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Aizawa didn’t really know how it all started.
The year before he had expelled all of his students. He didn’t regret it, no potential meant no chance of being good heroes and he preferred the kids to have their dreams shattered if that meant they wouldn’t get hurt or killed. Shouta Aizawa knew how the world was messed up and how many people wouldn’t have mercy just because they were young. Some people even enjoyed it more.
Heroes kept people safe. That was what Aizawa was doing when he expelled students, keeping them safe.
So yeah, Aizawa was surprised when he found himself not having to deal with any expulsion papers, because in fact, he had not expelled any student.
He had expected what always happened, arrogant teens that thought they were the best, teens with flashy quirks that hardly bothered in put effort, just because their place here was guaranteed. And yes, after watching the entrance exam, he already had a headache of all the expulsion files he would have to do.
There was some potential to be honest. But as always, it was blinded by the flashy quirks.
Just as an example, that greenette child. He had put on a show, only defeating one robot, but still joining the course. Yes, the quirk was quite impressing, but yet the boy had broken several bones only by using it once. That kid must have had a gigantic ego, having a quirk like that, receiving praises all the time… Probably he didn’t even bother in training, how he had ended up showed it.
Looking at the files of his future- although they would last a day- students, he saw some other students he didn’t like. A loud blond with anger issues had reached the first place but his performance wasn’t very hero like to say the least. The odds were he had an ego as big as the greenette… Izuku Midoriya.
And they were old classmates?
Great.
So yes, Aizawa had not expected much the first day. He hoped some students could stay, though.
Obviously, everyone was shocked- to Shouta’s hidden amusement- at the announcement one of them would be expelled.
‘If only it was one’
But then they actually worked well. They put effort and actually did more or less good. Yes, they were a bit arrogant and ahead of themselves, they were loud and seemed to find heroics funny. But surprisingly, despite looking like they didn’t really care or take things seriously, they did know that this was important.
It was strange to Aizawa. Those teens wanted to be here, had potential to do it, worked for it, but still enjoyed it. Their eyes showed determination, yet hope and amusement. They were having fun.
It was weird.
Even the Midoriya kid- who didn’t behave how Shouta thought he would at all- proved the teacher wrong, when, after telling him how he should give up, how there was no way he could actually save people like that; after all that, he looked at him, thought for some seconds and then pulled out a move that even surprised Aizawa- really, that day was full of them- he threw the ball focusing his quirk on his finger.
The ball went as far as the Bakugou’s kid- who yes, had anger issues, but didn’t lack of potential-, and Midoriya only damaged his finger, meaning he could still save people. The kid looked at him, with pride and a determination that could cut someone in half.
In that moment, Shouta Aizawa wondered how many wrong assumptions he had done and thought that just maybe the hero society wasn’t meant to be destroyed if the future generation was like this kids.
So yes, Shouta Aizawa was still a bit shocked while lying in bed. He had expected to expel at least 15 students, yet he hadn’t expelled none.
What kind of breed was Class 1A?
Maybe it all started to go downhill during the USJ incident.
One week and the kids were already on a fight with a horde of villains. Fantastic.
There were many of them, and they weren’t too weak. But the worse part was that many of the students had to fight by themselves or alongside some classmates at best. And one week of training didn’t give them the abilities to fight villains.
And as a teacher, Aizawa was a bit worried to say the least.
These kids were good, they had a future, and they gave Aizawa hope. Yes, they were annoying and loud, and pretty dumb too. But they had a bright future, and no villain was going to hurt them before they could reach that future.
He was starting to think maybe it had been a mistake letting them stay at UA, if anything happened to them it would be his fault. He was starting to think that when he heard a loud hit coming from the aquatic zone. Both Shigaraki and he looked shocked at it for a moment.
And oh if that wasn’t something to find funny.
Three students Shouta would’ve never think of fighting together were in the air while a mass of villains was being drowned to a whirlpool.
“What the fuck?” He heard Shigaraki said.
Maybe Aizawa was proud of those students.
He focused on the fight again.
But ohohohoho… If this wasn’t going to be difficult. He was tired, exhausted, bleeding, many broken bones and all he could think about was the safety of his students. That’s why the last thing he did was save Asui, he couldn’t let her die.
The rest of his memories of that day were very vague. He remembered voices and some students carrying out of the fight.
The next thing he knew, he was at the hospital and everything hurt.
A worried feeling crept up his chest, were the kids alright?
Luckily, Hizashi told him none of them were badly injured. Midoriya broke a few bones but just by knowing the boy for a week, Shouta knew that was likely going to be the usual- much to his despair.
But then he realized.
Those kids, being 15 years-old, only 20 of them, not even a week of proper training, and they were able to fight all those villains and end up almost fine? Sure they had help of three teachers, but said teachers wouldn’t have probably survived without them, and there were some moments they were all by themselves…
On the other side, not even a week in class and they had already managed to get into trouble. And not any trouble, the League of Villains itself.
Aizawa sighed, the year was going to be rough with those kids. But maybe it would be interesting.
Nothing really changed after the USJ, the kids were still motivated and determined. They still enjoyed class and had fun.
They still caused trouble- Aizawa had started to think it was inevitable, trouble would always find them- and some attempted murders happened, but nothing too bad.
But then the Training Camp happened. And shit, that had been scary. The kids were in danger, high danger. And Aizawa was terrified, terrified his-the kids would get hurt, or worse.
They all fought incredibly well, but no one could stop Bakugou from getting kidnapped. No one saw it coming either.
And yes, Aizawa knew his-the kids goddamnit, were close, like actually close. He was surprised, in this society, kids were taught they were on their own, that they had to be the best to survive. And yet Aizawa’s students seemed to miss the day they explained it, because for them, the first thing was friendship. Yes, they were competitive, but their competition was healthy. They pushed each other to go further instead of making the others go down. And seeing how other classes- and some heroes- behaved, Aizawa admired how his class was able to be better. Even Bakugou was better and believed a little bit more in teamwork. And Aizawa was proud of them? Proud of the fact that their ability to not listen to what they’re told was actually good for once? Yes.
So yes, he knew his class was close, but clearly he overestimated how many braincells they had. The answer was not enough to know that going to the fucking door of the League of Villains to save their friend was a bad idea.
Aizawa had literally said on TV that UA was safe, that all the students would be safe. But UA didn’t count with those kids.
And as Aizawa knew his students were close, he knew all had taken part on that stupid plan.
He knew he should’ve expelled them. He knew it. But how could he when their stupidity had gone not too bad and they had actually done more to save his student than the teacher who were meant to protect them?
Those kids got rid of expulsion once, twice, and Shouta knew they would get rid of it many more time
But when did it happen really? Was it when they all moved to the dorms and now Shouta had to take care of 20 teenagers 24/7?
Shouta asks himself that, sitting on the coach of the common room that. When did it all start? And how he didn’t even notice?
He looked at the-his kids, they were still loud, cheerful and chaotic. Even after having a very long list of traumas no one should have at their age. Even after some people put the weight of the world on their shoulders and told them to deal with it.
His kids still had that look in their faces just as the first day. Things changed, his kids weren’t dumb- well, a little yes-, they knew their path had just started and it was already tough, but they had decided to accept the challenge.
Seeing his kids cheerfully setting the table, some of them still studying, some just chatting. Bakugou loudly finishing dinner with Asui’s help- she was the only one he trusted-, they didn’t even notice but these moments looked magical to Shouta. How they were able to be so happy, how they all clicked with each other like a puzzle and create this.
“DINNER’S READY EXTRAS!” Aizawa heard Bakugou yelled.
Everyone sat on their chairs at the table excited, they did love food. And many nights they preferred each other’s presence rather than the cafeteria, so they made dinner- Bakugou made dinner or they ordered takeout- and ate all together in the common room. And somehow they had dragged Aizawa to it, they had to convince him most of the times, but he also stayed most of the times.
The kids needed it anyways, although they were happy and cheerful, they still had traumas. Aizawa knew that from the nights he had to stay with some of his students after they had nightmares. He knew because of the panic attacks he had to help some of them go through. He knew his kids weren’t okay, but he also knew he would be there for them. And the rest of the class would too, they relied on each other when they couldn’t do it alone. No matter who, they were always there for the person.
They knew that if Midoriya had a bad day, they would always have katsudon for dinner. They knew that if Iida was going through a bad time, the class would behave a little bit more. They knew if any other person outside the class dared to insult any of them, the rest would go feral. And geez, if they were scary sometimes.
So while he and his kids had dinner and everyone chatted cheerfully, Aizawa wondered when it all started.
Was it when he started living with them? Was it when he saw them fight at the Training Camp? Was it when he realized that even with one week with them, Shouta knew he would die to protect them? Or was it in the beginning? When Shouta had made many assumptions and his kids decided to prove all of them wrong?
When did it start then? When did Aizawa’s heart start to open? When was it when these kids surprisingly decided that even if he showed little to none emotion, he had a heart, he cared about them, they trusted him… they decided to go through the shield that Aizawa had carefully built so many years ago, and they succeeded? Because those kids, every single one of them had a place inside Shouta’s heart. Did he agree to this? No. But the kids didn’t leave him any other choice.
So Aizawa doesn’t really know when all started. When he decided to be vulnerable.
But what he knows is the fact that he wouldn’t change this for the world. He knows even though he has lost sleep and is very close to start growing gray hairs, it’s all worth it. It’s worth the nights he had to stay with them, it’s worth the chaos he has to face every day, it’s worth how he has to get them out of trouble every time. It’s worth it.
It’s worth it because of the coffee that he sometimes finds on the kitchen’s counter, waiting for him. It’s worth it because of how happy his kids look when they get a good mark or improve their fighting technique, it’s worth it because he gets to see how their faces light up when this happens. It’s worth it because somehow 20 teenagers taught him how to have emotions is not bad, how he should feel because that’s what makes us human. It’s worth it because 20 teenagers somehow gave him hope, and keep doing that every single day. It’s worth it because he now lets himself love. It’s worth it because he has a home, even if it doesn’t look like one, and yes, it’s a very strange home, but it’s his home. It’s their home.
So yes, Aizawa doesn’t know when it had started, but looking at his kids chatting, laughing and just being there, he realizes it doesn’t really matter because whenever it happened, it was worth it.