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The bed dipped at his side and a gentle hand brushed the fringe from his face, tucking it just behind his ear. Slightly chapped lips pressed a kiss to his cheekbone, then his temple, scruff tickling at his skin.
"Eri said you were up half the night talking to Midoriya, so I turned your alarm off," came a soft and low rumble. "She's almost got breakfast ready, so you might want to get up now, sleepyhead."
Toshinori lazily rolled onto his back and stretched out like a starfish, back arching as he let out a satisfied groan, his face mask turning foggy with his breath. Blinking his eyes open, he smiled at the gorgeous view of his husband, dark hair up in a haphazard bun, eye-patch in place, and dressed in his dark jumpsuit, bathed in pink and gold by the sunrise coming through their bedroom window. Sitting up enough to detach and pull the headgear of his sleep machine off his face, Toshinori watched as Shouta leaned forward to turn the machine off for him. They shared a chaste, yet sweet, morning kiss before Shouta sat back up.
"Mmm, coffee," Toshinori murmured dreamily as he licked his lips. "Good morning, dear heart. How was the mission?"
Shouta rolled his eyes at the endearment, but still smiled fondly at Toshinori. "Sap. Quick capture and interrogation. It did give Shinsou the breakthrough he needed. We went ahead and pushed the paperwork through already, so I brought Shinsou over for breakfast. Tsukauchi says hi, by the way."
Toshinori loved when their former students came to visit. He was so proud of all their kids, sharing their achievements and woes. Where before he had felt so useless watching them grow, seeing them now left him rejuvenated and eager, ready to throw himself into his own work.
As for his old friend—"How's he, anyway? Is he still healing from that last gang shakedown?" Toshinori asked of Tsukauchi.
"He's too much like you, now; can't stand being stuck behind a desk anymore," Shouta smirked.
Chuckling, Toshinori threw off the blankets and worked his way up to sitting. "Birds of a feather, I guess. Luckily, he's still got a few more years of field work left in him."
Shouta shrugged. "It's hard to sit still when everyone else seems to be on the move."
"So, you move up!" Toshinori said with a perky kind of enthusiasm, playfully nudging at Shouta to shift down so he could get his feet on the floor. "Up, up, up!"
"You are painfully cheerful this morning." Feigning disgust, Shouta shifted down the bed to give him the space he needed.
"I woke up to a beautiful view!" Toshinori insisted, hands coming up to frame Shouta’s face. He then leaned into Shouta with a conspiratorial grin, giving his husband a once over. "It would've been even more beautiful if I had woke to the view in bed with me, but—"
As if perfectly timed, Eri called down the hall to them, "Dad! Papa! Breakfast is almost ready!"
"Ah! The day calls!"
Shouta's laugh was low and menacing. "You are going to be insufferable today, I just know it. I hope Hatsume takes that as a challenge and breaks your spirit."
"Never!" Toshinori crowed in his most All Might voice, proud and defiant, as he shucked off his pajamas. He neatly folded the pale blue set, patterned with yellow crescent moons and bunnies making mochi, and tucked them by his pillow with Shouta's matching purple pair of white stars and black cats making biscuits. Eri picked them out herself for Christmas.
"Speaking of breaking spirits," Toshinori continued, digging out his underclothes from his bedside chest of drawers and pulling them on, "if you want to not expel any of your students today, take your spare sleeping bag with you. I needed something to do while on the phone with Midoriya, so I washed your regular one. It's on the line in the washroom, but it's probably still wet."
"If they deserve expulsion, they get expulsion. Nap be damned," Shouta huffed. "How is Midoriya?"
"The usual," Toshinori said as he pulled on a sock. "Was fretting over his thesis for next year. The boy called for advice on references, and after rambling a bit about inaccuracy of second hand accounts, he finally realized he could just interview me."
Shouta pulled Toshinori's arm over his shoulder once his boxers were up his thighs as far as he could get them without standing. "Ready, up?"
"Up, up, up!" the retired hero repeated, punching an exuberant fist in the air.
"Want your cane, or am I good enough?"
"More than good enough," Toshinori pressed a hard kiss to Shouta's temple. "You're the best thing ever. Every day!"
Shouta huffed a laugh, seemingly resigned to his fate, "It's all there is."
Putting an arm around Toshinori's back for support, Shouta held on to the other hand draped over his shoulder. Together they rocked back and then used the momentum forward to get Toshinori on his feet. Toshinori took a moment to get his boxers all the way up before they made the slow few steps to the closet.
Sliding the door open revealed the docking system for his lightweight Exo-rig unit. Hatsume had installed it for him while the house was under remodeling for accessibility before they'd moved in a few months ago. The updated system took up less space than it had in his place at Alliance Heights and the apartment after, and having it installed into the wall made it even more out of the way. Just in case it was malfunctioning, they also stored Toshinori's walker and their wheelchair in the closet beside it, along with Shouta's crutches. If there was somewhere to be, they'd get there one way or the other.
Shouta got him backed up to the docking system, hands lingering around his waist as if in precaution, as he waited for the rig to attach itself to Toshinori's back and legs. It took less than a minute, and Toshinori sighed once he felt the low current stimulating his muscles. Shouta's sweet, just barely there touch left a pleasant, fuzzy charge along Toshinori's other nerves.
"Good now?" Shouta asked, skimming his hands from Toshinori's waist, up his stomach, to rest on his chest. Toshinori swept him into a hug and leaned down for a much more thorough kiss to show his appreciation.
Sometimes it was a real disappointment that Shouta was always the more rational one of their relationship, because he pushed at Toshinori's chest before they could get too heated. "As much as I would love to eat you for breakfast—"
Toshinori whined pathetically against his husband's mouth, trying to steal another kiss, brushing his lips over the prickle of Shouta's scruff when he dodged.
"—we both have work today. And. We currently have a guest in the house."
"Shit."
"Also."
"There's an also?"
"Eri has been working on perfecting her pancakes. Do not let them get cold, or she will be sad."
"Oh!" Toshinori perked up, "Is she trying her designs again? I love the little kitty faces she makes."
Shouta narrowed his eyes. "I feel like I should be offended for how quickly you drop sex for cat-shaped pancakes."
Snorting a laugh, Toshinori tucked Shouta's head under his chin. "Please. You were already pulling away. I know where your heart lies. Cat anything, first. Then Eri. Then, maybe if there is time, me."
"Only if there's time," Shouta said, and Toshinori could hear the smirk in his voice. As if to apologize for Toshinori coming in last, he smoothed his hands down the front of Toshinori's undershirt. Oh, that felt nice, dragging out the fizzy tingle of want just under his skin. He always enjoyed it when Shouta couldn't seem to to not touch him; it made him feel desired in ways he'd only begun to understand. Sometimes, just being close with Shouta felt enough like foreplay.
Shouta leaned back from the hug and tugged at Toshinori's fringe. "Come on, get dressed. If you don't get ready to eat soon, you'll miss your train." He kissed Toshinori on the chin before stepping away, like it was difficult to let go. Toshinori knew the feeling all too well, and indulged himself in watching his husband leave the bedroom, sighing wistfully as he went.
Right, clothes!
He enjoyed the somewhat casual attire of working in Research and Development. Often, he might start the day in the clothes he wore from home, but would end up switching into jumpsuits, motion-capture suits, or even a hazmat suits, all depending on the demands needed. Honestly, he could show up in his pajamas for all Hatsume cared, as long as he entered the testing areas with the proper protective equipment. He learned very quickly that things like high visibility vests, steel toed shoes, hearing protection, and the like were all extremely important when you weren't indestructible.
For the day, he decided to wear a pair of jeans gifted to him from Best Jeanist a year or so ago. He did sometimes wonder how Hakamada was able to tailor clothing for a person by sight. Maybe he was wrong, but Toshinori kind of felt a man's inseam should be between him and his costume tailor. Still, they were of impeccable quality and it would be wrong not to wear such a fine gift. And he had worn them a few times since getting them, but as huffed in zipping them up, he'd never remembered them feeling quite so fitted before.
However, when Toshinori threaded his belt through the belt loops and cinched it around his waist, he paused. Though the worst of the damage was higher up on his left side, he still had the occasional tenderness all the way down to his hip thanks to all the internal injuries and surgeries. He couldn't say, since his injury wasted him down to skin and bones, that he'd had problems with his belts digging in. They'd barely been able to hold his pants up on his frail figure, even after sometimes making notches of his own further in.
Except. In the past few weeks, he'd had a bit of an ache there at his hip, like pressure pushing in on scar tissue. He's felt it before with wearing test rig harnesses that rub or cut in. Toshinori looked down at his belt in confusion. Denim wasn't that much thicker than his usual slacks or cargo pants. He tugged his belt undone from the farthest notch in and tried the next notch over. Then let go.
His pants didn't fall. They sat perfectly around his hips without the pressure on his side.
No way.
He undid his belt and tried again. Tightest notch? Ouch! A looser notch? Nice.
Couldn't be.
Toshinori unearthed the full length mirror they had hidden in the closet. He and Shouta both barely used it, not exactly worried how they looked most days. At worst, the mirror over the sink in the bath area worked just fine. The last time the full mirror had been in use, Toshinori and Shouta were playing around in the quiet of Toshinori's apartment and things had gotten a little bit kinky—now was not the time to reminisce! He unfastened his pants to let them fall around his ankles, then hitched up his shirt.
His scar was still the same old ragged disaster, that would never change. However. He could still count his ribs, but the shadows were softer. His hip bones were still prominent, but not quite so sharp. Even his stomach seemed… less concave.
Could it?
Yanking his jeans back up, haphazardly stuffing his shirt into the waist and then nearly catching the hem in the zipper, Toshinori made a mad dash down the hall to the bath. Tucked in between the washing machine and the sink of the changing area was a scale Toshinori only kept because Recovery Girl threatened him with bodily harm by needle if he even thought about tossing it out. He'd used it all of twice and wasn't even sure if the batteries still worked.
They did. So he stepped on it, read it, and stepped off. Then stepped on it again. And wondered if it was calibrated correctly. Because, while it honestly wasn't much of an increase for others, the numbers were significant for Toshinori.
He poked his head out the door to the bath, and as if summoned, saw Shouta was already standing in the hallway. Despite his casual demeanor, Toshinori could see Shouta was on high alert. He'd probably heard him sprinting out the bedroom. Toshinori waved him in.
They stared at each other for a moment, Shouta taking in his rumpled shirt before he frowned. Not breaking eye contact, Toshinori very deliberately stepped onto the scale. He watched as Shouta looked down, blinked, and then raised his eyebrows. He'd been to a few check-ups with Toshinori and heard enough of the lectures Chiyo gave him to know where his baseline usually was.
"Is that thing even calibrated?" Shouta asked.
"I don't even remember the last time I used it, to be honest," Toshinori said with a shrug.
"Wait," Shouta said, holding up a hand. He left, to return a moment later with one of their cats. He held up Mofumen for Toshinori to take, and he cradled the chubby kitty like a baby in his arms so he could rub his fluffy cream-colored belly. He'd recently been to the vet himself, so they pretty much knew how much he should weigh. When Toshinori stepped off and set him down in his place, they quickly realized that, yes, the scale was reading correctly.
Shouta hummed thoughtfully before giving Toshinori a sly smirk. "I thought I was getting a bigger handful when I grabbed at you," he said, grabbing Toshinori by the hips and pulling him close to wrap his arms around his waist. "That, and I was thinking you didn't look quite so… hollow, anymore."
Toshinori frowned and looked to the mirror over the sink, trying to see what his husband saw. It wasn't dark around his eyes anymore these days, his cheeks not so sunken in.
"Living does look good on you, but, Toshi? Happiness looks even better."
When Toshinori glanced to Shouta in the mirror, he saw the sweet, self-satisfied smile that his husband only carried for him. The gentle turn of those lovely lips was so genuine and easy, and so kissable. It softened his tired eyes, making him somehow look younger despite the crows feet developing there. Shouta was beautiful.
Turning to face his husband, Toshinori leaned down until their foreheads touched. "This is because of you, you know," he whispered, like a precious secret to his most precious person. "This is because of you. And Eri. And even Mofumen and Ikasumi. All our students. Melissa, Hatsume, and our work together. And I know," Toshinori stopped and swallowed hard, surprised to find tears pricking at the back of his eyes. "I know that I deserve it. This happiness is mine."
He didn't know who moved first, but they were kissing. Hard, desperate, and oh so sweetly. One of them whimpered and Toshinori was prepared to tumble Shouta down the the floor, cushioned by a pile of laundry waiting to be washed.
But there was commotion in the hall, and by the time he noticed that Shouta left the door open for the cat to wander out, Eri poked her head in.
"Oh, they're just being mushy. It happens all the time."
Their lips were still locked when Shouta snorted a laugh, right in Toshinori's face. That, of course, set Toshinori off in a fit of laughter himself, hard enough to bring up blood. Even Eri was giggling from the doorway.
"I don't think I've heard Aizawa-sensei laugh before," Shinsou said from where he was peeking in over Eri's head.
"He didn't used to laugh much, but Papa is really good at getting him to do it," Eri grinned up at the young hero.
Once he curbed his laughter down to a chuckle and mopped up the worst of the blood, Toshinori was finally able to greet their onlookers. "It's good to see you again, young Shinsou! It's been a while! And a good morning to you, my darling Eri!"
She darted into the washroom and practically collided with his hip as she threw her arms around him. "I get a hug, too, right?" she asked, all smiles and big, bright eyes.
"Oh, sweetheart, of course!" Toshinori stooped down so he could hitch her up on his hip, Shouta's arm coming around her, too, to help brace her weight. Her fathers each took turns pressing a kiss to her forehead as she leaned into them for hugs.
In the few short years they've had to watch over her, she'd grown so much. She had been tiny when she'd first come to UA, and though she was still on the small size for her age, Eri now was sprouting, blooming. Happiness was finding her, too, it seemed, and Toshinori was so glad he was there to be a part of it.
"Breakfast is ready now!" she said proudly, gesturing to be put down. She led the way out of the bath area, grabbing Toshinori's hand to pull him along in her excitement to show him the pancake she made him.
The dinning table was already set with plates and utensils, food still hot and smelling delicious. There were at stack of cat face pancakes on both Shouta's and Shinsou's plates, butter melting quickly over the tops. Eri seemed to have a small stack of her practice tries for herself. Toshinori only had one pancake on his plate, but it was bit bigger around than the others, and surrounded by sliced fruits. His pancake, however, was not of a kitty—it had a bunny face, with All Might's iconic fringe for the ears.
"Oh, Eri, honey! This is your best pancake yet!" Toshinori exclaimed, picking her up to swing her around in a hug.
"You have to taste it!" she laughed, and he loved the sound of it. "You can't say it's good until you taste it!"
So he put her down so they could sit, and they all tucked into their breakfast happily, savoring the flavors and the company. The pancakes were absolutely perfect, Toshinori enthused, making Eri smile until her cheeks hurt with all the praise. Toshinori then eagerly pressed Shinsou about his patrols and how he enjoyed his agency work.
With Monoma, Shinsou had already made some discoveries in a recent string of local car thefts. Shouta needed to be borrowed so Monoma could copy his Quirk for a gang bust, as one of the members had a pretty nasty Quirk that needed to be shut down for the ambush to happen with minimum injuries. The interrogations after yielded a remarkable breakthrough for a trafficking ring of car parts.
With what seemed to be victories all around that morning, Toshinori proclaimed breakfast to be a celebration. He and Eri gave a little cheer, while Shouta clapped indulgently, used to the two of them feeding off each other's rambunctiousness. Shinsou politely hid his laughter behind his hand.
When Shouta asked about plans for the weekend, Eri perked up.
"Since the last day of clubs for the semester is tomorrow, Yuki invited Akemi and me to a sleepover! And after music club, everyone is planning to get a picnic together at the park for hanami! May I go?"
"The sakura are already blooming?" Toshinori asked, surprised at how fast time had flown. That meant their students had graduated a whole year ago. Eri's adoption finally went through just after that. He and Shouta had only been married since autumn, and they'd finally moved into their home just before winter set in. So much has happened since their first kiss at that snowy train station.
Beside him, Shouta hummed in thought, painstakingly mulling over the pros and cons of Eri's sleepover. Both girls had been over for study sessions before, so Shouta and Toshinori knew them to be very sweet girls. And they had met both girls' parents at school functions a few times. Eri knew her limitations and expectations, having had many conversations with her fathers about these things for her protection. They trusted her, of that there was no doubt. They also very much wanted her to have as normal of a childhood they could possibly give her, and wanted her to get to do these simple things like sleepovers and picnics. The waiting really was just see her plead with her adorable puppy eyes and watch her get excited when they told her yes.
"Finish your breakfast, then you can pack your overnight bag," Shouta said finally. "What are you doing for the picnic?"
Eri squealed in glee and the rest of the meal was spent discussing a proper gift to take in thanks of the invitation and ideas for picnic snacks. With an eye on the time, Toshinori started cleaning up the table and doing the dishes.
"Oh, Papa! Don't forget your bento!" Eri reminded him, giving him a hug while his hands were in soapy water. "And maybe you and Dad should have a date night, tonight!"
Toshinori froze, meeting Shouta's eyes across the kitchen. They hadn't had a date night since their honeymoon. Being mushy around the house and their rushed, furtive fooling around in bed after they were sure Eri was asleep in her room wasn't quite the same. There was heat in Shouta's gaze, and Toshinori smiled shyly when he noticed Shinsou glance between the two of them and blushed.
"Thank you, Eri, that's a wonderful idea," Shouta said, smooth as velvet.
It lit up Toshinori's nerves with that fizzy charge of want again, and just for a moment he considered calling sick. Deciding to let the anticipation carry him through the day, Toshinori finished up the dishes and made himself presentable for work.
"Shinsou, will you be joining me on the walk to the train station?" Toshinori asked as he gathered up his keys and phone.
"I've been asked to escort my little sister to school," the young hero said, with a small smirk, tilting his head in Eri's direction.
"Ah, yes! She does enjoy showing off all her big brothers and sisters, doesn't she?" Toshinori smiled proudly as he shrugged on his jacket and pulled his boots out of their cubby.
"I swear, the adoption papers were just for the one kid, but somehow we got more than twenty," Shouta grumbled, but there was no real heat behind it. He met Toshinori at the entryway to press his bento into his hands. "Do not forget your lunch," he said emphatically, punctuating the statement with a quick kiss and sneaky grope at Toshinori's ass.
Toshinori held the three tiered bento wrapped with bunny cloth to his chest, knowing Shouta and Eri made it together so he would have all his medications, plenty of little tummy-friendly snacks, and a light lunch to get him through the day. "I wouldn't want to undo all your hard work," he smiled.
"Good," Shouta nodded. "Because you're going to need your energy tonight. I'll see you after class."
"Yes, sensei," Toshinori purred. He then barked a laugh as Shouta grimaced. "I'll expel myself out!" he cackled, rushing out the front door before his husband could swat at him.
The sun was bright and a fresh spring breeze scattered petals over the sidewalk. With his lunch in hand and thoughts of the coming evening occupying his wandering mind, Toshinori grinned to himself on the way to work. It was a beautiful day to keep living.