Chapter Text
It was late in the afternoon, after the final school bell rang. It was a particularly dreary day despite being early in the summer. Perhaps it was a sign of foreboding.
Shouta shuffled around his classroom silently. For some strange reason his anxiety roped its way around his heart and began squeezing the life out of him. He made an effort to tidy up the room as he paced aimlessly about waiting for his guest.
He had had another debate with Hizashi that morning. Over the past several months his solid 'no' had slowly dissolved into a 'maybe' and now he was at 'fine'. Shouta was finally willing to trust Hizashi on his gut. And maybe a little bit on his fucking golden heart.
But deep down he really didn't want to go through with this.
Their heated discussions about young Shinsou Hitoshi often hit a little too close to home for Shouta's comfort. And now he was going to be spending nearly every spare hour he had with that boy.
After several more minutes of waiting and sulking there was a knock on his door. "Come in."
The door swung open slowly and a young boy with purple hair and tired eyes stood rigidly in the doorway. "You wanted to see me?"
Despite his anxieties on Shinsou's quirk, and the deadly mistake of answering his questions, Shouta gestured to a desk.
"Sit." Shouta demanded gently.
The young boy frowned for a moment before reluctantly making his way to a chair and flopping down. Shouta closed the door and sat in the desk next to him, arms folded casually on his lap and leaning forward.
"So what do you want? Am I in trouble or-" Shinsou placed a foot on his desk.
"No more talking. You're going to listen," Shouta growled, "and when I'm done speaking you may answer."
Shinsou made a little tsk noise and rubbed a bag under his eye, but said nothing. The child was well known for having good grades, but a rotten attitude towards his authorities, but Shouta was certain it wasn't anything he hadn't seen before.
Shouta breathed deeply. "When you first arrived in this facility you were placed in your class under certain factors. Your previous grades, you quirk and your physical abilities were all key factors. Now when you attended the UA sports festival-"
Shinsou pulled his feet down from his desk, sitting up straight. He had his full attention at the mention of the sports festival. "Look man, it's not my fault I lost. I've literally never had anyone do that before-"
"I am not finished speaking. So it would do you good to be silent." Shouta snapped.
Shinsou flinched, closing his mouth and scowling.
"Like I was saying," Shouta rubbed his eye, "when you attended the sports festival you failed. You proved that you were not equipped to be placed in the heroics course."
"So what did you just call me in to tell me to call it quits?" Shinsou mumbled, shuffling his feet on the floor.
"I called you in to tell you that given your current skill base that there is a good reason you are not placed in the heroics course. It's gonna take a hell of a lot of training to get yourself to a point where you're going to get accepted. And it's going to take a skillset that you do not possess. But most importantly it's going to take a lot of drive."
"No offense Mr. Aizawa but I don't need your pity if that's what you're saying. Just hurry up and tell me to quit and let me go home." He sneered.
Shouta blinked, with the memory of him saying nearly the same thing to Hizashi hit him upside the head like a brick. It weirdly filled him with so much rage he could have strangled the boy.
"Listen here you little shit!" He glared at the boy, making Shinsou shake his head and blink rapidly, "I'm trying to tell you that I am willing to put effort into making sure you have the equipment to make the cut. But if all you're going to give me is attitude then I have all the reason to believe that maybe you wouldn't take my course seriously."
"So what are you proposing exactly?"
"Your physicality is extremely lacking. I'm willing to help you pull it together with one-on-one training. And with enough dedication maybe, and emphasis on maybe, you'll be able to be considered for placement."
"What do you get out it?" Shinsou raised an eyebrow.
"Absolutely nothing." Shouta replied curtly. Getting even nothing out if it was a considerable stretch from the truth, rather than saying that special attention for this kid would cost him more energy and time than he would lead on.
Shinsou scowled "So I'm some kind or pity project to you. I've been doing fine on my own so far so you can take your 'help' and shove it."
What an unbelievable brat. Shouta's face twisted up in anger as he sat up to leave.
"If you change your mind then come find me. Otherwise this might be your only shot." Shouta growled.
"Whatever." Shinsou left with a dismissive wave behind his back.
And with that Shouta was alone, rethinking how sideways the conversation had gone.
Hizashi was going to kill him.
________
Later in the evening, Shouta stood in the kitchen as he told Hizashi about his conversation, watching as Hizashi's face turned as red as a cherry. Shouta was convinced that Hizashi was going to yell at him.
Instead Hizashi waved his hands, taking a deep breath before speaking. "Okay. Just try again. Give the kid some time to think about it. Still salvageable ya know?"
"You're angry." Shouta crossed his arms as Toshinori brushed past him to get a cup of tea he left on the counter.
"Well of course I'm angry. I'm calm, but angry. I mean what made you think that was an acceptable way to talk to a kid?"
"I… it wasn't very rational of me I suppose." Shouta shuffled his feet sheepishly.
"Ya think?" Hizashi cocked his head.
Toshinori simply sipped his tea with raised eyebrows.
"Toshi back me up on this." Hizashi nudged him.
"Oh no. I'm staying out of this one."
"I don't know what happened okay? It was… it was harder than I expected." Shouta tightened his arms and leaned against the counter.
"Shouta, it's not like you to let a student get to you like that. You have to be the adult in that situation." Hizashi chopped his at his palm.
"I know." Should grumbled.
"Baby, you've gotta try to remember that kid, from what I've heard, has probably been shot down by every adult he's met. Of course he's going to be on the defense about this. You just need to be gentle. Patient." Toshinori blinked slowly, sloshing his drink around in thought.
"He's right Sho. Just give it another shot, he needs someone to give him a chance."
"Okay." Shouta gritted his teeth.
Everything about that kid annoyed him. If he could only put his finger on it as to why. But they were right of course. He decided he'd give the kid some time to cool off.
Shouta kept a lazy eye on Shinsou for the next few days as he passed in the classroom. Every time the boy noticed his presence he turned the other direction.
This wasn't working. He had to step it up.
The students in class 1A had earned his respect a long time ago. They knew both his capabilities and his motivation and they had formed a strong bond over adversity and terror and the need to protect. It was a rare occurrence that Shouta showed any students patience before his class, especially for a student who wasn't his responsibility.
Shinsou had none of that. To him Shouta was just another arrogant prick waiting for him to crash and burn. Speed up the process by throwing a false shred of hope on his dusty path. And to some small degree that was what he was doing. If Shouta confirmed his suspicion that Shinsou Hitoshi wouldn't be able to become a hero, he would have to throw hope in his path.
He didn't want to think of the repercussions to the gesture. But he would see them through if push came to shove. Above all he loved his students and wanted them to succeed.
Now expressing that feeling was going to be the hard part.