Chapter Text
"Question from NHA. This makes the fourth time this year that U.A. students have been confronted by villains. Given that some were actually injured this time, what explanation have you given to their understandably concerned families? Furthermore, please tell us in concrete terms what measures you've taken to prevent these sorts of incidents in the future."
"Mr. Eraser Head, you claim it's for the students' safety, but in the middle of it all, you urged the students themselves to fight. What were your intentions at that point?"
"At that moment, the worst case I could imagine involved the deaths of my students."
"Futures? Can you say the same about young Bakugou, who was abducted? He won your Sports Festival. He struggled valiantly against a powerful villain during the sludge incident. His impressive record implies the making of a tough hero, yet, he showed a rather violent side of himself after his festival victory. His behavior required the intervention of Pro Hero Midnight. We've already caught glimpses, here and there, of his mental instability. What if it was those very qualities that made him a target? Can you provide proof that, as you say, that boy still has a future?"
"And what of the League's other known target? Shinsou's quirk, if abused, would be an invaluable asset to the League. Could the League be poaching young hero students to manipulate and send them down a path of evil?"
"Will the League strike U.A. again?"
Aizawa
Sushi rubs against his legs while making figure eights. He bends over, just low enough to offer the cat ear scratches. Sushi purrs.
The couch shifts as Nemuri joins him. "Talk. I know you're not here for him."
Aizawa reluctantly sits back up. The memory of Sushi's fur against his fingertips briefly lingers.
"Hitoshi's not speaking with me."
Nemuri hums, patient.
"We had a..." How should he phrase their car conversation from over a week ago? "...a failure in communication after Kamino."
"You fucked up."
"Nem."
"Shou. Why else would you be here, seeking advice from me, if you didn't fuck something up?"
He replays the conversation in his head for the umpteenth time. He did nothing wrong. He didn't fuck it up, yet his relationship with his foster son was now practically non-existent. And worse the agency...
"I'm not at fault."
Nemuri leans towards him and lifts two of her manicured fingers to poke his forehead. "That's where you're wrong. To Shinsou you are at fault." She pulls away, considering him. "Have you apologized?"
Aizawa's silence is answer enough. Nemuri frowns but only shakes her head. He can hear her disapproval loud and clear.
Sushi hops onto the couch. The cat settles into the space between them. His four legs are delicately pulled in underneath him, making him the perfect loaf. Sushi yawns, and Aizawa wishes that were him about to take a nap. However, there's still a few hours before he can return home. Unsure of how else to navigate the fallout, he's been leaving Shinsou the apartment to himself during the day. It's an offer of privacy, a sign of trust... not a strategic retreat on Aizawa's part.
"What haven't you told me, Shouta?"
He finally meets his friend's worried gaze. "His case worker called."
"Shinsou's?"
He nods. "After the press conference. They have concerns."
"About him? Don't tell me they're discriminating against the kid's qui-," Nemuri starts, growing more fired up with each word. Aizawa interrupts her with a sharp shake of his head.
"They have concerns about my fitness as his guardian."
Shinsou
Kaminari runs a hand through his hair, nervous, fidgety. "I've been thinking about my short circuiting. And your quirk. I think we can help each other."
Shinsou stares at the other student and waits for the inevitable punchline. Three, two, one...
"The next time I short circuit, I want you to brainwash me."
The joke's not funny. Shinsou doesn't hesitate to share his answer. "No."
"You didn't even think about it," Kaminari practically whines.
"There's nothing to think about," Shinsou argues back. "If that was all, you can see yourself-"
"Wait!" Kaminari jumps up from Shinsou's desk chair, arms stretched out, as if to physically block Shinsou's next words. "The Beast's Forest! You brainwashed me after I short circuited! This would be just like then. I won't be a liability if you control me."
Shinsou's not considering this. He's not. Instead, he asks, "Why not avoid short circuiting to begin with?"
Kaminari opens his mouth, raises a hand, pointer extended, pauses. He shuts his mouth, and his lips thin in thought. His arm lowers, and his hands hide away in his pants pockets. When he finally replies, the blond's sitting again, shoulders slightly hunched. "You're not wrong."
Shinsou's taken aback by the words, by the other's unexpected seriousness. He absently realizes he's more awake than he was when he let Kaminari in.
"It happens when I hit my voltage limit, and yeah, I could never over-expend my quirk, but what about when fighting villains? And the teachers are actively pushing me to increase my voltage limit, increase my output. Short circuiting's unavoidable."
Shinsou understands that. He does. What he doesn't comprehend is- "Why my quirk?"
"It's like I said, I won't be a liability on the field when you can basically control my quirk yourself. Even while I'm all thumbs up and wheyyy, you can brainwash me into a threat."
Kaminari. A threat. The thought's nearly laughable, but then he's reminded of the U.S.J. How could he forget so easily? When the other teen wasn't making everything a joke, he could be capable of intimidating attacks.
Shinsou's still not considering this ridiculous proposal, yet another question fights to be voiced. Shinsou loses. "Seems you'd benefit more. What would this-" he pauses for the right word, "-arrangement offer me?"
Kaminari looks up; his posture appears to lighten at the inquiry. Shinsou does not want to give him the wrong idea. He's only asking out of bored curiosity, nothing more.
"You'd get practice."
"Practice."
"With your quirk. They say practice makes perfect, yeah?"
"You want me... to brainwash you. Repeatedly."
"Yeah, I don't know what I'm not explaining correctly," Kaminari says this softer, likely more for himself than Shinsou. He darts his eyes away from Shinsou's, as he mulls something over. Finally, he looks back. His expression is earnest as he says, "I trust you, Shinsou. Sleep on it, okay?"
I trust you. I trust you. I trust you.
Words fail him. Shinsou watches from his bed, frozen, shaken, as Kaminari stands. The electric blond pushes in his chair and waves goodbye as he slips back through Shinsou's dorm room door and out into the hallway. He pulls the door shut behind him.
I trust you. I trust you. I trust you.