Silent as Stars

Chapter 2

Kirishima had expected his classmates to be the ones to bombard him about his best friend aaaahhhhcough cough not official boyfriend cough cough, but it was actually Aizawa, which surprised him.

The man rushed up to him in the hallway much earlier than class would start, and tried to pull it off as a coincidence that they were both outside the workout room a few hours before most of the others were even awake. Sometime during their first year, Katsuki had gotten him into the habit of going with him to work out before school, and that was one thing that stuck, even if he wasn't there to force the redhead out of bed.

"Sensei?"

"Well, ah," man, this dude was bad at this, "funny seeing you here. Damn, who am I fooling, how is he?"

"Well, ah," incredibly sweet beyond words, and still alive, praise the gods, "he's happy, and it doesn't seem like he's in any pain, so, that's what matters. Why, did they not let you see him?"

"Up until now, it's been family only... and that's good. That's really good to hear."

"I told him I'd try to come today... he probably won't remember I said that, but oh well. It'll be a nice surprise for him. Like his dad said, focus on the positives, and that, I can do," he could tell his teacher was bursting at the seams at the opportunity to check in on him, so the offer came, "I'm sure he'd like to see you. His dad seems pretty alright with people coming; I could ask him for you?"

"That would, that would be great, Kirishima. I would appreciate that very much."

"Yeah, no problem."

***

The patient brunette said yes, why wouldn't he, to which Aizawa proceeded to lose his shit. Secret softie, no hiding it here.

Kirishima gave the man a brief explanation on what to expect, in order to prevent any stress on Katsuki's father, and the fact that imagining how it must feel to have to repeat yourself on such a subject that many times sounded exhausting. The raven haired man took it well, and didn't ask questions, which was much different than what his friends, who chose not to come this time, had done the previous day.

And when he said he would never get sick and tired of the overjoyed expression on Katsuki's face when he'd enter the room, he meant it. He made sure to try and catch Aizawa's reaction to that glorious smile, too, and it was worth it. The man looked like he might've cried, which was completely understandable.

Aaaand right off the bat, he could just feel that boy's energy, and the fact that there was a damn good chance he was gonna do the same shit he did yesterday, and try to fling himself at them. At least he knew exactly what to expect, "you get off that bed, sir, and i'm gonna have to beat your ass."

God, if he could talk, that boy would have bitched him out then and there; that expression said it all. And, as if that wasn't enough, Katsuki ended his quiet rant with a lovely show of the bird, which was absolutely spectacular.

"You heard me, scoot your ass back."

His father had slipped out the moment he'd met them at the door. He said something about trusting him with his son after how it went yesterday. And so, of course he accepted when the man had asked him if he could stay for an hour or so so that he could run home to take a much needed shower, as well as restock on supplies.

The sassy bitching session must have made him oblivious to the fact that Aizawa had been standing there the entire time, but when he did see him, damnit, that boy laughed his ass off, and held up a hand as if to say, 'wait a second, I have something to show you.' And, shit, did he. That board was pulled out, and with a press of that stupid cat button, he laughed once more, and pointed to the sleepy man.

"# cat, meow # maw! Ahaha,"

Who knew Aizawa would have such a contagious laugh. But damn, it was. All composure was lost, as that poor man doubled over in tear jerking laughter, which obviously, caused a chain reaction, "god damnit, boy. I swear to god!"

"I don't get it, why is this so funny?"

"I tell you... one time that I have six cats, and this is how you treat me? I feel betrayed!"

"You have six cats?!"

"Shut up! I found them in a dumpster, and I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them!"

And with that, Aizawa was further, and forever more, known as Meow. Not a one of them refused to call him anything else, no matter how many times he argued. The others caught on as well, and in no time at all, their entire class, as well as most of the staff, was in on the joke. And that was another thing he could add to the list of things that would never get old in Kirishima's book.

The rest of the night went a similar way. It was filled with joy, and gut busting laughter. He could admit that one good thing that had come out of this was to see that outer wall crumble, and to be able to witness the reaction the others would have after they'd gotten to see the Katsuki that he knew. The boy who laughed without holding back, and wasn't shy about the fact that he loved hugs more than anything else in this world. The boy that wasn't terrified of what the other person thought of him, and the one that wasn't afraid to be vulnerable.

They finally got to see what he saw, and he wouldn't change that for all the money in the world.

***