Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Aizawa liked these children.

Humans baffled him on a good day, but he generally did enjoy watching them. They had the greatest reactions to his pestering and mischief. Especially the children he taught. It was a great pleasure of his to help teach them the ways of the world in the ways he found most hilarious.

..within the constraints of his human disguise, anyways. No point in blowing a cover he’d spent over a decade building.

Aizawa found himself particularly enjoying this year’s class, truthfully. While he didn’t enjoy the headaches they gave him - pain was a human concept, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t dislike it - they were delightfully chaotic and had such strong potential it almost hurt to see. Of course he didn’t expel any of them. He had to teach them himself how to take advantage of that potential properly.

These kids were going to make waves in the hero community when they graduated. Or maybe even before! That made the mischievous fae in Aizawa giggle and curl in on itself at the thought.

Of course he was fae, so a fae’s giggling joy did not translate very well into a human’s face and expressions, but hey. That wasn’t his problem.

Aizawa was always very approving of Thirteen’s manner and form. Quirks were so interesting, so… inhuman. It was all rather fascinating to witness over the centuries.

He was a bit lost in thought, eyeing Thirteen’s true form through layers and physical barriers he wasn’t entirely constrained by, when something in him stood up and took notice.

Shadows. No, not shadows HE was shadows HE was darkness no these were portals. And there were people stepping out. Malice clung to their feet and dripped from their hands and Aizawa pulled his capture weapon up and ready.

Malice towards his students. Not on his watch.

It was painfully annoying constraining himself to human form, keeping his quirk restrained to eyesight, but Aizawa had done harder. He was careful to keep himself to only what humans could do, keeping it to the highest level of skill and power he could express within human limits. Fight them. One after another. They were only human after all. Quirks or no.

And against him, most of them didn’t even have quirks.

He was concerned - he stretched his senses out beyond his body and he let his mind wander into shadows and corners and keep track of all his students. Just in case. They were plenty capable of taking care of themselves, he wasn’t foolish enough to think otherwise. But he wanted to make sure.

Time was relative when your mind was spread across an entire training facility but Aizawa was growing tired. His human body was getting stressed. His human eyes couldn’t handle his quirk as well as his proper self could. They were stinging and burning and he wanted to rip them out make them better but he was human so that was out of the question. He hated pain. It was disgusting and the worst part about being human.

His eyes were burning. Aizawa blinked harshly, breathed loudly, panted as he tried to catch his breath. He pulled himself back in. His head was hurting too much from trying to spread his awareness out so much in human form. Once again he was strangled by this stupid form.

And there the keystone was. Standing to the side. Watching.

Aizawa steadied his breath and tilted his head. Malice and more dripped from the man’s shoulders and the hands attached to him screamed and scratched at the edge of Aizawa’s awareness. This man draped himself in the suffering of the dead and that appealed morbidly to the fae in Aizawa. That sort of boldness was rather impressive. If the man knew anything about the dead, he would greatly regret such an action…

But Aizawa was currently human and he was currently a hero and he knew this man, with darkness mottling him and overshadowing his mind was not anywhere near clever enough to use the dead. The man ran towards him.

He grabbed his capture weapon and pushed himself through it.

“Final boss.”

Aizawa threw his capture weapon out, more a test, knowing this much malice didn’t mean stupidity. The villain grabbed it easily and lunged but he was quicker and elbowed him right in the kidney. Where it hurt.

The choking noise the villain gave made the darker parts of Aizawa’s mind giggle and twist gleefully and he shoved that back. He was human right now. That was of no concern.

His eyes BURNED.

He hissed and blinked, ducking his head and forcing shadows underneath his hanging hair to rub into his eyes and try failingly to push the pain out. The villain grabbed his outstretched elbow.

“It was hard to see when you were jumping around, but I found your tell.” The villain leaned in close to his ear and Aizawa heard the static noises of the dead screeching and nearly drowning out his voice. “It’s your hair.” Aizawa’s eyes flew open and he sucked in a breath. “When it drops it means you’ve stopped using your quirk.”

There was something dripping from the man’s hand, something that came from five points and sank into Aizawa’s arm. It hurt.

It hurt a lot.

“You’re having to blink more often.” The villain continued, Aizawa struggling to contain the shadows on his face. He wasn’t breaking now. He pulled them in and sucked them back inside until it was normal human eyes glaring underneath his goggles. “Don’t push yourself too hard now.” The villain’s voice grew hysterical and Aizawa grunted, trembling. “You just might fall apart. Wouldn’t that be a shame?”

His elbow hurt. It was breaking it was-

Aizawa punched him as hard as he could and the villain flew backwards. He threw himself away, grabbing his arm painfully.

Off all the pains he’d felt before this was a new one. Disintegration, huh? This would make for one hell of a story the next time he decided to pass back through the veil.

He was forced to suck in the last of his awareness back into this form. He had underestimated this encounter. Having any part of him extended outside himself right now was just asking for his human form to unravel.

The villain’s minions and lackeys charged him and Aizawa didn’t bother listening to the villain’s wheezy ranting. He dealt with them one by one, putting them down and using his capture weapon or quirk as needed.

“Hey look at you, you’re still standing!” The villain spread his arms out as if to an audience and Aizawa imagine putting his foot in that cursed hand face of his. “You really are so cool!” The villain leaned forwards and Aizawa tensed. “Oh by the way, hero,” There was motion somewhere and Aizawa blinked and took a deep breath. “I am not the final boss.”

There was movement behind him and he cursed, he’d let his senses sink back in and it had gotten him surrounded. Aizawa turned around -

There was nothing. And several things. And pain and nothing and that thing standing behind him didn’t ping any of his senses it was wrong it was messed up it was-

It raised a heavy hand and lashed out as he stared, shocked, unmoving, and Aizawa knew real pain.

He only distantly recognized how brutally and animalistically the Thing destroyed his body, too overwhelmed by the pain destroying his body with every pounding punch and slam.

“Aizawa-sensei..?”

Some very strong instinct pinged his awareness and a part of him flew off and noted the students watching. Fear and terror drifted through the air and he cursed. No. They couldn’t be here. This thing could hurt them-

Aizawa screamed as the Thing snapped his arm like a twig. Did humans feel this type of pain with these injuries on a regular basis? How did they ever evolve this stupid fucking nervous system? As much as part of Aizawa was swamped with pain pain pain there was still a part of him swirling and twisting angrily deep inside and wanting to shroud destroy make them HURT but he wasn’t going to, NO.

He gasped for breath, bruised and crushed as the Thing crouched on him like a bug.

“You can erase people’s powers. That’s irritating, but it’s nothing impressive.” The villain was standing, monologuing, while his monster broke and destroyed Aizawa’s body. “When faced with true devastating power you might as well be a quirkless child!”

Aizawa raised his head, trembling, looking to the Thing above him. He pushed through pain and burning eyes and FORCED his quirk out -

It slammed his arm into the ground, snapping it into pieces, breaking his concentration and Aizawa screamed in pain.

No no no nono, he was positive he’d erased its quirk. Humans didn’t have Powers like that, not without quirks. Not without-

Humans weren’t. And that was-

It lifted his head up and broke it against the ground. Everything went dark.

Everything was dark. Aizawa was broken. Nothing existed but darkness and pain and his own swirling, roiling anger.

“Oh, before we leave, let’s make sure the Symbol of Peace is broken. Let’s break his pride.”

Aizawa was broken and spilled out across the ground and he couldn’t hear what was going on, but there was a very strong instinct in every fae that stood up and screamed when Shigaraki jumped towards his students.

Aizawa’s human body was broken but he snapped his eyes open and stood up, shadows swamping false flesh and dripping blood.

Ge̡t a̷w̕a̴y f̸ro̡m ͏them̢

“Shigaraki!” Kurogiri, the fake shadows the teleporter, yelled to the vile human who dared touch his students.

The villain turned around and stared, eyes widening behind the cursed hand on his face. “Well well Eraserhead, you just keep getting cooler!” He tried to reach back towards Tsuyu and

I͟ ̸SĄI̴͜͢D͢ G̶͢E͜͜T͜͞ ͏AW̴̛̕AY ͏̛F͜͠R͞͏̨O͡M̡̕ T̵͟͡HE̶͟M͟

Form spilling wings filling the air the walls the ceiling reach out spread out intimidate fear worship I am Beyond You

Destroy dissemble slaughter the one who Dared

NȨV̸͞ER ̷T̵҉O͏U̷̕͡CH̢̕͞ ҉W͜Ḩ̡A̶T͟͜ B̷E͠L̸͟O̶͜NG̴͡S̴̶ ̸̵T͘O͏͞҉ ̸͘ME̕͜

Filthy restricted mortals struggling trying to hurt what belonged to IT

“SHIGARAKI! Noumu, kill that- that THING!”

IT was attacking him IT was trying to touch him but IT was flesh and blood and I WAS

NOT

DESTROY IT TEAR IT APART

There was light, something nearby approaching and lighting up the being’s entire senses and making it burn. It was shadows and this was so, so much light.

Crashing and destruction and-

“Have no fear students, I am here.” There was anger there it’d never heard before. Not from that light being. “What-!”

“Don’t!” Soft green light green filled with power that overflowed his poor fleshy body. “All Might, don’t- I think that’s Aizawa-sensei! He was- he’s trying to protect us!”

Aizawa. Yes. That was its name. It bowed its head and shrunk down to meet the soft green stretched out across the concrete that dared call it by name.

“A-Aizawa-sensei, it’s okay.”

It tilted its head and considered this. There was fear, there was terror, there was fright. That was not okay.

“I-I’m fine- we’re fine, sensei, we’re safe.”

Ah. Hm. That…

“Aizawa!” That bright light jumped closer, wary, it- he flinched back, there was so much light-

It was light enough it burned away some of the faint edges of hate, of anger, of old old old-

Ah. Aizawa had gone overboard, hadn’t he?

He shrunk back down and down but didn’t pull his shadows in, still coating the entire USJ.

Glowing red dots stared at All Might from shadows and he tilted his head, antennae twisting curiously. All Might looked shocked but not… as much as Midoriya.

Midoriya just looked terrified. That hurt a bit, truthfully.

When had these children become so important to him? When had they become His?

“Aizawa.” All Might swallowed tightly and took a sharp breath in. “Do you know if the rest of the students are safe?”

He considered that and stretched one shadowy arm out of his cloaked form in a ‘wait’ motion.

Shadows stretching find His students His children find them find them they are Safe they are Strong

Arms stretching find find find

Lights amidst darkness and malice and broken pain

His students were so powerful

Black Hole was down was hurt he Gathered their form together it could not hurt what did not exist on the physical plane he helped push them together and

That was power that was energy he was wasting, he was spending, he was pulling them together but he gritted his nerves and FORCED it through because they were not His not like His students were but Thirteen was still important and he wasn’t going to LEAVE them to sit and dissolve into nothing.

Aizawa felt teeth pulling against his shadows and forming into what was probably an intensely terrifying smile.

"͠T͠hi̡r͠t̢e͞e̴n i̷s hurt͝ ̶bu͞t ̡they w͠i̶ll be͝ f͟ine. Al̕l t̡he s̛tu͡dents͜ ͟are͠ ̡saf̷e͝.̷"

“A-Aizawa-sensei…” Midoriya reached a hand out towards him but hesitated. “Wh-what… what is this?”

Aizawa didn’t need to blink, but he really felt that was a good way to express his displeasure being asked that. "̴I̷t ̸is none ̨o̡f ͏yǫu͝r̸ ͏b̵u̸s̸i̢n͡e͏s҉s̡."

“B-b-”

“Midoriya!” Tsuyu hissed and pulled him away. Aizawa felt a wave of dissatisfaction at the wariness and caution on her face. Mineta was behind All Might and clinging to his leg like a lifeline, entire body shaking.

All Might stepped in front of the students and Aizawa swelled up they were His how DARE he-

Aizawa flinched back when the children let out slight whimpers and All Might tensed up.

“Aizawa.” All Might said warningly.

He stared at the bright light of a man and saw him shudder at facing the brunt of his red eyes.

“No- he was just trying to protect us!” Midoriya protested and something in Aizawa relaxed seeing that bright, gentle light still the same as it always was. Steadfast despite everything.

“Midoriya. There are things in the world the average person doesn’t know about and wouldn’t believe.” All Might said slowly. “And this is one of them. THAT is not human. Not in the slightest.”

Ugh. Trust All Might to be one of the minisculely few humans these days who knew about the supernatural.

Midoriya looked over at him as if begging him to refute All Might. Aizawa shook the area he might as well call a head, antennae pinning far back.

"̴Sin̡ce I'm app̡are̶ntly ͠o҉ut in̷ ͡the op͜en ̨I̸ wi͘l̶l͜ r͏etrieve e̸v̛e͞r̶yo҉nȩ.̸ ̢No r̸e̴a̡so͠n ̸to̶ ҉r͠estr̷ain my̵se͡lf ̡t̨o h̵u͞m̴an ab͠i͠l̴i̛ţi͜e͜s ͘w̢he̷n̶ y̶o͢u͟ ̶kno͜w̸ I͠ a̷m͝ no̷ long͏er̸ huma̢n͘.͟"̵

All Might tensed when he stretched out and sent shadows everywhere, feeling students scramble and panic. But he gently, carefully wrapped them in shadowed arms and pulled through silly barriers like space and into the courtyard where everyone could wait for medical attention and backup. All of them panicked at first and fought but once he had them they relaxed, feeling safe, feeling how he would never hurt them. His shadows weren’t under his control they were him and extensions of his consciousness.

Aizawa settled them carefully on concrete and shrunk back inside into himself push together fit into puny flesh and-

Ohhhhh that was right he was kind of dead right now. Ow.

He let himself remain half shadowed, darkness spilling out where blood and viscera should. He was tired. Tearing that - that thing apart had sucked more power out of him than he’d expected. It really WAS something meant to deal with the sheer power All Might had.

Healing his flesh could wait. It wasn’t important and he wasn’t hiding his true form anymore anyways.

When the doors opened again and their backup arrived they arrived to All Might standing cautiously by the side of the students as Aizawa dragged one incompetent criminal after another into a pile. The teleporting one had left and abandoned the remaining minions to their fates. Foolish.

“Aizawa!” A familiar loud voice yelled across the facility and he looked over his shoulders, antennae perking up. “What did you DO?!”

"Som͘ething ͘st҉upid̡.͢"̡ His voice was back to normal and the physical plane but the shadows warping his body and holding flesh together made it echo and shift.

“Oh COME ON!” Present Mic jogged across the concrete and ignored All Might’s sudden protest. “You spent YEARS and HALF OUR MARRIAGE not telling me and you let them see you after a few days?!” Hizashi whined dramatically, leaning onto his shoulder. His voice quieted to something less booming. “Oh ew, babe, what the hell is this?” Hizashi poked the oozing shadowy hole that was his elbow.

"̸Yo͞u s͘hould be̡ hap҉py I͡'m̴ no͝t ̛hųm͘aņ ̴or̴ ͏thi̸s̕ wo҉u̢l͢d'͝ve k̶i̶lled ͏m͝e͏."͘ ҉Aizawa hummed carelessly and sank into the hug Hizashi quickly offered.

“Oh my god they’re married??” One of the students whisper yelled hysterically.

“Yes and you sir,” Mic pointed to All Might seriously. “Should really go get out of here!” There was steam drifting from his muscled form and Aizawa could sense the power filling him struggling to last in his weakened vessel.

All Might looked at him like Hizashi was the one doing something stupid right now.

"Yo͡u̵ ar̕e͏ ͜a͜l͠l ͠a͟w͠ar͟e I̴ am ͜n̕o͠t h̕u͜man.͟ I d̛iḑ n̡ot int̡end to di͟sc͢lơse͜ tḩi͝s, ͡tơḑay. I̧ ͞am ̶n͝o̵w͏ ̨g̡oin͞g̡ ͜t̡o̕ ͠ta͟ke̸ my ̧hu̶sb͏a͘nd̴ b͟ack to o̕u̧r ͝apa̕rt͡m̷e̴n̶t̷ ͏and̕ ̛s͏l͜eep b҉e̵c̸a͟u̸se̕ ̷I͡ a͢m e̡x̸haus҉t͘ed.͜" ͡

Aizawa looped an arm around Hizashi’s waist in a familiar warning.

“Umm- call me and I’ll explain later!” Mic blurted out before Aizawa surrounded him and coated him in shadows and pulled him out and back Home. “Babe what the hell!!” Hizashi was used to the gutwrenching sensation of being teleported through shadows and barely swayed, grabbing Aizawa by the shoulders.

He sighed and relaxed his human flesh, feeling it shift and most of it melt back into pure shadows. “I w̵a͜s͡n͘’͟t ͜l̶y̷i͝n̛g, ͏I̧’͟m ͘e̶xhau̷st͏ed͢.” Aizawa curled around Hizashi and felt his form waver and curve around him. Wings unfurled behind him and tilted forwards and surrounded him and His husband in a way they couldn't if they were actually moth wings instead of shadows and his consciousness.

Shadow arms reached out and wrapped around Hizashi, one after another, until all six arms held him close to a tenuous physical form.

“Hey baby, what happened to you?” Hizashi sank back into him without a second thought and Aizawa felt his physical presence tremble. “Sho? Sho, please, you're scaring me- what happened?”

“V̧illa͏i͟n̶s̢ at̛ta͟c̵ked̷.̛” Aizawa rumbled, feeling himself sink around Hizashi even further.

“You've never reacted like this to puny human villains, Sho.” Hizashi's hand stretched up through shadow and form to cup what was around the two red dots.

"͏T͡h̡e̸re was.҉.. ̡so͡meth͞in͠g͝ t̶h̸e͟r̶e̶." Aizawa jerked and felt his shadows stretch and flex to coat His Home, trying to feel safe. "I̵͜t̢̡ ̢wa͜͠͠s͘҉̡n't̨͝ ̷h̵̨͡u͠m̸ąņ͞.͘ ͞N̴̨͞ot͢ ̷͘͜a̷̢ny̧̕mơ̕͜r͜͡e.͟"̨͟ He hissed angrily and for the first time in his long existence his shadows faltered and drew back. He was tired. So tired.

“Not- not human?” Hizashi swallowed. “Like… you? Not human?”

"̷I dǫn҉'t̨ k͢no̷w͏.̧"͠ Aizawa was shadows and magic and darkness and he'd never been tired before. "̢Bu͘t a̛ft̸er t͡hat͝.̢.. T̸hįr͜t̸ee̴n͠ w̧as͟ hurt.͏ ̸I̧... c͢o̴n̨ta͜in͠ed͟ ͞ţh͏em͏. ̛Į th͡i͘n҉k I ̧wo͜uld'v͞e͜ ̛been͠ fin̕e eno͟ug͜h̢ ͞i̢f I ha͠d͠n't." ̢He felt shadows condensing and trying to stretch out but he was Home, he was safe here, his energy and power saturated this building deep enough even when he was this weak there was no harm in letting himself… rest.

“You… pulled together a sentient black hole without any sort of deal or shit??” Hizashi drew back and immediately tried pulling out of his hold. “Jesus fucking christ babe that's like literally against your nature no wonder you're acting weird!!”

He rumbled and reached out for Hizashi as he hurried into the kitchen. "̛T̴h̴at's ͢n҉ot i͝t҉."͢ Moreso it was just the final rock on the pile.

“I don't care!!” Hizashi yanked open the fridge. “Cake or ice cream?? Fuck it, both for my awesome dumb fairy husband who apparently has been hanging around stupid humans too much.” He pulled out the “diabetes on a plate” cake and a tub of ice cream, kicking the door closed behind him. “So my lovely goober of a husband who needs to recharge his fancy magic shit, need me to do anything fancy for an offering or you got this-?”

Hizashi yelped loudly when Aizawa covered him.

"I҉̷ ju͘s҉t̴ ̡̢͡w̶̶ant͘͢ ̢̕̕Y͝OU͜."

“That's- whoo. Okay! Forgot what fae consider resting and recharging is totally different than humans!” Hizashi laughed nervously and let Aizawa dissolve the sweets into his form and pick him up carefully in shadow limbs. “Can we at least go to the bedroom this time??”

"̸̛Yơu don͟͞'̴t̛ ņ̡e̴̸e͏d̵͝ a҉ ͢҉b͘͡eḑ ͠w̧͡i̡th m̨͢e ̡͏h̛ere ąnd ̴͢y͢ơ̧u҉ ̶kn̕ow̶͢ ̢͜i͘t̴.͞"

“I just prefer no open windows- aaaaand there's shadows covering them! Cool.”

Chapter Text

Hizashi woke up to his phone blaring at him. He squinted and peered through the cocoon surrounding him while he flailed through the blackness awkwardly.

“Sho lemme ouuuuut.” He grumbled. “And did you put my hearing aids on? I don't remember going to sleep wearing them.” Hizashi wheezed when the dark fuzzy void covering him squeezed tighter and then slithered back into a puddle behind him. Like a sentient, semi-solid blanket.

Ah the joys of having a shadow moth for a husband. Sentient blankets who loved cuddling. And were oddly quiet this morning.

Hizashi shook his head and grabbed his phone off the bedside table, squinting blindly. That was not his alarm. It was a phone call. He didn't know where he'd left his glasses last night so he couldn't read it. Hizashi pressed the green blur that was probably the accept call icon.

“Present Mic.” Nedzu's creepily pleasant voice came out and Hizashi groaned loudly, slamming his face into a pillow. “I'm sure you're aware there's going to be an emergency teacher's meeting at 6:45 this morning.”

“Mmhmm.” He moaned. That was early. He was already awake but whyyyyyy. “Me and Eraser will be there.” Hizashi huffed and pushed himself up to a sitting position. “Pretty sure I know what we'll be talking about but anything in particular to add on?”

“Te͠ll ͘t̴hem͡ to bring ͏m͟ȩ ͝food͟.͘”

The phone screeched static at Hizashi and he drew back, wincing. At least Aizawa had enchanted his hearing aids years ago to not do the same.

“Sho! Don't do that!” He swatted at the shadowy puddle behind him. “And I wasn’t talking to you! Sorry sir.”

“What… was that?” Nedzu sounded disturbed and Hizashi swatted Shouta again for good measure.

“That was Aizawa. He asked if you could bring him food-”

"I did n̢o͡ţ ̨ASK..."̡ Aizawa grumbled. At least this time he spoke with actual sound and not pure magic that would fuck up the phone.

“-PREFERABLY sugary stuff because he's like… seriously wiped out from yesterday and it’ll help him recover. Like, I've never seen him like this before.” Hizashi looked over his shoulder to see Aizawa a shadowy pool behind him.

That was weird. Aizawa was usually spread out and part of the entire apartment. But here he was, just a vaguely human shaped shadow on the bed next to him. Black wings rose up annoyedly behind him and the red markings that usually glowed scarlet were only softly pulsing.

That was so concerning.

“I will… take that into consideration.”

"̛I͡ will ҉re͡p҉ȩa̡t̴: I d͘i͞d̕ ̧no͢t as͝k. ̸įf you ͞w̸a͟nt̡ in̴f҉orm̨at̷i̴on,̨ y͢ou W̡ILL gi̷ve̴ ͡so̸m̧et̴h҉in̢g ͞in ̸r͟etu̕rn͢.̨"͢

Hizashi frowned even deeper.

“...excuse me?”

He scrambled to explain. “Yeah he's- he's big on equal trades ah ha! Give and take yanno??!” Dark red spots glared at him, antennae pinning back. Hizashi swallowed dryly. “...please bring sugary food like a lot of it or I don't think he's gonna say anything and he'll be really pissed if I talk about it without his permission and I really don’t want my husband pissed off at me.”

“...understood.” Nedzu sounded thoughtful. That was never a good thing. “I'll see you in an hour, Present Mic.” The phone hung up. Hizashi threw it down and flopped backwards against his husband, sighing loudly.

“Are you that exhausted??” Hizashi mumbled, feeling soft darkness pillow underneath him and arms slither out to hug around his chest.

Yes̨.͘

Aizawa rumbled, back to nonverbal communication that didn't expand any energy. Hizashi shuddered at the feeling of his husband's energy and consciousness wrapping around him to speak like that.

And ̴ţhis͜ ҉is not a̛ ͘m̷ere conve̛rsation͜.͜ ̴ T͟ḩis͝ w͟on'͢t̶ ͘be̴ a ̕b̢oss̢ a̸nd c͞ow̢o̧rk͢e̵r͢s͡ ̡a͏s̵king ͏Ai͟zaw͡ą ̕Sh͠outa for҉ ͠need to kn̷o͞w in͝f͜o͡rmation ̧he has̨ no ͠stake͡ ̧in. ͝T͝h̴i͏s wil͝l b͘e ̵mo҉r͝ta͝l̷s a͢sking̸ on͏e of the̡ ҉f͝ a ͡e̛ ͢f͡or in͘t͞imate k̡now҉le͢dge͘ o̴f ͢the̷ s͢uper͠n͟atu̸ra̛l ͏tha̷t͡ ̨th͟ey̵ ̡h̴a̴v҉e̶ ͢no͢ r͢e͞a̸son to̢ k̨n͜ow҉.̢

Dark red dots pulsed and faded somewhat. Something similar to a head perched its chin over Hizashi's shoulder and nuzzled his neck.

I ̴w҉o͢u͞l͘d͟ no͜t͟ ͝give ̕th̶įs ̡i̡n͝f̴o̡r̡m͞at͢i͟on f͡re͞e̶l͏y͝ t͟o ͞a̧ny͞on҉e͞, ͡įn͠ A̕N̨Y s͡i҉t҉uati̛o͢n͝. W̕h͞en I ͟am t͟his ͠v͞u͝l͢ņe͝ra͟b͏l̛e ͡I C̷̶̢̛̛͘͞A̴̛͢͜͝N͟N̷̷̨̨̕̕O̶̶̸͜҉͘͜͟͡͞Ţ.̶ I͢t̸ wo̸ul̷d̨ ̨b͏e ͏f̧ar toǫ ̛u͏ņbal̴an̢ced. ̸I w̧o͢u҉l̡dn't recove̴r. ̡

Hizashi reached a hand up and stroked the antennae leaning over his head. “You're not usually so stringent with your whole Deal shtick. It's got me a bit worried.”

L͜i͠k͞e҉ ̸I̧ ͢s҉a̸id.̵ I҉ ҉AM̕ e̵x̸h͢a͘u̷s̸t͠e͘d͝. I҉'͏v͢e҉ ̢ne҉ver̨ ̸be̴e͠n.̴.. lik͡e ͝THIS ͡b͜ef͘ore.

Oh that didn't make Hizashi feel ANY better.

“So you can't ignore the whole fae Deal instincts and shit like you usually do?” Hizashi bit his lip. “What about..?”

Y̢o̕u̴ ͘are̕ ̷Min͢e̛ an͡d ̨I̶ a̵m ͟Your҉s͡. That͝ is͜ ̛v̛e͘r̢y ̕diffe͜r̕en̢t͏. ͞

He snorted. “Good to hear. But why exactly are you so knocked out?? You've told me you're not too high up on the fae power ladder but I've seen you do crazier stunts.”

Aizawa went still.

.̸.͘.I ͟we͝nt̴ overb̷oard͠.

Hizashi waited for more and then rolled his eyes when he didn't get anything. “Babe. Honey. Lovebug. What does that mean?”

Darkness moved behind him and shifted around, more arms reaching out to hold him. Hizashi felt a faint mental tug and antennae curled around his face. He shook his head but Aizawa felt his acceptance.

Hizashi had once joked about this Thing he did being a Vulcan Mind Meld but Aizawa had gone off on a long rant about how different it was from a “several centuries old franchise's paltry attempt at portraying alien life”. Hizashi hadn't even understood the reference when he made it. Who knew fae could be Trekkies?

In any case, Aizawa didn't have a physical body. His body was his mind put into shape with pure magic. If he wanted to connect their minds together all he had to do was surround Hizashi and try. Hizashi was usually pretty glad to do it anyways. It helped communicate things that Aizawa couldn't explain in ‘silly mortal words’.

As usual Aizawa kept the majority of his own Self away from Hizashi's mind and directed him to his own memories of the USJ incident.

Overwhelming so much

Different

Aizawa dark shadows

Think think

Ow

CHILDREN

PAIN

His head hurt ow ow

Spread out find find fight

Angry

Owch owch owch

His his his his his his-

DESTROY DISSEMBLE-

Hizashi screamed and sat up sharply as Aizawa released him, shadowy hands caressing his sides worriedly.

"͞Are͢ y̢ǫu ̧oka͜y͠?"̡ Aizawa forced the audible words out, head and neck of flesh forming shakily out of the shadows. He didn't want to cause any more damage right now.

Hizashi winced and wiped blood off his chin, feeling it dripping from his nose in long rivulets. “F-fine. Ha ha, you know how fae memories don't clash well with fleshy brains!” He shook his head and tried to ignore how faint he felt. “That last bit was wild- overboard? Sho you went ballistic.”

Aizawa shook his head and his antennae curled in exasperation. "̸I̡ know͡. I͝ ju͜s҉t ͡d̸oņ'̧t ̧k̨n̸ow̡ ͠WHY."

Hizashi stared at him. Aizawa stared back. The fucker didn't have eyelids and didn't need to blink so Hizashi lost that staring contest pretty quickly.

“Sho, from what I saw,” Okay it wasn't exactly that Hizashi saw it so much as experienced it from Aizawa's perspective and it was hard as hell to quantify fae senses and emotions into a human brain, but this wasn't the first time Mic had played fae translator. “You flipped out because they touched your students.”

".͘.̧.͟And?͢"̧

Hizashi snorted and covered his eyes, feeling his head pound with the beginnings of a headache. “Okay, lemme rephrase: they touched Your students. Capitalized and all.”

Aizawa went still for several long seconds and then his wings flared up like giant balloons.

"̵͢͟͠͏͘҉O̷̢͏͞H̷̷̴̷̢̡̧̛̕͘͟͞͡͝҉̴̛͞͡M̷̛̕͡Y̷̢̡̛͘͢҉̵̴̷̨̢͘̕͜͢͠G̸̶̨̢̛̕͠҉̵͞O̶̶̴̴̵̡̡͘͘͟͝͡͞D̴̵̸̛͘̕͟͢͢͟͢͠͏͘"̷͟ ̷̴̴̨̧̢̨̨̨̛̕͘̕͟͢͝͡҉

“Shit!” Hizashi slammed his hands over his hearing aids as pain SHOT through his head, even knowing it was mostly inaudible and through fucking magic projectance. “DUDE! Watch the fuckin power talk!! My brain's already half fried!! Too much inhuman shit too early in the goddamn morning for my fleshy meatsack!!!”

Aizawa slithered away and pooled into the corner, letting off waves of barely contained energy that said he was probably freaking the fuck out. Hizashi wanted to go over and comfort him but the downside to having a fae husband was sometimes the thousand year old Not Human part could actually possibly make his brain explode.

Aizawa was good at keeping that part on the down low usually but he slipped up every now and then. Apparently not realizing you were attached to even more puny mortals than you thought could lead to one of those slip ups.

Hizashi stood up and wobbled his way to the bathroom. He wiped blood from his nose and ears and sighed as he pulled his hearing aids out to try and clean them.

A pitch black hand reached up over the counter to pick them up, hesitating shyly.

“Clean them so they'll still work and you can take the blood as a Gift.” Hizashi said probably a bit too loudly, the world perfectly silent and humming slightly to his ears.

The lights flicked off and a dark presence came up behind him, feeling steadier by the second as tendrils swiped the blood from his face and hands. Blood was a powerful thing to give and it would help Aizawa get on his feet a lot faster than gifts of sweets. His hearing aids were put back into his ears carefully and he fidgeted with them blindly until they sounded about right.

"I͟'m͏ ҉so̷r͜r̴y̡." Aizawa whispered into his ear.

“Mmm it's cool babe!” Hizashi smiled fondly and leaned back into him. “My quirk does about the same thing to your eardrums when you're human anyways!”

"͟Yǫu̷'͝r͝e̵ a͜ctua͏lly̶ hưm̛an̨.͡ Y͘o̧u̡ ͟ca̶n҉'t͘ jus҉t fix ̕it̢ if҉ I͘ br̕e͟a҉k ҉y͠o͝u." Aizawa muttered. "̴Y͡ou ͢d͠įd҉n̛'҉t hav̧e̛ to G̡i͟ft͘ ͞tha̕t̵ ͘to ̨me.͘"

“It'll help you out and the blood's already outside my body, might as well right?” Mic sighed and leaned back into him. “I've got a raging headache though.” The pain was practically skewering him through the skull. “I don't think I have the time or energy to get the whole Present Mic getup going today.” He groaned as he picked at his hair.

He hadn't been able to shower before passing out last night and it was a mess of strands stiff and frizzy from ruined hair gel. He couldn’t see it very well because the only light he had was the faint nightlight hooked up to the wall socket and he still had no idea where his glasses were, but he could feel how gross his hair was.

Aizawa made an unrepentant humming noise behind him.

“Shower. Then I guess I'll get in costume and try to fix my hair up before class.” Hizashi shrugged and shucked off his shirt. “No funny business in the shower either babe,” He scolded as he pulled his hearing aids out again. “There's no time.”

The hands circling him dug in a little bit.

Hizashi reached for the light switch threateningly.

Aizawa let go and slunk away, wings pinched together.

“Stop sulking you big baby!!” Hizashi huffed as he turned the shower on. “And don't eat everything out of the kitchen, I still need to eat breakfast! AND FIND MY GLASSES!!” Whoops. The shower door rattled warningly and he shut his mouth quickly. Ah well. 

“So! How we doin this. You haven’t been anything but a puddle since last night.” Hizashi stood by the doorway, chatting with the black pool of shadows by his feet.

"I'͡m s̨t҉i͜ll͝ ̛t̕i̢red̡. ̸It'̸s̵ ͏br̡i̸g̵ht o͜ut̸s͟i͟dȩ."͢ ͟At least Aizawa’s quiet whispering was done through audible speaking so Hizashi’s headache wasn’t worsened. How on earth he did that without creating a physical mouth Hizashi had no clue.

“So… no legs..?” He combed out his wet hair idly.

There was a negative noise from his feet. "҉L̨e͠t̡ me ̴h͘it̨c͠h ̡a ̕r̴i̕de."

“...uh. Sure, but. How?” Mic tucked his sunglasses into a pocket and put his glasses on.

Without commenting the pool of shadows crawled its way up his legs like a creepy Blob boogeyman and sank into his open jacket, hugging his chest. Hizashi yelped and then relaxed once Aizawa proved yet again that physical size and mass were irrelevant to a literal shadow. He just basically hugged Mic’s entire chest and hid under the jacket.

“...well! This is surprisingly comfy!” He chuckled and zipped his jacket up before heading out the door.

Hizashi put on his headphone and attached the mouthpiece he rarely used. He wasn’t going to be using it but it would mean he could pretend so it would be easier to chat with Aizawa without getting weird looks. It would just look like he was on a particularly weird phone call!

“So! Babe!” He strolled through the apartment building casually. “Any commentary on how you freaked out earlier because you realized your class is actually Yours?”

There was a garbled stream of what way have been curses from Hizashi’s jacket.

Mic laughed and then patted his chest comfortingly, ignoring the lady next to him in the elevator looking at him oddly. “Don’t worry babe, I’m sure it’s fine. I mean, they’re pretty good kids! And crazily chaotic. Just like you like em.”

"I͜ ͜di̧d̵ ̨no͜t in͝t͜en͘d͡ to ̵Cl̢aim t̢he̶m̵. ͡B͏ut ͠I did̷, ͘w͜he̷n̶ ͞I w҉a̵sn'͢t҉ ęve҉n ̸A҉WARĘ ͢I ̸ha͞d̴.̸"

“I mean… you didn’t mean to Claim me either,” Mic considered. “It just sorta happened. Is that not normal for fairies?”

"FAĘ. ͝F ̧A ҉E̷,̢ ͟HIZASHI̴.҉"͏

“Fae, fairy, whatever.” He waved a hand idly. “But my point still stands!”

"̨Y͘ou͘'̨r̡e h͝y͝stȩric͢a͞l͡." Aizawa was silent for a good while after his sarcastic comment and Hizashi let him think, tapping his foot. He just whistled and bounced as he walked to the train station. He didn’t feel like driving and facing traffic today. "...̡Cl̡a͏i͘m͢i҉ng͏ ͢t̢hin͘g̨s i̴s not҉ a͢ ͞b͡ig ͠de̡a̴l͡.̵ ͘I̛ wo͏uld ͝f̡įg̵ht ͘t͡o͢ ͡p̧ŗote̵c҉t̵ ͞th͠o̧s̡e ̵thing̕s, b͏ut̛ ͢ov͘e͡ra̶l͝l t̸hing҉s̵ c̸a̛n ̛a̡n̕d do g͏et ̶destr҉oyed ͜or̨ ta̛ken. ̶C̵l͘ai͝m͠i͟ng p͏e̡ople?̴ ̨CHILDR͘E͢N? ̸Mu̷c̶h͟ ̧le̛ss ̕TW̶E͞NTY?̧" ͏

“Ah. Yeah that’s a bit different.” Hizashi hummed thoughtfully. “...but still, what’s the big deal-?”

"Th͏e b̢ig̵ deal i͘ş t̸h͟a̕t͢ ͞s̴ud̸den̕l̢y͡ ̢I ͘hav̕e ҉twenty s̷m̴a̡l͝l ̸çh͡il҉d̶ren I̢ ҉f̴e̡el a͡n i̴n̕te̸n͠se̷ ͝N̶eed ̛t̵o p̧ro̡t҉ect a͝n̨d̨ s͟talk w̕hȩn th̵e̸y'̷r͠e̷ ͠a̡ļl in̢ ̷s͡e͘p̶ara̡te ̶l̴ocat̢io͜n͘s ̷an͟d have̕ ҉varyin̢g ̕la̢ck͏ of ̸survival instįn̢ct̶s hu̢mans n̕ee͢d͡."

“...ah..” He bit his lip and frowned. “...please tell me you aren’t going to-”

"Hi̷z̶as͏hi͝ i̢t is̡ ̨L̶ITE̛R͢ALLY ̧im͞p̨os͞sib͡le for ̨me to͘ ͢NO̕T͜ sta̕lk ͝w̛h̴a̷t ͏is̕ Min͟e̢ i̧n order͘ ̕to protect҉ ̷i͡t." Hizashi face palmed. God damned fae shit. "W̸ould̷ ͟yo͟u͟ ̨p̢ŗe̕fer̷ I̢ f͟ol̵low͏ ̨tḩe̴m ͘aroun̶d̛ obv͘iou҉sly ins͢tea̡d̶?̧"

“No you’re right, as ridiculous as it sounds stalking them is actually the better scenario here.” He muttered under his breath, sliding his credit card through the reader at the station. “God, tell me you aren’t currently stalking them?”

"I ͠d͞ơn͞'t͘ ͠h͢a͢v͠ȩ anywhęre ̕n͢ea͞r҉ the ̵energ͠y re̡qu͟ire̡d ͠to̸ ҉dǫ tha̷t rig͏h̷t ņow.̶ ͘Desp̛ite ̧feel̕ing̡ like ҉I'͠m̶ clawi̷n̸g̨ ͘m҉y ̷own̶ ͝w̧ings̛ ̕o͞ff by̷ ̸N͠OT̸ ͞de̢fen͘ding t͞h͝em.̸"̵ ̧

Well. That was one good thing to come out of this. At least Mic could run damage control once it started getting creepy.

“You planning on chit chatting with them about it sometime?”

There wasn’t really any particular reason to, Hizashi thought, but sometimes it was nice knowing that there was a super powerful being you could rely on for help. Plus it was likely Aizawa’s paranoid stalking would be noticed somehow and the kids would start being crazy paranoid too. Sometimes he just couldn’t resist the urge to fuck with people.

Chapter Text

The only reason the emergency staff meeting hadn't involved All Might dragging Aizawa and Yamada in by force as soon as the students were confirmed safe had been by Midnight's furious support. She'd walked in just behind Mic at the USJ and seen the whole teleporting away to get out of questions shebang.

Of course she'd been very vehemently against All Might's weird… hatred? Fear? Of Aizawa? He had some sort of hate boner towards him in Kayama's opinion, from what she could see. She argued that if Aizawa hadn't done anything malicious in the many years he'd been attending and/or teaching at Yuuei he wasn't about to start.

That sort of ended in Kayama revealing she knew about the buggy thing but she couldn't exactly tell them much about it herself. After the infamous Week Long Mothman Hunt that Hizashi dragged her and Tensei on when Aizawa pulled his huge freak out, Nemuri knew. She may not know as much as Hizashi but she damn well knew enough. Aizawa had made her Swear not to talk about it to anyone except those who already knew. And apparently magic moth people could force you to keep a promise. She couldn't break it if she wanted to.

Now that she thought about it were all fairies that bad at dealing with confrontation? It seemed to be Aizawa's main reaction when shit went down. Run away and try to pretend it didn't happen.

Ancient or not he was a bit of a dumbass with people.

Midnight bounced her foot briefly as she sat at the table. Everyone was there and waiting for the two ‘guests of honor’ to show up. Lunch Rush was particularly confused seeing as Nedzu had asked xem to make cupcakes for the ‘meeting’. After checking with Kayama that it was definitely needed of course.

She'd laughed at him and explained that if he wanted to get jack shit out of Aizawa today, bribes weren't recommended they were necessary. Then she’d asked if Lunch Rush could make her favorite cherry cheesecake. Xe had some time constraints since it was all on such short notice but xe promised to try. There was a plate of delicious looking chocolate cupcakes sitting on the table right now, the first of what Nemuri hoped would be a lot more. Aizawa could put away the sweets when he wasn't feeling like acting very human.

All the other teachers kept looking at her funny. All Might was pacing around the room in his skinny form muttering up a storm. Hate boner, she swore.

Ah. Might as well, right?

“So what's with the hate boner for Aizawa?” Kayama purred idly, examining her nails and eyeing him out the corner of her eye.

Yagi startled so hard he turned bright red and started coughing. Everyone else tried to restrain their amusement as he spat up blood into a rag.

“I've already said.” He bit out eventually, tucking the rag away without looking her in the eye. He was still blushing. How cute!

“And I've already explained what I could.” She leaned forwards and pressed her bust against the table, propping her chin up on her hands and displaying herself quite well if you asked her. “Aizawa's a goddamn trickster on the best of days but he's not going to actually hurt anyone.”

“He killed the main villain leading the attack and left no remains.” Nedzu said calmly, paws folded over each other. There was nervous shuffling from the other teachers and Kayama pinched her lips. “Not to mention according to the students who witnessed it, Eraserhead downright brutalized the large brute-like villain.”

“AFTER both tried to kill the students and him, I'm sure it's not too far out of reach to assume he snapped a little bit.” Despite her casual tone she wasn't so sure. She knew Aizawa wasn't human but she'd never seen him do anything like what the students had described. She just knew she trusted him to avoid hurting the children at any cost.

“Punchin a villain already in cuffs is snappin.” Snipe drawled blandly. “Kickin a villain while e's down is snappin. Rippin one into bloody pieces and turnin the rest into babblin loons? How do ya rationalize that, Midnight?”

“I don't know!” She snapped at him for patronizing her. “But he didn't hurt the kids. He didn't hurt Thirteen. Ashido and Uraraka said Thirteen was pretty much down for the count before what could only have been Aizawa patched up their suit.” She leaned back and crossed her arms, not even bothering to try squishing her boobs up she was so frustrated.

“She has a point,” Ectoplasm grunted, drumming his fingers on the table. “Instead of being in intensive care right now Thirteen is just on bed rest waiting for a new suit.”

“Doesn't matter. You can't trust supernatural things to act like humans do.” All Might said seriously. “Whatever reason he has for his actions is not in the students’ or our best interests. They're always going to be in his.”

“And what experience do you have with supernatural beings?” Nedzu tilted his head, nose twitching curiously.

“More than anyone else here, apparently.” Yagi sighed and slumped. “I don't have much but I know more than most others, these days. From what I've learned the supernatural went completely underground around the time quirks appeared. They're nearly nonexistent these days. I don't even-”

The door slammed open and Hizashi stood in the doorway, dressed in his hero costume but with his hair damp and draped down his shoulders. His collar was turned down so it could cascade down his back and air dry easier.

“Thank god you finally showed- where the fuck is Aizawa?” Midnight stood up from her seat and put her hands on her hips. “I did not just spend the last thirty minutes trying to defend his fuzzy ass only for him to not show up-!”

Mic held his hands up placatingly. “Hey!! He's here he's here!!” He tugged at his jacket. “Just like- seriously, yesterday took a lot out of him. He's barely up to making a physical form much less walking around in bright lights!”

His jacket wasn't fully zipped up and what Kayama had assumed to be a black undershirt moved and a red dot stared out.

“Oh my god.” Nemuri held a hand up to her mouth, smirking. “Are you even wearing anything underneath your costume or are you just wearing him~?”

Hizashi squawked loudly and turned red. The red dot disappeared and Hizashi looked down, faint whispering coming from his jacket.

“C-can we dim the lights in here?” Hizashi asked, still blushing.

“No.” All Might deadpanned.

Hizashi scowled at him, drawing back with an offended expression. “What the hell is your problem?” He looked down at his jacket and made a few different faces in quick succession. “Ugh. Fine. Whatever! Be a dick.” Present Mic pulled his jacket open and what looked like a solid black fog spilled out.

It condensed and rose up into a vaguely human shape before two large wings spread out behind it, red markings faint in the bright white lights. Red dots narrowed in on the plate of cupcakes and Nemuri pushed it to him quickly.

Black claws reached out and snagged one immediately. Teeth materialized out of the head area and Aizawa ate the cupcake in one bite, antennae flipped back towards Hizashi standing behind him.

Nothing but a black shape betrayed anything about Aizawa's form.

Everyone watched in mild fascinated horror but Midnight frowned. This was not normal.

“Aizawa, then?” Nedzu asked primly.

"̸Y̵e̕s҉."͝ ͞

Everyone looked uncomfortable at the warbling effect of his voice. Kayama frowned even deeper. He usually did the whole half-speak-into-your-mind-half-out-loud-shtick. Not purely out loud. Hizashi sidled up next to her and tapped his head with a light grimace. She sighed. Damnit, what had those two idiots done? Kayama rolled her eyes and sat down. Hizashi pulled a seat up next to her. This was about to be a show.

“Is Aizawa your real name?” Nedzu's ears twitched at the garbled mess that was Aizawa's voice but otherwise didn't react.

Red dots glowed angrily, wings flaring.

"̧͜Y̸̧o̢u ha͜͟͡v͘͘͟e̴͟͝͡ ̸̡͘͜n͜o ͠҉̡I͡͝D͞EA wha͢҉ţ̸ ̶͏it ̵͢i̛̕͟͝s͢ ̶̨̛y̢͠͏̧o͘͢͟u ̵̕͠ju͏̢s̴҉̶t ̧̛͝a̵̢̧̛s̸̨̧ķ̢͜e̡͘͡ḑ̕͟.̡"̵

“My apologies, then.” Nedzu had flinched along with everyone else at the slightly staticky anger but quickly recovered his calm facade. “What precisely are you?”

Aizawa's head tilted, antennae nodding as he considered that. He ate several more cupcakes in rapid succession. Eventually he responded.

"S͜imp͏l̡y ̶p̸u̵t, I̛ am̢ ҉o̕ne̛ of t͟he̢ ̴f̧a͜e͞."

“That's all?” Nedzu raised an eyebrow. Everyone watched with bated breath at the tense back and forth.

"Y҉ou ne̡ed a lot̨ ̷of ̸con͝text͞u͏a̛l ķnow̨ledģe to und̸e̷ŗs̷t͡a̵nd̶ a͏n̶y͠ ͡mo̶ŗe͝ ͞c͟ompli͘ca͜t̷ed e͡x͡p͏lana̸t̶ion."̛

“Hmm.” Nedzu accepted that with a nod. “What intention do you have towards Yuuei?”

More cupcakes disappeared. Midnight prayed that Lunch Rush was almost done making more.

"I͠ ̛am f͘a̴e. I e̢njo҉y̴ mi̛s͡ch̷i͜e͟f,̡ and ͟c̸h҉aos͟, ͡a̴n͟d CAU҉SIN͝G ͜chaos͞.͏ B̛ut I͟ ha͜v͟e ̸kept̵ ͝m̧y ̨mischief̕ to ̢wit̢hin const͏r͏a͟ints͝ ͘y͏o͢u̧ a͞nd ͜an̷y ͟huma̴n wou͠l̸d de̵e͢m ac͞c̢e͘p͘table."͡ ͡

“You're here to cause mischief, then? Nothing else?” Nedzu didn't look convinced. Surprisingly few cupcakes were taken for this one.

"͟I ͞a̴m ̶al͏s̨o̢ here̸ be̸c͞au҉se m̕y ̷h͠usban̶d͟ ͡is͜ a̸n҉d ͏i̷t̶ ͝provides ͜a҉ ͏co̷nv̨in͏cing fa̕c͜a͝de ̡for ̛m̷y̧ h͝u̕m̷an f͢o҉r̴m ͠th͘a̡t҉ ̷I̴ need ̵to͟ keep t̴o̕ ręmai͝n͟ ͘wi̴th ͝Hizas͞hi."͢

“You imply that Yamada is a primary motivator for any of your actions?”

Aizawa stared very deeply at Nedzu, antennae twisting around. His wings flared widely and seemed to stretch across the room. Everyone froze as his next statement reverberated through their very bones.

"̕I am͡ H̢i҉s̷ a̧n͡d h̢e ̧i͘s Mi͝n̡e.̸"

Aizawa's wings flicked carelessly back to a vaguely normal shape and he went back to his cupcakes.

"͝So ͠yes.̵ ͝Obvi͝o̷u̢sly҉."̨

Vlad King wheezed loudly, holding back laughter. Nemuri cooed at the cuteness of Aizawa's lovey dovey-ness. Hizashi preened a little bit as mostly everyone stared at him.

“Hmm.” Nedzu scratched the side of his snout thoughtfully. “So, Aizawa. What exactly occurred at the USJ?”

Aizawa stared at him carefully, wings tucking themselves away. He gave a slow, calm recollection of events until he came to the point where he was knocked out.

"T͢h͟e҉n̸ It̢ b̸r̶o͞k͠e ̕my͢ skull op̡en o̧n̵ ̵t̵h͜e gr͜ound͘ a͟n̕d I b̛la̷ck̶ed͝ out̴."

“The creature - young Midoriya-kun stated it was called a Noumu. It knocked you out?” Recovery Girl hummed. Aizawa's red dots stared unblinkingly at her.

"No." ̵He said blankly. "͡I ͞s͟ąi̢d͠ what ͡I ҉sa̸id͟.̷ It ͘br͞oke ͜my skul̢l ̢o͢peņ ҉o͞n̶ t͘he̡ grou̕nd."̴ ͘And with that Aizawa popped the last cupcake into his void of a mouth. "An̴y̸th͝i̢ng̵ else?"͝ He poked the plate morosely.

“It broke your skull open? What do you mean by that??” Chiyo snapped out.

"Į ̴a͜p̶pe͘a̡r to̢ ͜be̴ ͝out ̨o̧f b͞r͞ibe ͝f̷ood͢.͡" Aizawa deadpanned. Hizashi and Nemuri both stifled hysterical snickers into each others’ shoulders. At least half the rest of the staff facepalmed or pinched their noses.

Nedzu seemed incredibly calm but Kayama saw the twitch of his nose as he reached for his phone. “I'll ask Lunch Rush to bring more right away.” He said pleasantly.

Aizawa flicked his wings and antennae idly and collapsed to the floor in a shadowy pool, sliding across to Nemuri and Hizashi's shadows. He apparently decided it was a nice spot because she felt the familiar fuzzy weighted blanket feeling of Aizawa's shadows settling over her boots. She shoved her pointed toe into them knowing it couldn’t hurt him.

“Gettin comfy down there, hun~?”

“He's been doing this ever since yesterday,” Mic whined, leaning over her shoulder. One of his hands fell down underneath the table and a creepy black hand stretched up to hold it. “Just going shadow blanket mode and nothing else! I haven't even seen him look fleshy since yesterday! And he was super torn up too!”

“According to the students he got pretty wrecked.” Midnight acknowledged.

They kept bickering and talking to each other while the rest of the teachers whispered or sat awkwardly silent. Aizawa was content to ignore everyone. Nemuri cackled internally because she just knew he was soaking up the awkwardness like good wine. She wished she had some right about now. And that cherry cheesecake. 

Aizawa struggled to ignore how goddamn bright and painful the room was. UA was fond of stupidly bright lights and a lot of the people were bright as well.

All Might was blinding.

His distrust and suspicion dulled him slightly but he was still such a powerful spotlight to Aizawa’s senses it drove him crazy. The rest of his senses were always distracted and off center when he was near the guy.

He was highly impressed by it though. Humans could be bright but they were on average a nice mix of lights and darks and grays. There were many humans who ended up completely empty and shadowed. There were extremely few humans who were fully grown yet still shone at all. Much less so brightly. Aizawa had honestly never seen a human who was so fucking light.

But he was a being made of shadows and magic and shadow magic, so it hurt like shit to even be in the same room as All Might.

Oh ho ho and that was just the man himself.

The damn energy, power, whatever it was that was filling him when he used that big form was a huge headache. That fact that Aizawa could sense that it was the same energy that Midoriya struggled to contain in his fleshy vessel just drove him crazy with curiosity. He was still meaning to keep an eye on All Might to see if he could prompt the kid on how to handle the energy better. Fun times that would be hard to do while everyone recovered from this current mess.

Aizawa might not have any eyes right now but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still squint angrily in All Might’s direction at the glowing lines that crossed over an already blinding figure. He couldn’t believe how many protections and blessings were latched onto him. Some of them specifically fae resistant or anti-fae. Aizawa didn’t even know so many magic users existed in this day and age.

Truthfully, hiding in the shadow of His husband was more just to avoid All Might than it was to avoid the lights in the room.

The door cracked open and Lunch Rush’s familiar hat poked through. “Ah- I got your message, Nedzu-san..?” Xe held up several pans full of baked goods. 

Aizawa grinned internally. Cheesecake? Nemuri was going to share that or he was going to steal her favorite boots.

Chapter Text

“You have your… bribe food, Aizawa.” Nedzu motioned. “Lunch Rush, please do prepare… more?” He tilted his head curiously, looking at Kayama and Yamada for their input.

“Lots more.” Midnight leaned back in her chair with her cheesecake in hand, a fork ready to dig into the entire pie tin.

“A fuckton more! And some mochi?” Mic said hopefully, bouncing in his seat.

“Ah- yes?” Lunch Rush tilted xir head confusedly but nodded.

Aizawa formed up behind Nemuri and tucked his ‘head’ over her shoulder. He must have said something to her privately - Hizashi didn't hear anything, so it must've been straight to her head - because she gasped in offense and held her cheesecake out and away.

“No!! This is mine you sugar fiend!!” Despite that a shadowy hand reached underneath her arm and towards the cheesecake. “NO!!! You can have what I don't eat!!!” Aizawa's antennae whapped her in the side of the head petulantly. Hizashi snickered.

“Aizawa, if you would please continue with questions?” Nedzu asked faux calmly. Hizashi detected the faint twitch to his whiskers that meant he was somewhat stressed.

“F҉įn͠e̢.”̕ Aizawa would've rolled his eyes if he had any right now, Hizashi swore. “̷Wh͘er̢e d̨i҉d̶ ͟we͢ ̡le͢av̧e̕ o̶f͢f.”͢

“You. Your head was injured. Explain, young man.” Recovery Girl glared at him over the table, hands spread out over the top threateningly.

Hizashi winced. He knew this wasn't going to go well-

Aizawa plucked an entire giant cinnamon roll from a platter and ate it in one go, pastry disappearing into the void of his natural form. Then he let his human form sink out and take form at his shoulders and above. With all the injuries it had gotten when he last used it.

Forehead sunken in, skull cracked and obviously broken, eyes bleeding and one eyebrow ridge completely crushed inwards. His nose was nearly flat and shattered against the rest of his face. His jaw looked crooked and hung open slightly. His entire head was coated in blood and it matted his hair to his face stickily.

Hizashi gagged and turned away. “Jesus fucking christ Sho! You didn't have to show them that!” Several of the other teachers sounded like they were close to retching too. The panicked noise from Recovery Girl was kind of funny, when Hizashi knew Aizawa wasn't actually about to die anyways. If he didn't know Aizawa was fiiiiiine he'd probably be panicking too.

“The reason I haven't used my human form is because it takes too much energy,” There was squelching noises from him as he talked. Oh god babe why. Was that his jaw making those noises?? “̡An̷d͞ beca̧us̸e͢ it h҉urts͜.̛ A ̴lo͠t.”̛ Thank god he apparently lost the gore mid sentence and was back to shadows by the time Hizashi peeked between his fingers. “̸I͡ ͞d͝o͢n̸'t h͘ave ҉the͠ ̴e̡ne͘r̸gy̡ ͘to̧ ̵f͝i͠x ̧it righţ ͟n͜ow͡.”͠

“Are you injured yourself? Recovery Girl demanded. “I don't know how fairies or whatever work-” Hizashi snorted hysterically and Aizawa extended the effort to reach a hand out and smack the back of his head.

"FA҉E̛,̷ n̨o̴t̵ ̡FAIRI̧E̕S.͞ ̸I͠ a͢m̸ FA̛E͏." He could feel Aizawa scowling. “̛...̸my̨ true ͏f̷o̶rm ͜i̛s̸ m̛ade ͠o͡f̶ ̧s͞had̴o̴w̧s ̧a̵nd magi̧c.”͢ Aizawa said after deliberation, picking at the icing on another cinnamon roll before shoving it in his mouth. “I̴ am͜ in n̛o dan̴g͡eŗ l̕e͢a̷vįn̕g͜ ̛m͜y ͏hu̷m̵a̷n ̸for͜m̛ i̢nj͡ure͘d̢. ͟I̧'m҉ in̨ ̢m͘o҉re dan͡g͝er̵ ͘b̛eing̨ ̧n̛ear̛ All̛ ̡Might.” Aizawa snorted, antennae waving.

“Historically, fae only interact with children to trick, torture, kidnap, or kill them.” Yagi crossed his arms tiredly. “You can forgive me for being unhappy with you here.”

Aaaand with that the tension of the room rose by about uhhhh ten million percent?? Yikes. Hizashi stood up and waved his hands, knowing Aizawa was gonna be in a huff at the concept of threatening His students.

“Hey hey now!! I believe we already covered this!!” Hizashi wheezed, watching Aizawa start to go fuzzy around the edges. Goddamnit now was not the time to start using his quirk! “If Eraser meant any harm-”

“I don't buy that.” Yagi said quietly. Even as Aizawa was starting to sweep up and tower over everyone at the table. God, All Might had balls of steel, holy shit. That was his own husband and Hizashi was feeling incredibly nervous.  

Black and red wings flared dramatically behind him, sweeping up and out and past what should be physically possible. Aizawa's red dots intensified and flickered over to Hizashi before he lessened the powerful presence that was pressing down on them all. Hizashi shot him a small thumbs up for trying to help out with the magic headache.

“͞͝The͡re͞ i̵͢s͝ ͜͏no̧ ̨n̸e͏̡e̸̶d̢͢ ͜fo͟r̡͡ ̶a ͞͞brib̴͘e͏ f͜or ͞thi͠s,̸͟ se̡͏e͞i̷ng͜ ̕a͢s y͢͢ou̸ ͟͞ Wil҉͏l̡͢ ͏̕a͝cce̛pt͝ ͢͝and͏ ̡un͝d̢ę͞r̨͘sta̢͡n̕d̶ ̸ţ̕hįs̨̧ ̶͟f̵͝a̷cţ͠. ̴I ͢a̧͞m̸ ̧H̨iz̕͢a̶s̨hi'̕͞s̢̢.͠ ̶H̛iz̢a͘҉sh͝͝i҉ ̶į̕s͏̛ ͏͞M͏͟i̵̢n͡e . ̶͝T̛h͢is ̡i͘͏s̴ ̵̡in͜͠trin̶s͏̛į̸c͞ally ͘bu҉͢į͘l̸̕t in͘͢t͏̡o ̵͢w͟h҉̵at I̵͡ ͞͞a͢͞m̴̡: I͞ ̡w͡͡i͟l̸l͘ ḑo a͟n̷y̨t̸h͠i̛n̢g̴ ̧a̢̕n͝d̕ ̴e̸ve͏ry͞t҉h̶in̕҉g̵ ̡̢w̵i̛̛thi̕͏n ̷͏my͢ p̸̨ower̛ t҉o҉͟ ͟pr͠ơ̧t̛͘e͘ç̛t̶̢ a͡n̵̴d͡ ̸͜d̛͠e͘͝f̶͠e͞nd̷͘ ̧h̴̴im̕.̡ ̷͜If ̸th̢͞at me͏a͞n̛s͡͏ ͟͜e̴̡n̢͡t̛e̡͜r͢ing͟ ̕a̵ ͝de̶͝a̶̡l͘ ̨͠t̵o̧͝ te̵ac̴̛ḩ͡ a ̛b̵͘u̢n͢ch o̷f͘ ̨s̷̢n͜o͟t̕ ̴͠ņ͏ose͜͝d c̕͜hi͞ld͜re̶͢n,̡ ̸a̸͞n͢d̸̷ ͟I ͏̛c͘a̸͟n̨ ̧͟c̕aus̡͟e sơ͢me̕͡ min҉o͞͡r̴ m̢i̡s͞ch̸͡įe͟͝f҉ ̷in ţ̴ḩ̕e̸ ̛pr̷͜o͡͏c̷ess̕, s͜o ͘͞be̵͢ i̴t̡.̴ I ͞͡wi͢l̶̢l re͟m̵a҉̡i̴n ̴̷n̴ȩar̶ ͜h̵i̛͘m͜.”̵ ̴͟

Aizawa's form sunk down from it's height where he brushed the ceilings. His antennae flattened and his wings swept into himself, curving around his form protectively.

“̶Fur̕t͝her͏m͡o͟re… those ̷ch͜ildr̛en… pa̢s̷t ͘c̵lasse͏s hav͏e meant̷ ̧li͘ttle̶ to͜ me̕.͞ T͘his͡ o͜n͠e..."͏ ͞ He sank far back into his usual size.

“Basically, he kinda aaaaaaaccidentally did the fae equivalent of imprinting on them,” Hizashi said, ignoring Aizawa snapping up and hissing loudly at him. “And quite frankly they might get a little creeped out but there's nothing safer than having a fae keeping an eye on you.”

“It's not like you can exactly stop him either,” Nemuri finally picked up her cheesecake again after the gore earlier grossed her out and she'd put it down. Hizashi tried to ignore his initial reaction to look at her Weirdly. She knew just as well as him that there were ways to stop or hurt him. “Aizawa does what he wants.” All Might looked like he wasn’t sure to be skeptic or agree.

Aizawa wasn't looking at him. Well tough luck! It wasn't like he could avoid them finding this out eventually. He could mope all he wanted. Stalking kids would get pretty obvious now that the other teachers knew to look for weird shadows and red dots.

“...is this true?” Nedzu asked, tilting his head.

Aizawa snatched several cinnamon rolls up angrily. "͡T͠ḩ̴e͡͡y̵ ͞Are҉̧ M̕i͠͞n͞e̵͡." ̧He didn't even pretend to ‘eat’ them and they just disappeared into his hands.

That seemed to be all he'd contribute on the topic and the other teachers shifted uncomfortably. Nedzu hummed thoughtfully.

“While I’m unsure if I can trust that summary I do believe I have a possible solution. I can't say I'm entirely familiar with the way fae work, but I seem to recall several historical mentions of… swearing? And promises?”

Aizawa grew very, very still. Something deep inside Hizashi screamed danger mode. The others didn't seem to notice which meant it was probably a Married To A Fae thing and Hizashi was freaking the fuck out.

“Fae typically don't lie, I believe.” All Might said, frowning as he tried to remember. “And if you can make a fae promise they are telling the truth, or swear something- the fae is Bound to do it.” Well… basically right, anyways. Hizashi swore at how many holes were in his knowledge though. They were lucky Aizawa didn’t want to trick and manipulate everyone like most fae because it would be way too easy.

“Excellent!” Nedzu clapped his paws cheerfully even though his ears were pinned back. “Then perhaps we could discuss your current teaching and employment contract with Yuuei?”

...what?

Several of the others spluttered and gaped, All Might looking gobsmacked. Kayama made a weird noise and Hizashi wheezed. What the heck.

Aizawa's head tilted slightly and Hizashi felt that screaming danger danger tread lightly actually go away of all things. "Are͡ ͏y҉ou̕ f͟i͞ri͟n͡g ҉me?͜"͏ He said, rumbling voice sounding amused.

“Oh heavens no!” Nedzu waved his paw, ears slowly coming back up now that the danger had passed. Animals could like, sense when fae were angry, right..? That would make sense Hizashi thought idly. “I'd like to renegotiate certain factors in your contract now that I'm aware there are some possible discrepancies.”

Aizawa perked up. Oh god. Fae and contracts. Hizashi had learned the hard way how wild they got with rules and regulations laid out.

"I̴'d ̵b̡e̛ t̛hr̶i͏lle̛d ͠t͠o̷ h̴a̕v̴e͟ ͞that ̶d͞is͡c̸u͟s̢si͠o̴n wit̷h̵ ̶you̷ ͡in̷ ̷priva҉te." He was grinning the full creepy grin that just showed stark white teeth against black shadow. Hizashi sighed slightly. Joy.

“Of course, employment contracts aren't spoken about in front of coworkers!” Nedzu said and nodded seriously. “Though for the sake of your coworkers’ comfort, I'll be letting them know what sort of things they may expect from you, especially as it relates to the children’s safety.”

"̴O̕f̕͜ ̶co̸ur̴s͢e.̧" Aizawa chuckled lightly. "Now͜ wi͞l͡l ̢th̴at be ̨all͞?̕"͘ He examined the next tray with beady eyes.

“Well, I have some more questions about the events at the USJ.” Nedzu said. “Specifically, the Noumu creature.” Aizawa flicked an antennae at him to show he was still listening. “What information can you tell us about it? I'd consider even doing more for a proper answer, seeing as the villains were saying some… disturbing things about it before you ah… took care of it.”

Aizawa twitched. His antennae pulled back. He was silent for a good minute and Hizashi held up a finger when someone looked like they were going to speak up.

“He's thinking! And trying to figure out how to phrase things. He's not great at translating things into mortal words sometimes.”

Aizawa hummed agreeingly and then shrunk down, wings flapping unhappily. Clawed hands reached out to grab the table. "̧Y̨҉ou҉ ̸wi͜ll ҉̧ne̢̢ed̡͟ a͞҉ pr̴͘o͡p͝e̡͡r̷͜ D̛̕e͘͟al͞ ͘͞f̛͠or̶̡ ̕th̶at ͏͏i͟͢n͏f̨o͝r̵m̨at͝i̷on̷.̕ ҉T̸he͢͝r͢҉e͘͏ ̸is͘͜ ͟a̕ l̕ơ̷t̨. ̷̢A͠͏n̸ḑ̧ ͜i͡nf͠or͝m͡͏ati̛̕o̡n į̢s͠ Power͡ful.̵͘" The twisting vibrations in his voice grew stronger.

Nedzu nodded contemplatively while All Might tensed. Hizashi didn't blame him. Sho didn't do Deals, capitalized and all. Those were big. When he did it was serious.

“I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with this sort of exchange.” Nedzu looked to Mic, Midnight, and then All Might for a cue. “What exactly would be appropriate?”

“Well, usually important things?” Hizashi shrugged helplessly. “Um- old objects of importance, something meaningful, how you present it can mean a lot too…” He shrugged again. “I don't usually do Deals big letter and all, since I'm His Husband and like, apparently that changes things I guess? Don't need to.”

“Don't do it either.” Nemuri added on. She shoved half a tin of cheesecake over to Aizawa and he took it happily. “I mean if I need something from him I do it the human way.”

“Blackmail and extortion?” Hizashi muttered under his breath. Shouta cackled in the back of his head and he shot a betrayed scowl at him.

Nedzu looked at All Might expectantly.

“I don't know much about dealing with fae!” He protested, hands coming up defensively. “I know that you really shouldn't deal with them in the first place!”

"̧T͟h͢at̸'s ̷f̕a͏҉i̧͝r̡.̧" That sort of laughter was really not helping everyone not be terrified of him. Hizashi looked at Sho in exasperation.

“Hm.” Nedzu looked down at the table thoughtfully. “Objects of importance you say?” Hizashi nodded. “Do you mean of personal importance or-?”

“Both.” He finger gunned. “Fae love metaphysical and metaphorical bullshit.” Nemuri snorted and Aizawa laughed.

"Tha͜t'̨s also fa̧i̵r."͝

Everyone shifted around uncomfortably while Nedzu thought that over. After an awkward silence Vlad King sighed and stuck his hand out.

“What about blood?” Hizashi choked on air. “What? It's important, megaphysical and whatnot AND literally.”

“That's- that's too much!!” Hizashi wheezed. “Don't offer fae parts of yourself unless it's life or death!”

"Y̸ou ̶s̡h̸ǫuldn'͏t o҉f̕fer ̨par̸t̢s͟ ̶o҉f҉ ͠y̧o͢ưr͏se͜l̡f̸ ̶i͡n ͜t̡h͡e ̴f͟irs̢t̶ p͞la̛c̶e҉.͠" Aizawa mused. "̵Ho͢w͡ev͝er̕. ̡With̸ ̢your qui͟rk,͘ ͡i҉t t̵akes̕ ̷a͡ certa͞in ̸P̸o͝w҉er̸ ơuţ of your ̕bloo͟d̢,͘ ̶s̷o ̛ye̶s̕,̡ ͠t͞ha̕t ͢wo͘uld ̡be͟ a ̕su̧it͡a̵ble ̵exc͝han͢g̸e." ̡

“What's that supposed to mean?” King squinted at him.

“I think because it's not always inside your body or something?” Hizashi mumbled, slouching against the table tiredly. He gave up.

"͘There'̷s mo͢r̷e to ̴i҉t͠ than͟ that..͢. but͏ ̕y͝e͞s̶,̶ ̛essen̡tįaļly̶."̕ ̷ Aizawa's antennae dipped.

“How much?” Vlad King adjusted his arm brace. “I can afford about a litre before I start getting dizzy.” The seals popped and blood started pouring out slowly, hovering in the air around him. “My gear won't let me pull more than a litre and a half at a time though. I’d have to override it to get more out.”

Aizawa went quiet for a long moment and then teeth grew out of the shadows into that stiff, unnatural smile. “One͘ ļitre ̧w̵i̵ļl b̧e ͜su̷ff͞ici͢en̶t̢.̸”

He drifted across the room to Vlad's seat and reached one clawed hand out to the floating blood. The second his black claw touched it the blood turned black and then disappeared into him, Vlad King wincing and jerking back harshly.

“That was weird,” He complained, rubbing his arm. “Felt like my quirk just got shocked.”

Aizawa somehow went darker than before, eyes sinking and disappearing, wing spots glowing softly as he flared them. Hizashi felt him grow stronger. Not by much, compared to how he usually was, but by a good portion.

His eyes reappeared and there was… something to his voice that made the whole room sit up straight and Listen. “T̵he҉ ̧Nou̴mu͜ ҉wa̕s͞ beyo̡n̶d m̵y s͡ense̸s un͢t҉il ̕i̛t ̸atta҉c҉k͝e͡d ҉m̛e͏.̷” Everyone seemed confused but All Might and Hizashi paled. “W͘ḩat ͏tha̛t mea͟ns̢, ̵for t̨ho͡s̶e ͡una͡w̵ar҉ȩ, is͘ that ͢s͏ome̕h̷o͟w͠ i͘t͟ a͏vo҉įd҉e͠ḑ the͝ su̢p͘erna̛t͘u͢ral̴ ̧seņs̢e͟s̷ ͘of t̸he ̸Fae. ̷I F͜e̵e͏l̛ ͢p͡eo̢pl̡e. I F̸eel souls̶. ̵I S̷e̸e҉ ̢souls͞. ̸T̡h̴a̷t ̸th͘įng di̸d͝n't ͟even̛ p͝i̴n̵g͜ on̢ ̧my ͢r͏adar.” Aizawa was dead serious. “I̵ c͝on͟fess I'm ͠so̧ us̨ed͞ ̵to se͡nsiņg ̛be̷in̡g̢s ͏ŗathe̵r̢ t҉h͡an ne̕edi͢ng t̴o̸ s̶e͠e them̴ t̶ha̡t͢ I̵ d͜įdn͡'t ev͞e̶n re̕ąli̧ze̸ it ̴was͟ th̢ere until̨ ͠i͞t a̕tţa͜c͜ked̶ me.͘”

“Wait- how is that possible? Are you saying it- it didn't have a soul?” All Might stuttered.

There were a few looks of disbelief around the table, but thankfully nobody bothered protesting the existence of souls in the first place. Hopefully they were having a few hard worldview changes and were deciding to think on it rather than get in an argument with the being who could see souls and enjoyed pissing people off.

Aizawa hissed angrily. “Th̡at is ͘t҉he ͏par͟t ̸ev̕en ͡I ̡doņ'̷t ̡u̷n̛d̸e͜r͜s͟ţa͡n͘d. I̴t h͘ad͝…̷ ̧s͞om̧e͜t̨hing. It ͏w͟a̴s…̡ ̧twisted̷.̧ Wron̢g. ̶C͡or̕r̴up͞t͘ed. It͝ ͏wa͟sn't̵ ͢a͘ ̴pe̴rs̨o̢n, ͠but ̛at͝ ͡t̛he ̛s̕a̷m̛e ͟t̢ime҉, there ͞w̛er̕e echoes͠ o̕f m̛a̶n͝y ͞p̸eople ͏from insi̶d̴e ͟i̷t.͜”̢

When nobody seemed to understand how absolutely fucking terrifying that was Hizashi did his good husband deed and translated shakily.

“Th- that means that it… used to be many different people. And now those people it used to be are all dead.”

The room was dead silent, gathered heroes realizing the gravity of the situation.

“Co҉rr̡ec̛t̴.̕” Aizawa nodded thankfully at him. “T̵he N̷ou͢m̷u ̕w̛as҉-” His eyes flared angrily.

Hizashi thought back to this morning and remembered blinding anger and rage and not being in control. ...no wonder he was having some trouble, Sho probably barely remembered anything past being all fae ragey.

“̴T̴h͠e ̸Nơumu v̸ery likel̴y ̷c͡ould̸ h͜av͏ȩ stood̴ it͝s ģr̡oun͢d̡ again͡s̴t ̵All͘ M̡ig͡ht…͞” Everyone's eyes widened. “̶...s̢e̢v҉er̵a͘l̕ ͜yea̧r͡s̡ ago͡.”͡ All Might coughed in surprised and pulled out a rag. “No͜w͠? I'm̡ ͏not s͏ur͞e of̴ the͜ ̵outcom͞e ͟t͝h̢a͡t̶ eņco҉ųn̵tȩr ̷wou̴l͡d ͏h̷ave ͡h͢a̸d͘.͝ I҉t ̡w̨as ̢s͟tr̷o͡n͜g, ͞st̡ronģ ͘e͝nough͞ to ̕br͝e̕ak͢ my͏ ̸li͢mb̷s̵ ͜li̸ke͢ ̵t͝he̴y̴ ̵w̴e͞re ̢n͡othing.̡ ͠It͜ ͞w̴a̕s͢ f͟a̕s̕t͢.҉ It̴ ̡h͞ad m̕or̢e ͜t҉ha̶n one͝ qu̡ir̷k. ͞Įt ͡hea͢lęd ̸ra̛pidly unt͏il̡ ̧Į t̨̡̕͟o̷͘re̷̶͟ ̨̢̕͝į̢͡t̷̡͜ ap̢͝͞a̴͝r͠t̷̷̨͟͠ ̡͜͞p̢͝į̷҉̸e̡c͞ȩ͝ ̸̡͝͏b҉̶̸̛͠y̸̷̵͏͡ ̕͠͞p̴̡i̢̕͜ec̵̢҉̢͠e ̵̡u̵̵̶͘n͘t͜͏i̵̸̡̛̕l̸̨̢ ͠͞͠i̕͟͞͝t͏̨ ̶̡̨͢͝ç̢ou̵ld̕n̴̕͜҉'̶̧̡͢͟t̶̨͏͡ a͢͡n͠y͜͡m҉ǫ̸̧͜r҉̢ȩ̵͞-͜͠͏”̛  

Aizawa bit himself off, wings spread furiously. Everyone had flinched when his ‘voice' had twisted and reverberated through their minds. Hizashi especially because it made the slow building headache in the back of his head spike with pain.

After a minute wrestling himself back under control, he tucked his wings back behind him and continued, black claws scratching divets in the table.

“It̴ wa̵s͏n͢'t͞ hu̵ma͏n.̡ Maybe ̡it ͠w̴as̷ ̕m̧ade͡ ͘wit͜h͠ so͝m̷ethin͝g͝ ͜hum͘a̸n, ͡b̸ut ̴i͢t w̧a̢s̶n͜'͜t̢ ͘hum̡a͠n͢.” Red dots glowed brightly. “̵T͝hat͟ ̶me͏ans wha͘tev͝er mad҉e ̷i̢t̶? ͟Has kn͞ow͠ledg̢e͏ ͠of̨ th̕i҉ng̕s ̢mo̸rt̵a͝l̡s͠ s̵hou̷ld̷n't҉.̢”͜

“Supernatural knowledge?” All Might said, frowning worriedly.

“Y̷es.͟”̡ Antennae twisted and teeth formed out of shadow to frown. “̧It ͜m͠eans ͠t̢h͜er̶e'̡s̷ m̵ore fact̛or̷s ̸here̕ ͘tha̶n͜ ̕y̵ou͞ ̡c͝a̛n ͘de͞al͠ wit͞h͜ a͠l̶oņe̛.̨”̶

“Swear that you're telling the truth.” All Might demanded, but it came out exhausted and resigned.

Aizawa snarled but stared him straight in the eyes. “I  ̷̷͢Ş̛͝ w͞ e̶͞҉ a̸͟ r t͘h͝͡at̵̛̛ ͢͡e͜͞͞v̕er̷y͞t҉͠ḩ̕͏i͞ņ͝g҉̢ ̡I̷͜ ̕͝s̴a҉̧҉i̕d͏̷͏ ̨̛ą̨̧s ̢̕͜i̢̢͠t͞ ̧pe͞r̨̡͢t͏̢͠a͞҉ins ͏̸̛t̷̛͞o͘͞͡ ̴̡͜t͡͞he̸ ̢͡N̷͜͢ơ̷̧u͏m̷̨u͘͘ ͞i͝s̡͞ ̡͟͞t͠r҉u̢e ͜͝ţ̕o̴ ̧͟͠t͏he̷̢͘ ͜b̧̕҉ę͢͝s̷̢t̡͝ ̶͟o̵̡͜f ̵͝m̛͝y̴͠ ͝c̵͢͠o͏n͞s҉͘i͘͟͢der̡͠͠ab̵̢̢l̛͏͝e̶̴ kn̕̕͝o̧͞w̵̕l͘ę̵d͞g̶̛͏e.̢͢͝”͝ He snarked while everyone shuddered at the energy flooding the air. Something clicked in the air and in the tension in the room. All Might closed his eyes and nodded tiredly.

“Highly unfortunate.” Nedzu sighed. “Whoever made the Noumu will be difficult to deal with in the future.”

“Yeah.” Hizashi crossed his arms. “Eraser can't pull that kind of stunt very often after all. He's gonna be feeling it for days, at the least.” There was a hissing displeasure in the back of Hizashi's head at him admitting Aizawa's weakness. “Ow, don't gimme that, Sho.” Hizashi winced and rubbed his forehead. Gosh that headache was getting bad. “If you can't pull your human form together soon enough you can't teach your classes. Not to mention whatever the kids who saw you are gonna- ohhh right that's an issue.” He covered his face and groaned. “The students.”  

“If it helps all the kids were told to keep quiet and they were all pretty eager to. Really concerned about you though.” Kayama commented, sprawling across the back of her chair. Aizawa's antennae pinned back.

“Will you be informing the students of the situation?” Nedzu asked politely.

Hizashi shot him a pointed Look. Aizawa sighed.

“Ye͏s.̷ ̛Un̡fort͘u̕n͜ately͢.͞”̡

“I’ll pencil it in today as you taking a sick day, then.” Nedzu smiled creepily wide. “And the students can make up for their missed assignments another day. Now then, we can move on from Aizawa’s situation and move towards the other matters we need to discuss here today...”

Chapter Text

“You sure you wanna do this babe?” Hizashi fretted, concern radiating from him alongside the pained twinge of his headache. Aizawa felt somewhat guilty for being the cause of it. 

“̸I'd ne̴ed ̢to̡ ͡fac̶e ̴them ͢a͢nywa̵ys,̶ ̴an̨d ͞bett͝e͠r to get͟ ̨įt͏ ou̶t o̡f̨ th̨e͡ ̴way.҉”͢ Aizawa whispered, curled into shadows of Hizashi’s jacket, hiding from piercing rays of light and chattering students. Despite the vulnerable and stifled feeling it gave him he was forced to keep his senses reeled in. He couldn't handle the light easily right now. 

Mic sighed and shook his head. “If you're sure… do you want me to stay with you?” Aizawa felt fondness surge through him along with the distant yes Mine stay Always Never Leave Forever of his instincts. 

“No, ͟I'l҉l͝ b̢e ͘sta͢yįng with ̧yo͜u͝. A̵nd yo̢u̷'l̢l ̧b͏e ̛g̵o̕in͘g ͠t̛o Recov͞e͞r̸y ͢G͟ir͟l's dar̨k ͘room͝.” He loved that room. Dark and soundproofed, made for anyone suffering from a migraine or needing to lay down, he'd made use of the room several times before when masquerading as a human with frequent eye pain. 

“What?” Surprise filtered in from Hizashi and Aizawa wished he could see his eyes. “First, since when was I doing that?? Second, can you even split yourself right now??” There was a faint indignation at being told what to do as well. 

“͠S͝i͡nc̶e͝ y̷o̕ur h͝e̢ad͏ach͏e̴ w̡as̢ b̡ad e̴n͞ough I can fe̸el̨ ͠it͏ ͟w̴itho͢ut ev͝e̢n ͠t͟r̸y̶ing͢, ̷a̕nd̕ since҉ ̶I͝ go͜t̶ a̷ g̷e̶nu̕i̛ne ̛De̢al͡ ̵t̕o b͜oost̷ my ̷r͜e̵serve̶s.͢”̨ Hizashi winced. 

“It's… okay it's pretty bad.” He mumbled unhappily. “A nap in the dark room sounds pretty good right now, honestly.” Hizashi's hand patted his chest absently. “But I've got a class soon-” 

“I̛ ̢wi̵l͜l tell R͟e͘cove̢ry Gi̴rl̵ ̧a̧nd̵ ̢m̢a͠k̢e ͡h̵e̴r f͞o͡rce̸ ̨y͡o͜u ̧in̢ ther̛e.”͡ Aizawa growled. 

“What's up~?” Aizawa twitched as Kayama's sultry voice appeared behind Hizashi. He hated not being able to sense people coming. 

Hizashi screeched and jumped to the side. While he wheezed and tried catching his breath, Aizawa reached a tendril of his mind out to the shadows in her long hair. It was difficult to do without expending a lot of energy but- 

He͡ ̡h̡as͘ ̷a̸ ͝ba͠d͟ ̡he͜ad͟a̧c͡he̴ ̵f̢rom͢ ̧to͠o mu͢ch Me̶ an͘d͠ he̕ wants t͡o̷ ͢t̨ry̢ ̴ţe͡ac̨h͝i̛n̕g̸ ̵hi̕s̷ clas͞s̢ l̷a͢ter ̶i̷n͡st̸ead o͘f ͟s̸l̛eep͝ing i̡n͡ t͢he҉ d̵ark ro̕o͢m.̕ 

“Mic!” Midnight gasped dramatically and he felt Hizashi tilt as she leaned against his shoulder. “You dumbass! Do I need to knock you out and drag you there myself?” Despite the flirty edge to her voice there was an undercurrent of concern. She’d seen what happened when Aizawa went overboard with people’s heads. 

“Ughhh fiiiine!” Hizashi huffed loudly and closed his eyes, rubbing under his glasses tiredly. “I need a freakin’ nap anyways.” 

“Oh I could tell~” Nemuri leaned in close and purred into his ear, Aizawa ignoring the faint annoyance at how close she was. “He had you up aaaaaall night didn’t he~?” 

“You know the fact that you’ve developed an actual third sense for when your friends have sex as a result of extended exposure to the supernatural really says a lot about you as a person.” 

“Not my fault.” She shrugged. 

“͟It’s͏ ̵what ͘ha҉ppen͟s̨ ҉when ̷you͟ A͘l͢ly ̡yoųr̕sel͜f ̵to̕ a̧ ͠c̵ryp̴tid ͢type҉ ͘fa̷e̕ ̕an͘d ̡the̷n̸ pr̷oce̸e͢d t̵o f͠e͘e͜d̢ i̢t rep̢eatedl̨y.̢” Aizawa whispered into both their ears. “C͜o̵n͜t̛act hąs p̧̨͡o̡w̨͞er͘ .” 

“Okay okay okay- so before I go tank for an age I wanna at least drop you off at the classroom, okay?” Hizashi grabbed the edge of his jacket, fiddling with it. His fingers slipped in and Aizawa brushed against them warmly. “Just to- I dunno. Let them know it’s alright. Not to panic. That shit. I don’t like the idea of doing this big highly stressful reveal without any human adult supervision when you can hardly do anything right now to protect yourself from a dust bunny.” 

Hizashi was nervous - a protective coddling instinct that Aizawa could feel screaming at him even when he was trying to stay out of Hizashi’s head. It was… well, his fae side screamed that it was insulting, Hizashi thought it was Weak, he was thinking It was not a powerful Partner, questioning Its Power - 

The rest of Aizawa that tiredly ignored that side of him knew it was really sweet, because even in this state the likelihood of the students harming him was minimal. And Hizashi knew it. 

“̛I’ll be ̕fine͟. If̛ a̴nyth͞įn̵g h͏app̵e͡n͟s, my m̧ai̶n̛ ͘s̛e̸lf̡ wi̕l̢l͏ ͝st̕ay̕ w̧i̢th ͝you ̸ąnyw͡a͜y̵s̨.” Aizawa squeezed his form tightly around Hizashi’s chest in a simulation of a hug. 

Hizashi sighed and Aizawa relished the feeling of his ribcage expanding and contracting underneath him. The fragility of human life never ceased to fascinate him. The ease with which his flesh form was shattered baffled him. 

“You better be careful.” His Husband wilted somewhat, worry pulsing from him. “I’m just… you’ve never been like this before. I don’t want you going back to square one because Aoyama accidentally killed your split self.” 

“Wait, what now?” Kayama’s eyebrows rose incredulously. “The glittery kid? Killing you? Explain.” 

“̢Late̡r͞. ̶F͝o͞r҉ now̢, ta͠ke me̴ ̢t҉o m͡y cl̡as҉s҉room͠.”̵

Kouji had always known something was weird about Aizawa-sensei. 

Not because of any sort of knowledge or intuition of his own, no. It was the animals who clued him in. 

They didn’t speak in a way that was easily translated, and they also never told him anything about Aizawa-sensei that he didn’t already know. They just spoke of Aizawa-sensei like he was something other. 

There was a strange lack of wildlife in and around Yuuei, partially from security measures but also… 

“The three-legged crow visits sometimes and watches its pupil.” One aged crow missing an eye bobbed his head and cackled loudly. “Few things of the sky dare touch where it sits. It burns the feet.” 

“It hunts everywhere and no hole is safe.” A small mouse tittered nervously before running off. “It’s everywhere.” 

“Scary things, out at night. Such a pretty pond here - lots of tasty fish.” A night heron bounced from leg to leg looking tired and like she would fly away any moment. “Too bad they cover it. Can’t fish any. Can’t step too near the darkness here either.” 

“The dark one is powerful.” A black cat licked his paw, trying to look unconcerned but to Kouda’s confusion showing a hint of wariness. “He pets whoever lets him close and sometimes gives treats though, so it’s fine.” 

“Dark! Scary! Walks on two feet like a two feet but is not! Is not!” A stray dog barked and whined, looking at UA’s gates with her tail between her legs. 

“Nothing to hunt near here. Little things are dumb and run away easily from things they don’t underestand.” An owl stared at him unblinkingly. “So nothing that eats little things stays here.” 

“Oh, you learn from the dark one.” A confused starling bouncing on his shoulder pecked his cheek. “Careful! Careful! Dark ones are scary!” Kouda, in the middle of a training exercise, had looked at the starling in confusion and turned his head to see her watching Aizawa-sensei. 

Animals of any kind around Yuuei were sparse and typically rather nervous and fidgety. What few animals he spoke to near Aizawa-sensei would spend too much time staring at the man warily rather than even paying him any attention. 

He knew a lot of things were like that. Animals knew a lot of things humans didn’t. Kouji was used to just nodding, accepting he didn’t understand, and moving on. 

The USJ had really thrown him for a loop though, to say the least. 

Kouji remembered being confused when the black portals showed up and very, very quickly becoming terrified. He was a little more durable than the average person but he wasn’t any good against real villains. Not like Bakugou or Todoroki. 

He was already useless without any wildlife being present in the USJ, but being sent to the Downpour Zone really pointed out to Kouda how little he could actually do on his own. He was stuck running and hiding from villains while Tokoyami fought back like a real hero. Then Tokoyami’s quirk started going out of control, Kouji watching helplessly as the villains were tossed aside like rags. 

He felt horrible. He joined UA to stop feeling useless and afraid. 

When the shadows began to move around him Kouji thought he was done for, that his classmate’s quirk had gone completely crazy and he was going to die. But the shadows… they wrapped around him gently. 

Kouda flailed and screamed at first but then realized they… were soft… they were speaking to him, the same way animals did, in feelings and images and sensations rather than words. 

The shadows said be calm, I am here for you, I will protect you and Kouji stopped fighting back because he knew inexplicably that those shadows were speaking the truth . When they swamped over him he felt a great mind, floating distantly, detached and viewing him with a protective gaze that made his spine shudder. 

Somehow he knew without needing to be told that the thing watching him and holding him was Aizawa-sensei. 

The shadows let him go and he stumbled into the main entrance of the USJ, his classmates tripping to land around him. 

Everything after that was pretty confusing, but Aizawa-sensei was clearly the dark shadowy shape hissing and staring with glowing red dots. Animals calling him “dark one” made a lot more sense now. He didn’t know what Aizawa-sensei was, but it wasn’t human. It was something very, very different. Something that made Kouda’s skin shiver and muscles tense except - those shadows had said I will protect you and he couldn’t find it in himself to actually be afraid. 

Class was very… weird, the next day. 

Kouda was so paralyzed in terror when the media at the front gates swamped him that he barely even noticed a fanged teacher ushering him past them gently. He only registered it when he was pushed through the gate and gently told to go to class. All Kouji did was nod in embarrassment and stumble away before he could do anything even weirder. 

Freezing up like that, really! He was trying to be a pro hero! How was he supposed to do that if he couldn’t even face a bunch of reporters? 

“Hey Smartass!” His odd friend flicked his fingers at Kouda subtly when he slipped into the classroom. “Where the fuck have you been? Class was fucking supposed to start ten minutes ago.” 

“Trying to research ways to pull the stick out of your rear end. Sadly, results have been inconclusive.” Kouji signed back before he could stop himself. 

Bakugou burst out into a loud cackle, terrifying an oblivious Kirishima next to him. 

So far nobody had seemed to catch onto the explosive blond’s weird fondness for Kouda’s banter or their frequent conversations in JSL. He couldn’t really help it - it was just what happened when he found a way to actually talk. He had so much trouble talking that once he had a way to, every bit of snark and banter he wished he could say out loud just poured out before he could stop it. 

“For fucking real, dipshit.” Bakugou's fingers twitched threateningly. 

“I was having a breakdown because the reporters didn’t seem to realize I was mute and cornered me. Fun stuff.” 

“Oh my fucking God are you forreal? What fucking dumbasses!” Bakugou snickered under his breath and Kirishima edged away from him, glancing away from his conversation with Midoriya to look at him in confusion. 

“God, I know right?” He couldn’t help but smile slightly. Kouji was pretty sure nobody actually noticed their conversations because he was prone to fidgeting in the first place and they were too afraid to question Bakugou. “So what, do we not have a substitute teacher yet?” 

He had gotten to class late yet there was still no teacher present. Iida was standing at the front of the classroom and trying to gain order, but everyone was sitting around the classroom and chatting awkwardly. There was a weird air to the whole room that made Kouda feel uneasy. 

“Okay! Clearly we’ve all just gotta address the elephant in the room here!” Kaminari jumped up to stand in his seat, catching everyone’s attention with his shout. Iida began to berate him for standing up the furniture but he forged on. “Aizawa-sensei turned into some weird shadow monster yesterday!” Kaminari collapsed back to sitting, wheezing. “Whoo! Okay, outburst done, I feel a little better.” He blinked and looked up at everyone’s confused faces. “What? It had to be said. It was bouncing around in my head like, all night. I didn’t get any freakin sleep!” Some of the other students admitted the same quietly. 

“It is not our place to speculate on such matters-” Iida said halfheartedly, looking rather lackluster. Kouji wondered why he looked almost… upset. 

“But it happened, guys, and we can’t just pretend it didn’t.” Kaminari huffed a bit, looking frustrated. 

"HELLLOOOOO STUDENTS!" The door opened with slightly less aplomb than usual for the man who was on the other side. That is to say, just below an outrageous amount of energy and still far too much. 

"̨͞M̡į̨c̢,̧͏ q̕u̧iet҉̨.̡" A familiar voice - despite its weird warbly reverb - echoed from Present Mic's open jacket. 

"S- sensei?" Midoriya stood up, hands slamming on his desk. "Are you- what? Where- I heard Aizawa-sensei-" He started muttering to himself and Present Mic laughed nervously, holding his jacket open. 

Kouji breathed in sharply. The inside of Present Mic's jacket was way, way too dark and two bright red dots stared back at the class. 

"He's right here kiddos!" Mic chuckled and one of his hands was covered by a creepy shadow hand for a very short moment. "Just uh- I know yesterday was… rough," He grew serious and fidgeted. "And it was definitely super rough on Eraserhead, alright?" 

"̢Mįc̵-"̢ 

"No, no, nope," Mic-sensei made a weird face and something familiar clicked in Kouji's mind. "Not taking any chances!" 

Something about the careless way Mic-sensei waved off reaching shadow claws and angry red dots just dinged every one of Kouji's memories of dangerous predators playing with their prey… and then never eating it. The prey mindlessly strutting around something it knew could kill it without a second thought. The odd friendships between predator and prey that sometimes happened in nature was somehow mirrored right in front of him. 

"Here's the sitch, kids: no lights, aight?" Present Mic flipped the classroom lights off and the class all startled in various ways. "Especially quirks - no light shows! At all! Got it?" Despite the casualness of his words there was a tense set to his grin and Class 1-A nodded cautiously. "Just… be careful." He said it quiet enough Kouji didn't think he meant them to hear it. 

"͡I'lļ ͞be̷ FIN̶E͝.̡"̧ Aizawa-sensei warbled and pooled out of Yamada-sensei's jacket. 

The whole class stared at his liquid-like shadow body for what felt like an hour before Hagakure stood up from her desk with a screech, arms waving. 

"Senseis! Is it true you're married?!!" 

Present Mic made an amused yet horrified snorting sound, hands slamming over his red face. "THAT'S WHAT YOU LATCH ONTO?" 

"Of course they are, they've been married for 7 years." Iida said quietly, sounding… put out? 

"H̴e͜'s ͢ri̢gh̴t̸,̵ we ҉ha͢ve b͝een̕."̢ 

"Sho!!" Mic threw his hands up. "That's it, I'm done trying to figure out what you want people to know or not. I'm headed to the dark room before I pass out from a migraine. Have fun! Don't kill my husband please, kiddos." Kouji caught what looked like a small patch of blackness still hugging Present Mic's chest before he quickly vacated the room and slammed the door shut behind him. 

It was awkwardly quiet in the classroom for several minutes before Iida stood up from his desk and took a deep breath. 

"Does Tensei know?" 

Red dots flickered across the classroom."̧Y҉ęş."̢ 

"Tensei?" 

"Who's that?" 

"Wait, how did you know about them being married, Iida??!!" 

"Aizawa-sensei, Yamada-sensei, and Kayama-sensei all went to high school with my older brother. They've basically been my aunt and uncles since I was a toddler." Iida looked down at his desk, hands clenching against the wood. "What… what is this? What are you? Why was I never told?" He sounded… hurt. 

"Şh̛or̶tly̛ p̸u̡t͞? I͜'m̢ no͝t̵ ̧h͜uman, n͜ev̸er̡ ha̵ve͝ ͏be̸e͞n̶." The shadowed pool drifted across the dark classroom towards the wall, seemingly more comfortable clinging to it.͞"͝Yo͟u ̕sh̵ou̷ld͞ as̛k͞ T͠en͠s̶ei͡ ̕ab̨ou͟t̵ how ̴he foun̨d out͘,͝ ̷I͝'m su̴r̛e ̕yo͏u̕'ll g̷e͡t a kick ̷out҉ of i̧t."͢ 

Bright red dots glimmered out of the shadows at all of them and Kouji felt- felt- 

It was like something that had been loose since the USJ popped back onto place, like a rope he'd been thrown and lost ahold of had been given back to him. Something in Kouji felt… different. It felt dangerous but calming at the same time. Several of his classmates made confused noises or faces and he wondered if they felt what he did. 

"͞͏I͟ a̴͠m ̕fae.̡͠"̢͠ 

Tokoyami gasped audibly, everyone else muttering and making confused remarks. Aizawa-sensei interrupted them. 

"̡Ą̡n͡d ͟͠a̷̢s͜ ̕of͟͡ y̶e̛s̢te͠r͏da̢͝y͏?͘͘ ͜Y̧ou̶̧ ͏are̢ Mi͢͟ne҉."