#agere kaniyashiki monika

[paper--moons]

Regressor!Taishiro Headcanons

(with cg!Monika)

When you work as a pro-hero for long enough, eventually you come to see everything the hero course attempted to prepare you for. Even the stuff that seemed like you would never encounter. At least, that's what it feels like for Taishiro. He's been on the scene for several years and even has his own agency going now, but the biggest surprise? The fact that his hero psych courses that he took when he was still a Shiketsu student weren't lying when it came to age regression being a fairly prevalent coping mechanism—it's one of the industry's best kept secrets, though somewhat of an open one amongst the pros themselves. There's been a time or two when he's had someone drop on him—which of course wasn't an issue, different strokes and all that—but it left him feeling a certain way that he couldn't quite identify (which admittedly threw him off a bit since he's got a pretty high emotional intelligence). And of course when he brings it up with someone they come to the "obvious" conclusion that he'd make a great cg. Maybe that's true, but the suggestion doesn't settle right with him. In fact, the idea of being a cg makes him feel uncomfortable for some reason, and there's a small part of him that believes he might fall on the other end of the spectrum.

His suspicions eventually get confirmed. The first time he drops is not long after a major fight against a villain where he had to use up all of his stored fat, causing him to shrink down to a size that he's not used to being these days. Not too uncommon, since that sort of thing happens. But something is different this time, something is off, and for some reason he feels a lot smaller than normal (and not just in a physical sense). Taishiro tries to wade through the steadily increasing fog in mind to try and make sense of what is happening, and he thinks he knows, but...but he doesn't fit there, does he? Everyone always tells him how good he'd be at taking care of someone someone like him. He doesn't believe he really fits the bill either so to speak, but maybe like this someone would consider that he wasn't lying, that he was little too. So as the rest of the heroes and law enforcement involved pick up the pieces and clean up the scene, Taishiro needs help, and after scanning those present spots somebody he knows he can trust: Monika.

Monika can tell something is up with Taishiro—they've worked together for a long time after all, and even hang out on their off days. Despite all of that, it wouldn't take a master investigator to notice the glossy sheen of unshed tears in his eyes, or the way he is chewing at his lower lip. She is quick to excuse both of them, claiming that she's taking him to get some medical attention (although she's equally as quick to explain to a nervous Taishiro that, Don't worry, I'm just getting you someplace quiet. Everything is a-okay, bug). It's not possible for her to ignore the way he clings to her hand, nor is it possible to ignore the innocent and trusting way he looks at her. All it takes is a couple of questions once they are somewhere away from the public eye before Monika has her answer that, yes, Taishiro is regressing. It's almost too easy of a decision for her to take him back to her place for the afternoon to look after him, though she suspects he would have followed her home regardless (looking for all the world the part of a lost little duckling, what with that white-blonde fluff of his no longer hidden beneath his hood).

It becomes increasingly obvious just how low on the scale Taishiro regresses. By the time they are at Monika's apartment he's chewing on the tattered remnants of his jacket sleeve, his costume having gotten irreparably torn during the fight that feels like it happened forever ago now. And so while there's no risk of him ruining it, it is dirty—though as soon as Monika tries to gently redirect him she's got a very teary baby on her hands. Taishiro is tiny, and it's apparent that he's going to need some gear once she has a minute to place an online order. But in the meantime she soothes him with the tried-and-true method of pulling a number of silly faces until his crying turns into hiccups, and those hiccups turn into a few soft giggles. Monika is quick to find something in her apartment to occupy him once he has calmed down, which happens to take the form of a box of graham crackers. There's plenty of cracker crumbs and cinnamon sugar dust coating his cheeks by the time he's done, but he doesn't try to go for his sleeve again so she'll take it as a win.

Once he's regressed that first time however, it's as if the flood gates have been opened and Taishiro finds that he hovers at the edge of small quite often now that he recognizes it for what it is! But most often he still tries to regulate his headspace to when he's physically smaller—which is something that Monika notices and sets about working on with him, encouraging him to regress even when he doesn't undergo the physical and mental stress that comes with shedding his standard size. With her help, he eventually comes to find his regression can correspond to other things too (and can definitely occur when he's still his regular size, as it often does). Taishiro gets to the point where he'll start slipping if he gets very excited or happy about something, his elation bleeding over into his smallspace—making him a very happy little guy most of the time. He forgets to be worried over being too much to handle, and instead focuses on the important things. Like what kind of milk he wants in his bottle or what story he wants Monika to read to him during naptime (the answers of course being strawberry milk and A Bad Case of Stripes).

While he might be on the tiny end of the regression spectrum, he's not exactly one of those babies that are big on spending most of their small time asleep. He's got nothing against naptime and goes down pretty easy, but he is still very active and is into everything—he is very much a sensory focused little guy, always wanting to explore different textures and such. But the soft sensory toys that he has can only keep him occupied for so long. If Monika doesn't keep a careful eye on him, he's liable to toddle off and make a mess. His mess of choice almost always being the ever-enticing activity of making what Monika has fondly dubbed the "shampoo potion" in the bathroom—Taishiro would watch the different colored shampoos and soaps pour out of their bottles for hours if he could, something about the viscosity of how it flows into the basin of the sink making him calm, the soft colors and floral scents pulling him in and keeping him entranced. By the time she finds him he's making sticky sweet scented handprints on the mirror, shampoo bottles scattered around him and forgotten.

Taishiro is also prone to forgetting his own strength when he's small and that he isn't supposed to be using it. That isn't to say he's destructive though, far from it in fact. He's incredibly gentle with his many plushies and the things around him. No, the issue of his strength comes up in regards to what this baby can lift. When he gets very happy he's quick to sweep up Monika in a hug and doesn't think to put her down right away. Says Oh, carry big sister Monika? Carry her around like the teddy bear? Cuddles for one thousand years? It's not really a problem per se, since she finds it more endearing than anything. After all, there is no harm in it and he's just a bouncy little guy that wants to show his affection to one of his most favorite people ever. So what if it's usually cgs that carry their regressors? Nothing wrong with it—until she needs to do something, that is. Then it's all pouts from him as she promises her little bug that they can cuddle more after she makes lunch. She drives a hard bargain for sure, but the allure of a good lunch is too much for him to refuse.

[paper--moons]

A tiny bonus tidbit from the last request, a director's cut if you will:

Monika uses her scissors quirk to cut up lots of cute fruit snacks for Taishiro. Even without her quirk she is a master snack maker, but with it she's got an extra edge. She makes lots of different shapes too and is far from a one-trick pony! Stars, flowers, hearts, a mirade of animals—though Taishiro's favorite by far are the little crabs she makes out of apples.

[paper--moons]

Baby Aizawa goes to IHop with CGs Fatgum an Monika and is not allowed to drink syrup

Shouta is Not Allowed to drink the syrup and he is going to make that everyone else's problem. They will Regret the day they said no syrup drinking. Pouts the whole time as he watches Taishiro cut his chocolate chip pancakes into little pieces for him, gives Monika his most pitiful look to ask for more as she pours the syrup onto his plate. He is Upset and they will Know.

(He still gets syrup—specifically the strawberry syrup—everywhere despite the no syrup drinking mandate. On his cheeks, on his hands, in his hair, in Monika's hair, all over the front of Taishiro's clothes and sleeves from where he decided to cling and take his post-pancake nap, on the poor waitress...none were spared.)

(Though this was nothing in comparison to the resulting great war of the wet wipes, but that is for another time.)