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“Okay, everyone, I'm passing back your unit tests!”
[Name] had studied her ass off for this test, because she knew how her parents would react if she failed. Eventually, the teacher placed [Name’s] test face-down on her desk. She flipped it over discreetly, and the color immediately drained from her face when she saw her grade.
It was a D.
Technically, this was still a passing grade, but for someone with strict-as-fuck parents and low self-esteem, this barely-passing D might as well have been an F. And the comments floating around class only made her feel worse:
“Aw, I got an F. Whatever, my parents don’t care.”
“Eighty-nine percent? Damn, I was so close to getting an A!”
“A C? I guess that’s not a terrible grade...”
[Name], whose vision was already starting to blur from her tears, stood up and went over to the teacher's desk to ask if she could go outside for a bit.
The teacher, noticing [Name’s] barely held-together state, nodded slightly and gave her a reassuring smile. As [Name] speed-walked outside, Aizawa watched her go. He’d gotten a B on his test, and Hizashi had gotten an A, because this class was his specialty. Aizawa then followed [Name] outside, and spotted her sitting a few feet away with her head tucked between her knees. He could just hear muffled sobbing.
“Bad grade?” Aizawa asked quietly, sitting down next to [Name], who, without lifting her head, nodded slightly in response.
Aizawa sighed, but not in irritation. “You still have a lot of chances to get a better grade down the line,” he reassured her. “This was a hard test, even for me.”
“But I’m not you!” [Name] cried, lifting her head up and wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “My parents will kill me, I’m nowhere near as smart as you or Hizashi–”
“Yes you are,” he insisted, his expression as blank as ever, but his eyes were fierce. “You’re one of the smartest people in this entire class, and if your parents can’t see that just because of one bad grade, then they’re the stupid ones, not you.”
Aizawa awkwardly wrapped his arms around [Name], who giggled at one of his rare attempts at physical affection. She adjusted how she was sitting so that they were both more comfortable and returned Aizawa’s hug.
“Guess my parents aren’t very smart, then?” [Name] asked jokingly.
Aizawa snorted softly. “Apparently not.” The two of them eventually stood up, still wrapped in each other’s arms. Aizawa pulled away first, ruffling [Name’s] hair gently.
“Come on, let’s go back inside,” he told her.
[Name] nodded slightly. “‘Kay.”
As the day progressed, [Name] remained quiet. At the end of the day, Aizawa pulled out his test and tracked down [Name] in the locker area.
“Can I see your test and a pencil?” he asked her. [Name], looking slightly confused, nodded and pulled out a mechanical pencil and eraser. Aizawa took [Name’s] test, shoved it into his backpack, and used the eraser to erase his name from the top of his test, making sure no trace of his name was left.
Looking up from the paper, Aizawa was met with [Name’s] shock-widened eyes. Her gaze went to Aizawa’s, who smirked slightly at [Name’s] reaction. “Just give it back tomorrow,” he told her. “That is my test you’re borrowing.”
A smile grew on [Name’s] face as she put Aizawa’s test (her test, now) into her backpack. “Thank you,” she said gratefully. “Thank you so much.”
The small smirk didn’t leave Aizawa’s face as he pecked [Name’s] cheek.
“It’s no problem.”
Several years later, [Name]–now an adult, was studying for a test in the study. She shared an apartment with Aizawa and was planning on getting her medical degree so that she could do medical work aside from hero work. And as of now, [Name’s] head was on the desk and she was sobbing violently.
Aizawa arrived back from patrol, and was greeted by the sound of muffled crying from the study he shared with [Name]. Upon entering the study, he was greeted with a sense of familiarity when he saw [Name] sobbing with her head buried in her arms on the desk.
“You okay?” Aizawa murmured, pulling up a chair and sitting next to [Name]. “Stress getting to you?” [Name] nodded slightly, not lifting her head from the desk.
“I can’t do this, I’m gonna fail,” [Name] sobbed, her body shaking as she continued to cry. “I don’t want to fail, I can’t fail, I can’t–”
“Hey. Look at me.”
[Name] lifted her head to face Aizawa, her face still streaked with tears and her eyes red and puffy.
Aizawa ruffled [Name’s] hair as she dried her tears with the back of her hand.
“Remember how I told you that you were one of the smartest people I knew?” he reminded her. [Name] nodded slightly.
“Well, that's still true up until now,” he said. “Because you're smart and hard-working, you're gonna ace this test. And if you don't, that doesn't mean failure in the long run. You'll have a lot of chances to redeem yourself in the future, but you won't need them because I know you'll pass.”
And as if he wanted to make absolutely certain that she believed him, Aizawa leaned forward and pressed a slow, lazy kiss to [Name’s] lips, bringing his hand up to cup her cheek and wipe away any stray tears with his thumb. [Name] kissed back, reaching up to curl her fingers in Aizawa’s messy black hair and resulting in him letting out a low moan.
[Name] pulled away first, the corner of her mouth curved up in an amused smirk. “I didn't know you had a hair-pulling kink, Shota,” [Name] said teasingly.
“Oh, shut up,” Aizawa growled before shoving [Name] against the desk and kissing her roughly.
Let's just say that Aizawa had no problem with helping [Name] get rid of any remaining stress she felt.