The First Time Loaf Calls Aizawa Daddy

He had heard all about Eri, the tortured little girl Eraserhead and… Countless other heroes rescued from the yakuza. He had watched the lines form between Shota's brow, the tension in his hands as they turned to fists as he explained the new intel. Hizashi, ever smiling, but tainted with a dark shadow across his face, a tightness in the corner of his jaw. Yet it was Yagi that Loaf found the hardest to look at. Crestfallen, eyes burning with righteous hatred, but it was directed at himself. Guilt churned through his wound, chasing through his veins, because he was no longer a hero, at least, not in the sense he once was. He blamed himself, was angry, at his body and what he had lost. He couldn't do anything to help Eri. And Eri was just like them. Her tale, from the pieces Loaf heard, was eerily similar to his own and Mizu's experiences. So he felt Yagi's self hatred in his own chest, burrowing in like a parasite. He couldn't help Eri either. He hadn't even helped Mizu.

"It's not your fault." Is all he had said, standing in the doorway at the edge of a conversation he had no right to overhear. 

He never expected to actually meet Eri. To have a face to put to the words. To the pain. Yet, he hovers, in the doorway again, warily watching Shota tuck a small, fragile body beneath pink comforters. He didn't know the details, but he knew there was a grimness in his face. He looked like Yagi. Wracked with guilt. Whatever he knew, what he had seen, what happened on that day-It hadn't been good.

It might have been a good decision to leave, but then again Shota would have happily told him off if that was the case. Instead he approaches, softly as to not awaken the sleeping child. He doesnt look up, tucking her hair behind her horn and staring down at her resting face, his own reflecting the same relaxation, though the tinge of sorrow was impossible to miss. He doesn't even glance at Loaf, and had this been anyone else that would be discouraging, but he knew better. 

If he was Mizu he would grab his arm, hug him, comfort him physically. Offer stiff but warm words of encouragement as Shinsou. Hizashi would be oddly quiet, drape himself over his back and hug him. Yagi would be awkward, but offer a hero worthy speech and hold him.

Loaf would… Do nothing.

Mere months ago simply spotting this man was enough to make him shake with fear, let alone standing a foot away with him with no one else around. He had never hurt him, had never done anything even remotely cruel to him, but he couldn't help it he looked… 

Their eyes meet, Shota's softened moments before as if he had sensed Loaf's mind wandering to the darkest pits again. He didn't look like anything. He looked like Shota. There was nothing scary here. No one would hurt him. In fact, if anyone wished to, Eraserhead would protect him. Hero gear or not.

He shuffles closer, eyes turning downcast as he ponders what to say, if anything. How long was she staying? If his father's track record had anything to say on the matter… "Are you going to be her daddy too?" The question is innocent, and sounds like that a much younger child would ask. But Loaf asks it all the same, voice soft and curious.

He doesn't see the erasure hero's brain halt. Staring down at pink fabric, he misses the shock, the blank look as he processes his son's words. He considers fleeing the room in the silence, but before he can even twitch Shota let's out an undignified "What?"

Loaf begins worrying the edge of his shirt between his fingers, the soft material grounding as he starts to stress. "Well-You're m-my daddy, Mizu's, and, Sh-Shinsou's too…" he pauses, gnawing on his cheek. "Are you… Eri's now too?"

There is no silence this time, he's immediately drawn in with a surprised yelp, pulled in firmly to Shota's lap as he embraces him. His body is rigid for a moment before he relaxes, racing heart slowly following the pattern. He had never had much contact, let alone with Shota. The last time Shota had touched him, he had screamed loud enough that Hizashi came running.

Yet here he is, sagging into his hug like a wilting flower. He hadn't known how much he craved touch until Yagi had first shown him that it was okay. He had always cuddled and held Mizu, they were codependent like that-But the protection, the validation and acceptance that the gentle embraces his parents offered him… It was a different warmth. One he found himself chasing like a child does a firefly in the woods.

And this was his first contact with Shota in over a year and a half. 

Tears rise in his eye as he burrows his face into his chest, shoulders shaking. He didn't know he needed this. But now… He could stay forever, safe, and warm, and loved. "Right now she's just staying with us, her quirk is out of her control, and I'm the only one that can stop her from hurting herself with it." Shota's voice is tired, as usual, but holds an extra layer of warmth and emotion. Tears are in his own eyes, but they don't spill like Loaf's are, soaking into his shirt and leaving a dark wet spot. He couldn't care less about that. "But, yes. We are in the process of filing for adopting Eri."

"I'm glad." Loaf all but squeaks, nuzzling even farther into Shota's chest, chasing the comfort. He is rewarded with a hand carding through his hair, an affectionate ruffle that nearly has him sobbing. The action continues, and Loaf can feel himself nodding off. He hadn't felt this warm and safe since he curled up against his papa to sleep. It was reassuring, to see for sure that he was just as welcome in Shota's arms. He had worried he ruined it, being so scared of him for so long when he had loving husbands and better children? Who would want pathetic, scared Loaf?

"I am too."

Shota Aizawa, that's who.