Work Text:
One
The first time he had been asked about Oboro Shirakumo within his class, he had been left in complete shock. The question had been an innocent one by Midoriya but it sent him into a completely frozen state for a moment. His students had gone completely silent watching as he froze.
"Sensei, who is Loud Cloud?"
That had been the question. The question that rang through Shouta's head. He didn't even notice that he had dropped everything that had been in his hands that were now sprawled out onto the floor.
"Sensei?" Asui's voice had snapped him out of the stupor.
Shouta shook his head, trying to clear the unwanted memories that flashed before his eyes. The lesson had been over work studies and indulging more on what they would face. Shouta took in a shaky breath, hoping that his students didn't notice just how on edge he was. How his mood instantly changed. Everything flooding through him.
"He was my classmate." And that was all he had said to it.
Later that night when he had gone back to his own dorm, he curled up next to his husband and cried. Hizashi held him as he cried himself to sleep that night. His dreams filled completely by crystal blue eyes and light blue hair.
Two
The next person to ask him something related to Shirakumo had been Shinsou. His protege. The same person who reminded him of himself when he was a teenager. "Sensei, he wasn't just your classmate. Was he?" Shinsou's words were careful, almost timid.
Shouta sighed softly, looking at the curious faces of his students. "No, he wasn't."
Yaoyorozu had raised her hand, a soft smile on her face. Shouta nodded to her, choosing to try and keep his shaking voice to a minimum. "If you don't mind me asking, who was he to you?"
Shouta smiled.
"You're Aizawa Shouta, right? I'm Shirakumo Oboro!"
"Yamada touching Shouta! Scandalous!"
"You are more than what that asshole says you are. You're amazing, Shouta!"
"He was my friend. My best friend." He replied, turning away from them. Something about telling his students that small detail made him feel slightly better. He definitely wasn't going to tell his students that Shirakumo was more than just his friend and how half of him had been taken that day. The day that changed him. If it hadn't been for Hizashi, he would probably be dead by now.
Three
"Midnight-sensei said you, Mic-sensei, and Loud Cloud were going to be a trio." Uraraka said one day when they were speaking of partners within hero society.
If Shouta's eyes weren't completely dry in that moment, he probably would of broken down in tears right then and there. "Yeah, we were." was his brief reply.
"I looked everywhere but I couldn't find anything about a pro hero named Loud Cloud. I saw his name in one of the old U.A. memory books." It had been Midoriya who had spoken.
Shouta placed the book that he had in his hands down and turned to face his students. "Ob-Shirakumo... he was killed during a fight with a villain. He was only in his second here at U.A... he died a hero even if he wasn't a pro yet." He stated, watching as quickly Midoriya's curiosity turned into sadness and regret. "Shirakumo would of been a great hero. The three of us wanted to open an agency together but I guess... fate had other ideas." His voice wavered as he spoke, shielding his mouth and eyes with his hair. He refused to show his class just how much their questions were affecting him.
"I think that is enough questioning for now. This must be a touchy subject for sensei." Iida stated, redirecting the students' attention back to their studies.
Thank you... Iida...
"Now, let's pick back up where we left off."
After classes were over, Hizashi didn't question him as he curled up onto their shared bed, a pair of broken goggles in hand. Hizashi just smiled at him and ran his long fingers through his dark hair in hopes of comforting his hurting husband. "It's okay, Shou. They don't know. They just want to know about him."
Shouta cried softly as he clung to Hizashi. "Why does it still hurt? It's been going on sixteen years now." He muttered.
Hizashi just pulled him closer. "He was your first love after all. The person who changed you. Made you better. Made you see your worth. Of course it would hurt to talk about him." The blonde replied.
"This isn't fair to you." Shouta whispered, pulling away to look his husband in the eye.
Hizashi returned with a small smile, moving strands of black hair from Shouta's face. "I loved him to. I thought me and him proved that much to you." The statement alone caused Shouta's face to flush over red as Hizashi chuckled. "It's okay to miss him. I miss him to. Every single day."
"I love you, Zashi."
"I love you too, Shou."
Four
Mirio and Eri were in the common rooms alongside his students when he had arrived. The little girl practically bouncing she talked to Midoriya. Tamaki Amajiki wasn't that far away from them, still as shy as ever, as he sat next to Kirishima as the red head spoke to him.
"Aizawa!" Eri exclaimed as soon as she noticed his presence. The girl jumped up from where she was sitting and made her way over to him, hugging his leg as she finally got to him. "Midoriya was telling me about a story that Ms. Midnight told them about your friend."
"My friend?" He questioned, looking down at her. Eri knew that Hizashi was his husband and Nemuri was his friend but Nemuri wouldn't tell her a story about himself.
"Oboro!" She exclaimed. "She compared you two to Lemillion and Tamaki!"
Shouta smiled at her, looking up to see the interest now completely on Mirio and Tamaki's faces as well as some of the other students. Even Bakugou looked somewhat interested. He leaned down, scooping her up into his arms. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."
Eri's smile grew bigger. "Can you tell me about him?"
Shouta thought for a moment before nodding after seeing the hopeful expression on her face. Part of him wondered if maybe his students had put her up to this. He walked around the common room until he was seated on the couch with her sitting on his lap. "Well, Oboro... he was one of those people who knew how to get to you. How to make you smile. When I was in high school... I had a lot of self-doubt. Felt like my quirk wasn't good enough to be a hero." He paused, watching the surprise on some of the students' faces. "Oboro... he made me better. Made me see there was more to me than a supposedly villainous quirk and that I could be a hero. We teamed up a lot. He actually gave me, my first pair of goggles to protect my eyes."
Eri's face lit up. "He did?"
Shouta nodded. "We were facing a villain and his quirk worked with smoke. It got into my eyes and I couldn't use my quirk against this guy. He ended up getting away but Oboro gave me his goggles and we managed to catch him." He explained, recounting the rest of the incident as she listened to him with wide eyes.
"Wow! That's amazing!" Eri exclaimed, her smile getting wide as she threw her arms up.
Shouta smiled at her. "Oboro in many ways is what Lemillion is to Amajiki.. that he was to me. Something I would never be able to repay him for." He stopped, looking out to his students, who had been listening the entire time. "Oboro Shirakumo was a light in my life that I didn't know I needed."
That night, he stay up, sitting on his balcony as he looked up to the night sky. Hizashi came out behind him, wrapping his arms around Shouta's waist from where the Erasure hero was perched on the edge. "Talked about him again?"
Shouta hummed. "Yeah, this time, it was Eri. They know how I got my goggles now." He replied.
"You're smiling this time." Hizashi muttered, placing a gentle kiss to Shouta's cheek. "I enjoy seeing your smile a lot more than seeing you cry."
Shouta leaned back into him, basking in his warmth. "Sometimes, I wonder what our relationship would of been if Oboro was still alive."
Hizashi snorted. "Probably all three of us in one. You were the one who said you loved us both and couldn't pick even if the class knew you and him were together." The blonde leaned in close to Shouta's ear and whispered, "Remember that one night when your parents were gone. How both me and Oboro took you at the same ti--"
He was cut off by Shouta turning to face him with Erasure activated, a deep blush on his cheeks. "Hizashi." He hissed. A second later, the younger man deactivated his quirk, his air falling back on his shoulders as he turned back to face the night sky. "I wouldn't ever forget it."
Five
This was wrong. Completely wrong. He wanted to deny it but he had seen it with his own eyes. Shirakumo's corpse was Kurogiri. Kurogiri, the bioengineered Nomu, the protector of Tomura Shigaraki. Somehow, him and Hizashi had managed to get through to him. His friend. His first love. Shirakumo's form as peeked through Kurogiri before disappearing all over again. It had been a brief moment but Shirakumo attempted to say his name before giving a clue to what happened to him.
"Hospital" It wasn't Kurogiri's voice but Shirakumo's which broke Shouta even more. His eyes burned from the overuse of his quirk and the tears that had managed to break through and fall over. Hizashi's anger that radiated off of him.
He was completely distracted for his homeroom class the next day. His students had been questioning why he hadn't been in class the day before but he couldn't even bare to look at them. Everything hurt. His heart ached. His eyes still threatened to spill out more salty tears.
He had barely looked up when he was approached by one of his students before something. Something completely familiar came before his eyes. He looked up to see Todoroki blushing at him with his eyes downcast with a photograph in hand. "I know we are supposed to be studying but this fell out of your papers this morning and... I figured you might not want anyone to see it." Todoroki whispered, trying to keep his classmates from looking up.
Shouta looked down at the photograph, hiding his face in his capture weapon to keep Todoroki from seeing his own flushed face. The photograph had been in his binder. Nemuri had slipped it there that morning after she had conveniently found it the night before.
In the photograph, which had been taken in their second year after they met Nemuri, had four clearly intoxicated teenagers. Hizashi had a bottle in his hand as he smiled broadly at the camera. Nemuri was leaning against his midsection with her arms stretched out holding the camera, her shirt unbuttoned to show off her bra that she had underneath. Shirakumo sat next to them, shirtless with love bites littering his neck. On Shirakumo's lap was Shouta, wearing Shirakumo's much larger t-shirt wearing no pants but luckly the shirt covered all of him to his mid-thigh.
Shouta muttered a quick thank you as he took the picture back and slipped it into his pocket, giving a quick apology to the student. Todoroki nodded. "Um, sensei... you were more than just friends. Weren't you?" Todoroki questioned, his voice a little higher this time just out of what Shouta would guess was embarrassment. This made the rest of his class look up at him with the mixture of puzzled and curious looks. They knew that he was married to Present Mic and had been for eleven years and officially together for thirteen. Hizashi had let it slip in class one day when they had spotted his wedding ring.
Shouta choked down the knot in his throat. He could blame it on the alcohol and say that he was just drunk but his class could apparently read him like an open book when it came to his love life. Finally, he sighed and nodded. "Yeah, he was my boyfriend at the time."
He couldn't even look back at his class after the statement left his mouth. Todoroki had been quick to get to his desk once he noticed the quick change of his teacher's mood after muttering a soft apology.
Plus One
Class had been dismissed for lunch and Shouta remained, grabbing ahold of their assignments from that period. Surprisingly, his students remained behind too.
It had been two months since Tsukauchi and Gran Torino had taken him and Hizashi to Tartarus about Kurogiri. He hadn't uttered a word to anyone about the information. Hizashi had to be the one to tell Nemuri cause when he tried, the words just wouldn't leave him. He had broken down in tears in front of her and just clung to her. So much had happened since then.
With the fall of the hospital and the new and improved Shigaraki. He had barely made it out with his life when Midoriya and Bakugou jumped head first into a fight against the leader of the Paranormal Liberation Front. He had put everything into it and only because of those two, he was still alive. Hizashi had been different since that day too. Quieter. That night when they went to go to sleep, Hizashi told him the truth of what he was told within the hospital walls before Shigaraki's awakening. All for One had wanted Erasure. It was supposed to be him not Shirakumo. It was his fault Shirakumo had died, even if Hizashi kept trying to tell him that it wasn't. It was.
His students, more so Bakugou and Midoriya, had caught on quickly that something was up with him. He knew that few of the others had to be wanting to question him about his sudden change in demeanor. He hadn't been asked once about Shirakumo since he revealed that he had been in a relationship with him. He never did mention the arrangement between his then boyfriend and his now husband. That was something they didn't need to know.
His back was turned to the door as he picked up the last of the assignments from Hagakure. He barely heard the door slip open and Hizashi saying, "This is our old classroom." before Bakugou sent out an explosion from his palm and slamming his hand against the desk top.
"WHY THE FUCK IS HE HERE!" The blonde teenager screamed.
"I didn't think you guys were going to be in here." Hizashi stated.
Shouta turned to face the door and standing at the doorway was Hizashi, Nemuri, Tsukauchi, All Might, Gran Torino, and Kurogiri. All of the papers that he had in his hands fell to the ground as his eyes widened and his quirk activated involuntarily. "Hizashi, what's going on?" He didn't even bother with talking to his husband by his hero name. His class had known about their marriage since the USJ incident. He wasn't going to cover it now.
Hizashi scratched the back of his head with a nervous chuckle. "Tsukauchi and Gran Torino thought it might help if we brought him to U.A. to try and help with his memories. We thought the students would be at lunch already."
Tsukauchi nodded. "I requested permission from the prison and Principal Nezu. Both agreed that this should help. He is wearing quirk nullifying cuffs. He can't go anywhere and if he tried, Midnight is right here." The detective stated, confirming any questions that Shouta might have.
"Memories? What is he talking about?" Midoriya whispered as the murmurs filled the room.
"You couldn't do this when the students weren't in class?" Shouta questioned.
All Might gave him a smile, a reassuring one that he had seen multiple times now, "Principal Nezu said it might be more beneficial.. if he saw you."
Shouta's breath caught in his throat as he lifted his hand to cover his mouth as he looked at Kurogiri. His eyes beginning to burn from the usage of his quirk. "Shou, blink." Hizashi muttered.
Shouta complied, letting his eyes slip shut, his hair once again pooling against his shoulders. "Is this supposed to be familiar to me?" Kurogiri questioned, looking around the room. "Young heroes to be. It's a pleasure to see you again." The former villain stated, looking at the students now. The class went completely silent with the exception of Bakugou.
"Shut the fuck up, you warpy bastard!"
"Bakugou, stand down." Shouta whispered, reaching over with his free hand and placing it on Bakugou's shoulder. "It's fine."
"LIKE HELL IT IS! HE'S A VILLAIN!"
Hizashi gave Shouta a knowing, soft look. "I figured that you wouldn't tell them."
Shouta glared at him. "You didn't tell me this was happening."
Hizashi shrugged, walking forward until he was standing in front of his husband. "Actually, I didn't know until about an hour ago but you were still teaching. This was kind of thrown on me." He stated. Shouta surveyed his face for a moment and relaxed as he noticed that Hizashi was indeed not lying to him.
"Tell us what?" Yaoyorozu managed to ask through her shock.
Hizashi turned his gaze away from Shouta, Shouta's eyes now having returned to Kurogiri. "Kurogiri is a Nomu."
"What?" Midoriya's mouth dropped open.
Todoroki looked between Kurogiri and Shouta before his own eyes widened. "No.." He whispered, his head shaking as he finally kept his gaze on his teacher. A few of the others including Iida, Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, and Asui seemed to catch on quickly as well. Midoriya followed a moment later as his eyes widened as he looked back at Kurogiri.
"Kurogiri was made from the corpse of Oboro Shirakumo. His cloud quirk is the base to the warping quirk." Tsukauchi stated, taking over for the two clearing grieving heroes.
Shouta's shoulders started to shake as the tears returned to his eyes. The tears that he had been holding back since his eyes landed on the nomu that was once the man he had fallen in love with. The man that both him and Hizashi had loved. "He barely reacted to us talking to him at Tartarus. What makes you think this will help at all?"
Hizashi sighed, reaching out and pulling Shouta to him. "We have to try. He reacted to you. Maybe, if we show him here. He will react again. Maybe Shirakumo is still truly in there." The Voice hero muttered, running his hand over Shouta's back as the younger man shook against him.
Shouta pushed against him, effectively pushing his husband away as his quirk activating again. His capture weapon floating around him. "What am I supposed to say? That I used to sit where Todoroki is. Or you sat in Yaoyorozu's seat... or Oboro sat where Shinsou is." He paused, biting back a sob as he turned to look at Kurogiri. The mist didn't move but the room was dead silent. "Or maybe how we used to sit in the very back of the class and you would pretend I was awake when I was actually asleep cause I didn't get any sleep the night before. How you defended me again Sensoji."
The mist flickered for a moment but Kurogiri remained tall. The villain took a couple of steps forward, the heroes and detective behind him keeping a close eye on him as he moved. His cuffed hands in front of him as he moved. "I apologize but I don't know what you are talking about." Kurogiri stated.
Shouta growled, marching over to Kurogiri and staring up into gold colored eyes. "Bullshit. You really don't remember how we ate lunch on the roof and that is how we met Kayama. How in our second year... you brought Sushi to the school with my umbrella. You gave me my goggles. So we could match. We are supposed to have a hero agency between the three of us with a freaking cat tree for Sushi and adopt the neighborhood strays." Shouta let the sob leave him as he body started to give out. Kurogiri reached out, catching ahold of him as the Erasure hero leaned his head against his chest. "You can't tell me you don't remember the long nights I spent at your house or how we would get drunk at Kayama's because I didn't want to go home. I was alone... you made me whole again... you can still be a hero... We can be heroes together. That's what I told you at the prison. Oboro... I know you're in there... you have to fight it."
Kurogiri was looking down at him when Shouta finally looked up to him. "You're Oboro Shirakumo from Class 2-A. This was our classroom. We did our work study at His Purple Highness' agency. Team Purple Revolution. You, me, Kayama, Purple.. us four." Shouta muttered, watching the continue flicker of mist. "When I wouldn't smile... you knew how to make it happen. You lead me to Hizashi... despite the fact we were together. You still wanted me to be with him... you were the sun." His voice dropped to a whisper as he pulled away, taking a step back until he was no longer leaning against the Warp villain. "I thought I had been so weak... powerless... but you proved me wrong. Kept pushing me to be the best I could... It was supposed to be me that day... not you.. I'm the one who was supposed to die! Not you! All for One wanted Erasure! He wanted me... It's my fault this happened to you!"
"My sun died out that day... all that was left was rain... we mourned you... and now you're here and we can't even reach you. What kind of hero am I if I can't reach the person right in front of me." He stated, looking down to the ground.
Gasps rang out through the room as a hand forced Shouta too look back up. "Shou...ta.." Kurogiri--no Shirakumo's voice filled the room. The mist started to flicker more now, whirling around the room. Tsukauchi and Gran Torino moved forward while Hizashi reached out for Shouta. Tsukauchi and Gran Torino were both stopped by All Might's arm.
"Toshi." Gran Torino warned before All Might nodded his head towards Kurogiri. The former villain let out a loud cry of pain as he collapsed to his knees. His cuffed hands clutching at his head as he continued to scream.
"Fight it, Oboro." Hizashi exclaimed, letting Shouta to cling to his arm to keep him from falling forward. "You can do it. You never gave up in high school. Don't give up now. Come back to us."
"Hi...zashi.." Kurogiri gasped out through the pain. The villain ripped at the brace at his neck. "Hu...rts..."
"You can do it, Oboro." Shouta urged, clinging onto his husband like a life line.
Midoriya got up from his seat, One for All activated throughout his body as he cautiously approached Kurogiri. "Izuku!" Todoroki exclaimed as he jumped from his seat.
"Let me help you." Midoriya whispered as he kneeled down and grabbed at the brace. He let out a shout as he grabbed it from two sides and pulled. He muttered to himself as he raised his power level before finally the brace snapped. His body propelled backwards and his back slammed against the floor. Todoroki was out of his seat completely as next to Midoriya within a few seconds. "Shouto, I'm okay." He muttered as he leaned up, staring in shock at Kurogiri.
Kurogiri was left gagging and coughing on the ground and the mist completely filled the room, blacking out the room. Suddenly, the mist completely disappeared and Shouta forced his eyes to adjust to the sudden intrusion of light against his eyes. "Oboro..." He whispered as him and Hizashi separated, both looking down to where Kurogiri formerly was.
Now in the spot of a mist body was Shirakumo in the flesh. His light blue hair still in the appearance of a cloud as he clutched at his neck. "Oboro." Hizashi said, much louder than Shouta.
Finally, he looked up.
Shouta let out a sob as a smile broke out over his face as his gaze met crystal blue eyes. "Shouta... Hizashi..." Shirakumo whispered, looking around the room and his eyes settling on Midnight. "Nemuri..." Nemuri had tears falling down her face as she covered her mouth.
"Shirakumo."
Shirakumo didn't look exactly like he did when he was a teenager. He was slightly taller than he had been at seventeen and his face looked a little older. The only difference was he remained dressed like Kurogiri. His eyes were full of tears as he heaved from his hoarse throat.
"Here." Todoroki whispered, handing an orange juice that had been given to him by Iida. "Drink this."
Shirakumo mumbled a thank you and took a large drink from the orange juice, sighing in relief from the liquid helping with his burning throat. Shirakumo placed the drink down, pushing himself off of the floor as he looked back at Shouta. "I could hear you... every time. Even at the USJ... I just couldn't break free..." He whispered. "I was dead but I remember everything." Tears came to his eyes as the memories continued to flood through him.
"The neck brace must been some form of device to make sure his memories couldn't come back." Gran Torino muttered to Tsukauchi, who nodded in agreement.
"It wasn't your fault." Shouta replied, throwing himself forward and straight into Shirakumo. Shirakumo's arms wrapped around him tightly and pulled him close. "I'm... just so glad your back." Shouta cried as he sobbed into Shirakumo's shoulder. Shirakumo's hand was now on the back of his head, holding him closer.
"I'm going to call Tartarus and tell them it was a success. See what we can do." Tsukauchi muttered to All Might. The former hero nodded. "Thanks, All Might. You believed in this more than anyone."
All Might smiled, looking back too his co-worker and Shirakumo. "I could hear you... I don't know how I did it but your words broke through whatever barrier I had. Shouta, it's always be you." Shirakumo said. "You are a hero. You did reach me. You saved me, Shouta." The blue haired man looked away from Shouta, looking over to Hizashi who had tears spilling over his eyes that were hidden by his sunglasses. "Hizashi, come here." He motioned, within seconds Hizashi was in his arms too. He paused for a moment, noticing the chain around Hizashi's neck before he pulled back slightly and looked to Shouta's. A huge grin broke out on his face. "Oh my god, you two got married! I fucking called it."
Nemuri snorted. "Oh please, you proposed to Shouta with Sushi." Her words making Shirakumo look to her.
"True. Honestly, I'm sure if it was legal. He would of married us both." Shirakumo replied, causing Nemuri to let out a hearty laugh. "He did sleep with us both. Even at the same time. It would of been fine."
"Shut up." Shouta mumbled, still holding onto Shirakumo.
They weren't even sure how long they remained in a jumble of a hug before Hizashi and Shouta pulled away. Shouta sniffling as he wiped his eyes on his jumpsuit. He stopped as he looked over to his students with wide eyes. They had witnessed all of it. Shinsou wore a large smirk on his face as he shared looks with Kaminari. "Our sensei had it bad for two men." Shinsou snickered.
Shouta attempted to fixate a glare on him but was stopped as Shirakumo threw his arm over Shouta's shoulder. "Don't tease him now. He might end up in a blushing mess and activate his quirk or maybe hang you from a tree with his scarf. He's done it to me and Hizashi enough time." He stated, turning to look back to Hizashi. "I am glad to see that he married you. You two are great for each other."
Hizashi smiled. "I said the same for you two but I'm lucky that he kept his heart open for me."
"As much as I'm loving this... Aizawa-sensei, can you officially introduce us?" Ashido questioned, giggling as the three men looked over to her.
Shouta sniffled and nodded. "Class 1-A... this is Oboro Shirakumo better known as Loud Cloud."