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In Shota’s defense, the Hero Commission started it, so they would pay for it.
If they thought they could call him during the one quiet month of his life, and interrupt him with a phone call about Hawk’s stupid-ass patrol and expect him to do something about it?
Then they would be paying his super speeder ticket.
And he, because his eyes itched and burned and his hands felt suddenly so stiff that no amount of punching them against his steering wheel could pop them, would continue to drive twenty over the speed limit in order to get to the docks before he tore his eyes and hands off completely.
He’d never been so stressed in his life.
And the Hero Commission started it because they are the ones who told him it would be a good idea to send his class to Nabu Island. They were the ones that convinced him nothing bad would happen. They were the ones that called him just as he was finishing up paperwork for the day talking in frantic tones and barely enunciated words that: ‘ Mr. Aizawa, there’s a villain attacking Nabu Island, and we understand your students are there…’
“Shota, you’re here!” Yagi, drowning in his suit coat and tie and standing rimrod straight, wrong his hands as he stood next to Endeavor. There was a haggardness and disheveled look to his appearance, his eyes looked more hollow than he looked even on his sickest days. Endeavor glared down at the man, and then at Shota before crossing over to the dark haired man.
“If my son--” He started, a fire burning in his eyes brighter than any of his normal flames, “If my son--” He floundered for words, thick fingers twitching like he wanted to strangle Shota right then and there.
“I’m sure the kids will be fine.” Shota grit out through clenched teeth, but the lie tasted bitter on his tongue.
The commission had found the drone on a small island three hours away from Nabu.
That was three hours his kids students had been alone, and it would be another six to get there--
Damn it all.
Endeavor didn’t stay for too much longer, stalking off towards a very large and impressive vessel.
“Shota.” Aizawa snapped his gaze over to Yagi who was taking slow, weak steps towards him. “I want to consider reality here. The kids… you know how young Midoriya and Bakugou get… they probably are trying to fight the villains alone.”
“And they’re linked to the league, I know.” Shota hissed, rubbing a calloused palm on his face in an attempt to staunch his rapid heartbeat.
“I don’t… I just…” The older man floundered for words, “I just don’t want to be too late.”
“Me neither.”
---
Shota’s stomach churned, and not from the tossing and turning of the waves.
Five hours ago they had set sail and had pushed no holds barred out into the middle of the Pacific. He had stood on the deck, then, pacing and trying to not rip his own hair out because why couldn’t they go faster?!
He’d had to retire below deck after the endless hours of blue sea with no sign of life became too much and he felt his body starting to give up. His eyes felt heavy and stung from his dryness, his feet felt stiff and sore, his head ached from glaring at the frothing sea.
He should’ve been there.
He should never have agreed to send children off to an island all by themselves for the break. He was their teacher , their guardian, and the guilt that he sent them off like lambs to the slaughter made it hard to breathe.
They still had a little over an hour to go. He should sleep, rest so he could be at full force to beat the absolute shit out of whatever villain thought they could lay a single filthy hand on his students, but every time he closed his eyes he could see Asui’s broken body, Kaminari soaked in a puddle of his own blood, Tokoyami torn limb from limb--
And it’s all your fault. You left them.
Shota gasped for breath and reached blindly for his capture weapon, clutching it like a liferaft that would keep him afloat. Bile crawled up his throat and he lurched, losing his meager breakfast into the wastebasket next to the bed.
“Shota?” There was Yagi again, another damn reminder that they were on this damn boat and not on Nabu island. “We can see the island now… it--”
Shota was pushing past the man without another word, combat boots stomping on the ground so hard as he ran he thought he would fall through the floorboards. He clambered on deck, breath falling from his lips in short gasps and flung himself against the railing of the boat.
His knees felt weak as he locked his eyes on the absolute carnage of an island.
Oh God his k i d s.
He didn’t care that Hawks and Endeavor were giving instructions. He was a damn pro hero too and he knew how to fucking search-and-rescue. He was going to find those kids and make sure they were all alive so help him God.
“We’re docking now!” A broad man that Shota vaguely remembered as being Asui’s internship sponsor from the first semester roared, and something in Shota’s stomach twisted with anxiety or excitement he didn’t know. Fatigue threatened to sink his knees to the floor but he grounded himself and stared straight ahead at the island.
He would sleep when he was dead.
There was a vibrating thunk when the ship connected with a sandbar off the coast, and like a grenade he was flying from the boat, combat boots sinking into soft sand, and sprinting like hellfire to the top of the mountain where smoke and fire billowed and rocks creaked and groaned.
“There’s been a cave in here!” Hawks called, golden eyes flashing as he shot a look at Endeavor. To any outsider, it would have been a sign of statement; Shota saw worry flicker in those golden eyes.
“Endeavor, sir!” Another pro called, “We can see ice on the treetops over this way! Your son--”
“Lead the way.” Endeavor growled, body holding a tense power that Shota almost mistook for fear.
Maybe the possibility of his child being dead was enough to stir the number one hero’s heart?
“Eraser,” Hound Dog growled, “There’s a wall of debris over there, ruff, and I can smell multiple bodies in it.”
Multiple bodies.
“Blood?” Shota inquired, falling into step with the school counselor. Where had Yagi gone? That was a dumb question -- to find Midoriya, no doubt.
“A fair amount, but it isn’t enough to match the number of people I smell.” Hound Dog confirmed.
The debris wasn’t just debris. The “debris” Hound Dog had spoken of consisted of numerous boulders piled on top of each other and threatening to topple any second.
“Start on the top.” Shota sighed, but his body thrummed with anticipation.
Rock by rock he and Hound Dog scraped away the rubble until finally they made a dent into what looked to be a natural cave. He would have missed it honestly if it wasn’t for the ear piercing scream that ripped from inside as soon as he did.
Hagakure.
“Hagakure?! Can you hear me?’ He called in, pulling away another rock to try to get a better look inside.
“Sensei!” The girl yelled and he could hear footsteps but couldn’t see her and his heart was beating uncontrollably, “Sensei we’re in here!”
“How many are inside?” Shota called, clawing away at another boulder.
Come. On. Hurry. Up.
“Uh…” Hagakure paused for a moment, but didn’t finish, because Sato’s voice (and damn, he never thought he could nearly pass out from hearing the voice of a student).
“The whole island Sensei! Plus Hagakure, Koda, and I!”
Another rock gave way and Shota was beginning to see the inside of the cave. “Injuries?”
“There’s a few injured civilians but nothing too serious, sir!” Sato continued.
“Sato has a head injury! He said not to tell you but it’s bleeding pretty bad!” Koda called up just as Hound Dog clawed away a massive hunk of earth and light flooded into the cave.
Sure enough, the crevice was filled with hundreds of people, and right in the front were his three students. Sato indeed was sporting a nasty cut on his head, but other than that the children looked okay.
A shuddering sigh escaped his lips.
“Hound Dog, get the children to escort the civilians back into the town and make sure Sato gets into a hospital.” He ordered. Even though he saw three of his students alive and well, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the worst was yet to come.
“I NEED MEDICAL ASSISTANCE STAT!”
He jinxed it.
Hawks’ screaming was something akin to a bird itself, and although the sound was awful, Shota found himself drawn to it.
“Sensei! We have stretchers in here from the hospital! And the doctors and nurses!” Hagakure jumped around wildly.
“Good.” Shota nodded, “Send some with me!”
He didn’t wait much longer, choosing instead to break away from the group and hope that the medical response team would follow along, instead following Hawks’ voice.
He immediately wished he hadn’t.
“Eraser! The medical team is still on their way but--”
“The local medics are here and can transport them to the hospital,” Shota rushed out, “What--”
“Your student -- the pink one -- she and Fumikage were trapped beneath a cave in for some time now. Fumikage will be okay, thanks to Dark Shadow but… your other student--”
“Ashido,” Shota’s heart dropped, please don’t let one of his students die, “Where is she?”
“I left her with Fumikage over there. She needs medical assistance now. She has what looks to be a severe gash on her calf and blunt force trauma to the head. I don’t know how long she’s been bleeding out.”
“Sir! Where are we needed?!” Finally, the medics were up and moving.
“Over here, quickly!” Hawks commanded, turning with a small jump and tearing off in the direction he came from.
Shota was going to be sick.
He needed to sit down. He felt dizzy. His kids were-- Ashido was--
“ YOUNG MIDORIYA!”
Shit.
The sound of All Might’s cry of distress was enough to send shock waves through Shota’s heart. If that didn’t take twenty years off his life right there--
“Eraser! We need your help! Two of your students are severely injured!”
Fucking--
He was going to pass out.
But he couldn’t. He didn’t come all the way here to leave his students. He was their teacher and it was his job to help them. If one of them died so help him God--
“Who?” Eraser turned his attention to Rock Lock, the younger hero sprinting towards him at an alarming pace.
“Uravity, from the Shie Hassaikai takedown, and another student. A male, tall, thin, black hair--”
“ Sero.” Shota clarified, feeling something sticky in his veins. His body hummed with fear.
“Sero,” Rock Lock confirmed, “We need to get over there now. The med ship has docked, and they’re doing their best, but we’ve lost him twice now--”
What?
Now wasn’t the time for hesitation. Save the kids now, panic later.
“Lead the way.”
---
At the end of the day, all of his students were alive.
Injured, but alive.
The weight that had been sitting in Shota’s lungs since they docked had suddenly been lifted when the medical ship had arrived and all of his kids were transported to the local hospital. Still, the list of injuries was staggering in its own right, and Shota couldn’t help but kick himself because how could he have been so stupid?
He let children handle villains on their own. What kind of teacher was he to abandon them? He should’ve been there.
If he had been there, Satou wouldn’t have a thick line of stitches on his forehead that would no doubt scar, Kirishima wouldn’t be bed ridden with a concussion, Ashido wouldn’t be limping with a crutch while her leg healed, Sero wouldn’t have flatlined a total of four times from shock and blood loss, Bakugou wouldn’t be experiencing immense pain from his shattered arms -- if he had been there--
“I know what you’re doing, Aizawa.” Yagi murmured, tilting his withered face to lock eyes with Aizawa from the chair next to him in the waiting room, “It isn’t your fault.”
“That’s rich coming from the symbol of peace himself.” Aizawa sighed, but couldn’t find the energy to put enough venom into his words.
Yagi chuckled, a bitter, choked sound, “It’s true. We did everything we could. The only people we can blame are the villains themselves. The kids did well, all things considered.”
“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.” The gruff man pointed out and Yagi shrugged tiredly.
“It is. There’s nothing we can do now except be for them. Speaking of which, you do have other students that aren’t in the hospital that could use their teacher right now.”
It was true. Certain of his students remained at their makeshift agency, worried just as he was.
“Go to them Aizawa. They need you.”
---
“You may finish your work here on one condition,” Shota locked eyes with Midoriya who seemed to shrink under his gaze, “You will listen to your doctors and if you don’t I will make sure you do not leave this building for the rest of the break. Are we clear?”
The resounding chorus of ‘yes, sensei’s were good enough.
“Excellent, young heroes!” All Might immediately took command of the discussion and Aizawa wanted to throttle the man for making the obviously serious situation light again, “Now, for tonight I think we can agree that a bonding exercise is in order! You all just experienced something very dangerous, but it’s also okay to unwind every now and then! So tonight, we will be watching a movie!”
“Fuck no.” Bakugou was quick to interject, but Kirishima punched him in the arm, “Jeez, shitty hair! Not in that arm! What the hell?!” Bakugou was screaming again, holding up a threatening hand.
“Bakugou, enough.” Shota rolled his eyes, immediately ten levels of done with the ashy blonde’s volume and temper. “Everyone will be watching the movie.”
“Even you, sensei?” Asui piped up, and Shota was ready to be dead again.
“No.” he sighed, “I will not be watching the movie. It’s not my hero agency, its yours.”
“But All Might will!” Mina pouted, lip covered in a band aid poking out in a childish pout.
“Please?”
“Sensei~!”
“Just one?”
God, why was he so worried about these kids again? They were more annoying than Mic on a bad hair day.
“...Fine. One movie. If it will make you shut up.” He conceded, firmly squishing down the way his heart pounded when the whole class (except a still pissed off Bakugou) erupted into cheers.
The movie was dumb -- some rom com that made Shota want to gag from how sickeningly sweet it was -- but he saw on the couch sandwiched under a tangle of legs and arms and bandages.
He definitely fell asleep during the movie, and that’s where he woke up the next movie, alone on the couch, but warm under a soft blanket he identified as Yaoyorozu’s from the monogram on the corner.
He would complain about it to anyone that asked, but nevertheless, the night was quiet and still and warm, just the way it should always be.