Archive of Our Own

Uraraka

Aizawa had arrived in the 1-A homeroom classroom early for once to go work on his plans for his and Yamada's anniversary surprise next month. He had been unable to work on it last night due to being swamped with paperwork regarding Mineta's expulsion and Shinsou's enrolment into the heroics course and into his class.

In hindsight, he thought it was better this way. Yamada tended to be nosy and he sought out a lot of attention last night. He also couldn't work on it in the teacher's lounge since Yamada was there, and Kayama and Yagi could be just as nosy as Yamada at times. Plus, most of his students had tended to arrive later in the morning ever since they had moved to the dorms.

Which was why he was surprised to see Uraraka enter the room. Clearly, she was just as surprised as he was. Granted, Aizawa had a habit of coming in right as the bell rang, so it must have been puzzling seeing him so early.

Aizawa nodded in greeting before turning back to his laptop to search where to get Yamada's favourite flowers since the the neighbourhood florist had moved out of town. He had to have everything to go smoothly for the other man.

"A-Aizawa-sensei, good morning!" she stuttered nervously.

She stood there awkwardly as he typed away, not knowing what to do. Her teacher was in school unusually early. Should she go to her seat? Did he want some privacy? Should she leave? Aizawa noticed her jitteriness and sighed, looking back at her.

"You can sit down," he said flatly, void of emotion.

"Y-y-yes, sensei!" she anxiously scampered to her seat. She looked unnaturally stiff as she sat upright and poised, hands neatly folded on the desk. She was trembling as she tried to sit still and straight, as if he would expel her for slouching.

"You're not in class," Aizawa rolled his eyes, not even looking at her, "and I don't even expect you to sit like that in class, you'll wear yourself out before you even start a single period, and you'll drop dead by the time we start hero training. It's illogical."

"Right, sensei," Uraraka yipped, releasing a breath of relief she hadn't been aware that she was holding. She started to sit like a normal human being and Aizawa turned back to his laptop.

"Why are you here so early, sensei?" Uraraka suddenly asked, a tad nervous, unaware if she was allowed to ask.

"To work," Aizawa replied bluntly.

"What are you working on, sensei?" Uraraka piped up, clearly over the shock of seeing her teacher so early in the morning and having come back to her usual curious self.

"Work," Aizawa said simply. It technically was for a colleague. It just also happened that the colleague was his spouse and the work was related to their marriage. The kids didn't need to know that, though.

Clearly unsatisfied with his answer, Uraraka began to get twitchy. Aizawa could see in the corner of his eye how she kept squirming in her seat or fidgeting with her writing materials. She even absent-mindedly used her quirk to make her desk float at one point.

Aizawa's glared at her from his table, but she wasn't even paying attention to him anymore. She seemed to be lost in thought, twirling her hair and staring off into space.

"Is there a reason why you are here so early?" Aizawa asked finally, preferring awkward small talk over the young girl's anxious movements. The sudden voice of her teacher seemed to snap her back to reality, and she turned and looked at him not unlike a cornered wild animal would.

"Um, I just wanted some alone time to think," she said slowly, having just registered the question, "and this is the last place the rest of the class would be this early in the morning"

"Are any of your classmates troubling you in anyway?" Aizawa asked, mildly concerned as to why one of his most extroverted and socially welcoming students would desire avoiding the other students. In the back of his mind, he had the fleeting thought that reminded him that she had come to his classroom to not talk to people, which was reasonable and something he understood perfectly. However, he also understood Uraraka. And he knew that something must be troubling her if she felt she couldn't talk to her classmates.

"No, no!" she exclaimed immediately, flinching at her volume, before saying softer, "It's nothing like that. They're all great, especially now that Mineta is gone. Well, except Bakugou, I guess, but that's a given. Although he has been a little more...on edge lately"

Aizawa made a mental note about both Bakugou's behaviour and the student's apparent rejoice about seeing their former classmate being expelled. Aizawa mentally debated with himself over his course of action. He could simply leave the subject alone, and let her be. If she really wanted to talk to him, she would. But another part of him knew that if it was Uraraka, she would let whatever troubled her eat her up inside while trying to keep up a flowery image.

"So, what is bothering you, then?" Aizawa asked, resigning himself to his duty as a teacher to these children and closing the laptop.

Uraraka seemed startled at the question, and Aizawa could see herself internally panic, wondering what she should do. She started fumbling with her hands which inadvertently caused her desk to unceremoniously crash back onto the floor and she yelped again at the sound, clearly not having realised she had made it float in the first place. Aizawa patiently waited as she assumedly played out a dialogue in her mind, comparing possible outcomes in her head over each and every course of action she could possibly take.

"It's...Tsu," she finally said, almost to herself, decidedly looking onto the desk which thankfully stayed intact despite the fall (Aizawa silently thanked that the desks were specifically made extra sturdy to handle disruptive quirks; Bakugou had already destroyed four and the paperwork process in the aftermath was tedious). Aizawa patiently waited for her to elaborate. Eventually she continued, "I've had a crush on her ever since the school year started and it's only been getting worse everyday."

"After Bakugou had gotten kidnapped...she had talked to Deku and the others—the ones who went after him," her expression turned pained, "...about how much she was against their plan...and when they left, she only talked to me about it."

"She's always so...calm and expressionless," she got a faraway look in her eyes, a small smile had dawned her face, "not in a cold way, but just in a way that made me feel...safe and secure. But when she talked to me about it...I never saw her like that before...she suddenly felt more human. She was vulnerable...and I think that's when I knew that it was more than just a crush."

Uraraka turned to her teacher, a vulnerable look on her face, "And that's when I knew I couldn't keep my feelings to myself...I couldn't just hope that it would go away. I-I want to do something...but I'm just...scared it will ruin our friendship...it means the world to me."

Uraraka let out a bitter, humourless laugh, "Just when I get her to open up and trust me, I ruin it."

There was a beat of silence and Uraraka suddenly realised what she had said and to who she had said it to. Her face turned red and Aizawa could practically see her mind and heart racing, dreading anxiously about what he was going to say. Aizawa sighed and looked at the young girl dead in the eyes.

"Uraraka, what is the thing you most admire about Asui?" Aizawa asked. Uraraka blinked, trying to process the question.

"She's honest," Uraraka said finally, a soft smile spreading across her face, "a lot of our class sees her as mean or rude, but she's always just so unafraid to speak her mind."

Despite himself, Aizawa had to stifle a laugh, the gesture had Uraraka looking at him quizzically, pondering if she had said something off.

"Maybe you could learn a thing or two from her then," Aizawa said smoothly, earning a puzzled expression which quickly turned to realisation.

"But, we just became real friends" Uraraka protested, clearly frustrated, "I don't want to put that on the line for my own selfish desires! She might hate me or avoid me!"

"Do you really think Asui would do that to you?" Aizawa raised an eyebrow, "If you're such good friends, she wouldn't let that get in the way. If she does, then she's clearly not the person you think she is and you'll see that she's not the right girl for you and it would be easier for you to move on. Or, she could feel the same way."

Uraraka was quiet for a long time, struggling to come up with an excuse, but cleary couldn't come up with one. The brunette girl just simply sat there for a moment, a contemplative look on her face. Eventually, she looked at him, smiling, determination burning through her eyes. She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him, he stood stiffly but made no attempt to shove her off, knowing she needed this. The embrace didn't last long (thankfully enough), and she pulled away, looking a bit sheepish, her face was a bright pink when she stepped back, flashing a toothy grin.

"Thank you, sensei, I-" her words were cut short by Iida and Yaoyorozu entering the classroom, deep into a discussion about some homework or other. They immediately processed that they were not alone and started profusely greeting Aizawa (who had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes), before moving to their seats.

Uraraka had started talking animatedly with the two about an upcoming test, and Aizawa tucked away his laptop, knowing he wouldn't get anywhere as students started trickling into the classroom. He attempted to shuffle through his notes on the lesson plan as the bell was about to ring and he noticed Uraraka staring at him. The two shared a look, and she smiled.

He didn't miss Uraraka later asking Asui if they could talk after homeroom.

2. Asui

It was merely a few hours after his talk with Uraraka when Aizawa was greeted by another student outside of the classroom. In fact, Asui had sought him out. He was still searching for local florist shops and gardens or people with floral quirks on his laptop when the frog girl had requested for his presence.

Kan had notified him of Asui's request to see him and soon enough he was face to face with the teenage girl with the frog mutation quirk. Her face was blank and void of any trace or semblance of nervousness, however the sweat protruding from her face despite the cold air was sign enough that she was troubled.

"Aizawa-sensei, I apologise for intruding in your lunch period, ribbit. Are you busy at the moment?" Asui asked, eerily calm despite the internal conflict she was undoubtedly experiencing harshly enough to seek help about.

Aizawa momentarily contemplated saying that he was, as it would technically be true, but he could easily see through the seemingly nonchalant facade she was blatantly trying to portray for both of their sakes.

"No," he said simply, trying not to sigh in defeat as he was undoubtedly going to be involved again in another student's personal drama today.

"May I speak with you in private then, ribbit?" Asui's eyes seemed wider and glazed over as she stared at him expectantly.

Aizawa grumbled something akin to assent and she grabbed his wrist—which was uncharacteristically forward and rude of her—and that only further proved to him that she was stressed out about something.

She had practically dragged him to the business management building of all places and pulled him into a deserted hallway, probably to make sure that whatever they wanted to talk about was not heard by any passerby that may know her.

Finally satisfied with their spot, she stood still as she faced him. Her stoic exterior suddenly broke ever so slightly, and he could see the faintest shade of pink tint the end of her ears.

She seemed to struggle with forming her words and darted her long tongue against her lips, licking them tentatively, which was the most expressive he and most others had ever seen her be. She took a deep breath and finally steeled herself, facing him determinedly.

"I'm asexual, ribbit," Asui said bluntly. Aizawa, however, was quick to notice that her voice was just a tad uneven. She was clearly shaken up.

"Okay," Aizawa replied slowly, starting to see where this conversation was going.

"Ochako had mentioned to me about how much you had helped her when she confessed to me earlier, ribbit," Asui had started, "and I wanted to thank you. We're...dating now. And I wanted to ask for some advice, too, ribbit."

"Okay," Aizawa said again, trying not to sound uncomfortable as he dreaded that he was undoubtedly going to be shoved into a student's love life for the second time that day.

"I'm asexual," she repeated, "I feel no need nor desire to ever partake in any sexual acts, ribbit, which is why I took personal offence to Mineta's harassment and lack of respect for consent."

Aizawa was really glad now that he had chosen to expel Mineta.

"However, I...am in love Ochako, ribbit," Asui said confidently, "and I want to be with her"

Aizawa had to bite his tongue from saying "okay" again.

"But I'm not sure if I want to be with her sexually, ribbit," Asui admitted. Her fists gripped at the end of her skirt as she looked down, not meeting his eyes, looking...ashamed, "and I just feel so guilty because of that."

"I love Ochako," Asui repeated, as if trying to assure or remind him, "I love her so much, and I don't want to lose her, ribbit. But I'm just not sure if I can be comfortable being that, ribbit, intimate with anyone. But Ochako isn't just anyone, ribbit."

"I...ribbit," Asui seemed to be at a loss for words, which was a first, "don't know what to do, ribbit. And I don't have anybody to talk to about this because they don't understand."

"But...you...you're—ribbit...?" Asui finally faced him, she looked unsure.

"Yes, I am," Aizawa easily breathed out, which seemed to relieve Asui of some tension.

"How do you handle it?" Asui asked, tilting her head.

"How anybody handles anything," he shrugged, "There are some things that I don't want nor actually need to do, so I don't do them. You are not obligated to make yourself do anything for her or anybody for that matter."

"I am aware of that, ribbit," Asui nodded, there was the slightest twitch in her mouth, indicating an urge to deepen her frown, "But what if she needs me to? I want to give her everything she wants."

"There are some people like us who do it regardless, for the sake of their lovers," Aizawa explained, "Those are the types who are just simply more indifferent towards sex more than anything else, instead of outright against it. They will not really seek it out, but will agree under varying circumstances. Others are only attracted to a select number of people. Others claim to have only been sexually interested with a select number of people. Others find that they develop sexual attraction over some time when getting to know their partner."

"But I'm not sexually attracted to her, ribbit," Aizawa saw her eyes start to tear up as she started to discreetly hold herself, "And I don't think I ever will be, ribbit. And I feel so—ribbit—guilty and broken, ribbit, like something is—ribbit—wrong with me, ribbit."

She was very subtly shaking. Aizawa commended her for being able to hold herself together so well. She had hidden her expressions skilfully, but Aizawa knew his students. He noticed how her lip quivered. He noticed how her eyebrows were furrowed intensely. He noticed how she casually held her arm. He noticed how she was croaking more often than usual. He noticed how she carefully chose her words and still seemed unsure of them.

She was scared.

"I—ribbit—don't know what to do, ribbit," Asui said finally, subjected to defeat.

"You can talk about it with her," Aizawa said, trying to sound soft, "You can ask her what she wants or needs from you. You can ask her what boundaries she has. And you can tell her about what you think you are not capable of giving it to her."

"But I—ribbit—want to give her everything and—" Asui started, tears fighting to erupt as she glared, not really at him in particular.

"But maybe she doesn't want everything," Aizawa reasoned evenly, "You can ask her. Ask her what she needs and expects out to the relationship. Some people are satisfied without having an intimate relationship despite not even being asexuals themselves. Some people are even open to polyamory. If you care about the person enough, you can make it work."

Asui had started croaking uncontrollably, not meeting his gaze. Her arms were folded slightly, as if trying to close herself off. Her face was still mostly stoic but emotions were clearly breaching in some parts. He didn't miss the small stains forming onto the floor she was facing. Aizawa sighed, and tried to make his tone softer.

"Just try talking to her," he breathed. He firmly gripped her shoulder, and the touch made the young girl freeze but eventually relax just a fraction. Eventually, the croaking subsided and she looked up at him. Her eyes were still wet, but her face was back to being almost unreadable. Aizawa mouth quirked upwards just slightly, fooling most to think it was a twitch. Asui replied with a twitch of her own.

They walked back to their classroom in silence, not looking at each other. As they neared the door, they heard the warning bell, indicating that class was going to resume soon, and other students started filing in. Asui looked at him, and nodded to him in a voiceless "thanks" as to not draw attention to them from the other students. Aizawa appreciated the gesture and nodded back. She then turned and practically hopped to where Uraraka sat, talking animatedly with Iida and Midoriya. Uraraka's face immediately brightened upon seeing her and she waved a little too vigorously as the frog girl approached her.

He watched Asui call her out and motion towards the door. Uraraka turned to her, colour clearly tinting her face. Uraraka nodded and the two walked out, Uraraka waving her friends off, before practically bolting to catch up with her friend who had started croaking uncontrollably again.

The final bell rang a few minutes later, but Aizawa decided to wait a few more minutes before taking attendance, decidedly facing the the blackboard and writing the day's lesson on the board until he heard one of the doors creaking behind him and quick shuffling, followed by several quiet giggles.

Soon enough, he heard the footsteps stop and the familiar sound of chairs being attempted to be moved as soundlessly as possible. Aizawa turned back to the class, taking note of Uraraka's brightly dopey face and Asui's distinctly happy grin. Fighting a smile of his own, he started to call roll.

3. Kirishima

It was a week before Aizawa and Yamada's anniversary when he was faced with another student with love trouble. He had just dismissed the last class for the day and had planned on making a call to Yamada's favourite restaurant to reserve a table for them for their anniversary dinner before he had to oversee today's detention. Aizawa really wanted everything to go well for his husband.

He was about to leave for the detention room, already bringing out his phone to dial the number of the restaurant, when he had noticed that Kirishima had not yet made an attempt to get up from his seat. Aizawa sighed, resigning himself to his apparent destiny to become a teenage couples' counsellor and sat back down on his seat, looking pointedly at the young boy.

It took a moment for the student to notice that his teacher was staring at him, almost accusingly, and he bolted right up. Stuttering to make an excuse.

"Sit," Aizawa said simply, knowing that detention wouldn't start for a while. The spiky redhead immediately plopped back onto his seat. Aizawa leaned forward, not saying a word. Kirishima looked incredibly nervous under the teacher's gaze. Aizawa merely raised an eyebrow, and Kirishima gulped, shutting his eyes tight before staring back at him in determination.

"I'm worried about K-K-Katsuki," he managed to stutter. Aizawa motioned for him to continue. Kirishima took a deep breath, trying to put on a courageous face, he breathed out, "I think he needs help! Ever since the kidnapping! He says he doesn't want to talk about it but I think he needs to! He hasn't been opening up—not that he opened up a lot before, but he seems even more closed off now—and I-I don't know what to do and I want to help and he needs help but he won't let me help and I don't even know how or if I can help and I just—"

Kirishima braced himself, trying not to cry, he was a man, after all. His tears won the battle, however, and soon enough Kirishima was a sobbing mess on his seat.

"What can I do for him?" he cried.

Aizawa huffed as he got up and made his way towards the sobbing boy and placed a reluctant hand on the young man's back.

Kirishima completely fell apart at the small physical contact, breaking down and becoming a slobbering lump in front of one of the manliest teachers he admired the most, besides All Might. Aizawa stood there and waited for the crying to subside, thanking the heavens that he had the precognition to push detention back an hour so he would have had the time to make the planned call.

Aizawa patiently stood still, rubbing circles along the child's back which seemed to soothe him, for whatever reason. Extroverts.

Eventually, Kirishima calmed down enough to look back at him, tears welling up in his face, and he was still clearly trying to fight the urge to form them. He was not going to be winning any time soon.

"Kirishima," Aizawa started to say, "you know you can't force Bakugou—or anyone, for that matter—to tell you anything they don't want to tell you"

"But he needs to let it all out!" Kirishima exclaimed, cringing when he heard his own voice echoing within the quiet room, "I-it's not healthy for him to keep all of that bottled up inside, sensei!"

"I know," Aizawa sighed, "but forcing him to open up to a person he doesn't trust yet could ruin their relationship"

"But why doesn't he trust me?" Kirishima sniffled, banging his fists against his desk, "I tell him everything!"

"Do you?" Aizawa said carefully. He was playing into dangerous territory. He had to choose his words carefully. These kids were impressionable. But he liked to think he knew them well enough at that point to be able to predict them. It wasn't all that hard...if anything, it felt...familiar.

"Yes!" Kirishima yelped, before his eyes widened and his face became as red as his hair, "Well...maybe not...e-e-everything...but more than he does!"

"Well, if you compare what you share with him with what he shares with you, that sounds awfully selfish and...unmanly," Aizawa resisted to urge to gag at the phrasing that peaked the young boy's interest. "Try thinking of it this way, what does he do with and/or for you? Not in class, something he does with his own accord and—if applicable—initiates?"

"Well..." Kirishima actually stopped to ponder about it, "...he teases me, and he helps me study, and he trains with me, and we sometimes go out to eat or play at the arcade..."

"Now, try thinking of what he does with and/or for your other classmates. Things not required for class that he initiates"

"He...nags at them and he teases them, too...but...not as...much, I guess? He's tried to kill Midoriya-kun a lot, and he bullies Kaminari and Sero for being idiots...uh..."

Kirishima's voice trailed off, clearly unable to think of anything else.

"Kirishima, Bakugou is very different from you," Aizawa explains, "the same way most people are different. You can't always expect the same amount of attention or care that you give them to be given back to you. That doesn't mean that the other person doesn't care at all or doesn't care just as much as you do. They can just simply not express it the same way or the the same extremes that you do"

Kirishima looked up at his in awe, but still seemed dubious at his words.

"Kirishima, what does Bakugou call you?" Aizawa questioned flatly.

"My name," Kirishima answered lamely, confused by the question.

"Does he call any other classmate by their name?" Aizawa raised an eyebrow at him.

"...there was that one time in the sports festival he called Uraraka by her name, but only when..." he said softly, until it dawned on him, "...only when she earned his...respect..."

"And you call him by his first name, don't you?" Aizawa asked, which earned him a small nod in reply, "Has he let any of his other classmates call him that?"

"...no..." Kirishima spoke, soft as he has ever been. Suddenly, a smile cracks wide upon his face and he beamed at his teacher, eyes shining brightly.

Tears once again threatened to be freed by the boy with the hardening quirk, and soon enough he went back to becoming a whining heap, but this time he wept tears of joy.

He had pulled his teacher close, holding the man tightly, weeping messily onto his sweater to muffle his cries. Aizawa sighed again as he awkwardly placed his hand back on the young boy, patting him gently.

The hug was much to tender for his taste, but Aizawa made no attempt to let go, seeing as the boy still needed to let all of his feelings out.

"You just have to give him time, Kirishima," Aizawa spoke softly, "We both know Bakugou can be abrasive and hard to reach out to, but he clearly isn't heartless"

The young boy nodded his head weakly in the pro hero's arms, eyes shut tight.

"You just have to let him go at his own pace," Aizawa said gingerly (he hoped), "Not all of us are as willing to show affection in the...conventional way. Nor do a lot of people like opening up"

He sighed, wondering if he should say his next words or not.

"You can try to open up to him, too"

Kirishima jolted up eyes looking bewildered but he was met with a blank deadpan stare. Kirishima could feel his face heat up, before whispering incoherently onto the underground hero's shirt, still clinging onto him.

Aizawa rolled his eyes and mumbled, "You know, I think it's really manly when when one is able to open up their feelings to another"

He could feel his student grinning against him, eventually letting his teacher go to beam properly at him. Kirishima's sharp-like teeth were bared in the toothy smile he threw at Aizawa.

Aizawa let himself give a small smile back.

"Thank you, sensei," Kirishima said, grin not wearing out, "You're super manly!"

With that he bolted out of the room, waving goodbye.

Aizawa rolled his eyes, checking the time on his phone, he realised he had to be in the detention room soon.

He briskly walked, making a mental note to call the cafe afterwards. When he reached the door, he could hear muffled voices inside. He listened intently through the door that was left ajar and had to bite back a sigh.

"—meet up with me after detention?" Kirishima looked nervous, but determined.

"Whatever, Weird Hair," the other voice muttered, seemingly indifferently.

Kirishima pumped his fist in the air and ran out, proclaiming a loud "YES!", too caught up to even notice Aizawa from where he stood beside the door. He chuckled quietly to himself at the spirited boy's antics.

He let himself bask in the silence for a bit longer, feeling no intense desire to enter the room after recognising the voice inside. This explained why Kayama had wanted him to take over her detention duties that day and refused to tell him who was listed. At least she had pitied her friend enough to have given the troublemaker the message that he had to schedule detention at a later time.

All to soon, he had to enter the room, immediately using his quirk on Bakugou. The teenager still had a sweaty hand raised against his teacher's head, anger written all over his face. The two glared at each other, one filled with rage, the other filled with tiredness, clearly and firmly done with the child's antics. Bakugou lowered his hand back to the desk he was sitting on, but continued to glare at the man.

Aizawa sighed, knowing what was bound to come.

4. Bakugou

It was only a number of minutes since his last one-on-one therapy session with a lovestruck teenager, and Aizawa really just wanted to get everything over and done with. Unfortunately, he was dealing with Bakugou of all people, and fleeing was not a luxury he had. He could not afford to risk raising the (literally) explosive boy's temper in fear of the paperwork he would have to go through regarding the damage of school property in the aftermath of the tyrannical teenager's temper tantrum.

Luckily enough, neither was the type to beat around the bush.

"So, what seems to be the problem, Bakugou?" Aizawa asked with a deadpan expression.

"What the fuck are you talking about, you cryptic caterpillar fucker?" Bakugou hissed.

Aizawa rolled his eyes and gave him a harsh look. The two had a silent argument with their eyes. Neither were willing to waver from their weird staring contest. Aizawa's eyes narrowed, forcing himself not to blink. Bakugou continued to glare harshly at him, determined to no not back down from the unspoken challenge.

Time flew by as they continued to stare each other down. Aizawa's eyes burned, twitching. Bakugou was breathing heavily, causing small sparks to fly from his sweaty palms.

Finally, Bakugou let out a frustrated roar and simply raised his palms to his teacher, clearly done with their little game. Aizawa was already erasing the young boy's quirk and wrapping him in his capture weapon. Tugging the bonds to make sure they were secure, Aizawa sighed, blinking.

Bakugou was seething as he tried to wriggle out of his scarf, but the way his arms were wrapped made it so that if he used his quirk, he'd just blast himself.

"So, are you ready to talk yet?" Aizawa asked bluntly.

Bakugou continued to struggle, and Aizawa sat down on his desk, waiting for his tantrum to end. Eventually, Bakugou actually did manage to free himself, but the escape didn't last long as before he could do anything, Aizawa was using his quirk again and aimed his capture weapon threateningly at the teenager.

"Did Shitty Hair put you up to this?" Bakugou demanded, unfazed.

"No," Aizawa said evenly, "but he is concerned as to why his best friend has been acting up lately. He worries about you, Bakugou"

"Baka," Bakugou growled, but eased off from his offensive stance, instead crossing his arms and leaning against his desk.

"So, why have you been acting up lately?" Aizawa asked, mirroring his position.

Bakugou visibly tensed up and glared at his feet.

"None of your business, Shit Face," Bakugou spat.

"Well, since I am your teacher, it is my business," Aizawa said, raising his eyebrow.

"Well maybe I don't want to talk about it," Bakugou howled, squinting at his teacher, "And what makes you think that would I want to talk about it with you?"

"Because I don't really care," Aizawa shrugged, "So no matter what you say, it won't really effect me"

"Cut the crap, sensei," Bakugou sneered, "You're just a big softie and we all know it"

"Whatever," Aizawa said defensively, but at least Bakugou visibly relaxed, "Anyway, you could talk to me because I am definitely not one of your friends, so I wouldn't tell them. And after all of this, we can go our separate ways as teacher and student and act like everything is normal. I've done it before, trust me"

"I don't need to talk about it," Bakugou seethed, "I don't need your pity, I can handle it on my own"

Aizawa groaned and rubbed his temple in frustration. He was going nowhere with this kid. It was time to change tactic.

"Maybe you're just too scared to admit your problems," Aizawa mocked, smirking, "Only the strongest of heroes can talk about their troubled, but I guess you're too weak"

"What did you just call me?" Bakugou demanded, raising his sparking fist, "I'll show you who's strong, old man!"

Bakugou thrusted his palm, but Aizawa easily stepped out of the way, and tripped the boy, sending him crashing onto the teacher's desk.

"See, you're out of focus," Aizawa taunted, "If you're not brave enough to face your problems, then how can you call yourself a hero? You should just give up if you can't even fight properly"

Aizawa didn't even use his quirk as he simply blocked all of Bakugou's punches, sending the explosions across the room.

"Pathetic," Aizawa tormented him, voice flat, sweeping a low kick at the teenager's feet, sending him to the floor with a loud thump.

Bakugou banged his fist against the floor in frustration, shutting his eyes as he wordlessly berated himself.

"Ready to talk yet?" Aizawa asked, almost bored.

It took up the better part of the hour waiting for Bakugou to rise, but when he did, there were small tears in his eyes.

"I...I'm....fucking weak," Bakugou said softly.

"How so?" Aizawa asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he sat down next to the boy.

"I'm weak because I'm scared," Bakugou hissed, narrowing his eyes at the floor, "I...I'm scared of....of being honest with Shitty Hair"

"Bakugou," Aizawa sighed, "Courage isn't being fearless, it's accepting your fears and doing the thing your scared of, anyway"

"That's just idiocy," Bakugou grumbled to himself, making Aizawa chuckle softly.

"True," Aizawa shrugged, "But some people make us want to do idiotic things, and that's not always a bad thing"

Bakugou continued to just look at the floor, refusing to meet his teacher's eyes.

"I...don't want him to think less of me," Bakugou sighed, wrapping his arms around his knees.

"Why would he think less of you?" Aizawa questioned.

"Shitty Hair likes...strong, manly men," Bakugou shrugged, "He doesn't like weaklings who get kidnapped and cause his favourite hero to retire because of his own fucking pride"

"You know that none of us blame you for what happened to All Might, right?" Aizawa asked.

Bakugou simply shrugged, not meeting his eyes.

"I just...I don't want to talk about it because I feel so fucking useless," Bakugou snarled, "I know that he just wants to help, but I don't know how he can, and all it does is make him feel bad and I don't want him to feel bad for my sake"

"So what?" Aizawa asked, raising his eyebrow, "You plan to just pretend you don't have emotions and face your problems on your own?"

Bakugou snarled at him, causing his teacher to let out a small laugh.

"You're right, though," Aizawa shrugged, looking at the wall, "He doesn't know how he can help, but he wants to"

"Idiot," Bakugou humphed.

"Because he cares about you," Aizawa said, facing him, "And you clearly care about him. So, if it makes you feel any better about yourself, just think that you're talking to him for his sake, not your's"

Bakugou wrapped his arms tighter around his knees.

"I think I love him," Bakugou muttered underneath his breath, making Aizawa pause to think.

"Then why don't you tell him?" Aizawa asked softly.

"I...I don't know...how," Bakugou said, eyes wet.

"Bakugou," Aizawa called, making the boy turn to him, "You're one of the smartest people in your class, in UA even. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out"

The two sat there in comfortable silence. They both waited quietly until they heard the familiar sound of the school bell chiming away, indicating the end of detention.

Bakugou seemed hesitant to rise from his spot, but he got up. Aizawa reluctantly placed a hand on the young boy's shoulder. They both seemed content with the small act of physical contact, and Bakugou turned to the door, where he saw Kirishima waiting eagerly.

"Thanks, Aizawa-sensei," he said softly, without facing him.

Bakugou took a deep nervous breath and stomped towards the door where Kirishima was waving at him enthusiastically. Kirishima turned anxious when he saw his friend storm towards him, but he made no move to run. He stood still even when the door was nearly blasted off the hinges and Bakugou grabbed the collar of his shirt, making it smoke.

"EIJIROU!" Bakugou roared, "I need to talk to you!"

Kirishima gulped, but Aizawa saw the small smile of determination plastered on his face as he was violently dragged down the deserted corridor. Aizawa had a soft smile of his own as he brought out his phone, hoping he could find still find a table for him and Yamada for their anniversary dinner.

5. Todoroki and Midoriya

Aizawa was pissed. It was the day before his and Yamada's anniversary, and nothing was going as planned. Everything had to go swimmingly, and yet he couldn't find a single flower shop that sold Yamada's favourite flowers, he wasn't able to get a table for them in his favourite restaurant, and he still hadn't gotten Yamada's favourite chocolate from the nearby bakery. He had a plan, everything was planned out so smoothly.

And now he was stuck in the school clinic because Midoriya injured himself. Again. Which meant that he'd have to get his husband's chocolate later. Hopefully.

The teacher couldn't help but glare at the unconscious boy on the infirmary bed as he informed Recovery Girl about what happened. They had been practicing sparring and Midoriya was up against Todoroki with rather explosive results.

Midoriya had twisted his arm and had several burn marks while Todoroki had frostbite and a sprained leg. Todoroki had healed fairly quickly and was currently at Midoriya's side, looking incredibly guilty. Aizawa sighed. He knew where this was going.

"What happened out there, Todoroki?" Aizawa asked, not beating around the bush. The teenager looked up at the man startled, as if forgetting that there were other people in the room.

"I...I don't know," Todoroki said slowly, looking ashamed, "I'm so sorry, it was all my fault"

"Young Midoriya over there has been breaking bones since he started school," Recovery Girl crossed her arms, "I wouldn't worry about it too much"

Todoroki nodded and faced back to Midoriya. Aizawa turned to Recovery Girl. They shared a look. Recovery Girl huffed, rolling her eyes. After years of working together and being her student, she could read him like a book.

"Well, I better inform All Might about this," Recovery Girl said, "When Midoriya wakes up, tell him that he better stay in that bed until I come back, or I will tie him to the bed with Aizawa's capture weapon"

Todoroki made a small sound of acknowledgement as he continued to look longingly at the unconscious boy.

"Todoroki," Aizawa called softly, kneeling next to the bow so they could be eye to eye, "Please, just tell me what happened out there"

"We were...distracted," Todoroki confessed, keeping his eyes trained on the sleeping boy, "We...we're dating. We've been together for a while now"

"So how did you two end up being injured?" Aizawa asked, raising an eyebrow. Todoroki seemed taken aback at how accepting his teacher was being.

"I...it's all still pretty new to us. To both of us," Todoroki said slowly, "We didn't know how to act in front of the others, and we definitely didn't know how to spar"

"Look, I don't care whatever it is you guys do in the bedroom," Aizawa deadpanned, causing the young boy's left ear to combust, "But I do care about what happens when you're out there in battle, especially if you're facing an actual villain"

"It's all just...we just don't know what to do," Todoroki sighed, "We have no idea how to act now, and what to do when we have to spar against each other. We were friends first, and I don't even know how that worked, and I don't know how it's supposed to work now"

"When you change the relationship, a lot of the time, there will be an awkward phase when you try to figure everything put and how you work," Aizawa shrugged, matter-of-factly, "Even if it's from friendship to coworkers, you'll have trouble adjusting to the new norm and what works for you with the new label"

"But...I don't really want things to change," Todoroki said, caressing his thumb across Midoriya's hand, "He's my best friend, and I never want that to be different. He was able to help me accept my father's side, and make it my own. I don't...I don't want us being boyfriends changing that"

"Well, things don't necessarily have to be different," Aizawa said offering a small grin, "Just because there are new acts of intimacy, doesn't mean the way you express your feelings to each other should be any different. Having a significant other should and is just like having an overly-glorified best friend that you can occasionally make out with"

Todoroki's left ear was still aflame, although his face remained mostly stoic as he nodded. He practically tore his eyes away from Midoriya and offered his teacher a small smile.

Aizawa hesitated before patting the young boy on the head, making his ear burn even brighter.

Midoriya woke up soon after, and Aizawa gave them a little bit of privacy. He left the room and mere seconds later, a babbling and crying Midoriya had burst out and gave the reluctant teacher an awkward hug.

Thankfully the embrace didn't last long since Recovery Girl saw Midoriya not in bed and automatically chased him inside, wielding Aizawa's capture weapon over her head menacingly.

Aizawa could have sworn he saw All Might enter the room, saw Midoriya sprinting around the room followed by a raging Recovery Girl, and immediately turn around. Aizawa also saw that Todoroki's smile had yet to die down. And neither did the fire on his ear.

+1. Shinsou

It was the day of Aizawa and Yamada's anniversary and everything sucked. He was not able to get him his favourite flowers, he was not able to reserve a table at his favourite restaurant, and he was not able to get his favourite chocolate.

All he was able to do was gather up some ingredients and hope to make Yamada's favourite food by hand. Which was how Shinsou found him in their apartment.

It was technically only Yamada's apartment since Aizawa had moved into the dorms to supervise the students and Shinsou soon joined him when he transferred to his class. The two occasionally visited though when 1-A was being overbearingly noisy. Yamada practically lived in the dorms, too, though as he visited nearly everyday to make sure his family ate something and regularly slept in Aizawa's room.

Shinsou liked to visit the apartment a lot during the weekends as he had not familiarised himself with it that well when they adopted him, since he was almost immediately transferred to the heroics course. So, it wasn't really a surprise seeing Shinsou enter with his school supplies, presumably to do his school work in peace.

Shinsou visibly ogled his adoptive father wearing a bright pink frilly apron that said Do Nothing to the Chef. Aizawa couldn't blame him. None of them liked cooking and usually relied on Recovery Girl or the older Iida for a home cooked meal. They only had the apron as a joke gift from Kayama and Fukukado who had drunkenly purchased it online.
"Welcome home, Hitoshi," Aizawa greeted flatly, not bothering to wipe the spices staining the apron, he turned back to the stove.

"Hey," Shinsou greeted back slowly.

"It's Hizashi's and my anniversary today," Aizawa explained simply.

"Yeah, I know," Shinsou nodded, taking in the scene before him.

Shinsou looked from the sauce painting the floor, the scorch marks on the ceiling, the smoke emitting from the pan, and back to his adoptive father.

"You want me to order pizza?"

***

Shinsou was trying to clean up the oil that somehow managed to spill onto the wall when he heard Aizawa let out a heavy exasperated sigh. While that was not necessarily a rare occurrence, he recognised that particular sigh. After spending so much time with the man, he had grown to be able to discern, detect, and differentiate his sighs. There were specific sighs designated for his friends, his class, the media, and Yamada, just to name a few. That particular sigh he had just let out was reserved for himself when he messed up. He sighed a lot like that recently.

"What's wrong?" Shinsou asked.

"Nothing," Aizawa huffed defensively from where he sat on the couch.

Shinsou raised an eyebrow at the pro underground hero.

"I...I just wanted today to be special," Aizawa shrugged, "I've never particularly cared about anniversaries or birthdays or holidays, but Hizashi has always been fond of them, and I just...I don't want to let him down"

"Aizawa," Shinsou sighed, joining him on their sofa, "Yamada would be happy with anything you give him, you know that"

"Yeah," Aizawa grunted, "Which makes everything even harder because he'll get me something impressive and thoughtful, and I can't even get him something decent or practical"

"What did you get him?" Shinsou piped up curiously.

Aizawa actually blushed, which only made Shinsou's curiosity perk up. Aizawa, face flushed, rose and stalked over to the master bedroom. Shinsou thought that was his attempt in ending the conversation, but soon he emerged with a box in his hand.

"How did you hide it from Yamada?" Shinsou asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I labelled it Endeavour Merchandise and told him that I planned on using them for a class presentation on marketing," Aizawa shrugged, "I'm wrapping it later"

Shinsou let out a soft chuckle as he gingerly took the box and lifted the lid. When he saw the content, his eyes widened. A smug smirk was on his face when he looked back up at Aizawa, colour dusting his face.

"You're such a sap," Shinsou chuckled, looking at the increasingly reddening man, "Yamada's gonna love it"

"And why are you so sure about that?" Aizawa retorted.

"Because you clearly put a lot of thought into it," Shinsou offered an honest smile, "And that's all Yamada cares about"

***

Yamada hated that he had to work during the weekend. Thankfully, he was able to excuse himself early so that he could at the very least have dinner with his husband for their anniversary.

The voice hero cheered aloud as he entered their apartment, kicking off his boots.

"I'M HOME!"

The floorboards shook. He was glad they had soundproofed the place. The scene that greeted him caught him by surprise, but he couldn't stop the soft smile forming on his face.

His husband and child were curled up on their couch, a still hot box of pizza on their coffee table.

By the time Yamada had finished showering, washing his hair, and changing into comfortable clothes, Shinsou's eyes were fluttering open. The boy let out a loud yawn before noticing his other parental figure. His eyes widened and he smacked Aizawa awake.

The underground hero was immediately up and in an offensive stance. When he noticed that it was just Yamada, he sighed, before tensing up again.

"Happy anniversary, Shouta!" Yamada greeted sweetly, leaning towards him, brushing their lips together. The other man grunted in reply before pressing their lips closer together.

"I'll leave you guys alone now," Shinsou announced awkwardly, gathering his discarded school supplies.

"Nonsense," Aizawa said, "You're part of the family now, Hitoshi, you can celebrate our anniversary with us"

"Yeah!" Yamada agreed automatically, "Just not later tonight. I have...plans with him after you go to bed"

"Remind me to sleep back in the dorms tonight," Shinsou feigned gagging while Aizawa slapped Yamada upside the head.

The three then proceeded to spend the night cuddling and eating pizza while watching bad movies. It was well past midnight when Shinsou found himself lying down on the sofa, feet thrown over Aizawa's lap, and head on Yamada's while he ruffled and played with his hair.

The teenager was starting to drift back to sleep when Yamada urged him to get up. Shinsou groaned but complied, rubbing his eyes.

"Let's do gifts!" Yamada cheered like a child, running towards the kitchen.

"You got me food?" Aizawa asked, wondering why he decided to to bring it out now when they were all clearly full.

"Nah, I just knew you'd never go through the kitchen," Yamada laughed, before returning back to them with a wrapped box.

Aizawa took his time opening it, much to his family's frustration.

"You got me...pink sweatpants," Aizawa stated, holding up the bright fabric.

"Yup!" Yamada grinned.

"Did you just get these for me because you wanted to steal them from me?" Aizawa asked, raising his eyebrow.

Instead of dignifying the accusation with a response, Yamada chose to stick his tongue out, making Shinsou chuckle and earning a soft smile from Aizawa.

"Now present! Gimme!" Yamada demanded greedily.

Aizawa's face matched his new sweatpants as he trudged back to the bedroom. He offered the box shyly to his husband. The blond immediately tore through the wrapping paper, before recoiling in shock.

"It's not actually Endeavour merch, I just labelled it that so you wouldn't touch it," Aizawa rolled his eyes.

Sighing in relief, Yamada opened the lid and his jaw dropped.

"...Shouta..."

Shinsou couldn't help the grin on his face, and Aizawa tried to hide in his scarf in humiliation.

Yamada held up the scrapbook proudly, eyes beaming. He carefully flipped through the pages. It dated back to their days in UA. There were pictures of Aizawa and him in class with Kayama and Iida, a younger but equally stern Recovery Girl, a gushing Yamada next to a younger All Might that time the two had met him before his injury (Aizawa showed the picture to All Might recently and the former number one hero's face could be used as a traffic light). There were also pictures of them during their early hero days, as interns and sidekicks, some even had Thirteen and Fukukado. Then there were more recent pictures with them as teachers, some even had their current classes in the background. The last couple of pages featured Shinsou, much to the teenager's embarrassment.

Yamada was openly crying as he clung onto Aizawa after gently placing the scrapbook down, pecking him in the cheek multiple times. Aizawa sighed and resigned to his fate, but neither missed the smile adorning his face.

After they had discarded the pizza box, and cleaned up their mess, Shinsou stepped towards them tentatively. He coughed into his hand before bringing out a wrapped box from his bag.

"Happy anniversary," he managed to let out, not meeting their eyes. Yamada cooed and had to resist the urge to tackle the boy in a hug. Aizawa had the decency to look bashful, but opened the box nonetheless.

He brought out two mugs, labelled: #1 Dad and #2 Dad. He let out a soft chuckle and raised an eyebrow at Shinsou.

"Which goes to which?" Aizawa smirked.

Yamada let out a snort as he simply grabbed the #2 Dad mug.

"What? You're clearly his favourite," Yamada shrugged, laughing. Before Shinsou could protest, he said, "But I can still speak better English than both of you"

Two pairs of tired eyes were narrowed in his direction as Yamada made his way to the kitchen to pour him and Aizawa some coffee in their new mugs.

"We also have a gift for you, Hitoshi," Aizawa said when Yamada returned.

"Yup! It's for your dorm room!" Yamada grinned enthusiastically, jumping up and down in excitement.

Aizawa brought out another box from the drawer he liked to keep his papers in. Shinsou carefully opened it, and had a stunned expression when he saw what was inside.

"I know you pretty much live with Aizawa, but since you won't be spending a lot of time here, we thought it would be nice if you had something from home while you live at the dorms," Yamada smiled.

"Something to make your room look more...homey," Aizawa said, placing a tender hand at the back of his son's neck.

Shinsou carefully placed the framed picture of him and his parents on the table before tackling them into a hug. His eyes were wet but the smile on his face was bright.

"Happy anniversary, dads"