Chapter Text
Shinsou felt on edge. He sat on the floor of his teacher’s guest room, leaning against the bed. He had stayed with them for a while already. Aizawa had taken him away from the terrible foster home that had left him green and blue and all shades of purple and yellow.
Shinsou had been grateful to get out of that home, but he knew the drill. He was sent to live with a different family for a short time until a better family could be found or a place in a group home became available. He’d been to so many homes he lost count. He never stayed long with foster families. He always was sent back to the group home and there was nothing he could do. With the dorm system established he couldn‘t bother them so much and then there was so much going on, that Aizawa and Yamada simply hadn’t had the time to deal with social services. But now that everything had calmed down he was sure he had to leave soon. They had Eri to deal with already, it made no sense for them to waste their time with him on weekends too.
Shinsou couldn’t focus in class, he barely ate, Aizawa and Mic were disappointed and annoyed at him. He was sure they were angry too. They were kind to let a student stay with them for a while but he knew they only did it because they felt responsible as teachers.
Shinsou shook with unshed tears. He had messed up in class today. He had gotten a test with a bad grade back. He constantly got tangled in the scarf material during training with Aizawa today. That hadn’t happened to him in a while. He wasn’t improving he was just getting weaker. Aizawa had stopped their training early because he’d been so stupid.
He held his head between his knees, choking on his breaths. They would get rid of him. Again he’d have to go to the group home. If there wasn’t any space he would have to go to a different one. One further away. He would have to quit UA. He wasn’t allowed to stay in the dorms during the Holidays. He could manage during the weekends, some students did that. But he actually liked it here. He liked Aizawa and Mic’s apartment, even if it was on campus it didn’t feel like the dorms. It felt like... it felt like ho... no. No. He couldn’t think of this as a home. They would get rid of him. He couldn’t get attached.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Shinsou struggled to breathe. They couldn’t see him like this. If they saw how broken he was they would send him away immediately.
Shinsou jumped up, stumbling through his door towards the exit. He let the entrance door slam shut behind him and ran. He wasn’t sure where he went. He did not know where he was. All he knew was that he was scared. He felt terrified. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid! He crouched down on the ground, unable to move a single step further.
Two people walked across the school grounds, not too far away.
“Seriously, how can you remember all those stupid memes but not how to do simple math?”
Kirishima just laughed at his explosive friend walking next to him. “Hey, I thought we were taking a break. Training now, math later.” The read head said.
“Fine, fine. But you better concentrate and get that shit right next time. I already explained it to you twice!”
“I’ll try! Honest-... ugh...” Kirishima stopped dumbfounded.
Bakugou followed his eyes and stopped as well. “Eh?” He looked just as surprised.
Then they looked at each other. Bakugou nodded towards their new classmate, a silent order for Kirishima to deal with him.
Luckily, the read head had quite some experience by now calming upset people down. However, calming Bakugou down was usually a little different than making the average teenager feel better.
“Uhm... Shinsou? Hi! Are you alright?” Kirishima approached carefully.
Shinsou didn‘t look up or calm down.
“Shinsou?” Kirishima asked again, louder this time hoping for a reaction. He crouched down as well. He slowly reached out but immediately pulled back when Shinsou shrank back. At least he was finally looking at them.
“Hey, ugh... I thought you’d go home for the weekend. What are you doing here? Are you hurt?” The red head asked slowly. Shinsou stared at them but he had a feeling he had trouble listening and focusing on the questions.
Bakugou remained quiet in the back. He knew Kirishima was better at dealing with such situations.
Kirishima held back a sigh. He had to be patient now. Shinsou tilted his head downwards again and was slightly rocking back and forth. “Shinsou, can you please say something?” Kirishima tried again.
Finally, after what felt like forever a head shake was the answer. That was not helpful at all.
“Hey.” Bakugou said quietly and poked his knee into Kirishima's back getting his attention. Bakugou nodded towards Shinsou in a way that said “look”. At first Kirishima didn’t notice anything special. The lavender haired teen was still quivering and held his head down. Then Kirishima saw the puddle beneath his feet.
“Oh.” Kirishima realized. “Shinsou, come on, we can go back to the dorms... or we can bring you home or something.”
“No!” The sudden yell caused both Kirishima and Bakugou to flinch in surprise.
“You don’t want to go home or to the dorms?” Kirishima tried to understand.
“No- no home. ‘zawa’s gonna be mad...” Shinsou said quietly.
“Okay. Then let’s go back to the dorms okay.” Kirishima decided and stood up, thinking this might finally be the end of it.
“No. No. No. Please no. Don’t wanna go. P-Please no.”
Kirishima and Bakugou looked at each other again. A silent conversation that only consisted of a questioning head tilt from Kirishima, an unsure shrug of Bakugou, that then turned into a sigh.
“Hey.” He said in a tone that was only a little less gruff than usual. His next words came out downright soft. “You feeling different from normal?”
Shinsou took a while to process the question, then hesitantly shrugged.
“Do you feel a little younger?“ Bakugou tried.
Wide, teary eyes looked up at him. Shinsou looked scared and upset but more surprised than confused. Bingo.
„Have you felt like this before?“ Bakugou asked very quietly.
A very slight and hesitant nod was the answer.
Kirishima started to look at Bakugou intently. He knew the blonde could be nice and soft spoken but this happened very rarely when he felt normal. Bakugou still seemed fine for now though. Shinsou had to be their top priority. It was Saturday afternoon and Shinsou had left the dorms on Friday to stay with family over the weekend... at least that’s what everyone assumed.
“Shinsou, you can’t just stay here. Where have you been staying since Friday?” Kirishima tried once again. He didn’t want to force him back to the dorms but eventually they had to if Shinsou didn’t tell them anything else.
“Have you been staying outside all this time?” Bakugou asked.
It took a while but finally Shinsou responded. He must have figured out they wouldn’t leave him alone until they got answers, so he shook his head.
The other two still weren’t sure if they should be relieved or frustrated. Getting answers out of Shinsou was incredibly difficult.
“Where have you been staying then?” Kirishima insisted to know. Maybe they could bring him back there. Though it was unlikely considering it looked like he had run away from that place.
“I think speaking’s difficult for him right now.” Bakugou stated.
“Mhmm.” The read head hummed in agreement. “Oh! Who’s ‘Zawa? Are they a friend?” Kirishima hoped this question would bring up too many bad memories and wouldn’t cause Shinsou to shut down completely. Luckily, it didn’t.
“T-teacher.” The word was spoken so quietly they barely heard it.
Bakugou and Kirishima looked at each other again.
“You mean Aizawa?” Kirishima guessed surprised and finally received a nod. Okay. With this they could work. Kind of. It was concerning that Aizawa would do something to upset Shinsou so much. It was hard to believe. Shinsou and Aizawa seemed to get along very well usually. Everyone was convinced Shinsou was his favorite. He even trained the lavender haired teen in his free time.
“Have you been staying with him?”
A very small, barely noticeable nod was the answer.
“Does he know, or does anyone know you sometimes feel like this?”
The head shake did not come as a surprise though Bakugou looked far more understanding than Kirishima who basically just had a ‘why are you doing this to yourself?!’ Expression on his face.
“D-don’t wanna go.”
“Was Aizawa mean to you?” For the first time Kirishima hoped for a shake of his head rather than a nod. He was lucky.
“Don’t wanna go away a-again. No h-home. N-no g-group home!” And Shinsou was back to sobbing.
“I really think we should call Aizawa.” Kirishima insisted. “We don’t have to tell him about you.” He assured the blonde who looked very unhappy.
“We can take care of him just fine. He doesn’t want to go to Aizawa. Look how he made him cry!” Bakugou fought back.
“Shinsou, is it okay if we call Aizawa?” Kirishima had to repeat the question two more times until he had calmed down enough to listen or answer.
“H-he’ll be mad.” Shinsou stated sobbing. “I don’t wanna leave again.”
“Why do you think Aizawa is mad at you? Did he say so?” Kirishima didn’t want to bring Shinsou back to a bad situation, but he knew Bakugou sometimes got ideas stuck in his head that weren’t true.
Shinsou shrugged, but he seemed better at talking now. “I-Im... I always have ta go. Always. Never stay.”
Kirishima sighed and looked for help from Bakugou, but the blonde had just crossed his arms and seemed determined not to change his mind.
“I’m going to call him. If he’s mean we’ll protect you, okay?” It was the best Kirishima could offer right now. No matter how grumpy and annoyed Aizawa could be, they knew he cared about his students. But then again... anyone could turn abusive. If Aizawa had hurt Shinsou they had to find out.
It took a moment for Aizawa to answer the call, then a familiar, alert voice sounded through the speaker. “Hello? Kirishima?”
The read head had put Aizawa on speaker so the other two could listen as well. They were lucky no other students or teachers were around.
“Hi Mr. Aizawa. Uhmmm so...” he had no idea how to actually start.
“Any idea where Shinsou is?” Bakugou asked impatiently.
There was a pause on the other end. “Bakugou?” He guessed.
“So?!” The blonde demanded. “Bakugou, calm down.” Kirishima warned motioning to Shinsou who looked more upset again.
“Sorry.” Kirishima apologized to Aizawa. “We just wondered if Shinsou was supposed to be with you?”
“Why are you asking this?”
“Well...”
“M’ sorry! M’ sorry! Please don’t send me away! M’m sorry! I’ll be good!” Bakugou and Krishima looked surprised at Shinsou’s outburst.
There was another pause on the other end of the line before Aizawa asked very confused “Shinsou?”
“M’sorry!”
“Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay.” Kirishima gave his best at comforting him. Footsteps could be heard, the knock on a door, then a door opening.
“Shinsou’s with you?” Aizawa then confirmed.
“Obviously!” Bakugou huffed.
“Is he hurt?” Aizawa sounded genuinely concerned now.
“Uhm... not really.” Kirishima said.
“Where are you?!” Aizawa demanded to know. “Is anyone else hurt?”
“No. No one’s hurt.” Kirishima hastily said. “We are close to the training grounds. We could bring him?” He suggested.
“Can I speak to Shinsou, please?” Aizawa sighed sounding dead tired. If his students had gotten themselves into trouble again just when the new school year started he had no idea what to do with the hopeless idiots.
“You are on speaker.” Kirishima let Aizawa know. “It’s just...do you know about age regression?” Kirishima asked
“Was he hit by a quirk?”
“I don’t think so. I think it’s more because of stress and...well I don’t know that much about Shinsou. I just really think it would be best to get him someplace safe and more private. We can take him back to the dorms if you prefer.”
“No. You can bring him to the teacher dorms. Are you sure I shouldn’t come meet you?” Aizawa said. His voice was layered with a hint of confusion.
“I think it’s best not to bring too much attention to this right now. We’ll be there soon.”
“He mad?” Shinsou asked as soon as the call ended.
“I think he’s more worried than mad.” Kirishima reassured. Bakugou still frowned skeptically.
“If he says anything stupid I’m gonna kick his ass.”
“Anyways... let’s get you back okay. You can’t stay in your wet pants forever.” Kirishima said and reached for Shinsous hands to pull him up. Shibsou flinched away, an embarrassed blush coloring his cheeks.
“I-I’m dirty.” He whispered.
Bakugou looked conflicted. “It happens. Don’t worry too much about it.” He said, a blush dusting his own cheeks. “Come on, this is uncomfortable right? You need a shower. You don’t want to get a rash.”
“I can give you a piggy back ride.” Kirishima offered, even though Shinsou was taller than him and had put on more muscle since training with Aizawa, Kirishima was confident he could carry him. He lifted and carried Bakugou often enough. Shinsou decided against that though, obviously stuck in his head and at war with his own feelings. He did accept to hold Kirishima’s hand though.
About half way to the dorms Shinsou started to grow more nervous again. It was a wonder he had any tears and energy left at this point, though it was obvious he was running low on both. Emotionally and physically exhausted, setting even a single foot further in the direction of the teacher dorms seemed far to overwhelming. Bakugou helped him on Kirishimas back, who ignored the wetness soaking into his own clothes.
When they arrived at the teachers dorm they saw Aizawa already waiting outside. As soon as Aizawa noticed Shinsou wasn’t walking he headed towards them.
“Hitoshi?!” He asked alarmed. The teen just hid his head further in Kirishimas neck. Kirishima smiled in greeting, only stopping to readjust Shinsou a little before continuing his way. Bakugou walked next to him like a guard dog.
“What is going on?” Aizawa demanded to know.
“We already told you on the phone.” Bakugou hissed. Kirishima glanced towards the blonde. The situation really was getting to him.
“We can explain some more later, but can we get inside first? He really needs a shower.” Kirishima said walking in front of Aizawa. Only now their teacher noticed the wet spot in Shinsous pants.
“Fine. Come on.” Aizawa said and held the door open. He continued to another door which he opened with a key and then Kirishima and Bakugou entered their teachers dorm room- or rather apartment they realized. Well, it made sense the teachers had apartments and wouldn’t give up their houses just to move into small, on campus rooms.
“Bathroom?” Kirishima asked, without setting Shinsou down.
“Over here.” Aizawa said. The apartment was surprisingly big. There were several doors and a black and white cat stood in the hallway staring at the intruders of it’s home with wide eyes.
Bakugou stayed behind, looking at the cat while Aizawa and Kirishima entered the bathroom. Kirishima slowly let Shinsou down, by getting lower to the ground himself. The two sat on the ground and Shinsou still wouldn’t let go off Kirishima’s neck.
Aizawa felt lost. He hadn’t even noticed Shinsou leaving the apartment and now he had two other students of his in his home. Both seemed to have the situation under control- or at least Kirishima had. They also both appeared pretty guarded.
“Hitoshi?-“ before Aizawa could continue Bakugou grabbed his shirt.
“No.” He said seriously. “He trusts Kiri.”
Aizawa stared at Bakugou, as did Kirishima. Kirishima looked at him especially intently, so Bakugou looked away and let go of Aizawa’s shirt.
“Ah, could you maybe get Shinsou some fresh clothes?” Kirishima asked Aizawa before the situation escalated. Aizawa took one more look at the three teenagers before going along with Kirishima’s request.
As soon as Aizawa was out of sight and in another room, Kirishima turned to Bakugou. “You okay?” He made sure.
“Mhmm.”
“Do you want to leave?”
Bakugou thought a moment. “Nuh-ugh. ’s ok.” He said.
Kirishima felt conflicted, but Shinsou still clinging to him made the decision somewhat easier. He could deal with Bakugou later.
“Shinsou? Do you want to shower on your own or want someone to stay?” Kirishima asked.
“Don’t go. Please don’t go.” Shinsou clung more to him.
“Okay. I’m not going anywhere.” Kirishima reassured, but reached to loosen the other’s grip around him so he could turn around.
“Let’s get these clothes off, alright?” He said and grabbed Shibsou’s shirt to help him pull over his head.
“What are you doing?” Aizawa asked as he pushed past Bakugou into the bathroom and saw how Kirishima helped Shinsou out of his wet pants.
“I know this can look a little... strange, but I’m pretty sure he’s regressed. He doesn’t want to be alone and he trusts me so I’ll make sure he’ll be fine. I promise we’ll explain later.” Kirishima said, keeping one eye on Bakugou behind Aizawa. Bakugou was looking in the direction of the living room.