Work Text:
Yagi placed the last box on the floor just inside the bedroom door. Everything was sort by room, now. The apartment, which had been barren the previous day, now had stacks of boxes lining the walls and new furniture set up. It wasn’t as if they had much to move, even when combining both of their personal possessions, but seeing it all together in this new place bordered on overwhelming. Going from living in a small dorm on campus to cohabiting with Aizawa was going to be quite the transition.
The weekend had been a frenzied blur. Saturday, Yamada and Kayama helped move most of the stuff up to the apartment in exchange for take-out and beer. Yamada had a license, so he rented a moving truck for them. Yagi almost didn’t recognize him with his long hair in a ponytail and wearing an old T-shirt with jeans. But he showed up at campus with the truck and helped Yagi move the packed boxes and Yagi’s extra-long couch from the dorm to the apartment. After that, they went to purchase dishware, towels, cleaning supplies, cookware, and a thousand other small things that Yagi hadn’t even thought of because the school had provided them for the past two years.
Starting over was a lot of work. Yagi hadn’t missed it.
Meanwhile, Kayama helped Aizawa assemble the new furniture. Yagi couldn’t hear what Kayama was saying to Aizawa as the two put the bed frame together, but whatever it was reddened Aizawa to his ears. He’d have to tease Aizawa about it later.
The other teachers surprised them with a small party on their last night in the dorms. No one was supposed to officially know about their relationship, but people talked, and it was hard to hide the fact that two staff members were moving out together. Aizawa took it in stride, answering congratulations with quiet thanks. Yagi’s heart swelled watching him.
Today, they had to unpack the boxes. They spent the morning carrying them from the entryway to their respective rooms. Aizawa ran to a nearby store for any essentials that they didn’t have yet, like paper goods and microwavable food. Yagi started on the bathroom, which had only one box and seemed like the most essential room to complete first. He rummaged through the jumble of their toiletries to find the toothbrush holder. When he placed their toothbrushes side by side, he found himself just… staring.
This was it. This was their apartment. Their bathroom. Their toothbrushes, next to each other. It was so terribly mundane, but significant. It was proof of their next step. They were undeniably, seriously, together. His heart pounded, far too large to fit in his chest.
If this was affecting him, Yagi had no idea how he was going to survive hanging their clothes in the same closet. Maybe he’d get Aizawa to do it.
He moved into the kitchen, which was far larger than the small kitchenette the school had provided in the teacher dorms. Most of it was already put away after his and Yamada’s store-run yesterday, but a few things still sat on the countertops. He tucked the rice cooker into its new corner and organized the cutlery into a drawer. A few kitchen towels were hidden in a drawer next to the sink. He put their new pans into an upper cupboard. Why had he bought a stock pot? He barely knew how to cook.
He was going to learn. Their new cookware wasn’t going to go unused, dammit. He couldn’t do hero work anymore, so that would be a useful way to pass the time. Besides, maybe it would encourage Aizawa to survive off something more substantial than jelly pouches and frozen food.
Aizawa returned home (their home!) as Yagi began unpacking their books and sorting them onto the new bookshelf. The younger man dropped the cold foods into the refrigerator before standing in the living room doorway.
Yagi was painfully aware of his stare. From his place on the floor, he turned to ask what was wrong, but Aizawa was just watching him. Yagi could tell that he wanted to appear nonchalant, but he could see a softness showing in the set of his brow and the lines of his mouth. It was such a relief to know that Aizawa was just as moved as he was that Yagi couldn’t help the smile stretching across his face. And when Aizawa smiled in return—it wasn’t one of his small, hidden smiles, but an unchecked expression of joy—Yagi almost choked.
Silently, Aizawa nodded and left to set up the bedroom.
Dinner was microwaveable that night; Aizawa had curry, and Yagi, a chicken and rice bowl. Yagi ate heartily. His muscles were going to hurt the next couple days.
“I think we’re done with unpacking for today,” Aizawa stated, rolling his shoulders with a grimace.
“Agreed.” They were almost done, but the rest could wait until tomorrow after school. They were going to have to get used to waking up early for the commute. That was something that they were both going to miss about living on campus.
They settled together on the couch. Their couch, now. As Aizawa grabbed the television’s remote control and laid down with his head in Yagi’s lap, Yagi had a realization: there were no time limits. Once it got late, they didn’t have to part and go to their own rooms to keep up appearances. While having Aizawa spend the night curled against him used to be a rare gift, now it would be his every night. He couldn’t wait to wake up to Aizawa’s disgruntled, cranky morning face every morning. Yagi prayed he would ever get tired of it.
“You have that goofy grin on your face again,” Aizawa muttered. He reached up and tucked one lock of Yagi’s bangs behind his ear.
Yagi did. He couldn’t help it. His heart was stuttering pleasantly. “I’m just looking forward to the future.” He was, and that was something he wouldn’t have thought possible just a year ago. But back then, Aizawa had just been his tolerable, strict coworker. Now, they stood together. Aizawa held him when he was down, raised him up and kissed away the pain. “You bring out the best in me.”
Aizawa scoffed but didn’t comment. He turned over to face the television again.
Yagi busied himself by running his fingers along Aizawa’s scalp, weaving the long black strands between his fingers. Aizawa sighed contentedly.
It was such a foreign feeling to Yagi, this hope. After spending years in depression and deterioration, he thought that his fate was to slowly wither away until he was nothing but a literal corpse. But thanks to U.A., his students, and to Aizawa, he could finally see the life in store for him. Aizawa was safety and home, and Yagi looked forward to their life together.