Yamada Hizashi isn't quite sure where his day went wrong. Maybe it was when he woke up 3 minutes before his alarm. Maybe it was when an intern spilled coffee all over his favorite pants during his weekly radio production meeting. Maybe it was when Shouta was called in for an emergency drug raid that afternoon. Maybe it was when he decided to ignore all those signs and go shopping. Regardless, it obviously went wrong somewhere because now he's standing at the edge of a filthy alley watching a child get threatened with a knife.
The perpetrator is ranting and raving about the kid telling him where some guy Hizashi doesn't catch the name of is, or else. The kid is shaking, trying their best to stutter out an answer through their obvious fear but it's only making the guy more irate. Neither of them have noticed Hizashi yet and he fully intends on keeping it that way, quietly shuffling around behind the man with the knife. It's a delicate thing and he doesn't know if the kid will tip him off by accident once they notice him. He manages to get pretty close before the kid notices him, fortunately they're smart enough to quickly turn their eyes back to the knife so the furious man doesn't notice.
From there it's pretty easy to knock the guy in the head hard enough to knock him out. Unfortunately, he can't do much about the knife as it comes down awkwardly and he watches with a fair bit of horror as they try and jump back and it makes a long cut down the kids outer arm through their hoodie.
"Hey there kid, are you ok?"
A closer look shows they most definitely are not. They're still shaking a little and now that he doesn't have the knife guy to worry about he can see just how thin and tired they look. The kind of tired not fixed by a good nights sleep. The hoodie they're wearing has clearly seen better days and so has the child wearing it. At least, he hopes they have.
"I-I'm fine, d-don't worry about me." Their response comes shakily and Hizashi can tell it isn't true even without the blood slowly dripping down their arm.
"Do you mind if I take a look at your arm? We wouldn't want it getting infected."
They seem to think about it, chewing on their lip and nervously glancing up at him before darting their gaze elsewhere and back again.
"Um, I-uh, I guess. N-no h-hospitals please."
"You got it, Little Listener! There's a bench over there we can sit at and I just bought some first aid stuff, so we don't even need to go far."
"O-ok"
He zipties the criminal to a nearby dumpster and subtly calls it in. He can't imagine the kid's going to want to talk to cops, they might not want to talk to heroes either. He's not surprised at the quiet request for no hospitals, he's fairly certain they're homeless. That level of grime and ever present exhaustion doesn't speak of having a safe place to rest.
They cooperate well enough as he disinfects and wraps the cut as best he can, quietly staring at it while he works. He manages to ask some questions and gets pronouns but not much else, not ideal but it's fine. Asking about why he was attacked doesn't get much either just that the guy saw him talking to someone who owed him money and thought the kid would know how to find him. Hizashi doesn't get a name there either. He's scrambling a little to continue the conversation somehow when the police show up for the guy still ziptied to a dumpster. The kid goes rigid and straight, staring at the alley, he starts fidgeting again and it's obvious that if his cut wasn't still being wrapped he would run.
"Hey, it'll be fine. They won't bother you, I'm a hero, I'll make sure of it." He's trying his best to be reassuring but it's clear the kid won't be calming down until they leave and he's almost done with the cut and he really doesn't want him to run off. So he blurts out the first thing he can think of to get the kid to stay.
"Are you hungry?"
The child startles and stares at him, he's searching for something, Hizashi knows. An indication that this won't be used to hurt him later most likely. He slowly nods and Hizashi beams. "Great, my name's Yamada Hizashi! I was just picking up some groceries for dinner but there's a ramen place not far from here that's really good if you'd prefer. Whichever works for you Little Listener!"
"Um, y-you can call me I-Izu, I guess. You d-don't have to w-waste your money on me..."
"Alright Izu, I really don't mind but I can whip something up at home if you'll follow me."
He should probably be a little concerned with how quickly Izu agreed to go with him, but seeing how small and tired and cold he looks shivering in his hoodie, Hizashi supposes he can't really blame him. Plus there was a glint of recognition in his eyes before he agreed, and he can tell there's some sharp intelligence there too, Hizashi wouldn't be incredibly shocked if he'd been recognized.
-
A light rain starts up on the walk over and by the time they make it to the apartment they're both pretty wet so Hizashi asks if Izu wants to take a shower and get into some dry clothes. It takes some reassuring and the knowledge that the door locks from the inside but he eventually agrees, obviously miserable and freezing.
After changing into his own dry clothes Hizashi gets some old clothes and a hoodie that are too small on Shouta and will surely swamp the kid and leaves them outside the door. Hopefully he finds the hoodie comforting, Hizashi had noticed that him fiddling with the sleeves earlier and he wants him as comfortable as possible.
Then he sets about making some food, poor kid's definitely malnourished so some Omurice is probably a good idea. It's got some protein but isn't hard to digest, plus, it's pretty popular and a safe bet taste wise. Finishing up a few minutes later, he turns and comes face to face with an adorable sight. Izu, utterly swamped in his new clothes and somehow looking even younger than before, kneeling politely on the floor across from one of their cats, Tuna. Slowly and with all the caution of someone familiar with feral street cats he reaches his hand out so she can sniff it. As expected of the nicest of their cats, she only takes a couple sniffs before deciding the child is worthy of her time and starts snuggling into his side demanding pets. Izu looks both utterly overwhelmed and in awe as he hesitantly obliges.
It's adorable and he looks the most at ease he's been since Hizashi met him, but unfortunately he needs to interrupt. Izu startles violently even though he uses his most gentle tone and the tension returns to his shoulders immediately. But he stands shakily and joins Hizashi at the table. He only manages to get halfway through his meal before he starts nodding off, clearly struggling to stay awake even with how wary he is.
"You alright there Little Listener?"
"hmm? yeah... thanks for the food, it was really good." Hizashi smiles gently as Izu's answer slurs a little bit and he starts to scrub at his eyes before laying his head down in his arms on the table. "No one's made food for me in so long... it's... nice."
And how is that not supposed to break his heart? Watching this young child finally succumb to exhaustion after admitting that Hizashi's the first person to make him food in what? months? years? He's going to have to talk to Shouta about this isn't he? Ugh. Sighing, he gently makes to move the nearly sleeping child onto the couch and cover him in blankets. He's out as soon as he lays down, the events of the day finally catching up to him and leaving him in a deep slumber.
Shouta makes the trek up the stairs of the apartment more or less in a state of utter exhaustion. His head is pounding and he wants nothing more than to collapse on the living room couch and nap for a few hours, or days. Entering, he can hear Hizashi humming and bustling around somewhere further in the apartment but his priorities are elsewhere.
Reaching the couch he finds a mound buried in blankets and sleeping deeply. That's... not a cat. what the fuck?
There is a child curled up and sleeping on the couch and he doesn't remember them being there when he left.
He's 90% certain he didn't hit his head hard enough to forget having an entire child so there's only one thing to be done. Track down some answers. He finds his answers in the spare bedroom, Hizashi is calmly sorting through the junk they meant to get rid of months ago.
"Zashi, there is a child on our couch." He might sound a little frantic but he fought four mutant quirks and a man with a nasty light quirk today, not to mention the nightmare that was the debriefing, and he's not really sure he can handle much more right this minute.
"I know, I put him there." Hizashi is clearly a little bemused but there's a pinch of nervousness in his eyes.
"ok, I'm glad you're aware at least. Why is there a child on our couch?"
"Well Shou, you see, it's a funny story..."
Shouta listens as Zashi sheepishly recounts how his trip to get groceries ended with a probably homeless child sleeping on their couch, dead to the world. They've talked about kids before and agreed to wait a few more years but Shouta can see that Hizashi is already attached. This is what he gets for randomly bringing home cats without warning his husband isn't it. Wait a second.
"Zashi..."
"Yeah, Shou?"
"You're not allowed to nag me about the strays anymore."
"What?"
"You're officially worse than me now, at least mine are cats. You brought home a stray human child! even bribed him with food." Shouta is not ashamed to admit he's grinning his widest grin.
"That's not fair..." he whines but sighs and suddenly looks much more serious.
Shouta quickly sobers at his husband's expression, ready for the discussion at hand.
"Shouta... What are we going to do? I don't want to send him back, wherever that is. You should have seen his face when he told me no one had made him food in a long time. I don't know how old he is but there's no way it's old enough to be making his own food, especially not for as long as he implied. I've only know him for a few hours and I know this is really sudden and I don't even know his real name but... I just want him to be happy and safe."
"I know," Shouta smiles faintly and hugs him close. "You've always been a softy." He steadfastly ignores the grumble about Shouta being soft too and continues, "This is all really sudden but we'll figure it out. We'll have to talk to the kid and figure a ton of stuff out but we'll make sure he ends up happy, wherever that ends up being. Whether that's with us or somewhere else." He can feel the tension release from his husband as he goes on, and he exhales heavily by the end. He really is attached isn't he? "For now, I think the kid has the right idea and seeing as the couch is taken, I'm going to nap in our room."
None of this was what Shouta was expecting when he got home, but remembering the peaceful and painfully young face on the couch and watching his husband go back to cleaning out their spare room, he can't say he's terribly upset. They'll be okay. Now, if only he can get that nap in before patrol.