Insomnia | ShinDeku

Chapter 1

Shouta never knew how much he actually enjoyed the company of a child, though not any child, only Izuku. By the time Izuku reached age 3, he was the spitting image of Aizawa Shouta, and most of his friends agreed. If not for the unruly mess of green fluff and the freckles that dotted his face, Izuku was like a mini Eraserhead. Nemuri, Hizashi and Shouta all concluded that it was his personality. In the time spent between Izuku and Shouta, many habits and aspects of Shouta's personality had rubbed off on little Izuku, like his huge obssession with cats. Izuku had gotten incredibly attached their cat, "Bean" who he had named after noticing Bean's dark and rich brown fur and eyes, babbling about how he was just like a coffee bean. Another thing in common with the two Aizawas were how often the two liked to take naps, they would often have "caterpillar nap times" as Izuku would call it, in Shouta's sleeping bag til dawn, until eventually Shouta had to go teach his students at UA.
Unfortunately, the caterpillar nap times came to a stop once Izuku manifested his quirk at the age of 4. It wasn't a dramatic reveal or a sudden explosion like one of the kids in Izuku's kindergarten class had experienced, "Kacchan" Izuku had called him. One night Izuku just couldn't fall asleep, which at the time was very unusual for Shouta, as Izuku had always managed to pass out in a matter of seconds during their caterpillar nap times. Shouta even gave him extra cuddles, extra cuddles! Extra cuddles were a thing Izuku normally had to earn, so when Aizawa gifted him extra cuddles and Izuku still couldn't fall asleep, he knew something wasn't right. At first he suspected that Izuku's nap times were just too long at kindergarten, but that idea became less likely when Izuku couldn't fall asleep for the second time a day after! Izuku was getting cranky and anxious, and Shouta's concern finally drew the line when Izuku hadn't been able to sleep for 72 hours now! Instead of teaching at UA that day, Shouta called in sick to take Izuku to the doctors.

♡

Imagine Izuku's surprise and disappointment when, he had found out that his lack of sleep was caused by his quirk, and that his quirk took away one of his favourite things to do, caterpillar nap time! On the car trip back home, Izuku was distraught, he could barely even cry because he was that exhausted. "Dad?" he meekly questioned, at this point he was in the passenger seat, clutching his knees, head bowed in frustration of the pathetic tears he could barely cry. "Yes, Problem child?" Shouta replied, voice solemn as called the child by the fond nickname he had given him. Looking up with a broken voice, Izuku cried, "h-how am I supposed to be a hero when I can't even sleep?! The d-doctor also said my quirk would make me c-cranky and moody, how am I going to be a hero if I'm mean all the time, I don't want to be mean!". Shouta glanced at the child with pity, noticing the small tears running down his freckled cheeks. He would admit, being a hero would certainly be harder for Izuku now, but not impossible. "Izuku... I know you can be a hero, after all your quirk just makes you more like me!" Shouta smiled at Izuku. Realising what he meant, Izuku smiled back. "As a hero, I don't get much sleep either, and yes, that makes me a cranky and moody person but I can still be nice. I can still smile because you give me joy, Izuku. I love you, don't forget that. I'll help you become a hero, I'll support you. I can train you and even teach you early. Know that I'm here for you and that you're my son." By the time Shouta had stopped talking, they had arrived at their house, the car parked in the driveway. The only sounds were the quiet sobs of Izuku, though those sobs had burst louder as Shouta finished his heartfelt sentence. Izuku launched himself into his father, Shouta was ready with arms out wide. They spent the night in Shouta's caterpillar, watching All Might movies. Shouta gave Izuku all the extra cuddles he could ever want.