Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“No. No way in Hell. Absolutely not.”

Aizawa crossed his arms while looking at the Public Safety Commission President. He never had a fondness for her, but this request took the cake.

“Eraserhead, this offer is detrimental.” She sighed, rubbing her temples slightly in irritation from Aizawa’s immediate refusal. “He can be holding valuable information, but he refuses to talk to anyone. You’re our last hope.”

Aizawa chuckled a bit. Last hope? “Did you just happen to forget what he did to me? What his creature did to me? There’s no way.”

The pro hero’s stance was final. He was not going to be a mentor. Especially not to Tomura Shigaraki. After he blacked out during the USJ attack, Shigaraki’s nomu was defeated and he was swiftly captured by incoming heroes. Captured and detained before his warp gate could give him an easy escape. According to Toshinori, the poor kid had to be sedated because he was so violent in his capture. Killed a hero that simply tried to calm him down. He was charged with terrorism, trespassing, and murder, but seemingly his public servant was able to plead insanity. The thing was, Tomura Shigaraki was not insane. He refuses to speak to anyone about his true self, whether that be his past, his current emotional state, or where he sees himself in the future. Aizawa had a small tinge of pity for the kid. Albeit, it was nearly nonexistent, but it was still there.

“At least go see him. See if he’ll talk to you. The Hero Public Safety Commission will be in your debt.” She finished, giving Aizawa a small gesture that he assumed meant to leave.

So he did. He left feeling irritated that just as he was healing from Shigaraki’s attacks, he was requested to go help him. That kid had nothing left. There was no saving. He already had the pent up stress of watching over his students, The address of the institution was emailed to him, and he debated trashing it. But for the first time in a long time, he felt as if he needed a second opinion. Either to prove himself right, or to suck it up and help the kid. So, he treaded back to UA, where he’d find his answer.

Once the long walk was thankfully at its end, he saw just the man he wanted to see in the teacher’s lounge. Yagi Toshinori. If anyone could give him genuine, moral advice, it was him. He sat down across from him, the Symbol of Peace pouring himself a tea before noticing the dark haired hero. He pulled out another cup and poured into it with no questions asked, handing it to Aizawa.

“How are you doing today, Shouta?” Yagi smiled a bit as Aizawa took the cup from him. “You left without warning. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about you.”

The man’s tall, thin frame still towered over Aizawa, and his suit looked a bit goofy as it was more loose fitting as all of Yagi’s clothes were. Aizawa took a sip of the tea that Yagi handed to him. Along with being Japan’s Number One, he was also a natural at making the best cup of tea you could ever ask for. “Yeah… I had to go down to the Commissioner’s Office. Which is also why I’m here.”

Yagi tilted his head, watching as Aizawa took another sip. “They’re asking me to mentor that villain, Tomura Shigaraki.” His voice was a bit low and regretful. “I don’t want to. But they say I’m his only hope of recovery. So what I’m asking is… what would you do?”

Yagi stayed silent for a bit, almost as if he was deep in thought. Whether he was or not was impossible to tell. “I could never mentor. I’m trying my hardest as a teacher, and it still doesn’t seem like enough. But…” Yagi placed a hand on Aizawa’s knee, effectively reaching over the small table. “You have experience. And you’re a hero. Underground or not, you’re still a hero, Shouta. You’re helping your students build their path, I don’t see why you can’t do the same for Tomura as well.”

“That kid is far from redemption, Yagi.” Aizawa sighed, placing his cup down onto the table as Yagi pulled his hand away. “He’s an adult, but with a childish mind. A childish dream. There’s no helping him anymore, he won’t even accept help offered to him.”

“But he respects you.” Yagi smiled a bit. “If I were to go in there, he’d try to kill me. But you, I’m sure he’d at least listen. Your students heard it, they said he claimed you were pretty cool.”

“He called me cool, then proceeded to nearly kill me.” Aizawa glared at Yagi. “Even if I did, I have too much on my plate. I can’t teach a class and then go do therapy with some random kid who crippled me.”

Yagi shrugged as he took another sip of his tea. “I think you should do it, Shouta. Especially if you’re considered his last hope. You can be the hero that saves him.”

The last comment struck a small chord in Aizawa. It’s his duty to save people. He would be selfish not to save the one person in front of him that needed it the most. The more he thought about it, the more his brain conflicted with two sides of a double edged sword. Help the man who nearly killed him, or watch his downfall out of spite. The one person he knew he could at least try saving. It was decided. He stood up and thanked Toshinori for the tea, before promptly leaving without another word being said.

This is the best decision. He thought, making his way to the train station as he pulled up the email that contained the institution’s address. You can help him. And if you can’t, you can at least say you tried.

The train ride was almost an hour. From the amount of information given to him about Tomura, he’s been in “recovery” for about two months now. Opening the door to the institution, the smell of cleanliness hit him like a truck. It smelled like a hospital, almost. He walked to the front desk and waited for the nurse at the front to notice he was there.

She finally did, fixing her position and putting on that classic I don’t wanna be here social worker smile. “Hello, sir! Are you here to see one?”

“Uh, yeah…” He fumbled through his jumpsuit pocket and pulled out the folded up form given to him by the Commission that he filled out while on the train. “I’m Shouta Aizawa, I’m here for Tomura Shigaraki’s mentorship.”

The nurse raised a brow a bit as she turned to type into the computer, suddenly growing a face of realization after reading her screen. “Oh, you mean Tenko?”

Aizawa paused for a moment, mostly in confusion. His name was Tomura Shigaraki, right? Or was he at the wrong institute? The nurse smiled as she exited the front desk booth with a folder in hand.

“That’s his real name. Follow me, please.”

Aizawa did so. As he opened his mouth to ask another question, the nurse had already started talking.

“When the police called ahead to inform us that he was being transferred here from Tartarus, the name didn’t exist on file. So when he got here, we ran some tests. Luckily for us, he had to get allergy testing done when he was younger. If he hadn’t gotten that, he’d be missing forever! Crazy, right?” She led him down a hallway, once again not giving Aizawa much room to speak. “We’re really glad he found a mentor though. Hopefully you can get him to open up so we can do a proper psychological evaluation.”

The rest of the walk was relatively quiet. The place was nice, and surprisingly to Aizawa, the people he saw seemed to be pleasantly content. They soon reached a locked door that read “B124, Shimura, Tenko”, His name written on a piece of paper that seemingly was slid into a blank compartment. The nurse unlocked the door, opening it slowly. Aizawa tensed up a bit seeing the man that brought him to the brink of death sitting upright on the edge of the twin bed, making an attempt to write something down. He seemed unsuccessful because he was wearing…

“Mittens?” Aizawa whispered to the nurse.

The nurse snickered a little as she handed Aizawa the file she brought with them. “He’s a scratcher. We originally had him in gloves due to his quirk, but he scratches his neck a lot. So we had to put the mittens on him.”

She turned back to… Tenko, who lazily looked at the two of them. His eyes screamed disinterest. Aizawa stared at him, mostly in a bit of awe that he wasn’t losing his shit at the sight of him. He was sure he would’ve at least tried to kill him again. But he could hardly take this villain, a literal terrorist, seriously with mittens strapped onto his hands.

“Hey, Tenko!” The nurse smiled and brought a chair up to the bed, sitting in it. Her voice was perfect for this, it was pleasant and soft. He simply looked at her, his movements slowed. “How are you today? Doing better?” Nothing. The nurse seemed used to this, as she continued talking. “This is Sho-”

“Eraserhead.” Aizawa immediately interrupted. He couldn’t let a villain know his real name. The nurse glanced back at him before looking back at Tenko.

“This is Eraserhead. He’s gonna be your mentor! He wants to help you!” She continued, Aizawa assumed that babying their patients is how they kept them so mellow. Must be a quirk, or something. “Say hi!”

Tenko looked up at Aizawa, who stayed near the door frame. He let out a small sigh before finally speaking. “Hi. Again.”

Again. Now that he knew that he at least remembered meeting him, he could assume he remembered what he did, too. Aizawa huffed a bit before responding. “Hello, Shiga-” He paused. “Shimura.”

The nurse smiled at Tenko when he looked back at her. She said some more overbearingly positive things to him, that Aizawa blocked out, before getting up and setting the chair back. She moved back to Aizawa, moving in a bit close for comfort as she whispered in his ear.

“He’s heavily sedated, right now. If he starts acting up, there’s a nurse outside who can calm him down.”

He figured they had him drugged out. The kid was apparently a nightmare to contain at USJ, the institute would be no exception. The nurse left the room and closed the door. It was just Aizawa and Tenko. They both looked at each other in a relative silence before Aizawa let out an audible sigh. He moved the chair back a bit closer to the bed, not as close to where the nurse had it originally, but around that same area. He sat down and flipped through the file page. In it was an information sheet, a blank psychological evaluation form, and some papers from his case. At the end of the file was a small sticky note.

Has a physical reaction to the word “Father” and “All Might”. Avoid using.

Of course, he expected to see Toshinori mentioned somewhere. He closed the file and put it in his lap, hands on top of it.

“What’s with the mittens, Shigaraki?”

Tenko lazily raised his hands up. “Can’t use my quirk. I’m itchy, though.”

The kid seemed exhausted. Either exhausted, or he wanted Aizawa gone. As much as Aizawa wanted to be mean and hold his grudge, he couldn’t. For some reason, seeing Shigaraki in this state made him feel pitiful. He didn't want to feel pity for him, but he did. An overwhelming sense of disgusting pity. Maybe now that he wasn’t out for his head, he could actually see that Tenko looked… upset. Greyish blue hair falling over his face, bags under his wrinkled eyes, and what seemed like extremely heavy eyelids. He felt almost guilty for wanting to beat his skull in for what he did. He couldn’t hurt him, but what he could do was treat him as if he were one of his students.

“Why do you want me as your mentor, Shimura?” He made his voice a bit softer, losing the accusatory tone of the last question.

Tenko glared at Aizawa. “I don’t. I don’t want a mentor. I told them I didn’t.”

“But that’s the whole point of the program you’re in. Why would you accept the terms of being in a mentorship if you didn’t want a mentor?” Aizawa made an attempt at biting his tongue as the annoyed tone popped out. He had to treat him like an equal.

“Because I didn’t want to stay at Tatarus.” Tenko rubbed the mittens together a bit, moving one mitten up to his neck and rubbed on it. He couldn’t scratch, after all, so rubbing seemed to be the best alternative.

“They’re just gonna send you back to Tatarus if you don’t choose a mentor. You know that, right?” Aizawa leaned forward a bit. Tenko looked at him as he rubbed his neck a bit faster. “That’s why they sent me. You said I’m…” Aizawa clenched his teeth a bit before saying it. “Cool.”

Tenko stopped scratching almost immediately. A small smile creeped up on his lips before breaking out into a chuckle. “I did say that, didn’t I?” He resumed rubbing his neck with the mitten. “Yeah, I suppose that’s fair.”

Aizawa sighed a bit at Tenko’s laugh. It was weirdly out of place to see him laugh. “So, I’ll be your mentor, then. But you have to work with me a little, here.”

“I don’t want to be a hero, Eraserhead.” Tenko shrugged a bit, his smile fading away. “... But fine. You can be my mentor, I guess.”

That was enough for Aizawa. He fixed the files on his lap and stood up, ready to leave. He had enough of the smell of hospital. But before he could say anything, Tenko stood up as well, albeit weakly. They looked at each other for a bit. Tenko wore a worn down black hoodie with the strings missing, and a pair of grey sweatpants. He also had on a pair of socks, about the same shade of grey with small white dashes all over them. He recognized them from when he was in the hospital, other patients around him wore them. Tenko walked a bit slowly, shuffling his feet. Before making a snappy comment in his head, Aizawa had to remind himself that he was probably on a cocktail of medications to keep him calm.

“Wanna tour of the wing?” Tenko finally said, looking up at Aizawa with sleepy eyes. “You’ll need it.”

Aizawa hesitated. Truly, he wanted to go home. He felt oddly uncomfortable being so close to Tenko, but he had to remind himself that he could hardly do anything with the mittens. Maybe after a tour Tenko will let him leave. “... Fine. Keep it short.”

They left Tenko’s cold room and stepped out into the barely warmer hallway. Aizawa secretly hoped that he wouldn’t be there often, or at least that it wouldn’t be so fucking cold. Tenko walked with him to his right, occasionally pointing at things and talking about his experience with them.

“That’s the common room. You can watch TV if you’re good. Or read. You can basically do whatever you want there. The nurses don’t care.” He pointed at a large room with book cases, tables, and a few couches and chairs. There looked to be about three TV’s in total, accompanied by a bookshelf that looked full of DVDs.

“What do you like to do? Since you can’t do much…” Aizawa trailed off, looking at Tenko’s mittens. He could hardly take him seriously.

“Well…” Tenko noticed the constant staring at his mittens. “I don’t wear these all the time, you know. Just when the nurses notice how itchy I am.” He clapped his hands together, receiving a small poof noise from the mittens as a result. “But when I’m not wearing them… hm… They have a Nintendo 64 in there. I play Mario Kart.”

Aizawa’s interest peaked a little. He wasn’t a fan of video games himself, but Hizashi was. He always heard about whatever games he played whenever he started playing a new one. It was kind of irritating. “Are you any good at it?” He was genuinely curious, to his surprise. He never took Tenko to be the ‘have a normal hobby’ type.

“I kick ass at it.” Tenko smiled a bit. “Sensei had one when I was growing up, so I’m good at it.”

“Who’s sensei?” Aizawa asked, completely ignoring what Tenko said after. Was ‘sensei’ the ‘Father’ that was written down on the sticky note? He made a mental note that information collecting would start immediately after this moment.

But Tenko didn’t reply. He stayed silent until they reached another large room. “This is the cafeteria. Self explanatory.”

Aizawa cursed a bit after that very first lead led to a dead end. He figured collecting extremely mundane information first was the way to go about this. No hard hitting questions for now. “What do you usually get here?”

Tenko shrugged. “It’s all bad. But I like their tempura.” He continued walking, Aizawa making the mental note. He followed quickly, Tenko walking a bit faster than before. Nothing too intense, just now walking at a normal pace.

“So, where are we going?” Aizawa looked down at Tenko, who was trying to rub at his wrists.

“I’m gonna see if I’m allowed to get the mittens off. My hands are sweaty.”

Aizawa wasn’t so set on that being the best idea. The nurse mentioned that he usually wore a pair of gloves to cancel out his quirk, but he felt most safe with the obnoxious mittens. But watching to see how he interacts with other people seemed to be important information, too.

If all worked beautifully from this mentorship, Tenko Shimura could become a hero. Even if he still didn’t want to, he had the option. Aizawa didn’t expect this first meeting to be so interesting. He expected more. He expected some dramatic backstory and his life to be in danger yet again, but so far it’s been pretty… boring. Aizawa had to take everything he said into consideration, since it was now his job to help him improve. And he definitely was not looking forward to it. He’s just happy that Tenko was heavily drugged and sluggish. Couldn’t waste energy on trying to kill him. Lazy.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t even notice that Tenko stopped in a room with a nurse in it, and was getting his mittens removed. He leaned against the door frame and watched as his hands were now exposed. But to his surprise, he was wearing the gloves the whole time. The gloves were black and only covered his middle and ring finger, along with his thumb. Leaving his index finger and pinkie exposed. His nails looked freshly cut, probably to keep him from scratching a hole into his neck.

“No more scratching, Shimura.” The nurse said in a slightly babied voice, almost as if treating the patients like children was in the job requirements. “I don’t want to have to put these back on.”

“Okay.” Tenko’s answer was short, before he scooted off the table and walked back towards Aizawa. “See you later.”

The nurse shouted something back at him, but Tenko had already walked away with Aizawa following. The two walked back into the common area, where Aizawa watched Tenko flip through a few N64 games at a free TV area. He looked rather picky, not even bothering to check which game passed by until he found exactly what he was looking for, all the way at the back. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He remembers Hizashi mentioning a Legend of Zelda game a while back.

“You can go now if you want to, Eraser.” Tenko said, not even looking up at the man when he spoke to him. “I’m just gonna play this until dinner.”

“Do they let you do that?” Aizawa checked the time at a clock hanging on the wall. It was 6pm.

“I’m locked in my room all day. I’m only allowed out for breakfast, therapy, dinner, and this. The nurses will let me.”

Aizawa sat down on the couch provided, while Tenko sat on the floor. It was oddly fascinating to watch a former villain play video games like a little kid. “Why do the nurses let you?” He felt weird asking so many questions, but as a mentor he was genuinely curious.

Tenko looked at the same clock Aizawa did, ever so lightly scratching at his neck before Aizawa gently tapped his wrist with his boot. He looked back at Aizawa. “My common area time is at seven, and dinner is at 8. Then the lights are off at 9. I’m sure they won’t care if I’m out an extra hour, considering I have nothing else to do.”

“Want me to ask a nurse for you?”

“No. You’re my mentor. They won’t say anything if you’re here.” Tenko booted his game up, fiddling with the TV’s settings while Aizawa watched.

“Even if I leave?” Aizawa tilted his head a bit while looking at the TV screen. He didn’t know what he expected, but it wasn’t for the game to look so… old. The Nintendo 64 was way before his time, and Tenko’s. But he didn’t expect this. “When did this game come out?”

Tenko grabbed the case and looked on the back. “1998.” He put it back down and continued playing. “And no, they won’t care. They’ll just assume that this is what you wanted me to do.”

Aizawa furrowed his brows in frustration. “I’m hoping you didn’t accept my mentorship just to find loopholes in the system.”

The smaller man paused the game and turned around to look at Aizawa fully. He noticed that he moved his bangs out of his face to see the game better. “It’s a plus, but it’s not why I accepted it.” He turned back around, unpausing the game. “I accepted it because when sensei showed me the heroes that would be of the most threat to my mission, your picture caught my eye.”

This suddenly piqued Aizawa’s interest. Sensei was mentioned again, but judging off the response he got last time he asked, he figured he’d answer a different question. “Why me, Shimura?”

“Because there wasn’t that much about you.” Tenko shrugged, keeping his eyes locked on the screen. “Plus, your quirk is cool.”

Aizawa felt the small inflammation of his ego and repressed it. “So, you wanted me to be your mentor because my quirk is cool?”

“Your quirk can help me with mine.” Tenko said flatly. “But I don’t want to be a hero. I wanna have a normal life.”

The question has been itching in the back of Aizawa’s mind since Tenko first said it. It wasn’t relative to finding out valuable information, it was a paining curiosity. He cleared his throat before leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Why don’t you want to be a hero, Shimura?”

Tenko paused the game again, but didn’t move. He stayed silent for a few seconds before a low, sad voice came from his lips. “Because I don’t.”

Not the answer he wanted, but luckily for Aizawa, that wasn’t the answer. There was an answer deep inside of Tenko’s heart, he just didn’t want anyone to see it. And Aizawa could tell. Out of all the questions he needed answers for to give to the Commission, there were some that needed to come first. And learning about why Tenko hated heroes so much was number one on that list.

“Well, that’s your personal preference.” Aizawa said, standing up from the couch and grabbing Tenko’s file that lay next to him. “I’m gonna go, though. I have work to do. When do you need me back?”

“They’ll call you with a schedule.” Tenko replied, his voice monotonous. He reached up to scratch again, but put it down after a few seconds of contemplating. “Bye.”

“Goodbye, Shimura.” Aizawa stated, expecting something back, but Tenko simply unpaused his game and continued to play. So with that note, Aizawa left.

File still in hand, he exited the institution and stopped outside of it to text Hizashi for a ride. He didn’t want to take the train, and Hizashi’s studio was in this part of town anyways, and that’s where he always was after school ended. Hizashi almost immediately texted back with the most obnoxious ‘On my way!’ ever, and so Aizawa sat down to actually take a genuine look into Tenko Shimura’s file.

He was nineteen and his birthday was on April 4th. he was surprised to see the age so low, as he expected something a bit older. Maybe twenty two or something. Nonetheless, Tenko was still relatively young. And he speaks about his ‘Sensei’ as if he’s been with them his whole life. So sensei had to be ‘Father’, right? But why address him as sensei and not father? There were a multitude of questions as he moved through the papers, paying particular attention to the case file. Murder, attempted murder, terrorism, and tresspassing. The first three being charges he never expected a nineteen year old to have.

He sighed as he closed the folder and ran a hand through his hair. This was going to be the most difficult teaching experience in his life.

Chapter Text

It has been about a week since the last time that Aizawa and Tenko have seen each other. Aizawa did indeed get a schedule with the mandatory times that he had to see Tenko, but Tenko could call him in whenever he wanted to.

Aizawa sat in the teachers lounge, going through a multitude of papers that he needed to grade. He knew his students were intelligent, but it was rare to show through the work. He knew his class could be getting perfect scores if they really tried. The attack on USJ really affected them, but Aizawa knew from his own experiences that the pain they feel now will only motivate them later.

Though he had to admit, what they saw was traumatizing. Watching as what was supposed to be a school assignment was interrupted by a multitude of villains, including one that nearly killed their teacher right in front of them. Poor kids.

Aizawa told Hizashi and Toshinori not to tell anyone about his mentorship, especially the students. He felt as if he was breaking his student’s trust by helping the enemy. In his defense, the ‘enemy’ wore mittens in a locked room. The least he could do was help the kid out. Hizashi and Toshinori interrupted his thoughts by walking into the lounge, Hizashi loudly announcing his presence. How the man could keep this secret is beyond Aizawa’s knowledge. But that’s why he’s his best friend.

“Hey, Shouta!” Hizashi shouted, walking towards him quickly as Toshinori followed. Him and Yagi have become exceptionally close lately. If anything, they were the Big Three of this school. Hizashi looked down at Aizawa’s papers, putting a hand on the back of his chair. “Don’t you have that thing to go to today?”

Aizawa blinked a bit before remembering what he was talking about. Today was a scheduled day. He sighed as he looked down at the papers that needed to be graded. “Shit… yeah. I’m never gonna get these done.”

“Why don’t you just take them with you?” Hizashi’s head tilted, almost in a genuine curiosity. “Want a ride?”

“No, I can’t take my student’s papers to see…” He looked at the other heroes in the room. Though they minded their business, he knew that some had a thing for eavesdropping. “... Him. Too much information.”

Hizashi and Toshinori looked through the stack of assignments. Of course Toshinori almost immediately picked up Izuku Midoryia’s paper, glancing it over before putting it back down. “I can grade them for you”

“No, Yagi, it’s okay-”

“I was the one who encouraged you to do this, Shouta.” Toshinori smiled as he grabbed the stack of papers from the desk. “It’s the least I could do.”

As grateful for the help Aizawa was, Toshinori was a very different teacher than him. He’ll probably pass everyone for having good handwriting. Before he could protest, Hizashi grabbed him by the arm and practically dragged him out of the teachers lounge. Supposedly they both wouldn’t take no for an answer. He wanted them to know about it, but not to be involved. So, naturally, it was frustrating. Aizawa was brought to Hizashi’s car, hesitantly getting in. As annoying as Hizashi could be, he wasn’t a bad driver. Not at all, really.

“So when am I gonna meet him?” Hizashi’s loud voice spoke over the radio as soon as he turned the car on. His music taste was… difficult to pinpoint. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to meet Yagi. But I wanna meet him.”

“I don’t think I can bring visitors in with me, Yamada…” Aizawa buckled himself in, finally accepting the fact that he was giving him a ride. “Do you need the address?”

“Nope!”

Aizawa looked at the blonde, an eyebrow raised. Hizashi simply laughed at Aizawa’s visible confusion.

“It’s the hospital downtown, right? I mentor there, too.”

That comment didn’t cure Aizawa’s confusion. It only made it feel more intense. Though a part of Aizawa told himself ‘Well of course Yamada mentors. He’s a super nice guy who likes helping people.’ but it still took him by surprise. “How come I didn’t know about this?”

Hizashi shrugged. “It was never important! Plus, if I told you it was fun, you wouldn’t want to do it. You stray away from things I find fun.”

“Your idea of fun is extremely different from mine, Yamada.”

Aizawa tilted his head at Hizashi as they continued driving. “Most of the patients there are former criminals! It’s so satisfying to watch their ideals change the more you see them. It’s like you’re really helping them. Do you think Shigaraki will change like that?”

He thought to himself for a moment, remembering past conversations with Tenko. He was dead set on not being a hero, that much was obvious. “I’m… not sure.”

They continued driving for a few minutes, Hizashi bobbing his head slightly at the music on the radio. He seemingly gravitated towards American music, fascinated by the similarities and differences that it had with Japanese music. As said before, it was immensely difficult to pinpoint Hizashi’s preferences. It was a few moments before the blonde spoke again.

“So can I meet him?”

Aizawa shrugged a bit. He honestly didn’t know how Tenko felt about other heroes. He knew that he was the only hero Tenko respected, so bringing Hizashi along would probably be extremely uncomfortable.

“I’m not sure, Yamada.” He sighed. “It’s my second meeting with the kid. The Commission wants information.”

“That’s alright! Another time, then.” Hizashi smiled as he pulled up to the hospital. “I’ll pick you up when I’m done! I have a studio thing.”

Aizawa nodded a little, thanked Hizashi for the ride, and got out. He yelled something at Aizawa that was honestly blocked out, before approaching the doors and preparing for that mind numbing smell. He entered, immediately being greeted by a nurse. He sat down in the waiting room for a moment before looking at his phone for the notes that a nurse had taken about Tenko during the week.

“Attacked a patient in the cafeteria earlier this week. He’s been snappy and in a negative mood, but the sedatives help him mellow down.”

Is it safe to pump this kid full of drugs whenever he acts up? Aizawa shrugged and put his phone away. It was noon, and the calendar he got showed that right now was when everyone ate lunch. He should’ve brought him something. He made his way to the cafeteria, where he immediately knew where he was.

Tenko was being isolated in the corner with two male nurses standing next to him on each side. He sighed a bit and walked towards him, crossing his arms once he reached the table. Tenko didn’t even look up at him.

“Did you get in a fight?” Aizawa stood across from him as Tenko ate his lunch slowly.

Tenko looked up at the taller, rolling his wrist a few times with the occasional pop of his joints. “Hi, Eraserhead.”

“Who did you fight?” He glared at him, furrowing his brows.

The smaller pointed at a group, not really specifying who he was pointing at. But by the looks of it, it was probably the man who had on a cast and was bandaged up pretty good. Tenko only had a bandaid on his forehead and a gauze on his forearm. It was clear who won. Aizawa sighed and sat down, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Rule one, you don’t solve things with violence anymore. Got it?”

Tenko put his chopsticks down in the uneaten bowl of microwave ramen. “I didn’t start it, Eraser. He took my fuckin’ soda. I can only buy one. They limit the vending machines.”

“And how did you respond to him taking your things?”

Tenko rolled his eyes. “They have me working on anger management, Eraserhead. I asked for it back, and he told me to fuck off.” He poked a straw into a juicebox. Aizawa would think it was childish if everyone else didn’t have the same juice with their lunch. “Then he fuckin’ drank it all. In front of me.”

One of the male nurses nudged Tenko softly, most likely for his language. Tenko rolled his eyes again and took a sip from the straw.

“He drank it in front of you, so you beat him up?”

Tenko sat forward a little, placing his elbows on the table. “You can only have soda in the cafeteria. And you only get one. They’re afraid you’ll cut up the can and kill someone or yourself with the metal.” He moved his foot from underneath the table, revealing the red shoes he wore at USJ, now pathetically zip tied together. “That’s why they take your shoelaces and shit. And they gotta be extra careful with me, apparently.”

Aizawa squinted a bit. “You did assault a man for drinking your soda.”

“That’s besides the point.” Tenko pouted a bit and finished the juice. “You would too, if you were stuck in here.”

Aizawa raised a brow, looking around at the cafeteria. Almost everyone in the room had a soda can next to their finished lunches, then looking back at Tenko who had hardly eaten any of his food. “What kind of soda do you like, Shimura?”

Tenko had taken his chopsticks and swirled them around in the broth and noodles. “Ginger ale.”

Noted. Very odd for a villain to have such… mundane taste. Aizawa wasn’t really a soda person, but he knew that ginger ale was the type of drink people simply liked but didn’t seek out. “Why don’t you eat your ramen, Shimura?”

“I don’t want to. I’m not hungry.”

“Just eat some. I’ll take you to the common room.”

That sentence piqued Tenko’s interest. He looked up at the taller, hesitantly picking up some noodles and eating them. He made a face while doing so, putting the chopsticks down after a few bites.

“Is that all you can stomach?” Aizawa rested his face on his hand, watching how Tenko writhed at eating. It was… mildly concerning. He’ll write that down later.

“I said I wasn’t hungry, Eraser.” Tenko’s voice got smaller. Almost as if he was shy.

Aizawa figured that either this was a mental health thing, or something to do with the sedatives he was on. He’ll have to ask the nurse for regular updates on his diet. “Just a few more bites, Shimura. Then we’ll go to the common room.”

Tenko hesitantly ate some more. It looked like he was sick. Definitely a mental health thing. Or, the ramen really was that bad. Aizawa eyed the bowl, watching the mass of noodles go down.

“One more bite.” He said softly, wanting to make sure he didn’t really seem demanding, but more encouraging. Tenko sighed a little as he took another bite of the noodles.

The bowl was about half empty now, and Aizawa pulled out a small notepad before writing down a reminder for himself to ask the nurses about his eating habits. Putting the notepad away, he stood up from his chair and walked over to the vending machine. Searching for ginger ale, he pressed a few buttons and gave the machine the yen it needed. Tenko simply watched him come back then stood up from the table as Aizawa walked past him and the nurses.

“C’mon, Shimura. Let’s go to the common room.”

Tenko followed him closely, looking at Aizawa’s hands that held onto the can then back up at the man’s face. They reached the common room, which wasn’t too far from the cafeteria. There weren’t any nurses in there since everyone seemed to be at lunch. Sitting down on the couch he sat at last time, he fought a small mental battle of what he should do. Tenko’s eating concerned him, even if it was just that day. So he wanted to show him that positive things happened when he ate. If he was gonna mentor, he knew he’d have to push his grudges to the side and treat him like one of his students. Show him respect. No matter how difficult it was.

He handed Tenko the ginger ale.

“Eraserhead, you don’t have to,”

“Everyone else had a soda but you. After your fight, are you not allowed to use the vending machine anymore?”

Tenko paused for a moment, then shook his head. Aizawa frowned a bit. The poor kid was just now learning that his actions had consequences. As much as he wanted to chuckle at a nineteen year old learning such basic information, he had to remember who this kid was. He was in here and not in Tartarus for a reason. He didn’t just get a ‘get out of jail free’ card. Something was genuinely wrong. The overwhelming sense of pity came back to him, frustratingly pounding on his head to give the poor thing a hug, or something. At first, his stubborn mind reminds him of what he's done, but is quickly reminded by a small thought that’s been occupying his mind for the past week since he first saw him.

‘What if he was your student?’

Aizawa sharply exhaled through his nostrils. “So, in that case, that soda is mine. And we’re just sharing it.”

Tenko seemed genuinely shocked by this. He looked down at the can, hesitantly opening it. He raised it at Aizawa, but the taller shook his head.

“I didn’t mean it literally, Shimura. It’s yours. But if a nurse asks, It’s mine.”

“Oh. um… okay.” Tenko took a small sip of the ginger ale. “... Thank you, Eraserhead.”

Aizawa didn’t like how this day was going. He looked so… broken. As if this was the only act of kindness that Tenko has ever received. He could feel such protective instincts hitting him like a bus. And he didn’t want those feelings associated with Tenko. He took out his notepad again, writing down a reminder to buy ginger ale. If that could be the only thing to make Tenko enjoy his stay, he didn’t see any reason to not get him any. Especially if it was that simple. He didn’t even notice Tenko slide onto the floor and put his game on again.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

So there they sat. Aizawa taking notes about Tenko’s behavior, and Tenko hyper focused on his game. Sitting still, eyes glued onto the screen, as if it was the only bliss he’s ever felt. Aizawa found himself taking notes on what Tenko liked from what he saw. Ginger ale and video games were the only things he wrote down. Before he knew it, Aizawa sat there for a good hour watching Tenko play. He looked so content. Like he was really enjoying himself. It was a miracle that the old console even worked. Let alone was usable. Occasionally it would freeze up and stall, but Tenko seemed to have a connection with it. He would take the game out, blow on the cartridge a few times, and then put it back in. And somehow, that worked. It was genuinely fascinating.

There was no doubt in Aizawa’s mind that Tenko’s smart. Purely based on the fact that the kid managed to break onto UA property and almost get away with it was impressive in and of itself. Watching him work through a video game with such ease impressed Aizawa a bit. It made him think if Tenko learned everything he knew from his ‘sensei’ and video games. The thing that shocked him the most was that he was only supposed to be with Tenko for about forty five minutes, but there he sat on the couch, nearing two hours.

Before long, Tenko looked back at the taller, then raised the controller in his direction. “Do you wanna give it a shot?”

That made Aizawa a bit aware of the time. He looked at his phone to see how long he’s really been there. He felt… almost a little upset that he couldn’t play. “How about next time, Shimura?”

“Sure, we can play Mario Kart or something. Bye, Eraserhead.”

Aizawa stood up and picked up the empty soda can off the floor. Before leaving, he crouched to Tenko’s eye level. “You can always call me in. I’ll come when I can, okay?”

Tenko looked at him for a moment before nodding a little shyly. “...Okay.”

With that he stood back up, said his goodbyes to Tenko, and left. Hizashi didn’t answer his texts, so he walked to the train station to head back to UA. Hopefully he had some time to correct Toshinori’s grading. He desperately did not want to show it, but he was genuinely kind of excited to see Tenko again.

Hizashi was… regrettably, right. It was satisfying to watch a villain change. It was satisfying to watch Tenko grow out of an unpleasant shell. To be more what seems his natural self. Almost a little happy. As much as he hated himself for it, he was also happy that he was the reason Tenko had a good day today. It kissed his ego a bit. Though he desperately wanted to hold a grudge for Tenko and what he’s done, he also saw how easily being compliant and kind made Tenko seem nothing like the villain who almost killed him.

It’s like he was slowly getting ever so slightly closer into figuring out who Tenko really was.

Chapter Text

Learning to accept positive feelings about people who’ve wronged you is one of the hardest things Shouta Aizawa has done. He desperately wanted to hate Tenko. He wanted to feel no empathy for the man who put his students in danger and who damn near killed him. A part of him wished that he never accepted the mentorship in the first place, practically begging himself to quit now so he would never have to see Tenko ever again.

But it was hard to do that when he started actually liking the visits. Every time he went to see him, without fail, he brought Tenko a drink and they just simply coexisted for a few hours. Forgetting his original mission to gather information, he never really pried into Tenko’s past. He accepted whatever information the kid gave him. Though it wasn’t a lot, he did learn a bit about him. He had been going over to the institution for about three days each week, and time blew by fast. Though it was frequently mentioned by the nurse at the front desk that Tenko hadn’t been actually getting better.

But it was learned that Tenko was at his happiest when his mentor visited.

Aizawa remembered hearing that for the first time, his heart melting in his chest and that feeling of satisfactory bliss that Hizashi mentioned two weeks ago coursing through his veins. The nurse had encouraged him to try to get Tenko to come out of his shell so he could share what happened to him. Aizawa knew the slightest bits and pieces of what Tenko told him, but didn’t really know if the events were in order.

He came to the conclusion that sensei was not Tenko’s father, but someone who took him in. He spoke of sensei fondly, but had a strained expression if he ever mentioned ‘father’. A few days ago, Tenko spoke briefly about a childhood dog he had. He called him ‘Monchan’. He didn’t dive too deep into that topic, either. So one thing was clear to Aizawa.

Tenko misses his dog.

It seemed mundane, but when Tenko talked about Monchan, he looked… distressed. He would talk about how he liked dogs, how he had one, and then shut down for a bit. He could only assume that Monchan either ran away or died, but couldn’t come to a solid conclusion. He felt bad for the kid, losing a pet was heart wrenching.

But today was different. It was Monday. The morning was slow, his students taking an exam. The quiet lurked in the room, every small noise being almost amplified from the lack of sound. Aizawa could feel himself slipping into a nap, but blinked harshly to keep himself awake. There was apparently a cheater last time a test was taken. If he didn’t nap during these boring times, he would’ve caught it. So now that it was an exam he had to pay extra attention.

That was the plan, until he got a call.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket with a sigh, the vibrating sound from the call made each student poke their heads up and look at eachother. They then saw Aizawa’s phone before they lowered their heads to focus on the exam. It was the institution. Aizawa looked at his students then back down at his phone before quickly walking out of the room, keeping his foot in the doorway to let his students know he’s still close if they wanted to try something funny.

“Hello?” He answered, his voice low to not encourage eavesdropping.

“Hi! Is this Shouta Aizawa?” It was the nurse that was always at the front desk.

“Yeah… is everything alright?”

The nurse paused for a moment, voices heard in the distance before she seemingly put the phone back to her ear. “Everything’s fine! It’s just… Tenko Shimura needs to see you.”

“... Needs to?” His voice lowered a bit quieter.

“He seems upset. He asked if I could call you to bring you down here. If you can’t-”

“I’ll be there soon.” Aizawa said without thinking, before realizing what he’d promised. During the school day.

“Oh, alright! I’ll let him know.”

Aizawa mentally prepared for whatever Tenko wanted, as a million thoughts raced through his head. “Okay. Bye.” He said before immediately hanging up.

He looked down at his phone for a moment before immediately calling Hizashi. If anyone was going to understand this situation, it would be him. Though as if the stars aligned, the phone kept ringing as Hizashi walked around the corner, looking at his phone and then back up at Aizawa.

“Ah! Shouta! Just the man I wanted to see.” Hizashi beamed, strutting over to him before noticing the door was opened. “Oh! Shit, my bad.” He whispered with a smile on his face.

“I need you to watch my class.” Aizawa kept it short and sweet. He didn’t plan on this being one of Hizashi’s world famous seven hour long conversations.

Hizashi blinked for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. What’s up?”

“The hospital. I have to go.” Aizawa pulled his foot from the door as Hizashi grabbed it.

He didn’t let the man say much else before he walked down the hall, hearing a loud “I’ll talk to you later!” from the direction he left from. Speed walking off the UA campus and making his way to the train station, he couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong. Tenko never called him in, it was always on a schedule. A schedule he’s memorized by now, and looking back on previous visits to try and mentally figure out if he’s missed something. He made it onto the train at the nick of time, sitting down with a loud sigh. He didn’t go in his full uniform anymore. Just his jumpsuit. It seems that it made Tenko more comfortable when Aizawa was comfortable. But now, once again, he was breaking routine. Though the train ride wasn’t necessarily long, it felt like an eternity. He got off the train, stopping by a corner store that was close to the institution for Tenko’s drink. He looked at the shelves, squinting at snack options. What did Tenko like… food wise? His mind was completely blank while he ultimately decided that a drink was good for now.

The rush was finally over when he entered the institution. He grabbed his visitors pass and walked himself over to the common area. Not there. Double checked the cafeteria. No luck. He was definitely in his room. He looked at the nurse outside of the door before knocking and letting himself in.

Tenko simply laid on the bed, mittens back on his hands as he frantically rubbed on his neck almost desperate for whatever friction they could provide. Aizawa sighed and placed the can on the table near the door. He took his wraps off and placed them on the same table before sitting down on the edge of the uncomfortable mattress.

“Hey. Are you okay, Shimura?” Aizawa gently reached over and took a hold of the smaller’s wrist.

“I don’t want to fucking be here anymore.” Tenko replied harshly, making a weak attempt on pulling his hand away. Though Aizawa’s grip didn’t budge.

With a sigh, Aizawa scooted closer to him. “Calm down. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to be here, Eraser.” Tenko furrowed his brows a bit, his voice gaining volume. It was clear he was frustrated. “I hate it. They treat me like a child.”

Aizawa swallowed harshly, holding back a rude comment about how Tenko was indeed childish. It was easier to hate him when the smaller threw tantrums like this. “They treat you like a child because you’re dangerous, Shimura. You know this.”

The man’s watered down comment of what he really wanted to say only seemed to make Tenko angrier. “How am I dangerous if they slap these fucking mittens on me every day!” Another attempt was made to pull away with no positive results. “They don’t even bother helping me! They pump me with drugs and restrain me and hope that it works!”

“Tenko, calm down.”

“No! I’m not gonna fucking calm down. It’s useless for me to be here! I might as well be in Tartarus!” Aizawa noticed how his voice broke when he yelled. “They make me do group therapy that doesn’t even work. They punish me for lashing out when they don’t even help me prevent myself from lashing out! It’s all fucking worthless!”

Aizawa simply watched Tenko break down in front of him. This wasn’t a tantrum. It’s a cry for help. Before Aizawa could even comment, Tenko went off on another rant.

“I don’t know what to do, they don’t help me, they just lock me away and hope that I magically feel better!” At this point Tenko looked and sounded like he was holding back sobs, his eyes glossy and his voice sounding stuffy. “They don’t help. They don’t and never will help. They didn’t help years ago and they’re definitely not going to help now! It never-”

The rant was cut off with an abrupt yank, Aizawa pulling Tenko close and wrapping his arms around him. There was a moment of calm. A moment of silence as the two processed what was happening. Aizawa’s arm around Tenko’s shoulders and a hand cupping the back of his head, gently placing Tenko’s head into his chest.

“You'll be okay, Tenko.” Aizawa’s voice softened, pressing his cheek against the soft greyish-blue hair. “I’m here. I’ll help you. You’re safe with me, I promise.”

The moment of calm finally ended with Tenko completely breaking down. He cried into Aizawa’s jumpsuit, wrapping his arms around the taller’s torso and clinging onto him for dear life. He spoke incoherently between sobs, sniffling as he pulled Aizawa closer to him. It’s like he’s never been hugged before. Has never been shown comfort. Has never been told that he was going to be okay. Aizawa did his best to listen to the ramblings. Picking up on comments about sensei and comments about his family.

Along with comments about Monchan. Those comments bring out louder cries. A strong wave of guilt ran over Aizawa when he finally connected the dots of what he now understood, thanks to Tenko’s weak mind.

Tenko killed Monchan.

Then killed his family in the wave of confusion.

The pit in his stomach grew larger realizing that this life isn’t what Tenko wanted at all. This wasn’t planned. He wasn’t born an evil person. It all started as an accident, it wasn’t set in stone. Tenko was childish because his childhood was ripped away from him. Now feeling the smaller grip onto him with desperation while crying into his chest only made Aizawa feel worse.

Aizawa gently ran his fingers through Tenko’s hair as he continued sobbing uncontrollably. He didn’t know what to say. He could only hear Tenko’s broken cries saying “I want to be helped.” repeatedly. Almost as if the poor kid was replaying the scene in a constant loop. His breathing was so erratic, Aizawa’s jumpsuit wet with tears, and a sad Tenko curled up in Aizawa’s lap as his embrace only got tighter. Aizawa rubbed his back and continued to play with his hair, still stuck on words to say and letting Tenko cry it out.

This continued for an hour. An hour of constant crying and rambling. An hour of Aizawa desperately trying to comfort Tenko. It ended with Tenko choking and gasping on his own breath as his sobs subsided, pulling away only a few inches to catch his breath. Aizawa’s jumpsuit was damp. Aizawa frowned a bit seeing Tenko with no more tears left to cry, sitting there whimpering in his own mess. He pulled Tenko closer to him and gave him a soft kiss on the top of his head, giving his back a few more rubs before pulling away to stand up.

He shouldn’t’ve looked back at Tenko. The smaller sat there rubbing his eyes with the mittens, taking labored breaths and looking like he needed to be held again while Aizawa simply walked to the table to grab Tenko’s ginger ale. He opened it while sitting down, putting it between his legs while he undid the mittens on Tenko’s hands. After his gloved hands were free, Aizawa handed him the can. Tenko looked down at the opened can before taking a drink.

“You’re gonna be okay, Tenko. I’ll take care of you.” Aizawa placed a hand on Tenko’s arm, rubbing the skin with his thumb. “You have to stay here. But I’ll take care of you.”

There was a moment of silence before Tenko looked up at Aizawa with puffy eyes. “... I miss Monchan, Eraser.” His voice quivered again, but Tenko couldn’t cry anymore. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean to…”

Aizawa frowned again. “I know you didn’t. It was an accident.”

Tenko placed his can back on the ground before hugging Aizawa again. Aizawa could tell that this was something Tenko needed. Positive reinforcement, affection, and a general feeling of being cared for. But Aizawa couldn’t leave Tenko like this. Not at all.

“Hey, do you want to play Mario Kart?”

Chapter Text

Everything about their last visit has ruined Aizawa’s original disposition for Tenko. After weeks of simply watching the man play video games, Aizawa finally saw him at his most vulnerable state. Spewing out information that the Commission would want.

Well, you’d think.

After being beaten by Tenko repeatedly in Mario Kart for an hour or two, Aizawa did have to leave. He felt oddly guilty about leaving Tenko behind in the place he hated, especially when Tenko had just started seeming normal again near the end of their visit. Where an hour before Tenko would stay silent when he won, nearing the end he would get a bit vocal about his overwhelming success. Aizawa was not a gaming person. He could kick someone’s teeth in, but once he was handed a controller he was done for. Aizawa left the institution and had the internal conflict about telling the Commission what he'd learned or not. His gut told him he needed to, and that was his job, so his gut instinct won that battle.

Of course, upon reaching the Commission and giving them the information they wanted, he was met with a reaction he didn’t quite expect. The Commission didn’t care about what Tenko went through. They cared about what he knew.

“Did he… say anything else?” A man had asked.

“Well, no. This took time. And I think it’s a start in the right-”

Aizawa was interrupted by a woman sitting at the table. “That just confirms what we’ve already been assuming, Eraserhead. We want to know who he was working for. Any information on that?”

With a sigh and a quick jog of memory, Aizawa tried to remember if he ever learned anything about sensei. To Tenko, sensei seemed to be a savior. He spoke highly of him, he mentioned him when he would talk about a ‘good memory’. It was clear sensei was his parental figure when Tenko’s family died. “He mentions someone named ‘sensei’ on occasion. I don’t know anything about sensei, though.”

The Commission collectively shook their heads a bit, the same woman speaking up. “So sensei could be anybody?”

“That’s correct.”

“Does Shigaraki know that you’re collecting information?”

Aizawa’s heart stopped for a moment. He was sure Tenko was smart enough to figure it out, at some point. “No. He doesn’t.”

“Good. Keep it that way.” The Head of the Commission stated, standing up from her seat. “The less he knows about this the more he’ll tell you. You can go, Eraserhead.” And just like that, the meeting he dreaded was over.

He couldn’t help but feel guilty about telling them what Tenko told him. He was vulnerable, and Aizawa took advantage of it. He wouldn’t treat his students that way, and he’s already established in his brain that Tenko was to be seen as equal to the students in able for this to work out. There was one problem with the philosophy that Aizawa has created for this relationship, however.

It was clear that Aizawa internally saw Tenko as more than that. Tenko wasn’t a student. He never brought his students their favorite drinks. He never played a game with a student. He never held his crying student while playing with their hair to calm them down. And he has definitely never kissed a student’s head. This was more than a mutualistic relationship between a student and their teacher. Hell, this was more than a student being close with their teacher.

In his mind, Aizawa saw Tenko as a friend.

A weird friend, albeit. A friend he wouldn’t take out for drinks, but rather a friend he’d be willing to stay at home and watch TV with. A friend that wouldn’t see Aizawa’s other friends, like Hizashi or Toshinori. A secret friend. Aizawa snapped out of his thoughts quickly before making his way back to UA. He was tired and he desperately needed a nap.

The next day was no different. Except it was a scheduled day. Aizawa spent his lunch emailing the nurse at the front desk back and forth after being unable to respond since this morning. He woke up to the email, rather surprised at what it said.

“Good Morning, Aizawa! We were wondering if you were aware of the outings system we have with our patients? Tenko Shimura has earned an outing for the week, and he hasn’t said anything about going. Were you interested in taking him? He’s earned two hours.”

And since waking up to that email, Aizawa hasn’t stopped thinking about it. Taking Tenko back into the outside world only because he’d be under extreme supervision didn’t sound exactly like fun. Especially if Tenko was screaming at Aizawa yesterday that he wanted to be as far away as possible from the place. But, with the gloves rendering Tenko useless, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad idea. Unless he’s letting his ‘friendship’ with Tenko blind his logic. So, of course, Aizawa emailed them back asking for their rules on outings. When he got the reply it was… interestingly lenient.

“All we ask of you is to keep him within 30 miles of the hospital.”

Tenko Shimura, going outside again. The man charged with terrorism and murder. And all he needed to do was to keep him relatively close by? Tenko must’ve been on his best behavior. Naturally Aizawa asked Hizashi what he would do, and Hizashi gave him an expected answer.

“My patients love outings! It’s so much fun, Shouta. You can see how much happier they get to be outside of the hospital. It’ll probably feel like a chore for you, but I promise it’s worth it.”

Aizawa scorned a bit. “I shouldn’t take him out with me, though. Should I?”

“Well he’s been through a lot, right?” Hizashi tilted his head and crossed his legs. “I think it would benefit him.”

The comment Hizashi made about the outings ‘feeling like a chore’ made Aizawa think. Something that Tenko would like, but help him at the same time. The first thing that came to mind was an arcade, but there’s no deeper meaning or lesson within that. Aizawa wanted the outing to be an opportunity for Tenko to understand that the trauma he went through doesn’t define him. Not to mention that he’ll heal from it. If he could take out two birds with one stone, this outing would be perfect.

“Monchan… ” Aizawa mumbled, deep in thought while a confused Hizashi raised a brow.

“... What the hell is that?”

“Monchan. His old dog. Maybe I can take him to a dog park, or something.” And just like that, a lightbulb went off in Aizawa’s head. “There’s that rehabilitation center for traumatized animals close to Tenko’s institution.”

Hizashi had a concerned look on his face. “Shouta. That’s so depressing. He’s gonna hate that.”

“What do you mean? It’s a perfect learning opportunity.”

“They earn outings to have fun! To destress from the hospital! Not to go to the saddest building I’ve ever heard of!”

“We won’t spend the whole two hours there, Hizashi. Then I’ll… go get him ice cream or something.” Aizawa ran a hand through his hair. Hizashi was clearly not on board with his idea.

The blonde simply shook his head in a genuine disbelief. “You’re bad at this, Shouta. Let me plan your outings. I’m sure he won’t fall into a depressive episode after you go take him to Hell.”

Aizawa perked up a little. “What? No. I’m an adult, Hizashi. I can handle taking someone outside.”

With that their conversation ended with the bell for lunch ringing. The day was nearing an end and Aizawa had to somehow convince Hizashi to let him borrow his car by the time school came to a close. Aizawa didn’t prefer to drive, but he also didn’t prefer carrying Tenko on his back when he inevitably got tired. God, this might be the most stressful visit of Aizawa’s life.

He thought about the outing all day. Aizawa promised himself to never let his personal life interrupt his work, but the outing with Tenko was all he could think about. His students noticed his mental absence as well, no matter how hard Aizawa tried to hide it. Finally the long day ends, Aizawa gets permission from Hizashi to use his car, and all is well in the world. Seeing Tenko again definitely intimidated him, for some reason. Now that his brain has officially established Tenko as a friend, and not a student. He disliked this feeling.

He parked close by and walked the rest of the way to the institution. The routine was still set in stone. Grab visitors pass, check the cafeteria and common room before checking his room.

B124. Shimura, Tenko.

He opened the door cautiously, seeing Tenko sitting at a desk with a nurse. They both were writing on a piece of paper, which showed that Tenko and the nurse have played several games of Tic-Tac-Toe together. Noticing that Tenko played X, it was clear that either the nurse is letting Tenko win or Tenko was unbeatable. The two didn’t even notice Aizawa until the nurse glanced over and saw him, perking up and nudging the smaller gently. Tenko looked back at Aizawa with a face that screamed ‘I want to take a nap’.

“Are you ready for your outing?” Aizawa leaned his shoulder against the doorframe, a foot propping the heavy door open.

Tenko looked at the nurse and back at Aizawa before nodding. He stood up and walked to the edge of the bed, sitting down to put on a pair of plain black slip-on vans. Seems that he was tired of the ziptied shoes. He stood back up lazily, slumped over while stretching out his arm so the nurse could put some sort of hospital bracelet on him. As the two walked out of the room together, Tenko let out a small yawn before looking up at Aizawa with his lidded eyes.

“I’m sorry about yesterday, Eraser.” He said lowly while exiting the institution with Aizawa, the two beginning the walk to the car. “Didn’t mean to get so upset like that.”

Aizawa scoffed a little, soon thinking that he himself should be sorry for randomly kissing the smaller on the head. “Oh, it’s fine. It’s what I’m here for. Do they have you sedated again?”

Tenko shook his head. “No. I’m just tired.”

“We aren’t doing anything very exciting, I’ll tell you that right now.” Aizawa saw his parking spot, digging the keys out of his pocket and unlocking it from a few feet away. “You like animals. We’re gonna see some animals today.”

Aizawa figured that he shouldn’t immediately start off their outing by telling Tenko that he was doing some good ol’ exposure therapy today. Tenko followed Aizawa to the car and got in with him, putting his hands in his lap.

“... What kind of animals?” Tenko asked sheepishly.

Aizawa buckled himself in and turned the car on, but remained parked. “There will be lots of animals there.” He looked over at Tenko, a small smile on his face. “You’ll get to see some dogs. Put your seatbelt on.”

Hesitantly, Tenko buckled himself as Aizawa moved the gear into reverse, putting his hand on the back of the passenger seat as he backed out of the parking space.

“You like dogs, right?” Aizawa spoke again, Tenko physically recoiling with that question.

After a few moments of hesitation, Tenko nodded. “Yeah… dogs are cool.”

Just like that they were on the road, Tenko mostly silent as the songs on the radio played quietly to ease the pain of the dead quiet. Aizawa could already tell that this was going to either be a very positive experience for Tenko, or an extremely negative one. Either way, it was a lesson Tenko had to learn. Aizawa figured that with this outing, he would be doing most of the talking.

“You know, Tenko. These dogs are a lot like you. I hope you know I’m not taking you here to purposefully make you upset.” Aizawa started, eyes on the road. He gave Tenko a few seconds to respond, yet there was not a single word from the sulking man next to him. “I want you to pet one.”

“I’m not touching any of them.” Tenko responded quickly, his gaze directed towards the outside of the car.

Aizawa chuckled a little. “Yes you are. You’re gonna find one you like, and we’re gonna pet it. That’s the goal for today.”

Once again, Tenko shook his head as unnoticable tears formed in the corners of his eyes. “No. I’m not doing that.”

This was way more difficult than he thought it was going to be. He knew Tenko killed Monchan by petting him when his quirk manifested, but didn’t know that even with the guaranteed safety of his gloves, it would still affect him so negatively. Aizawa knew that this was something similar to the eating situation from a few weeks back. He’d have to show him that good things happen when Tenko does something he refuses to do.

“Where would you like to go instead, then?”

“I dunno.” Tenko’s response was short. Uninterested.

Aizawa thought to himself for a moment. Surely there was something Tenko wanted. “I can take you to an arcade. You like video games.”

The smaller was silent for a moment before nodding slightly. “Sure.”

“Alright. After you pet the dog, I’ll take you to the arcade for the rest of our outing, okay?”

Tenko groaned obnoxiously. “I’m not petting the fucking dog, Eraser.” He sulked again, leaning his cheek against the car window. “These outings are supposed to be fun.”

Shit. Hizashi was right. This isn’t what an outing was, this was therapy with extra steps. Aizawa sighed. “If you do it this one time, we won’t ever do it again. Ever. Deal?”

Instead of responding immediately, Tenko went quiet again. Contemplating. Finally, just as Aizawa pulled into the parking lot, Tenko looked over at him. He had been quietly crying, small tears running down his cheeks before he quickly wiped them off with his sleeve.

“Fine. Once.”

Thank God that worked. Aizawa simply gave him a smile, turning the car off and exiting it with Tenko. They walked into the building that was oddly colorful, quiet barking could be heard behind closed doors. Tenko looked at the pictures on the wall while Aizawa got their volunteer passes, handing one to Tenko. The process was quick, and Aizawa was handed a few children's books. He gave some to Tenko, who looked mildly confused as they walked into an area that looked a lot like some sort of weird sanctuary. Dogs separated in large concrete columns, a fence separating them and the hallway. It looked like a high quality pound.

Tenko looked at the books that were given to them, then at Aizawa. “I thought I was just petting one and leaving.”

Aizawa nodded a little. Aizawa wasn't a fan of dogs. He was more of a cat person. But knowing Tenko’s past, it’ll help him to interact with dogs. “These dogs don’t like being pet immediately, Tenko. I told you, they’re like you.”

“I… doubt that.” Tenko said quietly as Aizawa opened one of the cages and slipped himself in, sitting down on the ground as the dog that occupied the cage pressed itself against the wall, shivering in fear.

“They’re traumatized, Tenko. They need to build trust. So, I volunteered the two of us to read for them.” Tenko watched Aizawa stick his fingers out to the dog. The dog reluctantly sniffed Aizawa’s hand before recoiling away. “See? You have to make them come to you. Then you pet them.”

Tenko glared at Aizawa for a moment, Aizawa ignoring the irritation of Tenko’s gaze. Giving up, Tenko wandered the hall and looked at each dog, stopping dead in his tracks. As soon as Aizawa didn’t hear his footsteps anymore, he opened the cage and peeked his head out, his eyes meeting Tenko’s still body, staring at a cage as if he was absolutely mortified. This was probably something that Aizawa had to be there for, so he left the cage he was in to walk over to Tenko.

Inside the cage was a corgi. A corgi who was clearly indulged in fear. Ears pinned back against its head with its body shaking. This corgi wasn’t the kind of dog Aizawa had in mind, but Tenko seemed to have some sort of disturbing connection with it. In his head, Aizawa pictured an aggressive dog. A dog who used violence to mask its anxiety. Much like Tenko. He didn’t expect a dog who looked so scared that it was about to die from panic. Aizawa reached for the clipboard that hung next to the cage, reading over the small information page.

“This is… Yasu. It says he was abused and abandoned. Seems that he has bad reactions to…” Aizawa squinted at the clipboard. “... Older women. Hm. Weird. Do you like this one?”

Tenko stayed silent for a moment, his stiff body beginning to worry Aizawa a bit. Aizawa placed a hand on his shoulder and was about to say something until Tenko sniffled a bit.

“Monchan was a corgi.” He wiped his eyes again, moving away from Aizawa’s touch to sit down in front of the cage, legs crossed.

Aizawa realized that this wasn’t going to be a one visit fix. It was clear that Tenko was drawn to this dog, but also absolutely horrified about it. Aizawa couched down as Tenko simply shuffled through the children’s books.

“How about this.” Aizawa spoke softly, now seeing that vulnerable Tenko has made another appearance. “You don’t have to pet him. You can read to him for a little bit. Then I’ll take you somewhere else, okay?”

Tenko nodded gently. With that, Aizawa patted his shoulder a few times before standing back up. “I’m gonna go look at the cats. Can I trust you to stay here?”

The smaller nodded again, and with that, Aizawa made the tough decision of leaving Tenko truly alone for the first time. As he got to the door, he could hear small sobs between a children’s story. He felt as if it were a big step to not run away from Yasu, but to sit down and read to him. Even if he resembled the dog you loved and accidentally killed. But nonetheless he didn’t look back at Tenko, knowing that even hearing this ordeal happening breaks his heart. He couldn’t bear to see it.

Aizawa spent some time sitting on the floor in the cat room. The occasional cat would approach him, but run away after a few moments of checking Aizawa out. He sat there for a good twenty minutes, but stood up and made his way back to the dog room. He expected to see Tenko gone, and expected to call the hospital to tell them their patient made a run for it. But surprisingly, there sat Tenko. In the same spot, reading to Yasu. He didn’t seem to be crying anymore, but his voice still sounded unbelievably broken. Aizawa mentally prepared himself before approaching him, Tenko finishing the story before looking up at the taller.

“I’m proud of you, you know.” Aizawa said warmly, helping Tenko up to his feet. “You made good progress.”

Tenko shook his head before wiping his eyes again. “I just… read to a dog. It’s not a big deal.” He choked out, seeming like he was trying to compose himself.

“It’s progress nonetheless. You did good.” Aizawa could feel himself genuinely smiling a bit. “Do you still want to go to the arcade?”

The smaller shook his head. “I like playing games in the common room.”

Aizawa walked Tenko back to the office to return the books and leave the building. Walking back to the car, Tenko stayed to Aizawa’s right while they reached the driver’s side door. Confused, Aizawa was about to ask him if he was alright, before Tenko gave him a gentle hug. Nothing near as intense as the last time they shared an embrace, but it definitely took Aizawa off guard. Despite being taken aback with the hug, Aizawa wrapped his arms around Tenko.

Tenko seemed to take physical affection as comfort. Aizawa never minded this, as he was used to it from Hizashi being a very physical person as well. That man hugged Aizawa more than anyone did. But Tenko’s hugs felt way different than Hizashi’s, almost feeling a little more intimate. Hizashi hugged everyone. Tenko only hugged Aizawa. And Aizawa only hugged Tenko back.

Though this blissful moment of mutual appreciation was short lived as Tenko pulled away and walked silently over to the passenger’s side door and got into the car. Oddly enough, Aizawa felt… mildly disappointed that their embrace didn’t last long.

Why the hell was he so disappointed? He couldn’t stop thinking about it, even as he drove Tenko back to the hospital and watched him play Legend of Zelda for the millionth time. He shouldn’t miss the feeling of Tenko’s arms wrapped around his torso. He just wanted to hold him. To protect him. To make him feel safe. Even as their meeting ended after a good two hours of watching Tenko play video games and blabble about stuff Aizawa knew nothing about, he still wanted to know why he felt this way.

Did he have a romantic interest in Tenko? No. There’s no way in Hell that was allowed to happen. What of his brain simply wanted to take advantage of Tenko for his weak mind and his attachment issues? He couldn’t let that happen. Even if his interest in Tenko existed, he couldn’t have that on his conscience. Aizawa practically sped to UA, speed walked to the teachers lounge, tossed the keys to Hizashi, and walked home.

‘Tenko is a friend.’ Aizawa repeated to himself. ‘Just a friend. A friend you care about, just like your other friends.’ He entered his apartment. ‘You do not have a stupid crush on a domestic terrorist and murderer.’ He planted himself on his bed.

‘Stop thinking about this, Shouta. You have papers to grade. Students to teach. A steady friendship to keep intact.’

But he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He had just established today that he was friends with Tenko. And now his anxious mind wanted to tell him that secretly, Aizawa wanted more than that. But he didn’t. It’s not that he could even have a romantic relationship with Tenko, anyways. He sighed and laid back onto his mattress, unzipping his jumpsuit and pulling it off lazily until he was left in a plain black shirt and his boxers. This was tiring. Emotionally and physically. He knew one thing was for certain. He did not sign up for this.

Aizawa signed up to help an emotionally and mentally unstable criminal. He signed up to listen to said criminal, and he signed up to help this criminal’s mental state to the best of his abilities to feel like he can be a functioning member of society. However, catching feelings for this criminal simply because Aizawa has witnessed first hand how vulnerable and broken he was and desperately wanted to help him was not what he signed up for.

This was a nightmare.

As if the night couldn’t get any more complicated, Aizawa heard his phone buzz in the pocket of his jumpsuit. He let out a sigh before sitting up, reaching for his phone, and answering it.

“Hello-”

“Shouta? Are you okay?” It was Hizashi. Of course it was Hizashi.

Aizawa mentally groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m fine. What do you need?”

“We were worried about you, dipshit! You came in here looking like you’ve seen a ghost, chucked my keys at me, and then bolted the fuck outta here!”

“...We?” Aizawa was indeed genuinely confused, until he heard the familiar voice on the other end of the line. “And, I didn’t ‘chuck’ your keys at you. I tossed them.”

“Hey, Shouta. I’m glad you’re alright.” Was what Toshinori had said in a much more calming voice than Hizashi’s frantic one. Aizawa really hated that Hizashi called and would put the other line on speaker.

Before Aizawa could say hello to Toshinori, Hizashi interrupted once again. “You sooo did chuck them at me! Don’t even lie about it! We’re coming over.”

“No, you are not.”

“Yes we are! And you’re gonna tell me what the fuck happened. See you soon, Shouta!”

“Hizashi-”

The noise was over as Hizashi hung up the call before Aizawa could decline. Aizawa had to accept that this was happening, whether he wanted it to or not. He got out of bed and slipped into some sweatpants, putting his hair up as his lazy way of getting ready for company that, quite frankly, he didn’t want to deal with right now. He tidied up his apartment, ready for whatever conversation Hizashi had in store. A conversation that would never once mention Tenko. He couldn’t bear to even tell Toshinori that he’s developed a friendship with a guy that wants him dead. After an agonizingly long fifteen minute wait, Hizashi and Toshinori finally arrived, ready to voice their opinions. But Aizawa had to rip the bandaid off and tell them a watered down heavily censored version of his feelings, first.

“So, you panicked that badly because you made a friend?” Hizashi took a large breath, rubbing his temples as he and Toshinori sat on Aizawa’s couch. “God, Shouta… what am I going to do with you?”

“It’s a bigger deal than you think.”

“I agree with Hizashi.” Toshinori made an effort to sound like he wasn’t rethinking an entire friendship like Hizashi was. “Making friends is a good thing. You should embrace the fact the Shimura wants to be your friend.”

Aizawa scoffed. “Yeah, I’ll go be friends with every single convicted terrorist and murderer in Tartarus.”

“Not every convicted terrorist and murderer is seeking redemption, Shouta.” Toshinori smiled, resting his elbows on his knees as Hizashi dramatically sprawled out on the couch. “I think you should be proud to have such a diverse group of friends.”

“Ah. Yes.” Aizawa stood up from his chair and walked into his kitchen to grab Toshinori and Hizashi a drink. “A diverse group of friends. Japan’s Number One, and the man who desperately wants to rip him to shreds by any means necessary. You know we can’t even vaguely mention you around him, right?” He shouted from the kitchen, walking into the living room and handing the drinks to them.

“I’m not his mentor.” Toshinori said more sternly, opening the bottle and letting it rest in his hand.

Aizawa groaned and Hizashi perked up to speak his mind. “Yagi’s right. It makes sense to befriend the patients. What, did you expect to spend so much time with him and simply just be seen as a mentor?” Hizashi took a swig of the beer handed to him, Toshinori placing his bottle on the table now realizing that he was the designated driver.

“Forgive me for not finding it ideal that I made a friend who hates all of my other friends.” Aizawa took Toshinori’s beer for himself.

Hizashi practically downed his bottle before speaking again. “I’m friends with a lot of the people I mentor. You get close with them.”

“He’s only close with me. That’s a lot of pressure on me. He won’t talk to the nurses about what’s bothering him, he waits until I come for the scheduled days to tell me about it.” Aizawa didn’t realize that after he said that, Hizashi and Toshinori looked at each other for a moment and then back to Aizawa.

“Shouta. That simply means he finds comfort in you.” Hizashi said quietly. “That’s a good thing, especially for your mentorship. It makes your job way easier.”

“Midoriya is the same way.” Toshinori chimed in. “He only talks to me about certain things. It’s not something you should beat yourself up over.”

But it was something Aizawa beat himself up over. He didn’t mind being Tenko’s friend. He didn’t mind at all. But he did mind whatever feelings were trying to push their way up to the surface, no matter how hard he tried to keep them back. Not only would it be disrespectful to Toshinori to find romantic interest in Tenko, but it would be extremely unprofessional. Having such an interest with someone who you’re supposed to be helping? When they see you as some sort of therapist? The thought of it made Aizawa not as uncomfortable as it should’ve. He should not be okay with these feelings. What his gut was telling him was right. Push these feelings back as hard as physically possible, and avoid touching them with a ten foot pole. No, longer than that. A twenty foot pole. Aizawa didn’t notice how deep in thought he was about his moral dilemma until he caught eyes with the two men on his couch staring at him.

“Dude. Are you okay?” Hizashi seemed genuine with this question. At least.

Aizawa blinked a few times. He desperately wanted to tell someone. Hizashi would understand these feelings. Toshinori avoids relationship advice, but he would at least try to listen. Aizawa was safe with his friends, but he felt like they would have a judgemental reaction regardless if it was about Tenko or not. His mind’s decision about even having these feelings to begin with was still fifty fifty. This was a difficult conversation to have, and he might as well not wait until these feelings inevitably get worse.

Aizawa looked at the two with a strained expression, then let out a small sigh as he ran his hands through his hair. It’s not like Hizashi and Toshinori couldn’t already tell he was hiding something.

“No, actually. I’m not.”

Chapter Text

A day in Tenko’s life was weird, structured with a strict routine, and most importantly it was miserable.

Tenko doesn’t trust therapists. He could never connect with a therapist, especially with the circumstances of his current situation. Being in a new environment for weeks, but still feeling like he doesn’t really belong. Nobody really wanted to talk to him, since they’ve all seen what he’s done on the news. You’d think in a room filled with criminals he’d be given at least some respect, but alas, he wasn’t.

It also had to do with Eraserhead, it seemed. Apparently a handful of the people in the institution were actually caught by Eraserhead. So, hated upon association. But today was a new day. A new day with a new therapist. A physical therapist, at that. He didn’t want it. Besides, Aizawa was just there. He just left. He didn’t need therapy right now. Tenko didn’t think he really needed physical therapy at all but went along with the process regardless. He was taken to another wing of the hospital, and he saw people who seemed to be there exclusively for physical therapy needs.

Which only made him feel like an outcast. But that didn’t matter, since it was dinner time and he was hungry. This wing wasn’t much different from his, but he was simply surrounded by different people. Tenko wasted no time getting his food, gathering what he needed quickly and sitting down at an empty table. There wasn’t a vending machine in this wing, so he couldn’t even sneak a ginger ale for himself. However, due to the circumstances, he was happy to have some peace and quiet. This cafeteria was far less noisy than the one in his wing. It was nice, but of course Tenko always seemed to jinx himself.

“Hey. You’re sitting at my table.” He hears a voice from above him say.

He looked up lazily to see a heavily scarred white haired man. Relatively young, but god those scars looked rough. He blinked a bit and shrugged. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to.”

The man gave him a scowl before seeming to break his character a bit with a chuckle. “Oh, I don’t care. I’ll just sit with you.” He squinted at Tenko’s hospital band, raising his brows. “... Shimura.”

Tenko didn’t get to say anything else before the white haired man sat down in front of him with a tray of food. He only moved the band so the labelling wouldn’t be seen. This guy weirded him out. Way too friendly. Probably wanted something.

“You look like shit.” Tenko mumbled, picking at his food. He hoped his rude comments would drive him away to sit somewhere else. But that didn’t seem to work as the man laughed.

“Says you.” He said between chuckles. “I’m Touya. Touya Todoroki.” He stretched his hand over the table. Hesitantly, Tenko limply grabbed Touya’s warm hand and shook it.

Touya was a weirdo. Not once has Tenko seen someone so… charismatic about being here. Everyone in this wing especially seemed to be so gloomy. Maybe that’s why nobody wanted to sit with him. He glanced at Touya’s scarred face. He looked… a little scary. But familiar.

“So what are you in here for?” Touya leaned his elbows on the table. This guy couldn’t take a hint.

Tenko sighed realizing he’d spend lunch with this guy. “... Murder and terrorism. Also trespassing, I guess.”

Touya blinked for a moment. “I meant the physical therapy wing. Not that. You must be in the mentorship program, huh?”

Quite frankly, Tenko couldn’t give Touya a solid answer on that. He didn’t know why he was brought here, either. The psychologists just seemed desperate to get him to say something substantial. He could probably take a guess as to why Touya would be there. He looked like a burn victim. The scars seemed to cover his whole body, from what he saw. His arms, neck, chest, and face. It was all scarring. He wanted to see what it felt like, for some reason. Either way, he already didn’t like physical therapy if it meant he’d be in the same wing as this Touya Todoroki.

“Not sure. They just escorted me here.” Tenko went back to eating his lunch.

“You’re gloomy as shit, Shimura.” Touya chuckled, moving his elbows off the table and putting his hands in his lap. “Wanna play shogi?”

Tenko glared up at Touya. He was getting on his nerves. “No.”

Touya sighed dramatically. “I’ve been here for a year and nobody wants to play shogi with me. C’mon. One round.”

One year? That piqued Tenko’s interest a bit. Touya has been here for a while. Tenko could hardly handle the several weeks he’s been here, but a year? No fucking way. “You’ve been in here for how long?”

“Ah. So that’s what you care about.” Touya crossed his arms with a shit eating grin occupying his face. “I’ve been in this place for a year. They transferred me here from another halfway house. I was at that one since I was fifteen.”

Tenko furrowed his brows a bit. “... How old are you now?”

“Twenty four!” Touya laughed a little. “Almost a decade. Isn’t that crazy?”

A moment of silence subdued as Tenko stared at Touya in genuine disbelief. A decade spent in a halfway house? Touya must’ve been a psychopath, or something. Tenko had to relapse his judgement upon realising he could very likely be in the same boat as Touya. Especially if Aizawa deemed him unfit for treatment at some point.

Realizing the way Tenko stared at him, Touya sat up a little. “I’m not crazy. I know that look. Yeah, nine years is a long time, but I’m fine! My dad threw me in here.” Tenko noticed Touya tense up mentioning his dad. “Fuckin’ bitch. I told him when I got out I’d kill him. The nurses didn’t like that.”

“You should definitely kill your dad.” Tenko said, sipping from the straw of his juice. He then remembered the countless times Aizawa had told him that ‘killing people for revenge was still killing someone’. “Unless, like, he doesn’t deserve it. Or something.”

Touya seemed to enjoy this conversation. “You said you’re here for murder. Did’ya kill your dad or something?”

“Yeah. Family too, on accident.” Tenko immediately tensed up upon hearing those words come out of his own mouth. Why the hell would he say that? To a complete stranger, nonetheless? He looked up at Touya slowly, as they both fell back into a pressured silence.

Touya swallowed harshly. “Shit, man. I’m sorry. That’s gotta be tough.” Touya strained a smile for a moment. “At least you got the old man, right?”

In an unexpected turn of events, Touya was starting to grow on Tenko. He wasn’t like Aizawa, who actually cared for him like a real friend. But was… lighthearted on the topic of trauma. Something Tenko wishes he could do. At least he got the old man, as Touya said.

“Do you have a mentor, Todoroki?”

Touya shook his head. “Mentors are for that criminal rehab program. Not people like me. Why, who’s your mentor?”

“Eraserhead.” Tenko rested his hand on his cheek. He was bored, but at least talking to Touya passed the time.

Touya however, looked confused. “Who the fuck is Eraserhead?”

It took Tenko a moment to remember that Aizawa was an underground pro hero, and therefore not a lot of people knew who he was. Which he assumed was Aizawa’s goal. Either way, he now looked like a fucking idiot.

“The hero I almost killed.”

“Hah, that’s gotta be awkward.” Touya took a sip from his juice he got with his dinner. “Does he like… bring it up? I’d be pissed.”

Tenko shrugged. “It’s not that awkward, surprisingly. He’s actually very nice.”

“Cool. We’re friends now, right?”

Tenko glared at Touya for a moment to calculate his answer. Touya was cool and all, but seemed weirdly charismatic as mentioned before. Like he was using it as a mask. “... Sure, Todoroki. We’re friends.”

And just like that, Touya stood up from his chair and grabbed his tray of untouched dinner. “Let’s play shogi, then.”

The rest of Tenko’s visit to the wing was mediocre. As expected, the therapist didn’t see anything wrong with him that he’d need to be there for, but asked him to come once a week regardless. Though playing shogi with Touya was fun, even though he got his ass handed to him. For the first time, Tenko played a game with someone and lost. It made him angrier than he thought he should be. Not to mention that Touya was obnoxious about it, too. Is that how Aizawa felt about playing Mario Kart with him? Meanwhile he was being escorted back to the wing he was used to. Meeting Touya was fun and all, but shortly after he was sent back to his room he was pulled for another therapy session.

Now take that and multiply it by twenty. That was Tenko’s day. Eat, sleep, and go to countless therapy appointments.

However this appointment brought a new outlook. His therapist went on a ramble about Tenko’s mental health before she finally finished and asked a question that would bring Tenko’s life crumbling down.

“Tenko, why did you tell Eraserhead about your past but not us?”

At first, Tenko was absolutely livid. Why would Aizawa tell the therapists something he meant to just tell him? Why would he break his trust like that? But then he remembered the form he signed to get a mentor in the first place. Mentors had to give information to the hospital. Updates, concerns, stuff like that. Though he was still mad about it, he had to acknowledge the fact that, quite literally, that was Aizawa’s job. He couldn’t hold a grudge on his mentor for doing his job. He didn’t even mean to tell him.

Despite being upset at the fact that the therapist now knew bits and pieces of his past, he responded. “Because. I like Eraserhead more than you.”

He watched as the woman took a moment to process before writing what he said down. Shit, he’d probably get in trouble for that. She clicked her pen a few times while looking down at the paper in front of her.

“Do you consider Eraserhead a friend of yours, then?”

“Will I get in trouble for answering?”

“You’re not in trouble, Tenko. You spoke your mind.”

Tenko clenched his jaw for a moment. “... Yeah.”

The woman wrote that down too. Will Aizawa see this? That’s embarrassing. She scanned through the paper, wrote some things down, and looked back up at Tenko. They both looked at each other for a moment before she looked back down at the paper.

“How’s your hormone replacement therapy going?”

Questions about Tenko’s transition always made him quieter. Mostly because the hospital wanted to know where he got the hormones while in hiding, since he didn’t have it on record. He also disliked talking about it in general.

“Fine, I guess.” Tenko crossed his legs. The needles didn’t bother him, but the fact he couldn’t do it himself did. Patients, under no circumstances, are not allowed to even hold a pencil without supervision. Especially a needle.

The woman wrote down each of Tenko’s answers. It reminded him of how Aizawa wrote random things down when they were with each other. “Eraserhead has a copy of your file, correct?”

Tenko nodded but the woman spoke again before he could say anything. “We’ll need to give him a copy of your medical files. We didn’t have any for him when he first came here, but since you’ve accepted medical treatment, we have something to give him.”

Which was true. Tenko refused to let them do tests on him when he first arrived. The woman handed Tenko a paper, presumably his medical report.

Dermatillomania, PTSD, anxiety, and manic depression. He looked up at the woman and she spoke again.

“That’s my approximate diagnosis for you until you give consent for a psychological evaluation.”

Tenko wasn’t surprised to see any of this stuff on his record. Aizawa had already given him insight on what to expect, and frequently encouraged him to get the evaluation done. But that wasn’t necessarily on Tenko’s to-do list. Knowing the danger his sensei had on society, he couldn’t risk slipping up and letting the hospital or Aizawa know who he is or where he is. He was the one who got caught, not him. Afterall, sensei did take him in. He couldn’t betray him like that.

He should. But he also fears the consequences.

“Cool. Are we done?” Tenko handed back the paper to his therapist, who took it back rather gently.

“Do you not have anything else you want to talk about? You were more vocal today, Tenko. We can always talk.”

A thought ran through his head that he should talk about how he missed Aizawa despite seeing him less than two hours ago. He missed him a lot. Felt way more comfortable around him. Wanted to talk to him instead.

“No. I’m alright.”

Chapter Text

“You think… what now?” Hizashi said quietly, eyes looking Aizawa up and down while he leaned forward on the couch. “You think you want to fuck Shimura?”

Toshinori, who wasn’t listening to Aizawa’s confession, suddenly turned his head to look at him with a rather confused expression.

“Oh my God, Hizashi. I did not say I wanted to fuck him.” Aizawa’s embarrassment definitely was apparent, the blood rushed to his cheeks as soon as Hizashi opened his mouth. Hizashi was a smart guy, but his incompetence was unmatched this time around. “I literally just said I think, in a deeper part of my conscience, I see Shimura as more than a friend.”

Hizashi nodded a little while Toshinori whipped his head around to face the disaster blonde next to him. “Where the hell did you get he wanted to fuck him from?”

“I know my best friend, Yagi! I know how he thinks.” Hizashi shrugged, arms crossed against his chest. Aizawa quite frankly couldn’t tell if he was actually mad at him or if he was just being dramatic.

Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose while Toshinori shook his head as he relaxed back onto the couch. “I don’t think like that, Yamada. I’m an adult, not a horny teenager.”

“I sure hope you’re not a horny teenager!” Hizashi stood up and walked to the kitchen, presumably to get another beer. “I don’t think Shimura would go for a horny teenager, if anything. He might like someone his own age.”

The guilt of Tenko’s age came back after Hizashi said that. The guilt of Aizawa feeling like a predator, going for someone younger and more vulnerable than he is. “Don’t say that like he’s underage. He’s an adult. He can make his own decisions, feel his own feelings. Besides, I’m not that much older than him.”

Hizashi took a beer out of the fridge and sat back down with Toshinori, who looked deep in thought. “He’s what, nineteen? I mean, yeah, Shouta. He’s an adult, but he definitely doesn’t act like one.”

“The whole point of what I’m doing is to get him to act like one. At least help him understand that when he gets discharged he’ll need a job, a place to live, that kinda shit.”

With another sip of beer, Hizashi placed the bottle next to his previous empty one. “With his record? I doubt he’ll be able to find a good job, Shouta. Terrorism doesn’t look too pretty on a resume.”

“Yamada, you do mentorships all the time, I thought you’d at least understand the overall mission.”

Toshinori blinked for a moment and thankfully interrupted Hizashi’s incoming rant. “Regarding the interest you see in Shimura, it’s a fact that survivors of trauma often seek relationships that could be harmful. Mostly because they don’t see abuse as abuse, but simply as a pattern that’s familiar to them.”

Aizawa and Hizashi both looked at him in shock, mostly because Toshinori never seemed to like weighing his opinion in on conversations involving ‘love’. He would say it himself, his relationship advice was god awful.

“So, I feel like I’d rather someone like Shouta to be there for him.” Toshinori continued. “Shimura may not like me, but he’s Nana’s grandson. So I want to see the best for him.”

It took Aizawa a moment to process Toshinori’s relationship with Tenko. He had completely forgotten about his predecessor, Nana Shimura. Hell, Aizawa forgot that Tenko was Nana’s grandson in the first place. He knew he’d heard that name somewhere when the nurse told him Tenko’s real name. Toshinori didn’t speak of Nana much, but when he did, he spoke very highly of her.

“You knew about that?” Hizashi leaned forward, placing a hand on Toshinori’s shoulder.

Toshinori looked over at Hizashi, a smile on his face. “Of course I knew. I knew as soon as the police told me his real name.” He moved his gaze over to Aizawa, who was still rather lost in this ordeal. “That’s why I encouraged you to be his mentor in the first place, Shouta. I trust you with her grandson, and I know you take good care of him.”

Aizawa’s feelings for Tenko hurt a lot more now knowing that Toshinori was aware of both Tenko’s relations to his predecessor and his feelings towards Tenko. The grandson of his inspiration. No pressure, Shouta. Just don’t fuck this up. It wasn’t about Tenko anymore, it now included Toshinori’s happiness with Tenko working to become a normal citizen under Aizawa’s care. The knowledge he carried about Tenko being the last in the Shimura bloodline now weighed a bit heavier. He didn’t even know if Toshinori knew about Tenko’s family, or lack thereof.

“He’s definitely getting better. It’s a long road but… we’re getting there.” Aizawa took a swig of his beer. He definitely wanted to get drunk tonight to push away the wave of guilt he was feeling.

“He doesn’t want to be a hero, does he, Shouta?” Toshinori fumbled with his fingers. “I don’t think he could become a hero, after what he’s done. Agencies would probably avoid him.”

Aizawa thought to himself for a moment. Tenko didn’t want to be a hero. That much was true. But regarding agencies…

“That’s fine. He can work with me.” Aizawa blurted out. He looked up at the two blonds on his couch. “If he wants to, that is. I already teach kids how to be a hero, I could teach him too.”

Toshinori and Hizashi both looked at each other before Hizashi glanced back at Aizawa. “You think you can change his mind on that? He seems rather adamant about it.”

The negative opinions Tenko had on heroes seemed to have already been taken into consideration deep in Aizawa’s mind. While the shell of Aizawa seemed fine with Tenko not wanting to pursue the hero career, deep down in Aizawa’s heart he wanted to see Tenko become a hero. He had already subconsciously planned it out. Tenko would work with him. To someone who hates heroes, hopefully the title of an underground hero like Aizawa would be more appealing. That’s why Tenko liked him in the first place, right? Because he didn’t have hardly any information on him? There were no news articles or interviews about Aizawa. He never got press and he’s never had to deal with paparazzi. Hell, one time someone offered Aizawa a few yen to get food since they confused him for a homeless man. Aizawa’s specific line of work could be appealing to Tenko.

“I could. I’m sure he’ll naturally change his mind down the road. If he likes me, there can’t be a total hatred for heroes in that mind of his, right?”

Hizashi shrugged. “I think he doesn’t like the flashiness of hero work.” His gaze moved to Toshinori. “No offense.”

Toshinori didn’t even seem like he was paying attention anymore. He was on his phone, watching a video compilation of dogs and cats being friends with each other. Hizashi looked back over at Aizawa, who stood up from his chair and went into the kitchen to search for his secret bottle of shochu. It’s Aizawa’s ‘special liquor’ for nights where he wanted to forget about whatever was currently happening. It’s only been used a few times, and works like a charm.

“We might get going soon. It’s pretty late already. You’ll be at school tomorrow, right?”

“Of course I am. I have students to teach.” Aizawa turned around to see Hizashi and Toshinori get up from the couch. “What makes you think I wouldn’t be?”

Hizashi raised a brow. “You’re looking for your ‘get black out drunk’ bottle. It’s in the cabinet closest to the fridge.”

Aizawa glared at Hizashi for a moment before moving to said cabinet. To nobody’s surprise, it was there. He kept eye contact with Hizashi while pulling it off the shelf slowly as if Hizashi wouldn’t see it.

“If I come over and that shit is more than halfway finished, I’m taking it away. I know it takes one glass for you to get plastered.” Hizashi walked to the door, putting his shoes back on while Toshinori did the same. “You’re a lightweight.”

“Am not.” That was a lie, and both Hizashi and Toshinori have seen it first hand. It was relatively embarrassing.

“Mhm. Sure.” Hizashi laughed a bit, opening the door. “Good night, Shouta!”

Aizawa mumbled back a ‘good night’ as the two finally left his apartment. About damn time. He poured himself a glass of shochu on the rocks, using an American whiskey glass that was gifted to him by Toshinori. He hardly ever needed to use it, so as soon as he took it out of the cabinet his body immediately knew the turmoil it would be placed under.

That night was rough. It included nearly three glasses of shochu, watching the entirety of season one of Shibuhara Girls (which was Aizawa’s secret guilty pleasure), and looking up his name on the internet to see if people really didn’t know who he was. Which, at the time, caused an immense moment of drunken sadness. But it was after he passed out that made the night interesting. He had a dream.

About Tenko.

Aizawa hardly ever remembered his dreams to the point where he was convinced that he didn’t have dreams, he simply just falls asleep and then wakes up. But this one was oddly memorable. He had woken up in this dream, in his bed. It didn’t even feel like he was still asleep, but the start of the next day. That was until he rolled over to see Tenko laying next to him. Back facing Aizawa, his greyish blue hair sprawled on the pillow, and the soft rising and falling of his ribcage as he took sleepy breaths. Aizawa simply sat and watched him as Tenko rolled over, pulling the blanket with him. His cheek was pressed against the pillow with his mouth slightly agape and eyes closed as Aizawa laid next to him. There weren't any moments of feeling unsettled or anything in Aizawa, but a feeling of comfort. A feeling of relief. Like he could finally relax and unwind. He reached over and laid a gentle hand on Tenko’s cheek. A few more moments pass and Tenko’s eyes blink open, still lidded as his bright red irises slowly move up to look at Aizawa. He gave Aizawa a small smile, bringing a gloved hand from under the covers to place his palm softly on the back of Aizawa’s hand.

And that’s when Aizawa woke up.

His eyes opened for real this time, looking up at his ceiling. The headache he had was brutal and his alarm made it no better. He turned it off just to catch a break, then laid back down in the comfort of his bed. He laid there in silence for a moment, processing whatever emotional distress his mind just put him through. Hesitantly, he turned his head to look next to him, not surprised that he had woken up alone. Though Aizawa was very familiar with waking up alone, in fact he was used to it.

But for some unknown reason, it hurt this time.

He pulled himself together and got ready for the day. Threw up, took several ibuprofen, showered and brushed his teeth, then got dressed. Some extra steps than his usual morning routine, but it wasn’t gonna kill him. What was going to kill him was this awful hangover. He decided to take the train to UA instead of walking like he usually did. When he got there way earlier than normal, he dragged himself to the teachers lounge and passed out again on the couch. Of course as expected he was awoken when Hizashi got there.

“How drunk did you get last night?”

Aizawa sat up a bit, scratching the side of his head. “Drunk enough.”

Hizashi rolled his eyes and tossed Aizawa a water bottle and a bag of crackers, which Aizawa didn’t catch and let hit his stomach to rest on his lap. “Carbs and water help. I doubt you want your students to see how absolutely hammered you got last night.”

“It’s not… that obvious, is it?” Aizawa looked down at his lap and sluggishly opened the water bottle.

“It’s like if you wore a shirt that said ‘I have a hangover’ written in big red letters, Shouta.” Hizashi chuckled as he pulled out his phone and took a handful of pictures. “It’s really bad.”

Aizawa let out an inaudible grumble while he ate the crackers and drank the entirety of the water bottle. If there was a day he didn’t want to teach, it would be today. He wished he would have just slept in. God, being asleep sounded so good right now.

“How much did you drink?” Hizashi forcefully moved Aizawa’s legs to sit down next to him on the couch. “Don’t tell me you had one, because I know that’s a lie.”

He knew he’d get the bottle of shochu taken away either way. He pretended to think for a moment, knowing damn well he couldn’t remember anything he did last night. “I… forgot. Maybe two or three.”

Aizawa got his expected lecture that he couldn’t just ‘drink his feelings away, especially on a school night’ by Hizashi, blocking out most of his ramblings to let his mind marinate on the fact that he dreamed about Tenko being in bed with him. Was it a drunk dream, or a dream projecting his deepest desires? It was most likely the latter, but Aizawa figured that if he considered it a drunk dream, he would feel less like shit about it.

The day was long and agonizingly boring. He was sure his students could tell he had a rough night but were too afraid to mention it, especially after hearing the shushing when poor Kaminari whispered to Kirishima “Is sensei okay?”. Nonetheless the day ended and Aizawa went home, did his lazy nightly routine of grading papers for a few hours, then went to bed early with no dinner. Because the next day was even worse, and was in fact a day Aizawa has dreaded since he woke up.

There were no dreams that Aizawa could remember the next morning, only the horrifying reality of waking up to remember that today was another scheduled day with Tenko. His schedule was Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, not to mention that schedule included whenever Tenko called him in. But today was Friday. Finally. Aizawa felt a lot better this morning, and luckily the better mood made him able to tolerate the school day on a Friday. The mood didn’t last during the train ride to the hospital, however. Even as he walked up to the entrance his mind was consumed with thoughts that made him physically recoil.

What if Tenko somehow knew that Aizawa had a dream about him? What if he found out and wanted Aizawa to stop seeing him and be released from the mentorship program? What if that happens, and he isn’t allowed to stay so he’s discharged to Tartarus? He had to mentally prepare himself before he walked into the hospital, grabbed his visitor’s pass, and made his way to Tenko’s room.

Aizawa noticed that there were no nurses at Tenko’s door like usual, opening the heavy door gently and peeking his head in. Tenko just laid on his bed, flipping through… a book? Aizawa doesn’t think he’s ever seen Tenko actually reading. He walks in, grabs the chair by the door and drags it to the side of Tenko’s bed to sit in it. Tenko looked away from his book and closed it before ultimately putting it down.

“How are you today, Tenko?” Aizawa crossed his legs a bit, putting on his professional mask. This was already happening, so there’s no point in having so much anxiety about it.

Tenko simply sat up in his bed, stretching his arms gently. “Hm? Oh, I’m alright. I'm bored, though.”

Aizawa raised a brow. “Bored, huh? Do you have another outing?”

He shakes his head gently. “No, not for this week. they gave me a normal schedule so I’m not stuck in here all day like I was before.” Tenko reached over to the table he had on the side of his bed, fumbling through a handful of papers before taking one out of the pile and handing it to Aizawa. “This is for you, by the way.”

“... What’s this?” Aizawa looked down at the paper. It listed diagnoses and medication.

“It’s my medical eval. Shows you what kinda pills I take and shit.” Tenko scooted closer and looked down at the paper while Aizawa held it.

Aizawa read the paper a little more thoroughly. Fifty milligrams of fluoxetine, twenty five milligrams of sertraline hydrochloride, and fifty milligrams of testosterone cypionate. Aizawa, of course, had no clue what any of this meant. He couldn’t really tell if these dosages were supposed to tell him where Tenko was mentally, but nonetheless he was confused.

“Okay, so… what do these mean?”

Tenko moved completely, now to Aizawa’s right to read over what he was talking about. He pointed at where the dosages were. “Prozac, Zoloft, and my testosterone shot. I have to take the antidepressants for my PTSD, anxiety, and depression, and I was already under HRT when I came in.”

Aizawa took Prozac, too. He had just never seen it written like that. As for the testosterone, that was… something new. Something that he had no idea about, or was even told about by the nurses. He looked over at Tenko quickly, realizing that he never would’ve even guessed.

He looked back at the paper before Tenko could notice. “So, you’re transitioning?”

Tenko let out a chuckle that sounded deep rooted in embarrassment. “Well… yeah. I thought the nurse told you.”

Aizawa shook his head, then shrugged. “Oh well. So you take these daily?”

Truth be told, Aizawa couldn’t care less about Tenko’s gender. It didn’t affect him, so there was no need to read into it. Tenko seemed uncomfortable talking about it, so he didn’t stick to the topic for very long. Speaking of Tenko, he looked rather surprised when Aizawa didn’t ask him more questions about his transition. Almost relieved.

“Uh… yeah. Except for the shot. I do that once a week.”

Aizawa looked over at him for a moment, folding the paper and putting it in his pocket. They were a lot closer than he wanted. Shoulder to shoulder. It was hard not to remember his dream when he saw Tenko’s face. He looked peaceful then, and looked relatively peaceful now. The back of Aizawa’s mind screamed at him to kiss him, but his painfully logical side of his mind gave him about a million reasons as to why he definitely shouldn’t do that. So to put his mind at ease for just a moment, he scooted his chair away by about an inch, just so they wouldn’t be so close. As soon as Aizawa moved, Tenko looked up at him and raised a brow. He looked like he was about to ask something, but simply closed his mouth and moved away to sit criss crossed on his bed.

“So, did anything happen when I left on Wednesday? How was the rest of your day?”

Tenko’s face was a bit flustered, chewing on the inside of his lip while he looked at his wall before being brought back to the real world with the question. “Hm? Oh, it was alright. I was assigned to physical therapy for some reason, but I met a friend.”

Aizawa paused and tilted his head slightly. “A friend, huh?”

“Yeah, his name’s Touya.”

Almost immediately, Aizawa was reminded of the story Toshinori told him. But he had to make sure. “... Todoroki?”

Tenko nodded. “Yeah. He’s at the west wing. Why, do you know him?”

So it seemed that Aizawa knew exactly who Tenko was talking about. Toshinori had told him about Enji Todoroki’s scandal within the hero community about sending one of his sons to a halfway house, considering the fact that nobody exactly knew why. Toshinori had mentioned that not a lot of heroes talk about Touya anymore, since it’s been years since then and everyone thought he was discharged back into Enji’s care about a year after it happened. Touya’s brother, Shoto, was in his class, so he was quite surprised to hear that Shoto’s brother was in the same institution as Tenko.

“I know his father, Endeavor. And his brother is in my class.”

“Oh, really? Huh, I think he mentioned his family other than his dad. I can’t remember though.”

A moment of silence was shared between them for a few seconds before Tenko broke it.

“I wanna ask you something.”

Aizawa looked over at Tenko, who seemed to have been quite nervous. Oddly so. “What’s up?”

Tenko looked away for a moment, Aizawa noticing that Tenko was… blushing. He was flustered. Whatever question Tenko was about to ask was making his face red, and Aizawa didn’t like that the chances of Tenko asking something that has him so worked up would be a good question are very low.

“What’s your name?”

Aizawa blinked. That’s it? That was the whole question? His name?

“Like… you call me Tenko. I still call you Eraserhead. I want to know your name.” Tenko looked back over at Aizawa. He seemed pretty set on knowing this information, right here and right now.

The taller simply chuckled a bit and faced Tenko a bit better so they would be at eye level. He could get in trouble for this, who knew. This could also come back to bite him in the ass, but that was always a possibility when it came to being a hero. Even most heroes didn’t know eachothers real names. Regardless, Tenko’s comment made him realize how hypocritical he was to call him Tenko and keep his name a secret.

“It’s Shouta. Shouta Aizawa.” He kept a warm smile on his face. He was bound to find out, anyways. “You can call me whatever you want, but my name is Shouta.”

Chapter Text

A month.

It has taken Aizawa an entire month of constant scheduled visits and calls to come to terms with the fact that he sees Tenko as more than a friend.

The problem wasn’t what it was before, a simple dream he had on a drunken night. It was more than that. He thought the feeling went away for a bit only for it to have been subconsciously festering in the back of his mind the whole time. The day he realized the feeling never fully went away is when Tenko gifted him with a cat keychain from the giftshop of the hospital. Aizawa had about a million cat keychains gifted to him over the years after mentioning once to Hizashi, Toshinori, and Nemuri that he liked cats. Since then he’s been given countless amounts of cat related home decor and t-shirts for holidays and his birthday. However this keychain was different from the others in terms of meaning.

He had only told Tenko about his love for cats when they first went to the sanctuary to see Yasu. He didn’t even mention he liked cats, he just said he was going in the cat room. Since then nothing else was mentioned, but Tenko remembered anyways.

But it was the moment upon being given the keychain that Aizawa realized that Tenko’s heart was pure. That he was indeed getting better, slowly but surely. Tenko proved that being shown basic kindness can help a lot. His therapists even mentioned that he’s actually started opening up. Hell, just last week he got the psychological evaluation he’s been hesitant on getting since day one.

Aizawa felt the overwhelming need to protect Tenko. He wanted Tenko to show interest in being a hero, which hasn’t happened yet. Even though Aizawa has been dropping hints over the past month that Tenko would benefit from working with him, he still had an incredible disdain for heroes.

“What kind of hero would you want to be?” Aizawa had asked one day.

“Aizawa-kun, you know I don’t want to be a hero.” Tenko responded with an eye roll, and had gone back to focusing on his game.

The taller mentally slapped himself in the face, knowing that pushing it will make Tenko’s feelings about it even worse. “You’ve made that clear, but it’s… a hypothetical question.”

Tenko had put his controller down and thought to himself for a good minute, before answering Aizawa with a half assed shrug. “I dunno. Heroes help people, right? Then… help people. Is there anything else to it?”

Close enough, Aizawa thought. “Well you can be a rescue hero, or you could be a sidekick, or-”

Tenko interrupted Aizawa with a groan. “That’s too much work. I thought you guys just like… fought crime or something.”

Aizawa looked down at Tenko, who had taken his usual spot on the floor in front of the TV. “Well, say you’d become my sidekick, right?” Aizawa, at the time, hoped that it wasn’t too obvious that he was planting a seed. “You’d help me, and… well I’ve never had a sidekick before. I think you would help me and do paperwork.” Riveting stuff.

The smaller rolled his head back with a frankly disgusted expression. “That sounds super fuckin’ boring.”

And that was the last time they talked about it. Aizawa tried to ease Tenko’s hatred for heroes by using his friends as an example, particularly Hizashi. Whenever he went to see Tenko in the past month, he would make himself tell at least one story about Hizashi. One that he’d think Tenko would like. Tenko didn’t care for the stories. Even though Aizawa kept his hero name out of it, their conversation was cut short by Tenko’s one remark.

“Sensei told me who Present Mic was, Aizawa.”

Getting Tenko to even like heroes was a failure, let alone convincing him to at least consider becoming one. For the past month Aizawa pushed back his feelings of endearment and tried getting Tenko into the hero scene without any success. They saw Yasu every outing, they’ve talked about all there was needed to be talked about, so at this point it was a simple waiting game for Tenko to consider the hero route. Aizawa was willing to do anything to keep his feelings a secret.

Hizashi and Toshinori both knew this. Aizawa was notorious for hiding himself away in the sake of being professional. Getting close to Tenko was already a huge no-no in Aizawa’s book, most of that professionalism going down the drain as soon as the words “Aizawa-kun” came out of Tenko’s lips. God, the things Aizawa would do to hear Tenko say that as often as humanly possible.

That leads us to today, a Saturday. It was nearing noon, Aizawa was still asleep, which was typical for the weekends to be Aizawa’s designated sleep-in days. Though blissful sleep was interrupted with an incoming call from none other than Hizashi Yamada. Aizawa kept his eyes shut while he slapped his hand around his bedside table in a pathetic attempt to find his phone, finally coming in contact with it and bringing it up to his ear.

“What?” Aizawa mumbled into his phone, only to hear an eruption of loud laughter from the other end of the line.

“Hah! You’re awake! Good afternoon, Shouta!” Aizawa winced when hearing the volume of Hizashi’s voice. “Wanna come to lunch with me and Yagi?”

Aizawa groaned a bit and pulled his phone away from his ear to look at the screen. The date was as expected, a Saturday at noon. He lazily brought the phone back to his ear. “Scheduled day.”

“Oh! Even better. Can we come?”

The request was understandable. Aizawa told both Hizashi and Toshinori that Tenko has had the smallest bit of hatred chipped away regarding heroes. But not enough to see the hero that made his blood boil and one that was so loud it annoyed everyone within a five mile radius.

“No. I’ll talk to you guys later.”

“Wait, Sho-”

Aizawa abruptly ended the call and tossed his phone back onto the bedside table. He didn’t want to get out of bed just yet, but of course it was a scheduled day. Another day to see Tenko. Another day to push feelings down into the abyss.

It wasn’t like Aizawa didn’t want Tenko. It was clear to him that he wanted Tenko. He thought about ways to subtly let Tenko know his feelings without saying them. With Hizashi and Toshinori it was easy. They were able to read Aizawa like a book. But with Tenko, it was hard to tell what he was really thinking, For all Aizawa knew, Tenko could just be waiting for the perfect opportunity to murder Aizawa in cold blood. But he could also be keeping the same, embarrassing secret. A hero and a former villain falling in love. Just the thought of it made Aizawa feel a weird mixture of sickness and happiness. Taking a liking in Tenko was probably the worst thing his brain has ever done to him.

It’s not like he had the same drunken dream over and over again. But going on his day to day life, he’s realized that he looks at things and more often than not thinks to himself ‘Tenko would like that’ or ‘Tenko would think that’s cool’. The same thing happened with Hizashi and Toshinori, so of course it would happen with Tenko. At least with Hizashi and Toshinori, Aizawa could feel those feelings without a single tinge of guilt. Aizawa got out of bed and put himself together, disregarding the hero suit and putting on a… normal outfit. His “normal” outfit just looked like his hero suit without the belt and scarf. He grabbed his keys that had Tenko’s gifted keychain on them and left to go to the hospital.

He walked this time, and got used to taking his visitor’s pass home with him so he wouldn't have to stop by the front desk each time he came. He walked straight to the common room, seeing Tenko sitting at a different TV this time. It was in the corner of the room, farthest from the doors and next to a big, barred window. He was watching something. Aizawa walked up behind him and leaned onto the back of the couch.

“No Zelda today?”

Tenko jumped from the sudden sentence coming from Aizawa, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He sighed for a moment and relaxed back on the couch.

“No, I’m watching Zatoichi. It’s old but it’s…” Tenko trailed off, staring directly at Aizawa’s chest. “... What are you wearing?”

Aizawa paused for a moment, confused as to what Tenko could possibly be talking about. “... A shirt.”

“Obviously. But what-” Tenko cut himself off and pulled Aizawa by the arm closer to him, taking a gloved hand and pulling his shirt forward to get a better look. Even more confused, Aizawa felt his brows furrow before realizing, once again, how awful Tenko’s concept of personal space was. Not that he didn’t hate it, but it made repressing feelings about a million times harder when the cause of those feelings was holding onto your arm and pulling you by your shirt. “Oh my God, Aizawa-kun.” Tenko chuckled to himself. “That’s so… not like you. At all.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Aizawa looked down at what Tenko was holding onto before feeling his face heat up in a wave of complete embarrassment. He mixed up shirts during his half-asleep morning routine, putting on a long sleeved shirt that was gifted by Toshinori. A shirt he adored but refused to wear out into public. Until now.

The shirt is black with a small embroidered cat in a mug on the right side. It was simplistic, cute, and overall fit the types of shirts that Aizawa usually wore. But Aizawa also had a deep rooted hatred for shirts with designs on them, so most of his gifted cat shirts were worn at home. Not to go see Tenko. Speaking of Tenko, he had been simply laughing to himself while eyes stayed fixated on the embroidery.

“I didn’t know you liked cats so much, Aizawa-kun.” Tenko ran his thumb along the design, Aizawa’s face heating up with every touch and moment that Tenko was focused on him.

“I… I like cats. My friends like to give me cat stuff.” Aizawa smiled a bit awkwardly, trying to at least get Tenko’s hands off of him, but with no avail.

Tenko looked up at Aizawa, who was praying to whatever God that was listening that he didn’t look as flustered as he felt. Though it seemed like Tenko didn’t even notice. “I think it’s funny. You should wear it more often.”

Aizawa gently placed his hands on top of Tenko’s and pulled them off his shirt. Tenko’s fingers were oddly ice cold, even with the gloves. “Absolutely not.”

While Aizawa walked around the couch and sat on Tenko’s right so the cat wasn’t visible. God, he was embarrassed. Not even about the stupid shirt anymore, but he was embarrassed over how his stomach grew a pit in it when Tenko touched him. He told himself consistently that his feelings were not to get in the way of helping Tenko achieve his goals of being healthy enough to be discharged. But judging how red and hot his face was, it was clear that these feelings want to be let go somehow. Definitely not by being honest and talking about it. Something else. Something subtle, something Tenko wouldn’t be able to catch onto.

“Hey, Tenko.”

The smaller looked up at Aizawa, whose arms were folded and his legs crossed. He forgot what he was going to say for a few seconds after shortly examining the red irises that Tenko has.

“Your hair’s a mess.” Aizawa said flatly, digging around the pocket of his sweatpants and pulling out a hair tie. Tenko watched his movements, a brow raised. “C’mere. I’ll fix it.”

Tenko stood up and left, much to Aizawa’s confusion. Though he came back shortly after with an unused brush. He handed Aizawa the brush and sat down in front of the taller on the floor, slouched over as he watched the screen in front of him.

“I don’t brush my hair.” He commented as Aizawa ran the brush through the blue hair, immediately getting caught on a knot. Aizawa made a face. This would be harder than he thought.

He made small tugs at the knot for a good minute before it finally began to unravel. Soon enough, he was able to move the brush smoothly through Tenko’s hair. “You need to. You don’t want too many knots or you’ll need to shave it off.”

Tenko blinked for a moment as Aizawa leaned forward and pinned his bangs to the side. “Ugh. I would not look good with a shaved head.” Tenko whined. “I like it when my hair is messy, though.”

“That’s why you style it to look messy, Tenko.” Aizawa continued to brush his hair, glancing over at Tenko’s forehead.

It was odd, but he’s never seen Tenko’s forehead. His face was always shadowed with his bangs, but since he’s pinned the bangs back he could truly see Tenko’s face. The wrinkled scars on his face moved up past his brow bone, giving Aizawa the constant reminder of Tenko’s self destructive coping mechanism. Even though he wasn’t technically allowed to scratch, he was sure Tenko found out a way to do it secretly. Keeping that in mind, he wondered how long he’s been doing this to himself for the scars to stay so prominent. Even with the flaws, Tenko still looked… rather cute. He noticed that he had light blue eyelashes, almost making his crimson eyes pop out more. Tenko had nice eyes, too. All these thoughts, and the only logical thing Aizawa could think about was that Tenko should wear his hair up more often. Get those bangs out of his face.

Aizawa let out a small sigh when he leaned back on the couch, hands and comb still running through Tenko’s hair. He didn’t want to overbrush it, but it seemed that Tenko enjoyed the feeling as he felt the smaller’s shoulders relax and his head tilt to the side, as if he was falling asleep. If this was all it took to let him relax, he should probably give him his own brush to use. A good one, not the cheap one that he brought to Aizawa. He swore the thing was about to snap in half in his hands.

After a good thirty minutes of subconscious brushing and playing with Tenko’s hair, Tenko got up from the floor and took the brush from Aizawa’s hands. His hair poofed a bit more now, and didn’t look so flat. Looked like a tiny cloud on his head. Reminded him of someone…

“C’mon. Your turn.” Tenko said with a small smile on his face, sitting on the space next to Aizawa on the couch.

Aizawa chuckled a little, shaking his head. “No, your hair was the one that needed brushing.”

Tenko huffed, but simply sat closer and brushed Aizawa’s hair out while sitting next to him, versus being out in the front. Aizawa didn’t stop him though, he just playfully rolled his eyes and continued to watch the movie. After a short moment he could feel his own bangs being brushed away from his face, Tenko grabbing his jaw with one hand and moving it so Aizawa would look at him. Though Tenko didn’t seem to pay attention to his face, but to his hair. He ditched the brush all together after noticing how staticy it made Aizawa’s hair, so he moved on to his fingers as he delicately tucked Aizawa’s long bangs behind his ears. Forcing a middle part that probably looked hideous, but he might as well just roll with it.

Everything about what was happening was fine, up until the two made eye contact with each other. A deathly silent eye contact, the two simply staring at each other. Aizawa didn’t know how many times he felt his stomach flip, but it was enough to make him a little nauseous. All they did was stare at each other, almost lovingly. He wasn’t exactly sure if Tenko knew what he was doing or not, but he was sure he’d find out.

All he knew is that at this very moment, he wanted to kiss him. He looked so happy, so ready to learn new things. It was a side of Tenko he was sure nobody knew much about, a big softie who liked to try new experiences and was willing to absorb whatever information was given to him. But was he this way because he shared the same feelings with Aizawa, or is he just a guy so mentally crippled that he latched onto Aizawa like a father figure? Either way, Aizawa would have to cope and adjust for him. To make him comfortable. To make him feel safe. The last thing Aizawa wanted to do was ruin what he had with him, so he kept his lips to himself.

Though he didn’t notice as he zoned out to Tenko’s eyes that Tenko actually looked rather sad. Bringing his hand from Aizawa’s jaw to his cheek, ever so gently rubbing the deep scar under his eye with his gloved thumb. He looked like he was about to cry seeing it. This interaction alone made Aizawa realize something.

Tenko Shimura can indeed feel guilt.

With Tenko so visibly upset that he’s getting a closer look at what his actions have done to others, it lets Aizawa take a breath knowing that there is indeed redemption for him. Tenko’s never been a lost cause, and seeing Tenko visibly feel guilty for what he’s done solidified that fact. Even if it was just guilt for him.

“Hey… are you alright, Tenko?” Aizawa spoke in a soft tone, the tone he always used when it was clear Tenko was upset about something.

Tenko didn’t respond at first, but leaned in and placed the smallest kiss onto the scar. Something similar to the way Aizawa had kissed his head that one time, but it still made Aizawa’s body feel like it was floating. This extremely short interaction didn’t last nearly a second as Tenko immediately brought Aizawa into an awkward sitting hug. Knees planted on the space of the couch next to Aizawa, but his body leaned forward to hug him.

“I’m sorry.”

Aizawa was confused but wrapped his arms around Tenko’s torso, adjusting the way he sat so the hug could be a bit more comfortable for Tenko. “For what?”

Tenko hesitated on his answer a bit. “... For hurting you.”

It was the answer he expected, and an answer he appreciated, but not exactly what he wanted. He’d hoped that Tenko felt remorse for his students as well, but at the same time he probably didn’t think the students weren’t hurt by what happened. Not hurt enough to have a nasty scar under their eye. Not hurt enough to nearly die.

“It’s alright, Tenko.” He mumbled into Tenko’s shoulder, feeling the smaller cling onto him. “Don’t be too upset about it. I’ve gotten over it.”

Which was one of Aizawa’s half truths-half lies. He has gotten over it, so much so that he’s developed a crush on the man who did it to him. But he also couldn’t help but still see that side of Tenko hidden deep under layers of recovery. Hidden deep and out of the public eye, but bound to snap again at any given moment.

Aizawa saw and fell in love with Tenko Shimura. But if he thought too much about it, he could also see Tomura Shigaraki, hiding in the depths of Tenko’s mind just waiting to come out.

Not that he thought this could happen at any time, but he knew that Tenko was far from fully recovered. Tenko still had deep rooted triggers that could make him forget all of what he’s learned so far. Which is why Aizawa refused to allow his feelings for him to show. It was a horrible mixture of overwhelming caution and anxiety. Something that definitely had to be avoided. For now, at least.

“I haven’t gotten over it, Aizawa-kun.” Tenko said flatly, Aizawa feeling the area of the shirt where Tenko rested his head got a bit damp. He was crying. Crying, surprisingly for Tenko, seemed to be an outlet of negative emotion. “My nomu could’ve killed you.”

Aizawa closed his eyes a bit, running his fingers along Tenko’s shoulder blade through the thick fabric of Tenko’s shirt. “It’s alright if you haven’t gotten over it yet. Plus… I signed up to be a hero, I know my life will eventually be a stake.”

As the two sat there and talked while in their embrace, Aizawa couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong. He thought about how there would be less criminal activity if there were people to help during a crisis, using Tenko as an example. If Tenko had gotten this treatment when he was younger, he’d be a completely different person. Someone who doesn’t demonize heroes, despite it being a flawed system. Someone who knows that yes, some heroes are strictly performative, but most try to help.

Someone who knows that the Hero Commission created such a corrupt system, not heroes themselves. He hoped that one day, Tenko could blame the Commission, and not Toshinori.

Chapter Text

For Aizawa, the events of his visit last night were oddly pleasant. Good bonding time with Tenko, being able to discuss their feelings regarding Tenko’s guilt for hurting Aizawa, and when the emotional stuff was done Tenko played a relatively surprising game of shogi. His feelings still seemed to cloud judgement about Tenko and his progress, which irritated him slightly, but he felt a form of satisfaction when he left.

That was not the case.

As soon as Aizawa left, Tenko simply watched TV as his mind could hardly process his feelings for his mentor. Did he like him? Hate him for trying to break routine, and breaking it successfully? What was Aizawa to him? He got his answer that day, when he was brushing Aizawa’s bangs back and they made eye contact.

That moment of looking into each other’s eyes flipped a switch for Tenko, and one he didn’t necessarily expect. Seeing Aizawa gaze into his eyes made his stomach feel like a bowling ball was dropped on it, or the feeling at USJ when Aizawa elbowed him directly in the stomach. Though this feeling was… positive. It didn’t make him want to hurl, but instead open up even more to him.

That moment was the exact moment Tenko realized he had feelings for Aizawa.

Tenko never knew how to process positive feelings, he remembered being fearful when Kurogiri would tell him he did a good job when he was being taught how to read and write. With feelings of anger, he seemed to be able to process the hell out of those, and it was shown clearly. So, with this new revelation, he knew he couldn’t talk to Aizawa about it. And if he told the therapist, she’d probably change mentors. So his only option was his only friend in this place, sitting in the physical therapy ward.

“What do you mean have I ever had a crush before? What am I, twelve?” Touya spat as soon as Tenko reached his room. He was bouncing a rubber ball on the wall, almost like a scene from a prison movie. “Of course I’ve had a crush.”

“No need to be a dick about it.” Tenko sighed and caught the ball before it could reach Touya’s hands. “Wanna play shogi?”

After a minute of a repeated “No.” from Touya and a repeated “Yes.” from Tenko, Touya eventually gave in and walked with Tenko to the physical therapy ward’s common room. Touya lazily got the game set up, Tenko sitting across from him looking painfully eager to play. Touya started his turn, watching the board carefully as Tenko played his.

“So, who’re you crushing on?” Touya kept his eyes on the board as he placed his fingers on a few pieces, unsure on which one to move,

Tenko glared up at him. “I never said I’m crushing on anybody.”

Touya moved a piece. “Sure, you walked all the way over here to ask me if I’ve ever liked someone, just to not have anything to tell me. Flawless logic, Shimura-kun.”

“I was just curious! Maybe I just wanted to see you. We’re best buddies, remember?” Tenko didn’t even realize how hard he was giving himself up with his defensive tone. When he looked up, he saw Touya glaring at him with an unamused expression. “What?! Is it illegal to play shogi with my friend?”

“We’re not best buddies until you tell me who you like.” Touya moved a piece and leaned over to grab the styrofoam cup of water he’s been sipping on.

Tenko rolled his eyes. “Don’t make me say it, Todoroki-kun. I’ll kill you.”

With that, Touya looked up at Tenko from behind his cup with his icy blue eyes that always made Tenko uneasy. “You’re crushing on Eraserhead, aren’t you?”

Tenko’s defense mechanisms immediately came into play. “What? No, absolutely not. No way.”

“Fuckin’ liar. Lying straight through your teeth… you’re fucking blushing!” Touya said before bursting into a fit of laughter, being greeted with a glare from Tenko that screamed bloody murder. “C’mon, dude. Eraserhead? I mean, yeah, he’s alright lookin’ but I wouldn’t go as far to say that I would let him take me out for dinner.”

Tenko was immediately met with confusion. Aizawa and Touya have never met before. “How do you know what he looks like?”

Another piece was moved from Touya. “I looked him up after you told me about him when we met. Took me forever to find him.” Another sip from the cup. “Plus, I saw him walk in today.”

“You were by my ward and you didn’t come say hi?” Tenko rolled his eyes and moved a piece. “Some friend you are.”

“Says you, mister ‘Oh, I don’t have a raging boner for my mentor, and I’d rather lie to my best friend about it then tell him’. Plus if it concerns you, I was up at your lobby to see my little brother.”

Tenko warmed up at the thought of seeing Touya with his brother, especially after Aizawa had told him that his little brother was in his class. He was unsure whether to tell Touya that he knew about it, or their correlation, but figured it was best to keep quiet and keep playing the game. “How’s your brother?”

Touya shrugged and said a light ‘damn it’ to Tenko’s move. “He’s alright. I dunno how he found me, I don’t think my dad would let him know where I was. I missed the fucker, though.”

Tenko knew the answer to that. If Touya seemed happy about it, it would be alright to tell him, right? “Well, Aizawa-kun teaches at UA. He says your brother’s in his class.”

Touya looked up at Tenko. “Really? How’d he know he’s my brother?” Suddenly, the white haired man gasped as a stupid grin reached across his face. “Awww! You talked about me?”

“Shut up! I’m supposed to talk about friendships I make.” Tenko realized that though he thought he was winning this round of shogi, he was actually getting dunked on by Touya.

“That’s so cute. Was he like ‘Yeah Tenko, tell me about your sexy ass friend… I’m trying to get my dick sucked’.” Touya’s mockery was quickly interrupted as Tenko reached over the board and slapped the cup from his hand. “Hey! What, did he actually say that?”

“No, you fucking imbicile!”

Touya shrugged as he placed a piece down and grabbed Tenko’s king. With that sudden move, Tenko looked down at the board and made an irritated huff. “I win. C’mon, it’s warmer outside and I need a cigarette.”

So, Tenko followed Touya to the courtyard. It had some nice greenery in it, a collection of cherry trees and ginkgo trees littered on the sides almost as if to cover the barred windows of the hospital. Tenko sat with Touya on a bench, pulling out a box of cigarettes and flicking at the bottom. He grabbed the one that went higher than the rest, placing it between his lips and motioning the box to Tenko. Touya offered him a cigarette each time they came out to the courtyard together, and Tenko consistently declined.

Though with his current realization of having a crush doomed to end in pain, he groaned as he took one from the box. Much to Touya’s surprise.

“Don’t give me that look.” Tenko rolled his eyes, keeping the cigarette between his fingers. “Just light us up.”

“Put it in your mouth first, dumb-dumb.” Touya mumbled to keep his own between his lips.

Tenko rolled his eyes more dramatically this time, Touya shaking his head as Tenko placed the cigarette between his lips. They lean their heads close together, Touya covering the tip of his finger with his opposite hand to shield any wind, while his quirk handles the rest. A soft, light blue flame coming from the tip of Touya’s finger to light their cigarettes, Touya pulling away while he took a long drag. Tenko, quite frankly, was a bit intimidated to breathe in, letting the tobacco burn away while the cigarette stayed dormant on his lips. Might as well get it over with, he thought, replicating Touya before letting out a heaving cough.

“Jesus, Shimura-kun!” Touya placed a hand on Tenko’s back as the smaller was slouched over and in a coughing fit. “Take your fuckin’ time with it.”

Tenko glared at the man, though he’d admit the only thing he liked about Touya making any physical contact with him was how warm his hands were. Considering his quirk ate at him from the inside out, it was to be expected. Touya actually had to get injections every other day to weaken his quirk, at least to the point where it would stop burning him whenever he used it. It was funny though to watch whenever he’d get irritated how small blue flames appeared on his body. Tenko recovered from his temporary bronchitis to take smaller hits of the cigarette, finding it to still feel uncomfortable, but a bit more tolerable.

Just before the nicotine hit him.

His fingers and arms felt fuzzy before the feeling moved onto his entire body, relaxing a bit more onto the bench. This feeling only lasted a few seconds until it went away, Tenko lazily bringing the cigarette to his lips again.

“Is your boyfriend gonna kill me when he finds out I got you hooked on cigs?” Touya laughed a bit, talking with the cigarette between his teeth.

“He’s not my boyfriend, Todoroki-kun.” Tenko sighed a bit and looked down at the tobacco he held, his breath tasting awful. Not to mention he probably smelled like smoke, too. “I doubt it’ll ever happen.”

“Yeah, alright. Never say never.” Touya shrugged. “Have some confidence. It’ll help.”

Tenko sighed a little. He wanted to have confidence, especially the confidence of being the same way with Aizawa now that he knew in his mind that he liked him. Now he’ll just be second guessing everything he’s ever done, Which was pathetic. He hated the idea of things being weird around them now. It wasn’t even a thought, he knew that he would accidentally make things weird. What were those coping mechanisms that Aizawa taught him, again?

Meanwhile, that same day, Aizawa was having the same predicament. The same feeling of dread that he’d never be able to treat Tenko the same way before his feelings got involved.

What were those coping mechanisms he taught Tenko, again?

Oh, right. To challenge them. He told Tenko that to challenge negative thoughts, he had to stop and genuinely question if those feelings were accurate. It was time to practice what he preached, he assumed.

Is having feelings for Tenko an accurate statement? Yes.

‘Damn it’ Aizawa thought. That’s not how this was supposed to go. He was supposed to say they weren't.

He simply laid back on his chair, sitting at his desk with a stack of papers, his computer, and a coffee. He did something he’s never done before; slacking on his job. Too busy thinking about Tenko. Too busy thinking about the overwhelming cons to dating Tenko. Too busy evaluating his dating life. For the short time Aizawa was in a relationship with Hizashi, this same thing has happened. But never to this magnitude. Never to the point where he was behind on grading. He put his hands through his hair and let out a small groan, looking down at the stack of papers with the red pen next to them, then down at the paper in front of him that has yet to be graded. He thought he should try again.

Will being in a relationship with Tenko affect his work? Yes.

Is a relationship with Tenko harmless to everybody in his life? Not exactly.

Regarding Tenko’s genuine boiling hatred towards his best friend Toshinori and his student’s image on Tenko after the USJ attack, it wasn’t harmless at all. Not that he would openly tell his class that he was in love with the man that could’ve easily killed Tsuyu if he wasn’t there, but he knew those fuckers would find out eventually. Hell, Kaminari found out Aizawa’s home address after a few hours of digging simply because he wanted to. He was sure one of them would figure out if he got into a relationship with Tenko. He shoved those thoughts to the backseat again and graded a handful of papers. He looked over one and sighed at the bad grade it had, flipping it over again to give the grade up until he saw the name.

Izuku Midoriya. With a small smiley face drawn next to it.

Aizawa swallowed harshly for a second and looked over the paper. This was Midoriya’s paper, and it was his handwriting. But this was not the grade he thought he’d ever give him. It was… awful. Everything about it. The short answers, the half assed work… hell, he thought it was Sero’s paper. But somehow it was Midoriya’s. He pulled out his phone and contemplated for a moment, then called Toshinori.

Toshinori answered after a few rings. “Hey, Shouta. What’s up?”

“Can you come over? I need to see you about something.” Aizawa pressed the phone next to his ear with his shoulder, writing down a ‘0/30, See me after class.’ on the boy’s paper.

“Uh… yeah. Sure. Is everything alright?” There was the sound of shuffling and cracking joints from the other end of the line. God, Toshinori needed to see a chiropractor.

Aizawa put the work to the side, separate from the others. “What? Yeah, I’m fine. It’s about Midoriya. He works with you separately, right?”

There was a hum a bit, and then the sound of an opening door along with the same sound of it closing. “Yeah. I’m on my way, I’ll see you in a bit.”

With that, Toshinori hung up, and Aizawa put his hands on the top of his head with a groan. This wasn’t unusual, to have students with bad grades. But it was unusual for Midoriya. While waiting, he went and graded the rest of that assignment, only to see other students with the same awful grades as Midoriya.

Todoroki, Uraraka, Tsuyu, and… Iida? Alright, something was up.

Aizawa knew that those kids hung out all the time, and were pretty close friends. So that made this even more odd. They were all smart, all had good grades, all did exceptional work, and were even on a good track regarding their hero work. What made this assignment so different? Was it too difficult? Kaminari and Sero both got one hundred percent on it, along with Bakugou. So it wasn’t the difficulty of the assignment. As he was deep in thought, he heard his front door open with the sound of Toshinori’s shoes gently hitting the floor as he took them off.

“I’m in here, Toshinori.” Aizawa shouted, seeing the tall frame walk through his bedroom door with a bookbag.

Toshinori pulled up a chair and sat next to Aizawa, glancing over the papers. “Oh dear. That’s a lot. Do you need help?”

“Well… yeah. A hand would be nice, but…” Aizawa reached over the mess and grabbed Midoryia’s paper, handing it to Toshinori. “Look at that.”

Toshinori took it and read the bold red text. “What the… This is young Midoriya’s?” He scanned over the sheet and flipped it over, scanning the back as well before looking back at the front. “There’s no way. He… aw, he put a smiley face next to his name. But still, this can’t be his.”

“I know, He studies with you, doesn’t he?”

“He studies with me on hero work. Not classwork.” Toshinori scratched his head a little. “Well, sometimes he talks to me about classwork. He usually studies with his friends for that, though.”

Aizawa looked back at the stack he set aside that consisted of Midoriya’s friends’ schoolwork. That made sense. “They must’ve not studied, then. They all failed it. Even Iida.” Aizawa grabbed the stack and flipped through it, looking at the overwhelming red marks. “Iida’s got the best grades in class. I wonder what happened.”

Toshinori handed the paper back to Aizawa, and they traded off the stack with a new one of ungraded papers from a different assignment. “I’ll have to talk to him. Maybe they’re getting a bit overwhelmed, Shouta.”

“Overwhelmed?” Aizawa had already started grading again. “I’ve thought I’ve been pretty good with them, especially with the Sports Festival coming up.”

Toshinori nodded, using the side of the desk he had to grade his stack. “Well, that might be it. The Sports Festival. That’s a big deal.” He tapped the pen on the corner of his mouth. “Speaking of that, are you bringing Tenko to see it?”

Aizawa couldn’t help but scoff. “To an event mainly for heroes, filled with heroes? Especially with you showing up at the end? Yeah, he would love that.” His voice dripped with a sarcastic tone. “No, I’m not bringing him.”

“You never know. He might like it.” Toshinori smiled a bit as he placed a graded paper into the pile Aizawa already created. “Seems to have a fascination for violence.”

“The Sports Festival isn’t all that violent.” Aizawa huffed. “He wouldn’t like it. He’d have to sit in the booth with Hizashi and I, and I doubt he’d like that too.”

“You should think about it, Shouta. Maybe seeing students fight each other will encourage him to become a hero. Something’s outta give him that push.”

Aizawa didn’t want to think about it. He knew he’d hate every minute of it and complain the whole time, not to mention the sheer volume of Hizashi’s voice is bound to overwhelm him. He didn’t even think about the outcome of Tenko meeting Hizashi. That could either go very well or very poorly. But, taking him to the Sports Festival could be very fun. Maybe hide him away when Toshinori appears for the awards. The idea of it was good, but he knew the outcome would be less than ideal.

Though, there was the thing he read about while reading information on treatment for PTSD. Exposure therapy. Maybe Tenko seeing ‘All Might’ again counts as exposure therapy. Being in a stadium filled with heroes. Watching something involving heroes. That could help and show him that heroes aren’t all that bad. Meeting Hizashi could show him that being a hero is something he might be interested in. And fuck it, if he’s calm enough, maybe even meeting All Might would be something he’s interested in. That last one’s a big fat maybe, but the rest of it could benefit him greatly.

“I’ll talk to him about it.” Aizawa said flatly, continuing to grade the mess on his desk.

And he did. Later that night he called the hospital to talk to Tenko for one of their thirty minute calls.

“What the fuck’s a ‘Sports Festival’?” Tenko replied over the staticy line. Aizawa could imagine that miniature head tilt Tenko did when he was confused.

“It’s an event the school holds every year. I think you’d like it.”

“Is it like… playing tennis? Or baseball?”

Aizawa sighed a little. He was hoping with the association of his school that Tenko would connect the dots. “No… it’s hero stuff. It’s for my students, heroes from different agencies come and watch to see who they want to choose for an internship. I think you’d like it.”

He could practically hear the eye roll over the phone. “That sounds boring.”

The more Aizawa thought about taking Tenko to watch the Sports Festival, the more he wanted to do it. “Well, it can be. But I think you’d really enjoy watching it. It’s fun, Tenko.”

There was a small pause. “What’s in it for me?”

“... What?”

“It’s like you’re selling this idea to me. What do I get for coming?”

Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “A fun experience.”

“You’re losing me, Aizawa-kun.”

“Fine.” Aizawa leaned back in his chair with another sigh. “What do you want?”

He hears a small chuckle over the phone along with another pause. “An outing. I wanna go get a new game for the common room.”

Considering the age of the Nintendo 64, Aizawa mentally groaned at the thought of hunting down a game shop that even sold games for it. “I don’t think they even sell games for that console anywhere, Tenko.”

“I know a place in Kamino. Sensei took me there all the time.”

With yet another sigh, Aizawa calculated how they could make this happen for Tenko. But, he caught himself smiling while thinking of Tenko looking at a rack of games. “...Fine. We can go get you a new game.”

“Ooh, really?” Aizawa could practically hear Tenko smiling, too. “Cool. See you on Wednesday, then… and we can go to the Sports Festival.”

Aizawa couldn’t hold in a chuckle. “As long as you swear to me that you keep complaints to a minimum.”

“Fine, I guess. Just know I’m only doing it for you. And Doom 64.”

And with that they talked for a bit longer, then ended the call when their time was up. Aizawa was a bit excited that he only needed to bribe Tenko to come with him, and that the answer wasn’t a solid no. As long as the answer wasn’t a solid no. For the rest of the night he searched online for Doom 64, hoping that he would find one online so he wouldn’t have to drive Tenko all the way to Kamino on Wednesday.

Chapter Text

Aizawa had thought about taking Tenko to the Sports Festival all week. Admittedly he was nervous about his reactions to being quite literally surrounded by heroes and the chance of him meeting Toshinori, but there was an ounce of faith that he’ll be okay. He’s been making great progress regarding his trauma, and as of yesterday isn’t labeled as a threat.

Though what Aizawa has not been doing was telling the Commission anything. Mostly because there wasn’t anything left to tell them. He’s never learned who sensei was, he’s never learned what sensei taught Tenko, and he’s never learned what sensei’s next moves are. He didn’t think the Commission understood who Tenko was to sensei. From what he could gather, he was a man who groomed and raised Tenko into believing that violence could only be solved through violence and through violence would be the only way to dismantle hero society. In the Commission’s eyes, that wasn’t enough information. Tenko being groomed as a child to believe such aggressive ideologies wasn’t a valid reason for his violent tendencies and villainous upbringing.

It could be that his feelings for Tenko have completely clouded his judgement, but he saw Tenko’s upbringing as an explanation rather than a pardon for his crimes. From what he understood, Tenko does feel guilt. He feels guilt for killing his family and he feels guilt for injuring Aizawa. He was not a sociopath like what the Commission thought. He’s not bloodthirsty or blindly compliant to his cause, but rather vengeful. Vengeful of the heroes who ignored him that day. Vengeful of All Might. Matter of fact, Tenko couldn’t be a sociopath. Even through their… First impressions of eachother Aizawa knew that Tenko felt emotion. Specifically rage. But during the mentorship he’s also seen Tenko experience grief. He’s seen him experience sadness and joy.

The Commission made him seem like he was simply a husk of a human. No emotions, purely a tool against the system. Out for blood at all times. But he simply wasn’t. There was more to Tenko than his past and at USJ. There was a young adult who adored playing video games and loved ginger ale. A young adult who loved animals. Who had dreams and aspirations, but were cut off by sensei to give him a corrupted version of said dreams.

Tenko had even admitted to Aizawa that there was, at one point, a time where he wanted to be a hero. A hero with his sister. He told a vague story of his sister showing him a picture of his grandmother, who Aizawa could assume was Nana Shimura, and that photo solidifying that dream. But the photo is also what caused his downfall.

He didn’t get too detailed about it. And Aizawa didn’t ask. He had gotten what he selfishly wanted to hear; that Tenko at some point wanted to be a hero. That was what’s important. Aizawa wondered if he could ever set that spark in Tenko’s mind again. Oh, he wanted to. So desperately.

Of course on Wednesday Tenko got his outing and his drive to Kamino and came home giddy about the new game he had. Aizawa was pleasantly surprised to see a game store with the games for the console. It gave him some ideas for future gifts regarding whenever Tenko would reach a milestone in his mental health, or hopefully, his hero work. The outing was like many others, and wasn’t really anything special other than seeing Tenko so happy to get a game.

But today was the Sports Festival. He woke up this morning with a tired groan, then read over emails he sent back and forth to the hospital about how long Tenko would be out for this event. Luckily last night while he was asleep he had gotten an email approving his request. He muttered a small ‘Thank God’ and closed his laptop up, putting on his hero costume and getting ready to pick Tenko up. It was early, and he never saw Tenko early. He packed the yellow sleeping bag just in case Tenko was not a morning person.

And he wasn’t. Bringing the sleeping bag was an unbelievably good idea. He stood over Tenko’s bed for about twenty minutes after managing to shake him awake. He had only responded with groans and shooing away Aizawa’s hand.

“C’mon. Wake up and get ready, we gotta go.” Aizawa didn’t mean to use such a stern tone, but it fit for what he was trying to do. There was another irritated noise from the mass of suffocation-proof blanket that Tenko was buried under.

“Ugh… it’s five in the morning! Gimme a minute.”

Aizawa made a face. He’s already given Tenko twenty minutes. He ultimately decided that Tenko would need to see his teacher mode. He pulled the blanket off and tossed it to the side, then picked up Tenko from under his arms to sit him up. All while a sleepy Tenko had his eyes squeezed shut.

Tenko sat on the edge of the bed while Aizawa turned all the lights in the room on, rummaged through his small list of clothes, and tossed them to Tenko before patting the clothes pile gently.
“Get dressed. We have to leave early so you’re not overwhelmed when we get there. It gets crowded.”

Tenko squinted at the taller and with slow movements grabbed his clothes pile that Aizawa had picked out for him. “Fine.”

That was enough for Aizawa, the man smiling a little and walking to the door. “If you’re not out in five minutes I’m gonna have the nurses put the mittens on you.”

He hears Tenko groan “Ugh! You’re the worst, Aizawa-kun!” before he left, waiting outside the smaller’s door. Patiently, but almost too hyped up to wait any longer than five minutes. He kept his eyes on his watch and just before the limit, Tenko shuffled out, dressed and with his shoes on while rubbing his eye with a gloved knuckle. He looked exhausted, uninterested, and like he wanted to shove Aizawa’s face into the drywall.

Seeing him like this brought some sort of chuckle from Aizawa, followed with a stronger look of irritation from Tenko. He signs Tenko out of the hospital and walks him to the train station with an irregular excitement in his steps, though making sure Tenko is in sight and wouldn’t fall too behind.

“You excited, Tenko?” Aizawa kept one of his wraps around Tenko’s wrists so he wouldn’t lose him in the train. Or, in the worst case scenario, start a fight. It was a precautionary measure.

“No.” Tenko replied flatly, yawning and rubbing the secured wrists on his leg. “Is this necessary?”

Aizawa nodded, crossing his legs. “Hizashi brought my sleeping bag. You can take a nap while he’s doing his thing.” He looked back over at the tired guy next to him, dozing off in the chair of the train. “You’re meeting him today. Be nice.”

Tenko rubbed his wrists again. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be nice, or whatever.”

It was clear that Tenko had no idea this would be happening so early. He looked painfully bored. Only about ten more minutes on the train and they’ll be on their way. Aizawa remembered that some of his students would be there early too, but they might… not be interested in meeting Tenko. Especially if Tsuyu or Midoryia were gonna be there early.

“I’m gonna just put you in with Hizashi when we get there. If my class is there, I’ll need to talk to them. Is that alright?”

There was another uninterested nod. Aizawa nodded in reply to this… riveting conversation. It was surprisingly awkward, and Aizawa couldn’t tell if it was because Tenko was uncomfortable, or if he was just tired. Either way, he didn’t really want to force a conversation onto him. It was more awkward to try talking to him versus sitting in silence.

Though they made it to the Sports Festival. It was still being set up in preparation of the event, heroes and staff members of the auditorium setting up booths outside and overall getting ready. Aizawa saw Tenko make a face. This already seemed to be too many heroes in one place for his liking. Just wait until he sees the audience. With a long walk to the booth in the stadium they were supposed to be in, Aizawa hesitated.

‘Hizashi… please be cool. For the love of God, please don’t have so much energy this early.’ Was the short prayer Aizawa thought to himself before opening the door.

Releasing the restraint of the binding wraps from Tenko’s hands, he walked inside with the smaller to see Hizashi swivel around with a cup of coffee. There was almost a split second of calm before Hizashi met eyes with Tenko, a huge stupid smile growing on his face.

“Shouta! And this must be Tenko Shimura!” He said loudly, as to be expected. Aizawa could practically feel Tenko mentally recoiling as Hizashi stuck his hand out. “I’m Hizashi Yamada, I’ve heard a lot about you!”

“Hizashi…” Aizawa started, looking down to see Tenko hesitantly shake his hand. Tenko looked mildly… uncomfortable with what was happening.

“I brought you both coffee! I hope I got your order right, Tenko.” Hizashi smiled even wider, which seemed like it should be somehow impossible to even reach the capacity at which Hizashi smiled at. The loud blonde patted the seat next to him for Aizawa, and pointed at another chair next to it. “I brought in another chair when I heard you’d be coming! Sit back, relax! Doesn’t start for a while.”

Aizawa shook his head while Tenko slumped into the chair. “I can’t. I gotta go talk to my students real quick.”

Hizashi frowned. “What? Oh, no you don’t, Shouta! Just hang out with us!”

“I’d like to make sure they’re ready. Will you watch him for me?” Aizawa motioned towards Tenko’s slumped over body. They both looked at him, waiting to see if he’d breathe. With the slow rising of the chest, their suspicions were relaxed.

“You never told me he was so short.” Hizashi said with a chuckle.

Aizawa rolled his eyes while reaching for the door. “He’s not that short. Be nice.”

And with that Aizawa left, leaving Tenko and Hizashi up to their own devices. The silence was awkward, with Tenko still being awake and feeling Hizashi’s presence in the room. He turned his head a bit to see Hizashi looking at him, jumping a bit at the sudden eye contact with the pro hero.

“It doesn’t look like you wanna be here, Shimura. You can be honest!” Hizashi put his legs up on the desk followed by a dramatic swoosh of his hands to the back of his head. “If it wasn’t required, I’d wanna leave, too!”

Tenko didn’t respond at first. This felt so weird. Being around another hero was weird. He only trusted Aizawa. And Present Mic definitely was not Aizawa. It astonished Tenko that they were best friends, since Hizashi was such an opposite personality to the typically stoic one Aizawa had. Loud, energetic, overbearingly positive. It gave him a headache.

“...Yeah. I promised Aizawa-kun that I’d come, though.”

Tenko’s quiet tone was interrupted with a booming laughter from the blond. A laughter in which Tenko was unsure of what caused it. He didn’t say anything funny, he thought. “Ah! Shouta told me about that. He was very excited.”

Tenko perked his head up a little. “Really…?”

“Of course! You should’ve seen how excited he was when he told us you were coming!” Hizashi spun in the chair a bit before planting his feet to the ground to stop the swivel, facing Tenko. “He was all; ‘Oh, by the way, Tenko’s coming to the Sports Festival.’” He said in a low, lazy tone that mimicked Aizawa’s. Didn’t sound very… exciting.

Tenko raised a brow. “That doesn’t sound excited.”

“That’s just how he talks.” Hizashi waved a hand at Tenko before spinning in the chair again. “The fact he told us showed how excited he is. Shouta’s hard to read!”

Talking to Hizashi definitely felt weird. Tenko looked out the window of the booth to see the seats in the stadium slowly filling up with a bunch of costumes and bright colors. Presumably heroes. It gave Tenko a weird pit in his stomach. He hated seeing so many heroes all at once. Made him sick. It seemed Hizashi could tell Tenko’s feelings, digging around in a bag and pulling out a phone. He tapped on it a few times before sliding it over to Tenko.

“Shouta told me you like playing video games. I do too! But I couldn’t bring 'em with me, so you can use my phone.”

Was Tenko some sort of child? They had to keep him occupied with a phone, as if he was at his mother’s doctor appointment sitting in the waiting room? He should’ve been insulted, no, revolted at the fact that he was being treated as if he were a toddler. Though instead of expressing that, his mind admittedly took interest as he took the phone and went through the apps. Hizashi did have some cool games on here, he wasn’t gonna lie. He muttered a small ‘Thanks’ as he casually did his own thing.

It was about an hour before Aizawa came back to the booth to see Hizashi digging around his bag for headphones while Tenko was on Hizashi’s phone, watching a YouTuber play Cuphead. He blinked for a moment, seeing Hizashi turn his head and smile wide.

“Don’t worry, Shouta!” Hizashi slid the headphones over to Tenko, who sheepishly accepted them and plugged them in. “I’ve got it all figured out.”

Aizawa watched as Tenko put the headphones in and turned up the volume, completely fixated on whatever he was watching. He was hoping Tenko would want to at least watch the Festival, too. He sat down and moved the swivel chair to face Hizashi.

“You gave him internet access? He can’t be on the internet.” he whispered lowly, despite the headphones being on full blast he still worried that Tenko could hear them talk about him.

“Why not? He’s an adult.” Hizashi shrugged. “Plus, he’s having fun now. Look at ‘em! You’re just mad because I know what my patients like!”

Aizawa had forgotten that this wasn’t Hizashi’s first rodeo with this sort of stuff. Hell, the man probably brought snacks. But that was the least of his worries. “It’s not because of that. He’s a convicted domestic terrorist, remember? He isn’t allowed internet access.”

Hizashi blanked out for a moment. The lightbulb lit up in his brain as he didn’t respond to Aizawa, but tapped on Tenko’s shoulder and took his phone back with permission from the smaller male. Permission for his… own phone. He tapped on the screen a bit, smiled to himself, then gave it back. Aizawa kept a weirded out expression on his face while Hizashi sat back down in his chair.

“There. Restricted it! Now he can only get on YouTube and the stuff I have downloaded for him. See? Problem solved, Shouta!”

Aizawa blinked and looked back behind him, seeing Tenko rest his face on his hand while he looked down at the phone. Seemed… mundane. Calm. No signs that he was about to find a way to murder everyone in the stadium. So maybe keeping him distracted wasn’t a bad idea. This went on until the Sports Festival actually began, hearing Hizashi announce everything just made Aizawa even more tired. He’d leave with Tenko, but alas, he had to watch his class. Maybe this wouldn’t be so boring after all, watching Tenko look up from the screen to see his students doing a variety of games seemed to peak his interest. It seemed to only interest him when Bakugou was showing himself off, Tenko watching the students carefully. He’d seen the students capabilities back at USJ, but was now getting to witness them when he wasn’t the target. The entire festival was like that, like vicious clockwork. Watching YouTube, watching the Festival, then taking a nap. Rinse and repeat. Aizawa felt his stomach do flips watching Tenko, Hizashi too busy actually announcing the Festival to notice the sheer amount of accidental heart eyes Aizawa gave Tenko.

He was just happy Tenko agreed to come.

Chapter Text

hello shigazawa nation LMFAOOO okay so a few things

it has been. four years since i last updated this 😭 i decided to reread it after stumbling across this account again, and i still kinda like it LOL but unfortunately, i’m not in the fandom anymore!

will i ever update this? no, most likely i wont. will i ever write any more fanfic? also probably not, unfortunately 😭 (do people still read bnha fanfic??)

so this is a goodbye!! i’m glad you guys liked this one. i still think its a decent read after all these years, so i hope this brings some kind of closure LOL

(and if you wanna keep up with me for some reason, my acc is @teaguvie on insta ! i just post ocs lol)