Chapter Text
Izuku talks to Aizawa about Shinsou as soon as they dismiss the students. He shouldn’t be surprised that Aizawa is the one that brings it up -he’s met Himei, and he’s seen Penelope around campus, he knows Aizawa keeps an eye out for students in need- but somehow, he’s still surprised when Aizawa turns to him and says:
“What do you think of Shinsou?”
“Well he’s definitely got potential -already has good control of his quirk, just needs to work on how to actually fight. Brainwashing definitely has a lot of uses, and his is way more reliable than Costello’s, it’s really a shame that he’s in general studies, especially since he seems to want to be a hero...” Izuku trails off for a second.
“We can apply to have him transferred, don’t worry about that. What about him, not just his quirk?”
Izuku must look slightly startled, because Aizawa continues.
“I saw you talking to him during Sero and Aoyama’s match, I know you must have an opinion.”
“...He seemed...uncertain? I don’t think he’s ever had anyone take interest in his quirk positively before. That speech was definitely concerning, and I don’t know if you could see it from the announcer’s box but he’s frighteningly skinny, and I don’t want to assume anything, but...I don’t think he’s in a good place right now.” He pauses and, at a gesture from Aizawa, continues. “Personality-wise? He didn’t talk unless spoken to, but he seemed...basically decent? I didn’t really have that much of a conversation with him, but he didn’t act like a dick or anything, wouldn’t clash with the current students any more than average.”
Aizawa nods.
“Ok, I’ll look into it. Be prepared to interview him as a potential hero course transfer, and you can add him to your quirk analysis list that I know you have.”
“...It’s a book, sir.”
Aizawa rolls his eyes and sighs. “Of course it is.” But he ruffles Izuku’s hair, so Izuku decides it’s at least somewhat fond.
Aizawa spends the next hour or so tracking down Shinsou’s parents and going over their general record and every report on Shinsou he can find. Not just on his home life, though that definitely is a concern -especially after he talks to a few other teachers and they all note that he seems overworked and underfed- but also anything where Shinsou mentioned future plans. It takes about five minutes for him to figure out a plan. Admittedly that’s mostly because he’s done this kind of thing several times before rather than some special planning skill.
He’s going to offer to train Shinsou in preparation for the hero course and keep an eye on the home life situation. But figuring out when to approach Shinsou is a later problem. Right now he has about an hour before he has to help with the preparation of the second year sports festival for tomorrow, and he has a husband he can nap on.
Shinsou had a plan. During the sports festival he was going to make it through the first two rounds without drawing attention to himself, and then blow everyone out of the park and make it onto the pedestal in the final round. One-on-one fights are, after all, pretty easy as long as he can get his opponent to talk. First place would have been nice, but really second or third would still be grounds for considering an application to be transferred to the hero course. Step one had been completed.
Step two was to figure out a way to get his parents to agree to sign off on the application.
It isn’t going to be easy. After all, he’s not allowed to ask questions and they never thought he should try and be a hero in the first place. The muzzle is also going to be an issue. It’s going to be difficult to argue his case when he can’t talk. But when he figures out how to convince them he can apply for transfer and he’ll hopefully make it.
Well, that was the plan.
However, two days after the sports festival, Aizawa corners him after a lesson. Doesn’t bother with introductions or pleasantries just starts talking.
“You want to become a hero.”
It’s not a question. Shinsou answers with a nod anyway.
“You’ve missed out on the training those on the hero course have had. You are physically weaker and less trained in actual combat. Currently, they are ahead of you. But you still managed to defeat all but one of them. That tells me you have potential. Based on your little speech, I assume you were planning on using your success as the sports festival to back an application for transfer, correct?”
Shinsou startles slightly, but nods again.
“Good plan, but it’ll take months before that application is considered and you’d only join the class next year, at which point you’d be ridiculously behind your peers. It would be an uphill battle just to stay on the course, let alone excel.”
Shinsou winces and stops making eye contact. Aizawa rests a hand on his shoulder.
“There’s another option. I can train you. After school or on weekends or whenever our schedules work.” He waves a hand vaguely. “But I can train you in all the things they’re learning that you aren’t. And I’ll talk to Nezu about it. We can probably drag you along for the summer camp we’re planning, and the training we do there can serve as a test to see if you’re right for the hero course. If yes, you’ll join the hero course for the start of the coming term, if not, you won’t. Having a teacher actively support your request and initiate the transfer process will make everything happen a lot faster, trust me.”
Shinsou can’t talk for a moment. It’s...a lot.
“Why would you do this for me?” He eventually manages. Aizawa sighs.
“Because I was in your position once. Except no teacher decided to support me even though I won the sports festival my first year. It took me a year to get onto the course and then months to get on par with the other students. I got threatened with expulsion so often that I overworked myself on multiple occasions. It’s not something that I want to just let happen again. And I can see your potential. You beat out some of my most promising students and you’ve impressed my TA.”
“...Thank you, sir.”
Aizawa smiles at him.
“Also, if Vlad King comes and tries to offer you the same thing tell him I got dibs.”
When Shinsou winces (only slightly, just the tiny bit that he couldn’t stifle) because Aizawa asked him to get parental permission for training sessions, alarm bells ring in Aizawa’s head. Well, more alarm bells. Aizawa gets the permission instead and Shinsou does a not-good-enough job of hiding his relief when they finalise hour-long training sessions after every other school day.
The first training session is, inevitably, awkward. Shinsou's much more formal with Aizawa than a lot of his regular students and it doesn't help that he's clearly never had any combat training in his life. Normally Aizawa tends to throw his students in at...not the deep end per se, but definitely in the pool.
The problem is that Shinsou really doesn’t know anything about hand-to-hand combat to the point that five seconds into the spar that Aizawa would have used to gauge Shinsou’s abilities, he’s already stopping to get Shinsou to untuck his thumb. But the first session is enough to lay the groundwork for some basic techniques. And enough for Aizawa to realise that the kid seriously needs to put on some muscle, and probably change his diet a lot too given how skinny he is. And to lecture Shinsou about not relying on his quirk. So it’s successful.
By their third training session, Shinsou looks like death warmed over. He wasn’t in great condition to begin with, and the increase in physical demand is already really getting to him.
Aizawa takes one look at him and tells him to get changed into the casual clothes he brings to each session. Shinsou hesitates for a second at that, but Aizawa makes no move towards the training area, so Shinsou obeys.
Then Aizawa leads him off-campus and down several side streets, until they reach a cat cafe where the barista greets Aizawa by name and is very obviously trying not to ask about Shinsou. Aizawa orders them both sandwiches and scoops up a fluffy grey cat, expertly balancing the tray in one hand and the cat all across his shoulders. He makes a beeline for a table with three chairs- two empty, and one taken by a large white cat. When Shinsou sits down he gets the grey cat placed gently in his lap. Apparently, her name is Amai and she’s a dumb sweetheart. As evidenced by the way she just kind of flops on Shinsou’s lap and almost falls off trying to lean into his hand. Amai apparently distracts him for a while, because when he glances up again Aizawa has eaten half his sandwich and a small tuxedo cat has materialised in the capture weapon still slung around his neck.
When Shinsou finally actually starts eating the sandwich (roast beef, not his favourite, but still food) Aizawa starts talking.
“Ok, your diet is really going to have to change if you want to make it on the hero course. As it is, you aren’t getting enough of the right things to allow your body to actually do anything with the training we’re doing. If anything, the training is making your body worse because you’re expending so much more energy now. We basically need to get more protein and more carbs into you on a regular basis.”
He seems to notice the panic that flashes across Shinsou’s face at that.
“I can talk to your parents about it if you want, and the school will probably cover any extra costs.”
Shinsou feels selfish and cowardly as he nods. But Aizawa is the one who offered, and he can always make it up to him later. He swallows the bite of sandwich that now tastes like ash and nods again.
“Yes please, sir.”
“Don’t worry about it, kid.”
They finish their food in near silence, only broken by the occasional remark made to or about a cat. Shinsou learns a lot about the cats here. He wouldn’t call it exactly fun, Aizawa is still a teacher after all, but there’s cats and food and it’s a decent kind of quiet, so it’s a pretty good afternoon.
Hell, Aizawa even drops him off at home so that he can talk to Shinsou’s parents straight away about the food stuff.
Sure they lock him in his room and don’t let him eat that night, but it’s fine, he deserved to be punished for inconveniencing someone who’s already going out of their way to help him and he ate with Aizawa anyway.
Aizawa asked Hizashi to come up with some excuse to interrupt his training session with Shinsou. It was meant to be so that Hizashi could give a second opinion on Shinsou’s progress and on whether or not they need to step in with his home life.
He hadn’t expected Shinsou to narrow his eyes at the way they greet each other and the ring on Hizashi’s finger and declare loudly:
“You two are married, aren’t you.”
From anyone else, it would be a question, but Shinsou doesn’t tend to ask questions- especially unprompted. Aizawa sighs and fishes his ring out from where it hangs on a chain around his neck.
“Congrats kid, you are officially more observant than the entirety of 1-A.”
Aizawa accepts the folder that Hizashi had ostensibly come to deliver to him and gives him a kiss on the forehead. If the kid’s figured it out, there’s not much point in the token pretence they tend to keep up. And Hizashi’s grin is like sunshine, so he can’t regret it even when Shinsou looks at them slightly strangely. The rest of the session is fairly standard.
Hizashi suggests a voice changer for when they actually get onto quirk training and, when Shinsou leaves, agrees that Shinsou still looks too thin but is definitely better than before. And confirms Aizawa’s suspicion that the faint indents on his face look terrifyingly like muzzle markings. There are other things it could be. It’s just. Nothing comes to mind. And if Shinsou’s parents are muzzling him then they need to get him out of there sooner than possible.
Aizawa spends the next day trying to figure out a way to ask Shinsou about the marks without being too blatant.
“Do your parents muzzle you?” Shit. The question blindsides Shinsou. He’s not meant to let people know. His parents had been very clear about that. He was only muzzled for their safety but some people wouldn’t see it that way, and if anyone found out he’d be taken away and he doesn’t want to leave his parents, they are his family, they love him, he can’t leave them.
He takes too long to say no.
He can see it in Aizawa’s eyes. He doesn’t believe Shinsou. And he shouldn’t, Shinsou is lying, but Shinsou should have lied better or hidden it better or something. Aizawa just looks at him for a second longer, then continues the session. Shinsou fumbles moves he learnt during that first session a couple of weeks ago.
Aizawa doesn’t turn up to their next session, instead Present Mic drags him off to that cat cafe claiming that Aizawa had some errands to run. It’s a blatant lie, but Shinsou isn’t going to call him on it. Mic lets him choose his own food, but still pins him under a cat. This one is a very affectionate ginger.
“Alright little listener, I’m going to presume that your parents muzzle you ‘for safety’, yes?” Mic’s hands are busy with a tabby, but Shinsou can hear the air quotes. He hesitates before he nods. It feels like a betrayal even though Mic clearly already knows.
“Let me tell you a story.”
He gestures to the thin, faded scars on his cheeks. You probably wouldn’t notice them if you weren’t looking for them, but they’re there.
“My quirk manifested very early. I was a baby, and when I cried I blew out the windows and my parents’ eardrums. They were deafened, permanently as far as I know, and they couldn’t deal with a child that dangerous so they put me in the foster system.” He pauses for a second, and when he speaks again Shinsou is shocked that his usually chirpy teacher can sound so disdainful. “Thankfully, social services got me a muzzle so I wasn’t able to harm anyone else with my quirk. I wore it basically 24/7, meaning that I never got a chance to learn how to control my quirk and amplifying the problem. And of course then they couldn’t take it off, I was dangerous, they couldn’t trust me not to hurt people.”
Shinsou winces. Mic seems to notice. His voice softens.
“A year before I started studying at UA I finally got adopted. My mums saw that I was being muzzled and they knew it wasn't right. They spent a good deal of that year helping me learn to control my quirk properly. It took me far longer than anyone else in my year to start using my quirk to its full potential because I missed out on all those years of experimentation. It took me even longer to shake the idea that I was dangerous, and I was only able to do all that because my mum's actually cared about me and helped me. Hitoshi, your parents may have had fears about your quirk, but preventing you from using it is only ever going to make things worse! What they're doing to you is wrong, and they don't care enough to fix it."
Shinsou doesn’t make eye contact, focuses on the ginger cat in his lap instead. Mic sighs.
“Shinsou, your home situation is not good. You...you don’t have to, but Aizawa and I would adopt you if you want out. Please consider it.”
Shinsou doesn’t really think he will, but he nods anyway. Mic smiles.
“Anyway! I think I know the answer to this, but cats or dogs?”
Shinsou’s mouth twists into a half-smile.
“Cats.”
And just like that, they move on.
Shinsou gets locked in his room again that night. Mic dropped him off and his parents saw. This time it takes a little longer for Shinsou to remind himself that he’d inconvenienced someone helping him so he deserves to be punished. The muzzle doesn’t help.
With these situations, it’s never one thing. It’s never one speech or one action or one anything. But as the days stretch into weeks, Shinsou gradually realises that he hates the muzzle.
He’s never given his parents any reason to think he’d use his quirk on them. He’s not exactly sure if he loves them. Thinks that maybe they don’t love him. Love requires care, and if they cared they wouldn’t have used a temporary stopgap solution for far longer than ‘temporary’ implies.
He doesn’t hate them. But he feels like he maybe should.
In the end it’s nothing special that gets him to sign the adoption papers.
He gets locked in his room for resisting putting on the muzzle. He hasn’t eaten yet. And he remembers that Aizawa gave him his address and a no-questions-asked invite. So he sneaks out.
When he shows up at Aizawa’s, a ginger girl called Penelope picks the lock on the muzzle, and he joins Aizawa (and Yamada, and Penelope, and a little boy called Akira, and an older girl called Akane) for dinner. He gets bundled into a spare room and given a change of clothes before he can even consider leaving.
When he wakes up, there are adoption papers sitting conspicuously on the dresser.
Shinsou doesn’t even really think about it, just signs them.
Aizawa collects Shinsou’s things. Shinsou’s old parents give him the muzzle. He gets Akane to melt it in front of Shinsou. She uses her smelting quirk to turn it into a disc of metal with some plastic parts wedged into it. It ends up on a garbage dump somewhere. Shinsou doesn’t miss it.
When they get him settled on a more nutritious diet they return to training.
It’s...good. It’s not like the clouds suddenly open up and everything is magically so much better, Shinsou was too deep in denial for that, and he’s still reluctant to ask questions, but he’s happier now. His new siblings take some time to get used to. Shinsou’s never really interacted with eight year olds before, save for when he was eight (and even then not really) so he’s not exactly sure how he’s meant to be talking to Akira. But Akira’s been in the foster system for most of his life and has got that ‘forced into maturity because of trauma’ thing going, so he and Shinsou end up bonding over the surprise joy of cats. Penelope’s in the year above and also in General Studies, so he’s definitely seen her around. Not enough that it isn’t slightly awkward to now be related, but enough that their existing dynamic just needs to get adjusted a little. Akane is...Akane is terrifying. She’s a third year Support course student and is thus highly cursed. Shinsou learns pretty quickly to never enter her room or eat anything she offers unless you’ve seen her make it. She likes to...experiment. There are others that he’s told will just show up sometimes, but they’re all adults with homes and jobs of their own, so they aren’t exactly at the forefront of his mind.
And so life goes on.