, Kakashi, before looking at Kuugo again.
"See? Kakashi seems to like his name as well," Shinya points out to his friend.
Kuugo sighs in defeat, and Doctor Kenji comes back with the birth certificate and a pen in hand. When Shinya is done with that, he looks down at Kakashi again, smiling before lightly poking his cheek.
"You're officially Kamihara Kakashi now, little one," He whispers, getting another coo in reply.
Kuugo sighs, knowing that he'll have to ask for the rest of the week off to make sure that both Shinya and Kakashi are taken care of.
~~
Being injured may be one of the worst ways to start off being a parent. It's the night after being discharged from the hospital with Kakashi, and all Shinya could do was curse at his body for not letting him get up to comfort his son at 3 in the morning. It seems that he pushed himself a bit too hard since being discharged for the sake of learning how to be a good dad, and now his side is aching when he takes too quick or too deep of a breath.
Kakashi doesn't really do much outside of sleep, but that didn't stop Shinya from fussing and being all over the place at his apartment.
"Don't get up, Kamihara. I'll go see Kakashi. He's probably just hungry," Kuugo whispers as he pokes his head into the room before walking in and towards the crib they picked out the day before.
Shinya sits up slightly despite his body's protests and watches as Kuugo picks Kakashi up and snuggles him into his arms, whispering comforting words to the infant, turning to him.
"Lay back down, Kamihara. You won't be able to take care of him properly if you can't even sit up," Kuugo says with a sigh, making Shinya reluctantly lay down as Kuugo continues on to leave the room.
Shinya still hates that he can't be the one to feed Kakashi despite knowing that Kuugo is right. The sooner his injury heals, the sooner he can start being a proper dad to his son. Even if he's only 18, he will be the father that Kakashi deserves, no matter what. When Kakashi's cries calm down, Shinya is slowly lulled back to sleep to the point that he doesn't wake up when Kuugo walks back in a little while later to lay Kakashi back to sleep.
~~
"Sakamata! It's been a while since we last saw each other," Shinya hears from his bedroom, slightly surprised to know that Hakamata Tsunagu, otherwise known as Best Jeanist, is visiting.
Tsunagu was quick to shoot up in the billboard ranks since debuting, and he has been a hero often in the spotlight due to that. He managed to even open up his own hero agency by the age of 20 and was kind enough to make Shinya be the first to start his underground hero division. Someone who was originally Kuugo's friend was quick to become a friend of Shinya's as well.
"It has," Kuugo replies before Shinya hears the door to his apartment close.
"I know you've been staying here the past week, so I brought food,"
"Thanks, senpai. Put it in the kitchen while I go check on them," Kuugo replies before footsteps grow louder outside of Shinya's room.
"Come in," Shinya responds before Kuugo could say anything.
The door slowly opens, and Kugo quickly surveys him and Kakashi before informing Shinya of their guest. With Kakashi happily cooing in his arms, Shinya slowly gets up from his bed to greet the oldest out of the three of them. Tsunagu is in the living room when he sets his sights on the baby and newly made father with a wide smile.
"It's great to see you alive and well, Kamihara," Tsunagu starts before walking closer to peer at the infant, "I'm assuming this is little Kakashi?"
As if at the sound of his name, Kakashi gurgles happily. Shinya smiles at the sight before holding Kakashi towards him.
"Wanna hold him?" Shinya offers.
Of course, Tsunagu answers by simply scooping Kakashi into his arms, pacing around to talk to the baby for a bit while Shinya moves to sit down on his couch. His side doesn't ache as much as it did initially, but he refuses to accidentally push himself. Kuugo can't be around to help him forever, after all.
"How come your mini me has darker eyes than yours?" Tsunagu asks after a while.
Shinya gives his friend a look at his choice of words.
"I'm not sure. Then again, we don't know how true it is that he's supposed to be a replica of me," Shinya replies, just as he was told at the hospital when he had the same question.
"That's true, considering this little guy is the first to surivive from that quirk. At least, as far as it's documented," Tsunagu replies.
"We were told to watch out for any anomaly's considering that Kakashi is a quirk baby, but he's been pretty normal so far," Kuugo informs Tsunagu.
"But you'll be going back to patrol starting tomorrow, aren't you?"
Kuugo nods at that, he and Shinya watching as Tsunagu lifts Kakashi in front of him, slowly smiling before coddling the infant in his arms again.
"I wouldn't mind watching this little one sometimes," Tsunagu decides.
"What?" Shinya asks in surprise.
"I can watch Kakashi when you go back to patrolling. I'm sure the little guy wouldn't mind bonding with with me. Right, mini Shinya?" Tsunagu says, directing his question to Kakashi, who only looks at him with wide eyes before smiling.
"See? Kakashi agrees," Tsunagu says in a lighter tone.
"Are you sure about this?" Kuugo asks, just as shocked by Tsunagu's words as Shinya is.
"Of course! It would be cruel if only you were helping Shinya, Sakamata. Being a hero with a family is difficult, especially with unplanned children at a young age," Tsunagu starts before looking at Shinya.
"You're already an excellent hero, and you deserve to flourish. Thankfully for both you and Kakashi, you're an underground hero so you'll be able to be quite active in his life while still patrolling. And it's because of that, I'll be assisting. I don't tend to do hero work at nights, unless it's called for. I'm also sure that Sakamata and I can come up with some sort of schedule as well," Tsunagu explains, getting a nod from the mutant hero.
At their support, the tears spring from Shinya's eyes before he could stop it. But before he can thank Tsunagu, the man raises his hand to stop him.
"Don't thank me. We're friends, Shinya. Why wouldn't I help you? Besides, your baby is cute,"
And once Shinya was able to heal, he, Kuugo, and Tsunagu eventually fell into a mostly stable schedule to accommodate Kakashi in their lives. Shinya could say with certainty that he wouldn't have been as stable as possible if it wasn't for them.
What he never expected was for Tsunagu to be seen with his child, and the headlines being filled with people wondering whose baby Kakashi is.