Chapter Text
Aizawa rarely checked his phone. Hell, before Yagi fell into his life and stole his heart, he seldom used the damn thing. For the longest time he only checked it three times each day. Once when he woke up, at lunch, and before he brushed his teeth for bed. And he seldom ever responded. Even Mic and Midnight had long since given up on expecting him to participate in group chats.
Truly, he found the thing bothersome to carry, its extra weight throwing his balance off when he needed to remain lithe on the job.
But, his lover begged him to at least check his texts every few hours. Pleaded for weeks on end about it. Aizawa argued over and over about the irrationality of texting when they work at the same place and live in the dorms across from one another. But Yagi continued to pout until Aizawa caved. He always caved for his sunflower.
When his phone vibrated that Sunday afternoon as he patrolled the school grounds, he had no reason to suspect it would be anyone else but Yagi. The hint of a smile formed on his lips. He had to admit he loved the sweet reminders of just how much Yagi loved him.
Pulling it out of his pocket, he swiped the screen towards his messages.
His smile faded from his face, eyes wide in horror and disbelief at the image in front of him. This was not a message from Yagi. It was something far worse than he could have imagined.
There, in vivid and horrid detail, tied to a chair and gagged sat his protege, Hitoshi Shinsou. The poor kids eyes filled with fear as a knife pressed against the fragile skin of his throat. His ears were covered, all clear signs whoever took this knows Shinsou’s quirk. Whoever had done this must have seen him during the sports festival.
Aizawa jumped into detective mode, trying to decipher each detail, but he barely scratched the surface when another appeared. And another. Soon dozens of images of Shinsou filled his messages. Each one showing him get progressively more bloody, bruised, and broken until the final shot where his body slumped over, ropes acting as the only thing preventing him from falling face forward onto the ground. from the pain.
Aizawa clutched the phone tightly in his grasp, his rage about to snap the wicked thing in half. Whoever had his student was going to pay dearly.
His phone vibrated again. It was a call from an unknown number. He quickly answered, pulling the phone up to his close ear.
“Hello Eraser. Did you like the photos I sent?” a twistedly sweet female voice asked.
Aizawa told himself to remain calm, though his body gave subtle hints of the anger seething beneath the surface. “Where is he?”
“Tsk tsk. Sooo demanding, Eraser. Gross. Are you like this with All Might too?”
“All Might…”
“Yeah, big buff blond boy. Or used to be buff. Ya know, the bag of bones you call your boyfriend.” there was far too much mirth hidden in the dangerous knowledge of her words.
Aizawa felt his breath hitch. How did this person know about him and All Might? Only a select few people were aware of the personal nature their relationship had turned and none of them were outside UA.
“Or at least a little mole told me you two were dating.” Aizawa curses under his breath. Of course. The mole. How could he have been so careless to have let his relationship slip out when a mole still lived at UA.
“But enough about moles. Let me get down to business with'ya. I am calling cause I found this lost little bird roaming outside the school grounds, big mistake giving him a day pass to visit home by the way, and I noticed he was wearing what appears to be one of your scarves. Now, from what I hear you ain’t too keen on showing you care so when I saw that I knew he must be important to ya. You don't just share your trade secrets with any ol’ student.”
Aizawa took in a deep breath. This was a bad situation. The villain knew his weaknesses, ones he tried to avoid having for years, and was exploiting them. “What are you going to do with him?”
“Oh, not me. You. What are you gonna do to him? Let's make a deal, Aizawa-sensseeiii.” She whined, clearly taunting him. He squeezed his eyes shut, annoyed with her games. He couldn't give in, but his clenched fist and stiff body were clear signals he was about to blow.
“I don't make deals with villains.” He growled behind gritted teeth.
“You do if you want to see this little Shinsou kid alive again.”
“Leave him out of this!” Aizawa demanded. The woman burst out laughing
“Really? Are you in a position to even make such a request? Ya know, I don't think you are taking this seriously enough. I think you need some more convincing. Crusher, do your stuff.”
Aizawa’s stomach dropped as he heard a loud whack and the sound of muffled agonized whimpering. Then he heard a few pops and cracks followed by muffled screams. Shinsou's screams.
“What did you do to my student?” He shouted, his emotions no longer under his control.
“Just broke a finger or three. Not the only thing this kid broke today, and it won't be the last unless you make a deal with me.” Her tone was deadly serious.
“You can have me if you want me so badly. Leave my boy out of this!”
“You? You think I want you? Well aren't you arrogant. Who would have guessed? Well, buddy, I don't want you. I want the big guy. I want All Might.”
Aizawa felt his knees begin to buckle underneath him. Of course. It seemed perfectly clear now. Villains loved to use loved ones to achieve their nefarious ends and now that he and Yagi were together, they both had giant targets on their back. And Shinsou just happened to be the unlucky one caught in the crossfire. He never should have let Shinsou take that stupid scarf home.
Aizawa’s jaw clenched reflexively, his eyes flashing glints of red as his quirk fired up from his lack of emotional control. There was no way he was going to let them get to Yagi, yet he had a duty to his students.
He just needed time. Time to come up with something. Anything. He had to fix this. He couldn't afford to lose either one. They were both far too precious to him.
“Look, this is simple. I ain't asking you to kill nobody. Just break up with All Might, push him so far out that his heart crashes into unfixable pieces, and I promise I will free this child. Simple.”
“Simple? You think your threats will cause me to…” images of the life he'd built with Yagi flooded his mind. How could he ever break him? The thought of blue eyes flooded with tears because of him was too much for his heart to bare.
“What good does breaking up with him do for you? He is retired. How does a heartbroken old man benefit you?”
The woman groaned in frustration on the other line. “You know, for such a rumored stoic character, you really ask a lot of questions. My business is my own. Look, break up with him and I will give you all the info to find Shinsou. Do we gotta deal?”
“Give me a reason why you want this? Tell me.” His words came out as more of a plea than a demand.
He heard another loud crack. Another muffled scream from Shinsou. “Do what I ask, Aizawa Shouta. I am not playing games! I have a damn good reason I want you to break his heart and, as you educated types say, it isn't in your purview to know. Now, do we have a deal?” She snarled into the phone.
Aizawa ran through a dozen scenarios in his head as to how this might play out, and few ended with Shinsou in one piece. Still, this wasn't right. Yagi would never give into a villain. He always found a way. Aizawa could too if he just had enough time to think.
“I do not make deals with villains.” He repeated.
“Ugh. Fine by me, you intolerable hero. I get to destroy someone either way. I hope you enjoy your front row seat to the show.”
The line went dead. ‘Show? What show?’ He wondered. He paused for a moment, combing through his clouded thoughts. He was clever enough to figure this out. He could do it.
Taking in deep breaths to maintain his composure, Aizawa started examined the shadows in the background of each photo. Definitely more than three shadows there so likely several villains are involved. The walls look like old brick or cement. Not a lot to go on, but they showed some age. In the corner there appeared to be shingles or maybe a metal door of some kind.
As he made mental notes of each detail, a video message appeared. Same number as his enemy. With shaking fingers, he hesitantly pressed play.
The video began on Shinsou who was finally awake, this time looking more defiant than before. Courage flushed out his fear it seemed. The villains shouted threats at Shinsou. As one got close, the kid tried to headbutt him, but was easily forced back down. He continued to whip his head back and forth, rocking his body in vain attempts to fight back.
Shinsou managed to get the gag out of his mouth for a brief moment and shouted “Sensei, don’t do it. Don’t give in. Villains should never be barg-” the gag once again found its place around his mouth. Shinsou continued to struggled unto one of the villains punched him across the face with such force it knocked both he and the chair he was in over. The video ended as Shinsou crashed into the ground, his head hitting the hard concrete floor, blood beginning to pool.
It was followed by a text.
/Feisty kid. Lucky he didn't hit his head too hard or I would miss the chance to kill him. You got until tomorrow. Bye Eraser ;) /
As the realization of the only choice he had left hit him, his phone vibrated again. He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and looked down to see a smiling picture of Yagi at his desk, sunlight glowing around him, with the caption “Thinking of you”.
Tears burned in the corners of his eyes and his heart ached as he looked at the love emanating from his sunflowers eyes. He knew he had no other choice. He would have to shatter that smile into a thousand pieces. He couldn't let Shinsou die just so he could selfishly cling to that smile.
He sent a text back telling Yagi to meet inside his dorm room in an hour. Aizawa needed time to prepare himself.
‘I hope you’ll understand, Sunflower.’