Cats and Coffee

Chapter 3: Homefront

A/N: Huh? What? I'm alive? I guess I am! Even though I'm heavily into the Linked Universe fandom (a small niche of the Zelda fandom, check it out it's really cool!!), I'm still quietly writing for bnha. Struggling with some Writer's block, so I'm sorry this chapter is so short.

I love you all! Thank you so much for your support. Any fanart can be sent to aizawa@email.com

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Yamada Hizashi knew his husband was in a bad mood. No coffee all day was a recipe for a nuclear disaster with Shou, so it wasn't overly surprising that he'd expelled his entire class. That was why he'd taken a detour on the way home to pick up some fresh coffee for the house.

Shouta would appreciate it in the morning, he was sure. And while Hizashi was certain that Shou had at least picked up a cup of coffee for himself on the way home, he knew he'd be home by now. It'd been hours since he'd left the school, after all.

He stuck out his tongue in concentration as he juggled the bags of groceries and precariously balanced his shoulder bag from work on one arm. He bit down on the house key to separate it from the obscene number of keychains he had and swiftly unlocked the door.

"Shouta! I'm home!" He called out as he kicked the door closed and dumped the three bags of junk food on the counter. He turned to look behind him when he didn't get an answer, smile fading. "Shou?" He called out again. He didn't hear the shower, nor did he hear any kind of reply. "Babe?" Worry started gnawing at his chest when he saw Shouta's phone sitting on the counter. He must've been in a rush this morning, because it was very unlike him to forget such things, but the phone was exactly where Shouta had dumped it yesterday after he got back from patrol.

With a growing frown, he walked through the house. Nothing. No sign of Shouta. In fact, he was fairly sure that Shouta hadn't been home at all.

It was already getting dark. Where was he? It was possible that he may have gotten caught up with something with Detective Tsukauchi again... Hizashi worried his lip as he glanced at his phone. Coming to a decision, he dialed the Detective's private number.

He picked up on the second ring. "Ya...mada?" Tsukauchi sounded confused even as he spoke around a yawn.

"H-hey. Is Shou with you by chance?" He tried to keep the worry out of his voice. There was a pause, and he knew the detective had picked up on the fact that something was amiss.

"No, I haven't heard from him in a few days. Why?" He sounded much more alert, now. Hizashi couldn't help the feeling that something was... maybe not necessarily wrong, but it definitely wasn't right.

"He... It's probably nothing, but he hasn't come home yet." Hizashi played with his tongue piercing, clicking it gently against his teeth.

"He might've gotten caught up with something." Tsukauchi reasoned, but Hizashi could make out the slight wavering in his voice that betrayed the confidence he tried to project.

"Just... keep an ear out for me?" He asked. "I'll... I'll go see if maybe I can find something."

"Keep me posted."

The line went dead. Hizashi took a shaky breath before brushing out his hair. It would be better to be in civilian dress for this; he didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention. He was probably making a big deal out of nothing anyways.

His hands froze as he went to tie his hair back. His eyebrows furrowed. Why was he so worried? Shouta was notorious for vanishing—especially at night. So... why was he so worried this time? It could've been because of the phone innocently sitting on the counter—or the fact that Shouta's Hero Phone (the red Nokia brick that each hero was given when their official license was granted) was still plugged into the wall by the coffee machine and charging. (Shouta never left the house without that, he was far too worried of missing an SOS. Why was it still there? How off his game was Shouta this morning?) Of course, he was always worried about his husband, but...

But this was different. There was something in his gut that told him that this wasn't normal. Something was off, and Hizashi didn't like it. "Watch the house, Ra." He told his parrot, who gave him a steady look. Anubis, one of their cats, gave him a curious head tilt. Oddly enough Loki—the most troublesome of their three cats—was curled up on the counter beside Shouta's favorite coffee thermos. He gazed at Hizashi with an almost forlorn expression as the hero grabbed his red jacket.

"I'll find him." Hizashi wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or the cats, now. "I promise."

Hiit'slinekun!It'sbeenawhilebutI'vemissedeveryone!

Nezu frowned when his phone lit up in the wee hours of the morning. Yamada wasn't normally one to call him, and despite what everyone thought, Nezu didn't always know everything that was going on.

He didn't like not knowing what was going on. With a decisive flick of his tail, he picked up the phone. "Yamada. You're calling awfully early." He glanced at the clock that read 4AM. Even Nezu had only been awake for a half hour.

"Nezu, I..." Something was wrong. He could hear it in the way Yamada's voice shook. "Have you heard from Shouta? At all? He... he never came home last night."

All lingering tendrils of sleep or morning peacefulness vanished in an instant. "He never came home?" That was entirely unlike Aizawa. "And his phone?"

"Left it at home—both of them. He was in a hurry yesterday. I think the only thing he grabbed was his wallet." Yamada's voice sounded strained, and Nezu's frown deepened.

"I'll take a look and see what I can find. If he doesn't show up at school today, then we'll know something's wrong." They already knew something was wrong, but Aizawa was the type to come to work on his deathbed. If he didn't show up, it was because he couldn't show up. Which meant he was either captured, dead, or unconscious. The third one was the preferable option, particularly if it involved being in a hospital bed somewhere safe.

He really hoped Aizawa showed up for school today.

"A-and if he doesn't come?"

"Then we'll start a search." Nezu decided. He was already grabbing his laptop and pulling up the street cameras around the school. He should be able to follow Aizawa from UA to... wherever he was. "Keep me posted, I'm going to look into a few things."

"R-right."

"Oh, and don't worry about your classes." He remembered at the last moment that their close relationship may put Yamada in a distressed state that would prevent him from teaching. Humans were social animals, after all. "I'll have someone cover them."

"Th-thank you."

Yes, that was the right call. With that taken care of, he hung up. Ah, there he was. His tail flicked. Time to find his wayward teacher.