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Chapter - 24

The morning of the regular U.A entrance exam was supposed to start just as early as yesterday when Izuku took the recommended exam. However the Yamazawa household joined the world of the waking much earlier than any alarm had been set for, even if the way they woke up was just as jarring. Silence was pierced by Izuku yowling at the top of his lungs like someone had just stepped on his tail.

With Pops taking his hearing aids out at night naturally the first person to come running, capture weapon at the ready was his dad. He quickly scanned the area he found his son in, only finding Izuku curled into a ball on the floor. "Izuku! What's wrong? Did you see someone?"

Without answer and determining there was no immediate danger he knelt down in front of his son and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kitten? What happened, are you hurt?"

Slowly Izuku looked up at his dad and then dove into him with a hug. The hug was of course returned but it would take another ten minutes and his other dad turning on the lights to somewhat figure out what had happened.

Izuku sat face leaning into his dad clearly still upset, the most obvious clue was the gum wrapper on the coffee table and its contents lodged thoroughly in his hair.

"Oh kitten, how did you even manage this?"

Time and several tissues later Izuku managed to speak without devolving into a crying mess again. "I was practicing and not managing to do what I wanted... The gum was there and it kept my mind quiet so i could focus"

Both his parents clearly had questions but let him continue without interrupting. "Somehow it worked and I was so happy I nearly screamed but you guys are sleeping so I slapped my mouth closed but the gum went flying right into my hair..."

The crying started again slowly "The more i tried to get it out, the worse it got... I'm sorry for waking you guys up..."

"Oh honey, I know how much you like having long hair." His Pops said as started inspecting the damage.

"d-Do i have to c-cut it a-aall off?!"

Tears were wiped off of his cheek with a kind smile. "It's at least not near your scalp Zuzu. I'll try to save as much as I can. You won't be bald if that's something you're worrying about."

"R-really?"

"Definitely."

His dad squeezed his shoulders earning his attention. "Also don't feel like you need to apologize for needing your parents. Rain, sleep, snow or earthquake, we will always be there for you Kitten."

This caused a fresh wave of tears that took a while to subside after which Izuku found himself sitting in the middle of the kitchen on a counter high chair, Pops circling him to decide the best kind of way to cut his hair.

"Hey, I'm sure whoever you like is sure to love your new haircut. You're in excellent hands. Your pop gives pretty amazing haircuts."

Izuku looked his dad over, unsure of the truth in that statement and felt a bit more nervous sitting there.

Certainly sensing his apprehension, Pops chuckled at Izuku "Don't worry Zuzu, your dad hasn't let me cut his hair in years. He's far too lazy and forgetful"

"Hey! My hair is fine..."

"And how many times have I heard you complain about it after I do Nemuri's hair? 'Zashi why don't you do my hair anymore? How come Nemuri gets special treatment?' Sound familiar?"

His dad just glared playfully but didn't answer.

"Wait, you do Auntie Nemuri's hair Pops?"

"Sure do Zuzu."

This made Izuku relax instantly, if a hero whose entire public facing persona revolves around looks trusts his pops with her hair, then there's no need to worry. That was until it registered what his dad said about his crush.

"Dad! I thought we agreed to stop teasing me about Ka- uh my crush!"

"Oh! We nearly got a name there.." His dad teased and chuckled to himself.

"I never agreed to anything of the kind... Now are you going to tell us what you were practicing?"

Izuku emulated his dad and glared at the swift topic change but welcomed it not wanting to really slip up and full on say Kaminari's name. "Partial shifting"

"Partial shifting?" Both his parents asked in unison while his pops was busy wetting his hair.

Knowing it would be easier to show than give a full explanation he exhaled and focused as he closed his eyes. He felt the familiar sensation he usually experiences throughout his body located entirely on his eyes and opened his lids. Staring back at his dads were the same set of eyes he had met them with, and that they only get to see when he shifts now.

"Oh that's so cute Zuzu."

"Does it hurt to keep them up?"

"Thanks pop, no it doesn't hurt anymore dad. It did at first but I figured out why and fixed it."

This was met with worried expressions so he knew he had to explain more. "I was going to ask Nedzu for help but I got an idea and tried it, as it turned out it was the right answer." Izuku's tone was excited and he was glad neither of his dad interrupted him.

"Before I was focusing too hard on not shifting anything else besides the bit I wanted. Now I focus on what I want to shift instead, which is much easier."

"As long as it doesn't hurt you, kitten"

"Adding something that a human body doesn't normally have does hurt a bit, like i can't do a tail for long at all"

"Well that's earned a ban on trying that anymore then."

Izuku outwardly looked disappointed but was actually grateful overall to have that decision taken from him. It really did hurt to grow a tail on a human frame, no matter the duration of it.

His Pops regained his attention and asked him "Ready Zuzu? I'll try and save as much as I can but it's going to be much shorter."

Izuku hummed in agreement, he loved his long hair sure but he also hated it. If it wasn't braided it would often end up in his mouth as he slept and that's one thing he'd be happy to be rid of. More than that he trusts his Pops and knows he'll be safe.

It was over before he knew it and Izuku loved the end result, it was for sure it was much shorter than his hip height hair before, but it also wasn't as short as he thought it would be. To him it was the perfect length defying the set gender rules, somewhere between entering 'girl' length but not reaching 'boy' length either.

Holding the mirror his Pops provided he didn't know how to convey all that so he just cried and laughed at the same time.

"I really hope those are happy tears..."

Izuku hummed and nodded. "I love it! Thank you Pops."

"You're very welcome, Zuzu. I have to ban you from gum though, not even I could fix it for a second time."

Izuku hopped off the chair and hugged his Pops. Soon afterwards he felt the familiar feeling of being squished as his dad turned it into a group hug. He could only chuckle as he squeaked out a "I love you guys!"

"We love you too, Kitten, right Zashi?"

"So much Zuzu."

He escaped the hug eventually and went to have a shower and get rid of loose hair. His dad calling after him "Don't take too long kitten, we'll have breakfast and head out for U.A early"

After they had breakfast he was getting ready in the bathroom, admiring his new hair and feeling grateful his exam was yesterday and over with. A knock at the door signaled him to finish up.

"Come on Zuzu, I don't want to rush there like yesterday. There are literally thousands of applicants for the general entrance exam and I have to coordinate where they all go."

"Coming Pops!" Izuku actually hurried, sensing the same nerves he had yesterday in his parents this time. He settled down in the back seat watching his parents interact with each other. Loving smiles, teasing jokes and admiring glances. He hoped that one day he'd have something like that with someone.