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"But daddd!" Izuku whines dramatically, and Shouta can't help the scoff at the kid who was draped over the end of the couch, hand to their forehead like some sort of woeful maiden, "I'm sick!"
It would be a fair point, if it weren't for the fact that the kid was well and truly on the mend and would have absolutely demanded to go to school had it not been a Sunday. Honestly, forcing them to stay home when they were coughing up a constant storm had been surprisingly manageable, but now that Izuku was on the mend, describing it as a simple "itch in his throat" merely half an hour ago, Shouta was having none of their dramatics.
"I think you can manage to get up to get yourself a glass of water," Shouta snorted. He would have simply gone to do it if he weren't in the middle of the nightmare that was grading Kaminari's essay. If he looked away from it now for longer than a second, he'd lose were he was up to and all his work would go to waste- how a kid could make marking an essay this much of a task, Shouta had no idea.
"But I'm so sick! And feeble! And weak! I might even be dying!" Izuku pouts and Shouta rolls his eyes. His kid could be on death's door and they'd say a cheery 'I'm okay!' but the last vestiges of a cold and all of a sudden they were yelling their woes from the rooftops- actually no, Shouta shouldn't even dare think about that or the kid might develop a telepathy quirk just to steal the idea and decide doing so might attract Hawks' attention. The kid had decided Hawks was his own personal passion project, and Shouta didn't have the heart to tell them not to, given he was also concerned for the winged pro.
"Die quieter," Shouta teased, "I told you to get a water bottle while you were up."
"I told you to get a water bottle memememememeh," Izuku huffs under their breath, folding their arms in front of them, switching effortlessly from woeful maiden to pouting toddler much to Shouta's amusement.
Shouta sent the kid one last fond look before returning to the monstrosity of an essay before him. The idea was there, Kaminari understood the concept and was making very valid and interesting points, it was just... hidden under a thousand misspelt words, sentences that were as long as paragraphs, 7 different tangents, almost illegible handwriting and letters written over the top of eachother rather than scribbling the mistake out. Shouta refused to give him a bad grade for an assignment that's soul purpose was to assess their quirk analysis because of misspelt words. That aspect wasn’t relevant and it shouldn't affect the mark. It was going to drive Shouta batty trying to comprehend though.
"A water bottle wouldn't help anyways," Izuku whined, dragging Shouta's attention back away from the essay and towards his son.
"No?" Shouta questions loosely, still trying to work out what this next word was supposed to say. If he could convince the kid to get a diagnosis of... well... any of the many things he clearly struggled with, would that mean he could convince the school to let him type up his essays? That was even more motivation to do so.
"It would get warm," Izuku sighs, and they're back to looking woeful, although thankfully they haven't put the back of their hand to their head again just yet. Small mercies and all that.
"It would get warm?" Shouta repeated, blinking at the kid. What did that even mean? It had taken him a moment to work out this probably had something to do with the water bottle, since the kid still hadn't gotten up to get a drink, but he had no clue what this problem was.
"If I had gotten a water bottle. It wouldn't be cold anymore. I don't want warm water. It tastes weird."
Right. His problem child and their distaste for water that wasn’t ice cold. Shouta would swear that the kid would rather die of dehydration than drink room temperature water. They didn't care about the temperature of anything else, they'd happily drunk juice that hadn't even been put in the fridge, but if water dared to be anything above 1°C? It was game over for them.
"What about your metal one?" Shouta asked. There was a reason he had bought it for the kid after all- not that he or Hizashi minded spending money on the kid- but making sure they were drinking water during the day was very important, especially given how strenuous the hero course was.
"Tastes weird too," Izuku sighed, looking at Shouta with melancholy eyes.
"Since when?" Shouta asked, the words genuine. Sometimes the kid got more picky when he was sick, which was fine, but if it was from before that, then it was less likely to go away, and they would have to work out a new way to force the kid to stay hydrated.
"Dunno," Izuku huffed, "Not long."
Shouta relaxed slightly. He'd wait till the kid wasn't on the cusp of a cold and was more willing to try it again, and if it was still an issue, they would sort it out.
They fell back into soft silence once more, Izuku still pouting that Shouta wasn’t running around after him like his own personal butler- had the kid actually not been able to, Shouta definitely would, but given he knew the kid was mostly just being a touch of a gremlin, Shouta wasn’t in a rush. If he still hadn't gotten up when Shouta finished Kaminari's essay, he'd get the kid the drink.
"I'm home!" Hizashi's voice called from the door, getting a grunt of acknowledgement from Shouta that he probably couldn’t hear from there and a happy whine- how the fuck could a kid make a whine sound happy- from Izuku. Hizashi made his way to the living room quickly, giving Shouta a kiss on the top of his head and a sympathetic hum upon the easy recognition of exactly whose work Shouta was marking. Then he headed over to Izuku, ruffling the kid's hair. Izuku in turn made grabby hands at Hizashi, a clear request for a hug, despite the fact that the man most clearly needed a shower. Shouta would have been fussing over the blood on Hizashi's outfit had his husband not sent a message in advance letting him know it wasn’t his blood and not to panic. A useful warning considering Shouta wasn’t great at processing words when he was panicked over his husband.
"Honey, you know I love hugging you, but I'm covered in blood and sweat, you don't wanna hug me," Hizashi smiled sweetly, but Izuku just sat up, kneeling on the couch so they could hug Hizashi over the back of it anyway. Hizashi snorted, giving Shouta an amused look before wrapping the kid up in a hug. Most of the blood was dry anyway- otherwise Hizashi would have gone straight to the shower to peel off the costume and wash the blood away. "Hey sweet pea."
"Hi mama," Izuku sighed happily, finally letting go of Hizashi, freeing him to get the shower he deserved. They watched lazily as Hizashi left the room before flopping back down onto the couch. Shouta snorted lightly, returning his attention properly back to the essay.
It took about half an hour for Hizashi to emerge again, hair damp and clothes swapped to his comfy ones. Shouta didn't miss the fact that the man was wearing his fluffy hoodie that never failed to make Izuku more clingy. The kid loved the texture of it, and especially loved snuggling up with it. He raised his eyebrow and Hizashi just shrugged innocently, so Shouta rolled his eyes and focused on the essay once more, although he did make sure to listen to the conversation his husband and kid had, always liking to listen to their voices.
"Do you need anything sweetheart?" Hizashi asked gently, and Izuku nodded instantly.
"I need a drink but dad wouldn't get it for me," Izuku huffed a little, and Hizashi chuckled, heading to the kitchen.
"He is busy marking, you know that can be hard," Hizashi pointed out, well aware of how difficult marking specifically Kaminari's work could be. At least in english the errors were relevant and actually impacted the mark rather than having to sift through them to work out what the kid was saying. "Would you like a tea?"
"With honey please," Izuku nodded, not that Hizashi needed the reminder. Hot chocolates were normally the go to for the kid, but when they were sick, honey rich tea always helped them feel better. Not peppermint tea though. Izuku would reign hell on whoever brought mint anywhere near him on the best of days, let alone when he was sick.
When Hizashi returned, pressing the tea into Izuku's hands and disappearing once more, taking his hearing aids out as he went- they were likely dead after a long day. Izuku took a long sip of his tea, directing a glare over the top of the mug at Shouta, the sarcastic words not needing to be spoken aloud for the man to know them 'See! Mama loves me enough to get me a drink!'
"Problem child," Shouta snorts in reply much to Izuku's displeasure. The moment Hizashi returned, the teen was putting the mug down on the coffee table and immediately signing to their parent. With a soft sigh, Shouta looked up properly to see what they were saying.
"Dad was mean to me!" Izuku pouted- actually pouted, jutting his bottom lip out dramatically. Hizashi turned to face Shouta, eyes sparkling with mirth despite the fake frown on his face.
"Don't be mean to him Sho!" Hizashi signed, matching their kid's dramatics. Shouta just sighed, then sighed once more as Izuku parroted Hizashi, this time out loud.
"Yeah, dad! Don't be mean to me!"
"I would never," Shouta snorted, signing the words out for Hizashi's sake.
"You did though!" Izuku exclaimed, looking to Hizashi to declare it to him as well, "He did though!"
"Sho," Hizashi signs, slow and drawn out, eyebrows furrowed despite the grin he was no longer to hold off and the sparkles that remained in the man's eyes, "Apologise to Izuku."
"I'm sorry," Shouta sighs, entertaining them just this once, "I should know better than to be mean to someone so sick and feeble."
"Exactly! Wait-"
Shouta watches in quiet amusement as his kid fights with themself, clearly debating whether to be glad Shouta had agreed with them or offended that Shouta was calling them sick and feeble. In the end, Hizashi sat down on the couch next to Izuku, and all was forgotten as the kid immediately curled into the man, always searching for hugs when they were sick.
Eventually Shouta manages to finish Kaminari's essay, smiling softly as he packs everything away and moves to join his family on the couch. Immediately Izuku- who Shouta would have bet was asleep- reached out granny hands, clearly wanting Shouta to join them and turn it into a cuddle pile.
"Not a chance. You'll make me sick," Shouta replies, crossing his arms in front of his chest, only to completely break his resolve the moment the kid looked up at him with those big sad eyes of his.
Shouta sighed, the action not even remotely bothered, and happily slipped in between his husband and son, letting them manoeuvre until everyone was comfortable. As long as this didn't make Shouta sick, he would happily stay here with his family forever.