Why do children have to be so small?

Wedding planning

Rings. How do I buy rings? What ring size does Hizashi have? How do i measure ring size? Can I steal his gloves? Can they measure ring size if I give them a glove? How does jewelry work? Do they have to be matching? Do I have to wear my ring at all times? Are there black wedding rings? Does Hizashi want like… diamonds and stuff?
I never thought shopping could be this stressful. I never liked shopping, and I’m not even actually shopping, I’m just making appointments, but this is already stressful. I’m going to have to ask Nemuri to help me. Is it too early to buy rings now? Maybe I can do it next week instead… yeah. Next week is better. I’ll just go home for now. Should probably tell the kids about it. And text Tensei and Nemuri. Can I… can I convince Hitoshi to be our ring bearer? Would he do that for me? I don’t think it’d be too hard to convince Eri to be the flower girl, she’d like throwing flower petals.

“Hizashi!?”
“Yeah!?”
“Can you come here!?”
I hear his footsteps from the living room. He’s still wearing pajamas and a pair of slippers.
“You haven’t gotten dressed.”
“Well, I wasn’t planning on going out…”
“About that. Could you go out and get flowers for the kitchen? You know a lot more about flowers than I do.”
“Yeah sure but… why do you want flowers all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know, I saw a floral shop on my way back and thought it would be nice with some color in the kitchen. It’s just black and white, you know?”
“Shota Aizawa wants color in the kitchen. Sure. Sure thing.”
“Hey! I can enjoy color too! I wore a blue shirt the other week!”
“It was practically black, Sho. But sure, I’ll get some flowers.”
“Thank you, sunshine.”
“Woah, pet names too? Are you hiding something from me?”
“Can’t I show some appreciation from my husband? Rude.”
I kiss his cheek.
“Come on, get dressed and get out of here.”
I remove my shoes and walk inside. I quickly hide the bag with Hizashi’s clothes and walk inside the kitchen.
“I’ll make lunch by the way!”
I open the fridge. What could I make? There’s noodles in the cupboard. Should I just make regular soba? Or should I go an extra mile and make something a bit more… complicated? No we’re making soba.
“I’m leaving now!”
“Okay!”
I look outside the window to make sure he’s left.
“‘TOSHI! ERI! GET DOWN HERE QUICKLY!”
“UH… TWO MINUTES!”
“NO YOU HAVE TO COME NOW!”
I hear two pairs of feet running down the stairs.
“Finally. We have to t- what’s that on your face?”
“Uh… Eri did my makeup.”
Hitoshi’s face is covered in black likes.
“Did you take pops’ eyeliner?”
“Does pops wear eyeliner?”
“Yes? Sometimes?”
“I found it in the bathroom!”
“Yup it’s Hizashi’s…”
I sigh a little.
“Just make sure to put it back where you found it. Anyways. We need to talk.”
“About the eyeliner?”
“No, about me and Hizashi.”
“Are you breaking up!?”
“No! We’re having a wedding!”
“I thought you were already married.”
“We are! But we never had a wedding, and I know he’s always wanted a wedding, so you need to help me plan one.”
“Dad, I’ve never been to a wedding before!”
“Well me neither! That’s why I need help. We’re gonna have to go shopping for formal clothes.”
“Oooh can I get a dress?”
“You want me to wear a suit?”
“One person at the time! Please! The theme is… space? I guess. I went to Best Jeanist earlier today to get some help with mine and Hizashi’s suits, and he suggested the sun and the stars. So that’s gonna be the theme. So yellow, dark blue, dark purple, maybe pink too. But you have to promise to keep this a secret, okay? Don’t tell your friends or the teachers until the invitations come out. And do not tell Hizashi! Okay?”
They both nod.
“I’ll let you pick the clothes, as long as they’re somewhat formal and follow the scheme.”
I turn to Hitoshi.
“I want you to be the ring bearer.”
“Are you serious? No! Not in front of all of my friends!”
“Why not?”
“It’s embarrassing!”
I sigh. I am going to have to give him some kind of reward if he’s gonna do it.
“I’ll let you get piercings if you do it. But only at a professional. I don’t wanna see Kaminari piercing you again.”
He squints at me.
“What’s the hook?”
“There are no hooks.”
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
I smile. That’s what I thought. Then I turn to Eri.
“I want you to be the flower girl.”
“What does a flower girl do?”
“You get to walk down the aisle before the bride and throw flower petals. However, there is no bride… so you’ll just walk before papa. Is that okay?”
“Yeah! I love flowers!”
“I know you do.”
“One more thing. Do you have any requests on who we should invite?”
“Denki.”
“Mirio!”
“Midoriya.”
“Monoma!”
“Maybe Kirishima.”
“Midoriya!”
“I already said him, Eri.”
“Okay so all of UA, I get it.”
“Oh! And Toshinori and Ken too!”
“So the entire hero department and all the teachers. Sure.”
I sigh. This is becoming bigger than I anticipated.
“I might invite Tensei Iida too, Tenya Iida’s older brother. We went in the same class in high school. So. All of 1-”
I have to correct myself. They are starting their second year.
“2-A, 2-B and the Big Three, as well as the teachers of the hero department and Tensei. That’s… fifty-eight people.”
I sigh again. I really do not like publicity. At least the press won’t be there. I hope.

We’re all going to the public pool today. Eri really wanted to learn how to swim. We got her a swimsuit the other month. It is pink with ruffles around the hips, like a skirt. She picked it herself, even if it shows her scars. She has to use floaties though. We’re all eating breakfast. All except for Hitoshi, who’s still asleep. I’ve been calling for him for the past ten minutes, but he doesn’t answer.
“I’m gonna go get him…”
I stand up from my seat and walk upstairs. I knock on his door.
“‘Toshi? Wake up!”
No answer.
“Hey!”
I open the door and walk inside.
“HITOSHI AIZAWA WHY IS DENKI KAMINARI IN YOUR BED?”
They both wake up from me yelling. Both are shirtless, and Hitoshi was sleeping with his head on Kaminari’s chest.
“Oh, good morning, Aizawa-sensei…”
“WHEN DID HE COME HERE?”
“Tonight.”
“HOW?”
“I climbed through a window.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. Denki Kaminari climbed through a window to get inside my house in the middle of the night. I grab Hitoshi’s arm and pull him out of the room.
“What are you thinking?”
“Uh…”
“You know that we do not want the public to know about me and Hizashi, and you just invite Kaminari in here? What if he finds out-”
“He already knows.”
“Did you tell him?”
“No, I slipped up. I accidentally said pops instead of Mic-sensei in school, and he’s noticed that both you and him call me by my first name. So he asked if you were both my dads and I couldn’t lie.”
I sigh deeply and look at him. He looks tired.
“Fine. But he can not tell anyone. Not until the wedding. No one can know about me and Hizashi. Okay?”
He nods.
“Can I get dressed now?”
I nod as well. He goes back inside his room. I get a sneak peak of Kaminari getting dressed.
“Don’t forget we’re going to the pool today!”
I walk back downstairs.
“So uh… what happened?”
“It seems like we have guests. Kaminari is here. And he knows about us.”
“Oh.”
I sit back down in my chair and close my eyes. I’m so tired. How? How did this happen? How did I end up with Kaminari in my house? Out of every single student I have, Kaminari?

Hitoshi and Kaminari come downstairs about five minutes later. Kaminari is wearing one of Hitoshi’s sweatshirts. It’s a bit too big for him. They both sit down at the table.
“Hi Mic-sensei! Hi Eri!”
Eri waves at Kaminari. She’s friends with just about everyone in the hero department.
“So, Kaminari, we were planning to go to the pool today. Would you like to join us?”
“That’d be great, but I don’t have my swimwear with me-”
“You can borrow mine.”
I can’t help but smile. Me and Hizashi did the exact same thing in high school. I remember taking him to the school pool in the middle of the night, and borrowing his swimwear. I can’t blame him for doing the same thing I did in his age. Sneaking out at 1 am was my idea after all. I look at them. They really act the same way as us. Are they dating? I mean, they slept in the same bed…
I probably shouldn’t talk out loud about it here and now, in front of everyone.

I feel naked. I almost am, but it feels so wrong to not wear a shirt. I hold Eri’s hand as we walk inside the water. Hitoshi and Kaminari went to the jacuzzi the moment they stepped outside the changing room. Oh well, I’m not going to stop them. The water reaches my hips when Eri starts floating in the water. A lot of the other kids are staring at her. You stand out if you’re six and have scars all over your body. She doesn’t seem to notice them though. I’m still holding Eri as I walk to the deeper part of the pool, until she doesn’t reach the bottom at all. She’s kicking with her feet to keep her head over the water.
I don’t know how to teach her to swim. I might be a teacher, but my swimming is not that great.
“Hey, you wanna fly?”
“Fly?”
“Yeah!”
I grab her by the waist.
“Are you ready?”
She gives me a determined nod.
“One… two… three!”
I throw her into the air. She goes down and then hits the water. Since she’s wearing floaties, her head doesn’t go underwater. She laughs.
“Again, daddy, again!”
I smile widely and throw her again. Hizashi is sitting on the edge of the pool with his legs in the water, since he can’t dip his head because of his glasses and hearing aids. I lift Eri up on my shoulders and go underwater. I walk on the floor of the pool while blowing bubbles out of my mouth. I can hear Eri’s laugh through the water. She’s so precious. I would die for her if it meant she would live.

I walk to the jacuzzi. It’s time to get lunch. The bathhouse offers stuff like microwave pizza and instant noodles, but it’s better than nothing. I stop a couple of meters away from the jacuzzi. Hitoshi and Kaminari are kissing. They probably haven’t noticed me. I cross my arms over my chest.
“‘Not dating’ my ass.”
They pull themselves apart.
“We’re not-”
“Yes we are.”
“Yes we are.”
“Lie to my face again. It’s lunchtime, are you coming?”
“Yeah, sure…”
They both get out of the warm pool. I notice a small, red mark on Hitoshi’s neck. At least there’s no other people in the jacuzzi. I just roll my eyes and walk towards the cafeteria.
“Teenagers…”