Chapter Text
The car ride home was quieter than usual, not because they weren't happy. All of them were simply drained but Shota looked forward to doing this again. Their family was almost complete and he could sense Izuku getting closer to finally opening up.
He only needed X to trust him now and he knew that it wouldn't be long anymore.
If you would've told him years ago that he'd have three children and a loving husband he would've never believed it but now he couldn't be happier.
Shota was incredibly grateful for his family and he would keep them safe from now on.
As he watched `Toshi get ready for bed, he promised himself that he'd never let anyone touch them again.
—
Streetlights were slowly turning themselves on as he arrived at his apartment. It was near midnight and Izuku couldn't wait to lay down and work on some more cases before eventually falling asleep.
He opened his front door and immediately turned towards his room while taking off his sneakers. It didn't cross his mind that his door should've been locked nor did he notice the second pair of shoes which didn't belong to him.
Maybe if he did he would've run far away but he was too distracted by his giddiness. He was happy.
He quickly got himself a snack without noticing the figure on his couch and was about to enter his room when it hit him.
'The door. Fuck.'
He spun around, meeting the face that haunted him every second of his day. "Finally noticed, huh? Did you really think I'd just let that shit slide, midget?"
"I-"
"Shut the fuck up." His head was slammed into the closet in his room. The one place he hoped would never get tainted with the cruelty of his landlord. He really was stupid for thinking he'd get away with applying.
"You don't get to fucking talk withouy my permission, got it?" He hit his shoulder on the corner of his desk, the desk he worked on all his cases, as he was thrown to the ground.
Otsuko's body loomed over him. He distinctly saw the knife stuck in the waistband of his jeans.
If he only saw the signs earlier, maybe then he could've gone to his family. He couldn't quite decipher why he suddenly felt like he wouldn't survive today. Why he shakingly reached for his phone after the knife got rammed into his side.
Why he started typing in their family group chat as Otsuko turned away for a second, he simply knew.
Maybe it was the rage in his landlord's eyes or how his brutality had been rising. This was it.
Izuku knew that they wouldn't make it on time but he allowed himself to hope just one more time before he was forever denied of it. He held onto it as the knife entered his body again and again.
Another cut. Another punch. Another satisfied smile.
He was thrown onto his bed. His bed had been the only place he felt safe in. Now all he felt was acceptance as Otsuko climbed on top of him, knife still in hand.
—
Group Chat
Get em, Eraser
Sunday, 1:24 a.m.
X-Chaos has entered the chat.
X-Chaos: dzo ldlcw
X-Chaos: [attached location]
X-Chaos: haelp
CatDad has entered the chat.
DDad has entered the chat.
CatDad: Coming
DDad: I'll be right there.
CatDad has left the chat.
DDad has left the chat.
Shota didn't remember ever getting up this fast.
X sent them his location.
X who valued his privacy more than anything was asking for help.
He knew if he wouldn't be there as fast as humanly possible then X would be gone. His kid didn't joke around.
Dread filled his stomach as he hopped from roof to roof. He couldn't be too late. Not after everything.
He prayed to whichever god would listen to spare his son.
He didn't waste any time with kicking down the door to the apartment. It was quiet. No screaming or angry threats. Shota stilled for a moment. This was the right location. So why was it so goddamn quiet?
Was he too late?
No.
He couldn't be.
He desperately listened for anything. X couldn't be gone.
There were moans coming from behind one of the closed doors. God no. Shota would've done anything to be wrong. To have the wrong location or to have X reveal that he was merely joking but there was no such thing.
He would never be able to get this image out of his head. The image of his son laying in his own blood while another man was on top of him, clearly enjoying himself. There was so much blood.
He made quick work of the man, knocking him out in a matter of seconds, forgetting about tying him up. A foolish mistake but Shota didn't care. All he cared about was X, no, Izuku staring up at him with glazed over eyes.
Suddenly everything made sense. Izuku was X. How could he have been so blind? It was painfully obvious but now.
Now it was too late.
His son was bleeding out in his arms. This was the first time he ever hugged him and if the ambulance didn't arrive soon, it would've been the last too. "Everything is going to be fine. Please just hang on for me, Izuku."
This was all his fault.
He couldn't hold back his own tears as his son started crying for seemingly the second time this evening. Their dinner seemed far away now.
He could've prevented this if he had just taken him home. If he hadn't been so blind.
"I love you, son." Shota tried his best to put on a brave face.
"I-I l-love… you t-too, d-dad" His voice was weak, barely audible over the cars driving past like this all wasn't happening. Everything around them kept on moving as if his son wasn't important.
To Shota, he was everything. Which was probably why he didn't notice the movement behind his back and misinterpreted the sudden panic in his son's eyes. He was too focused on giving his son peace in what was perhaps his last moment.
Too focused on not letting himself break down that he let down his guard. A mistake he hadn't made in years.
A mistake he paid for with a knife in his back.
A mistake that nearly cost his life alongside his son's.
He felt his son move away from his side before all he saw was black.
—
His dad got stabbed because of him. Otsuko would kill him and it would be all his fault.
Izuku couldn't let that happen.
Despite his body protesting he wrestled with himself to get up, to do something against the spreading blood.
"Oh you're still alive, midget?" He laughed mockingly while inching closer once again. Izuku couldn't watch his dad die, one of the only people that ever cared about him.
However as the searing pain of the knife punctining his stomach once again numbed his nerves, he couldn't find a way out. He didn't know how to save him and his dad.
Only one of them would make it out alive. The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance and Izuku made his choice.
Just as Otsuko was about to turn back to his passed out dad he tried to wring the knife out of his landlord's grid with his last strength and he let go in surprise.
"What the fuck-"
This was the only chance he'd get and even as his stomach clenched with guilt instead of pain, he rammed the knife into his landlord's chest.
His vision turned black around the edges as people hurried into the room. Immediately tending to them but Izuku knew that this was it.
He smiled as they stopped his dad's bleeding.
He made it. He saved him.
In the end he got to be the hero he always wanted to be.
—
They watch as the casket of their friend, son and brother is lowered into the ground. They hold each other in their arms as 'is' turns into 'was'.
X was a hero.
And they'd be forever grateful for getting to meet him.
Shota owes him his life.
Hitoshi owes him years of encouragement.
Hizashi owes him months of happiness.
Keigo owes him his freedom.
And Naomasa owes him months of companionship.
"We love you, Izuku."