Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lunchtime on Tuesday comes faster than Izuku would really like. Yes, he’s excited about getting therapy for the first time in his life, but - but it will also mean talking to someone about all the awful things that he’s gone through.

Izuku knows it will be upsetting to hear, because it was upsetting to go through. And yes, he does know that it’s Inui-san’s job to listen to all these awful things, but Izuku knows that the man will also probably feel awful for him.

Izuku hates it when the things that have happened to him make other people sad. It’s a dumb, stupid thing he can’t let go of it, but it’s also why he’d never told his mother the true extent of anything, no matter how much she suspected and confronted him.

Izuku is at his core, his mother’s son, and he has never wanted to be the cause of sadness on her face.

It’s selfish, really, Izuku thinks. Because seeing his mother sad makes him sad and it’s all a vicious cycle that he could stop by just not telling her.

But Izuku is clever and he knows how he’s living isn’t sustainable and he knows he really, desperately needs help. And Inui-san can help him get better.

So yeah. Therapy.

It’s going to be hard. Not that anything in Izuku’s life has ever been easy anyway.

As the lunch bell rings, Yamada-sensei gives Izuku an encouraging smile while his classmates flock out of the room. Right. Izuku has teachers on his side now. Yamada-sensei, and Aizawa-sensei and apparently even Kayama-sensei! Who Izuku doesn’t know very well yet because he only has her once a week for Modern Art History, but he’s looking forward to getting to know her, even if she is a bit... intimidating.

Reassured, Izuku steels himself and walks down to the counsellor’s office, having already told his friends he has a meeting. He knows he’s stiff and robotic right now, just like Iida! but he is moving and that’s the important part.

He gets to the door that says ‘Hound Dog! Woof!’ and stops. Izuku takes a moment, reminds himself to go plus ultra! and knocks.

Well. His first official counselling session certainly goes. It’s a bit awkward because he doesn’t know Inui-san well yet, but the man gives him another biscuit and a hot chocolate and that.. that helps. The sweetness on his tongue and the warmth in his hands helps Izuku to stay grounded and present. And it also shows that the man cares.

The first half of their session doesn’t require a lot of input from Izuku, which he’s grateful for. Instead, Inui-san brings out a few diagrams of human brains and scribbles on them as he explains how Izuku’s brain has formed negative pathways and a plan for how they’re going to try and rewrite them together, which includes teaching him a short grounding exercise. Sure, Izuku has looked some up online before, but it’s just more effective when Inui-san explains it in his gravelly voice and calls him a ‘good pup’ once he’s done it.

It’s comforting to have a plan in place, Izuku thinks. He feels a little lightheaded, though, and he finished his drink already, so he pulls out his mesh fidget again and Inui-san gives him an approving look and tells him that it’s a really good coping strategy he’s got going!

And then Izuku finally feels ready to talk and so he explains to Inui-san how he’s so confused , because his brain is telling him that he’s finally getting the justice he deserves but also that he doesn’t deserve it.

And then Inui-san does the best thing he possibly could have. He told Izuku that it was normal to struggle with things like this. That Izuku wasn’t a failure and then he gave him the rest of the session to have a decent length crying session.

So therapy went fairly well, all things considered.

And Izuku is feeling.. a little drained emotionally but it isn’t anything he can’t handle. Inui-san had given him some ‘homework’ to think about over the next week, and a reminder to use the grounding technique every morning even if Izuku wasn’t drifting. Apparently it helped make it more instinctual, and doubled as a way of clearing the mind for the day ahead! And Izuku really did love things that could be multi-purpose.

So Izuku is having an okay day after an interesting week that has, for the most part - more broken bones aside - gone fairly well. He’s trusted Aizawa-sensei and then Yamada-sensei, and come clean to them and his mum about One For All. Aizawa-sensei and Yamada-sensei had then gone out of their way just to help him. He’s manifested another new quirk and doesn’t that just seem like something out of his best dreams? Izuku even has control over it - tenuous though it may be, and despite how frustrated he gets with its emotional activation sometimes; it’s still much less scary than One For All is. He finally told someone about what Bakugou did to him that day in middle school, and Aizawa-sensei expelled him from the hero course.

And they’re keeping All Might away from him, and even though Izuku has spent so long idolising the man, he’s relieved. Because the weight of the man’s gaze was crushing, his disappointment even more so - and Izuku had so often disappointed him.

But the man had also been the first person to ever tell Izuku that he could be a hero. Had made it possible for him to do so. Even if he only thought Izuku could do it with a quirk.

But - his mum had thought he’d made it into the UA hero course without a quirk, and then Yamada-sensei said Aizawa-sensei would’ve loved him to be going for his dreams quirkless so maybe - maybe he hadn’t needed One For All to be a hero.

And isn’t that a thought that’s going to keep Izuku up at night.

He digresses. Izuku is having a pretty typical day and is feeling if not exactly good at least like he can get through the rest of his classes without an issue.

Which is clearly why the universe had apparently decided that what Izuku needed right then was to run into Bakugou Katsuki on his way to his maths class, late slip from Inui-san in hand.

Izuku freezes in a way he hasn’t since that day in Aldera, and he swears he can almost feel the stifling spring heat of that day, hear the cicadas chirping, a ghost of an explosion whispering in his ears.

Kacchan isn’t just mad, he’s furious.

And Izuku can’t make himself move to get away from him, to a more populated area of the school, because Inui-san’s office needed quiet and so was tucked away in a small building primarily used by the business course students. Izuku had been halfway back to the main UA building when Kacchan - right, the classes had staggered lunch times - had spotted him.

It’s at times like this that Izuku wishes Float is fear activated instead so he could get some distance between himself and the rapidly approaching explosive boy. But his luck isn’t that good and instead, Izuku just trembles as Kacchan reaches him.

“ What the fuck, Deku? ”

Ah, furious may have been an understatement. Izuku finally manages to force his body to respond enough that he can stumble back from Kacchan. The blonde has his palms crackling with small explosions, a promise of what’s about to happen.

“K-Kacchan,” Izuku manages to spit out, knowing that staying silent will make this worse .

Kacchan snarls, and it’s a horrifying thing. Izuku is definitely regretting all of his choices up to this moment, because he’s been afraid of Kacchan before but this - this is something else and he wonders hysterically if he’s witnessing the birth of a villain.

Wait, where did that thought come from?

Kacchan starts yelling about how Izuku - stupid Deku - has ruined his life and he can’t even pay attention because his mind is too busy re-sorting every single interaction he’s had with the other boy since he was four from a box labelled ‘hero!!’ to ‘villain?’. Because now that the thought has occurred to Izuku he can’t stop thinking about how utterly unheroic Kacchan is. There are abrasive heroes, sure, like Miruko, but for all her rough attitude and solitary ways, she still makes people feel safe.

Kacchan doesn’t make Izuku feel safe.

And sure, Izuku had known logically that Kacchan’s behaviour and actions towards him were unacceptable but - but knowing it and having the sudden emotional comprehension of the same is something completely different.

“Huh,” Izuku says out loud, and then pales because he’s been ignoring Kacchan for who knows how long and worse - he had very clearly not been paying attention. And from what Izuku had managed to absorb from the rant - something about Izuku looking down on Kacchan, which is all sorts of ridiculous - that was probably the worst possible thing he could’ve done.

Kacchan seems to be in agreement, if the way he growls and steps forward, grabbing for Izuku’s arm with his quirk active, which he knows from past experience is going to burn when -

“Bakugou-kun, report to your homeroom teacher right now,” a voice calls, and it sounds pissed. Izuku dares to look away from Kacchan and sees his saviour, Snipe-sensei’s usual casual stance replaced with one that threatens quick and brutal movement if pushed.

Kacchan doesn't push. He takes a look at the physics teacher and immediately pales, stepping back from Izuku, much to his relief. That had been too close. He knows he’s shaking as he skitters over to his teacher, reflexively ducking behind him - and isn’t that a weird feeling, to trust that a teacher will protect him from Kacchan.

“Y’alright, kid?” Snipe-sensei checks softly and Izuku nods silently.

Kacchan takes a sullen look at Izuku and Snipe-sensei and stomps off, presumably to go see Tricicle-sensei, the 1-D homeroom and human biology teacher. Izuku can’t help the sigh of relief that forces itself out of his throat.

“So I’m guessin’ that was about his transfer,” Snipe comments idly as he gently puts a hand on each of Izuku’s shoulder and makes a show of looking him over. Izuku flushes under the attention but nods in answer. “Mm, I’ll let the other teachers know to keep an eye on him for you.”

“O-oh, thank you!” Izuku says and his hands are half raised in his flustered state. “B-but that’s not - not necessary, Snipe-sensei, r-really!”

“Nah,” Snipe says, waving a hand dismissively, “We’re happy time do it. And it’s important that you’re safe. You know that right, Midoriya-kun?”

Izuku distractedly wonders if getting right to the heart of an issue was a side effect of Snipe’s homing quirk or if he was just.. like that and wasn’t sure which answer he’d prefer. He dips his head a little. “I’m trying to remember that, Sensei,” Izuku admits quietly.

“That’s all we can ask,” Snipe tells him and pats him gently on the shoulder. “Run along to class now, sprout!”

“Yessir!” Izuku says, because maths really isn’t his best subject and he’s already missed a good quarter of the lesson.

And then, because apparently Izuku’s near-miss wasn’t enough to satisfy the universe as to his suffering, the face he’s been avoiding for a week appears from the direction Kacchan disappeared in.

All Might.

Izuku will forever be humiliated to admit this but he dives behind Snipe-sensei again as the Symbol of Peace approaches. For his part, the cowboy hero doesn’t even glance back at him before shifting into a casual stance that Izuku knew was a cover for muscles tensing in preparation. Unlike with Kacchan, All Might wasn’t inexperienced enough to need the easily readable threat. He should be clever enough to fear the man anyway.

Apparently All Might is an idiot because despite Snipe-sensei’s clearly hostile posture, he marches right into the man’s space and claps a hand on his shoulder. “Ah, Young Snipe,” he says loudly - he’s always so loud but not in the nice way like Yamada-sensei, he’s just overwhelming and - “It’s good to see you! I see you’ve been talking with Young Midoriya and was wondering if I might steal him away for a chat myself?”

The sheer mass of his figure forces Snipe-sensei to step aside so he isn’t knocked over, which has the unfortunate result of making Izuku clearly visible to the Number One Hero.

Izuku has started trembling something fierce again, and he can feel his breaths coming faster.

Snipe-sensei’s expression can’t be seen through the mask, but he wraps a protective arm lightly over Izuku’s shoulders and tugs him close. “Nah, I actually still need to talk with this little rascal about his physics assignment,” the sharpshooter blatantly lies to All Might. “So we’ll just be on our way.”

Snipe ushers Izuku away from the frowning hero - and doesn’t that seem wrong, that All Might isn’t smiling- with him still tucked protectively against the hero’s side. “You really can’t catch a break, huh sprout?” Snipe drawls once All Might is out of earshot and Izuku flushes.

“No sir,” he responds quietly and ducks his head. Snipe-sensei just chuckles, but it’s a kind-sounding laugh, and ruffles Izuku’s hair with his free hand that is actually just a prelude to a surprise noogie attack.  The man cackles loudly at Izuku’s screech of betrayal.

“You’re a good kid, Midoriya-kun,” Snipe-sensei says as he finally stops his playful roughhousing. “Sho-kun always tosses me when I try it with him.”

“Sho- you mean Aizawa-sensei?” Izuku asks somewhat hysterically and he knows that Snipe-sensei is grinning maniacally behind his mask just from the aura he’s putting off.

“That’s the one! It’s a shame because his hair is so soft. I miss it.”

“What the crap?” It’s safe to say Izuku is definitely experiencing some emotional whiplash right now, and honestly? The language is justified all things considered. “I - you know, I think I just want to go to maths now.”

“Alright sprout, I’ll walk you seeing as you’re a trouble magnet today,” Snipe-sensei says cheerfully, almost certainly ignoring Izuku’s whimpered ‘oh god’. Because Snipe-sensei is now in a mood which means Izuku is going to have to fend off at least three more noogies before he gets to the safety of Ectoplasm-sensei’s class.

When Izuku finally makes it to his maths class stuttering out apologies and shoving his late slip at his teacher, half the lesson has passed and his normally messy hair is a certifiable disaster. He’d miscalculated; Snipe-sensei had gone for a fourth headlock just before Izuku could open the 1-A door and then darted off with a cackle and what sounded suspiciously like a ‘Yeehaw~’.

Izuku is definitely going to make Aizawa-sensei teach him the throw he uses on the cowboy, even if he had to hold the man’s tea privileges hostage.

(Even if he is grateful to his physics teacher for so easily lightening his mood again, four head scrubs was one too many.)

Chapter Text

Shouta’s day was going fairly well, all things considered. It was after lunch, and so far no problem child related problems had arisen.

He was carefully not thinking about that so as to not jinx himself.

In fact, he’s just about to crawl out of his sleeping bag and make his way to his final class of the day when his office door slams open.

And his afternoon had been looking so nice.

Bakugou Katsuki stands in Shouta’s doorway, fists crackling and posture screaming ‘I don’t want to be here’. At least that makes two of a them.

Shouta stares dully at the explosive teen. “Why are you here?” He truly hopes his voice makes his lack of patience for this situation obvious.

What a surprise, the kid scowls at his question as he looks away. “Snipe-sensei sent me,” he said sullenly.

Weird. Normally if Snipe catches one of his brats screwing around he gets a warning text from his senpai. He checks his phone, but there’s no such message, so Shouta looks curiously at Bakugou. “He hasn’t contacted me about it,” he says flatly. “Care to explain?”

For a moment all Shouta gets is a ‘tch’ but then the teen mutters something that makes his heart drop into his stomach.

Shouta’s voice is icy when he says, “Please tell me that I heard you wrong.”

“Snipe-sensei saw me talkin’ with Deku and sent me here to speak to you.”

Damn. “You are aware,” Shouta sighs, “that as part of your continued enrolment, you agreed to stay away from Midoriya-kun.”

Bakugou snaps his head up only to glare. “That’s dumb,” he scoffs. “How can I stay away from him when we’re in the same damn class?”

Oh boy.

“You’re not in the same class.”

“The hell we aren’t,” Bakugou snaps. “Your little logical ruse or whatever has been fun but show’s over. When am I gonna be let back into 1-A?”

And sometimes, at times like this, Shouta regrets ever coming up with his logical ruses and rational deceptions. Because this time, it’s come back to bite him squarely on the ass.

“Your transfer into 1-D is not a ruse,” Shouta says more patiently than he feels, as he shoots off a questioning text to Snipe.

“Sure,” Bakugou says. “So when am I back in 1-A?”

Shouta stands, sliding out of his sleeping bag only to slump into his office chair. “You’re not.”

His phone vibrates and Shouta checks it with a frown.

ya the brat was going to use his quirk on the sprout so i sent him to see tricicle

He raises an unimpressed eyebrow at the still-scowling Bakugou. “Snipe sent you to Tricicle,” he points out and the kid ‘tch’s at him again.

“He said to go to my homeroom teacher, which is you,” Bakugou said as if Shouta was an idiot.

Shouta groans and leans back in his chair, and fixes his eyes on the ceiling of his office. “No,” he says firmly. “Your homeroom teacher is Tricicle, because you are in 1-D. Now,” and he deliberately, lazily, flicks his gaze to the sparking teenager. “I will only say this one more time, because I have class to get to and so do you. You, Bakugou-kun, are no longer a part of Class 1-A. You are a member of Class 1-D. You are no longer in the hero course. You are in the general education track, which is considered by all universities as one of the most desirable sources for potential students. Something you should start thinking about, as being a hero is no longer an option available to you.”

Shouta finishes his little speech and appraises the teenager’s reaction. Bakugou has paled ever so slightly, but it’s enough to make the flush on his cheeks that much more obvious, and in his shock the small firecracker explosions he’s been making have stopped.

“I -“ the kid sounds almost broken. Shouta would be more sympathetic if Bakugou hadn’t told Midoriya to jump off a roof not even a year ago. Or even if he’d shown any inkling of change or remorse. “I’m going to be a hero.”

“No,” Shouta says bluntly. “You’re not. Now go to class. If you break a condition of enrolment again, you’ll get a month of detention with Lunch Rush. As it is, for attempting to use your quirk to assault another student you’ll have a week starting tomorrow.”

With that, Shouta pushes himself out of his chair and stalks out of his office. He leaves Bakugou behind him, the teen staring silently at the floor.

The last class of the day passes by mercifully quickly, the 2-B brats continuing to be the perfect little angels they’ve been for the last week since his renewed expulsion threat. Homeroom comes and goes without incident, even though the class is still reeling from the news of Bakugou’s expulsion from the hero course. Kirishima is taking it particularly hard, which Shouta makes a careful note of, while Kaminari is looking dangerously thoughtful. The last time Shouta saw that expression on the electric teen’s face, he’d managed to increase his maximum output by 100 000 volts. Kaminari had almost perfected his cover of being a ditzy blonde, but Shouta knows there’s a sharp, mischievous mind behind those bangs.

Clever and bored is never a good combination, Shouta knows. He lives with such a creature himself. Actually, he thinks as he eyes Kaminari thoughtfully, and the kid tenses slightly as though he can feel Shouta’s stare, maybe he should point Hizashi in the kid’s direction. His husband also had an extremely powerful quirk that caused damage to his body if not used carefully.

Shouta pointedly ignores the giggling huddle that is Uraraka and Midoriya, who keep shooting each other wide grins and high-fiving enthusiastically at random intervals.

And then homeroom is over, and the hell-spawn leave, except of course, for the problem child. Midoriya is grinning enthusiastically, but there’s a tightness around his eyes that hadn’t been there earlier.  Shouta is somehow both impressed and distressed by the kid’s ability to mask his true emotions. “Snipe mentioned you ran into Bakugou-kun earlier,” he starts and the kid deflates.

“Yeah,” Midoriya agrees softly. “He was - angry that he got transferred. He thinks that - that I’m looking down on him.” The kid ducks his head. “I’ve never looked down on him. He - until today he’s always been a hero to me.” Midoriya is mumbling, as though he feels guilty. “I always wanted to be strong like him.”

Huh. So something Bakugou had done or said earlier had finally managed to break the kid’s idealised version of him. “He’s been one of the only people to pay attention to you for a long time, even if it was negative,” Shouta tells the kid. He’s desperately trying to make it sound like he’s not just pulling this out of his ass, as genuinely as means the words. “It.. makes sense that you would look up to him.”

Midoriya is quiet at that, but looks thoughtful. Shouta jerks his head over his shoulder as a signal to leave and they head off, the kid trailing a few steps behind. Eventually he’ll manage to convince him to walk alongside, but he leaves it for now. With a quick pit-stop by Lunch Rush - because Midoriya is an angel child and now his favourite student for not only getting Shouta a coffee yesterday but making a standing arrangement for one every day after school - they get to Gym Gamma.

Midoriya dashes off and returns a few minutes later in his gym uniform, and he seems to be doing a bit better, but Shouta - he can’t forget the way the kid’s wrist had looked last time he trained while distracted.

Not to mention the mess that followed.

And while Shouta has no intention of Midoriya using One For All today - the kid still isn’t cleared for that until Wednesday - this is something he can help with. He directs the teen to mimic him as he sits cross-legged on the mats and waits until Midoriya is settled before speaking. “You had your first session with Hound Dog today,” Shouta says, and Midoriya nods slowly, clearly confused as to why he’s bringing it up. “Did he take you through any grounding or mindfulness exercises?”

Midoriya’s eyes clear. “Yes, Aizawa-sensei. It was a five things you see, four things you hear and so on one.”

“Good,” Shouta hums. “We’ll start each of our sessions off with a guided mindfulness exercise from now on; the one you mentioned is a good starting point.”

Shouta guides Midoriya through the exercise, prompting extra details out when he feels the kid might need some help. The first few times are always easier with someone else, which is something Shouta remembers from when he first started out therapy. About five minutes later, Midoriya looks significantly better, and his breathing had slowed slightly.

“Well done, Midoriya-kun,” Shouta says, and the kid near glows at the compliment. He narrows his eyes then, because with his more genuinely content state, there’s a calculating something on the kid’s face. “What are you plotting?”

Midoriya grins at him then, deceptively innocent. “Can you please teach me how to toss Snipe-sensei?”

“...Why?” Shouta’s not entirely sure he wants the answer to his question though.

“Because he was walking me back to class earlier after I ran into Kacchan which would have been fine on its own but then All Might wanted to talk to me so Snipe-sensei said he’d walk me to class so I didn’t have to talk to him!”

Wait what -

“Which was really nice of him to do but then - then he gave me four noogies on the way to maths and it was so embarrassing but he mentioned he misses doing it to your hair - because it’s apparently super soft - but you toss him whenever he tries!”

“...Give me a moment to process,” Shouta says tiredly and flops onto his back on the mats. “I feel like I should change your name from Problem Child to Problem Magnet.”

“Uh,” Midoriya says, “Why?”

“Because you somehow managed to run into both Bakugou-kun and All Might one after the other, when both of them have also been given explicit instructions to stay away from you.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Midoriya says, sounding far too chipper. “But can you teach me the throw?”

“...Sure,” Shouta agrees, “but only if you never tell anyone that Snipe used to do the same to me.”

“Acceptable terms, Aizawa-sensei!” the brat cheers as he leaps to his feet. “So what are we doing today?”

Shouta groans. “Not the throw, as your arm is still on light duty. We’re going to focus on Float again, and your ability to move while in the air.”

“That sounds great!” Midoriya says happily, and he whips out a notebook from god-knows-where. Shouta prays it’s not another quirk like pocket dimension manipulation or anything like that. “I think I’m going to try and learn at least some basic gymnastics,” the kid tells him. “I asked Uraraka during homeroom about some tips and she’s got so many great ideas! She did warn me that not everything will be possible because I’m still going to have to account for my weight, but she’s so clever, Aizawa-sensei!”

“It’s a good idea,” Shouta agrees. “But fancy tricks should wait until you’ve got the basics down.”

“Yessir!”

“...You need to activate Float,” Shouta sighs and the kid jerks.

“Oh, right!” Midoriya puts his book away and scrunches his face in concentration ( it’s not cute at all, shut up Hizashi! ) as he activates his quirk. It takes a few moments, but then the teen is hovering half a foot off the floor, shaky, but definitely floating.

“Good,” Shouta says and then he grins broadly in the way he knows will unsettle the kid. “Now keep that up for as long as you can while maintaining your balance.”

“This doesn’t seem too hard,” Midoriya observes and Shouta grins wider.

“Oh, I wasn’t finished,” he says wickedly. “You have to maintain your quirk and balance while I try and distract you.”

The sound of teenage despair has never been sweeter.

Chapter Text

When Izuku crawls out of bed on Wednesday morning, he’s sore and has a headache but he’s also thrumming with energy. Training with Aizawa-sensei had been so fun yesterday!

Even if his teacher had seemed to take far too much joy out of poking Izuku in the ribs with his capture weapon to try and break his concentration. Well, he says try as if Aizawa-sensei hadn’t been successful nine times out of ten at making him either fall over, or lose his grip on Float. But by the end, Izuku was at least better at activating his quirk, and was able to become familiar with how to hold himself in the air. It was weird but fun.

Izuku is also pumped because he’s going to meet Gran Torino later and maybe finally get some answers about One For All. It’s with a giant grin on his face that he rushes through his morning routine, drops a kiss on his mother’s cheek and races to catch his train.

It’s going to be a good day, Izuku is sure of it.

Especially because Aizawa-sensei had also folded at the end of their training session last night and told Izuku he could learn the shoulder throw for Snipe-sensei during Foundational Heroics! Which also meant that Izuku was cleared for proper physical activity again and One For All! So his day should end really well! The usual anxiety of going to Foundational Heroics with Shinsou aside, of course.

Izuku practically vibrates his way through homeroom, much to the amusement of his friends and the obvious consternation of Aizawa-sensei. It’s with only ten minutes left before first period starts that he spots it.

Izuku zeroes in on it, and his jaw drops. He knows his eyes are comically wide but -

“Aizawa-sensei,” he calls, voice full of awe.

He gets a muffled, “What, problem child?” from the corner where his teacher is curled up in his sleeping bag.

“Why is there a kitten in your capture weapon?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aizawa-sensei tells him, blatantly lying. The man doesn’t open his eyes, but Izuku would get good money that it’s because he’s struggling to keep his composure. The rest of the class, also being filled with serotonin-deprived children, had instantly snapped their attention to Izuku and their teacher at the word ‘kitten’ like some sort of sleeper code had activated.

“Aizawa-sensei,” Izuku says in his most disappointed voice, “There is very clearly a kitten staring right at me and I want to pat it. And it obviously wants me to pat it too.”

“Absolutely not,” Aizawa-sensei says. “Because there is not a kitten in my capture weapon.”

A slight movement catches Izuku’s eye and he grins maniacally. He ignores his classmates leaning away from him in fear. “Is that perhaps because there are two kittens in your scarf desperately awaiting my loving pats?”

“...If I let you pat the cats will you shut up and let me sleep?”

Izuku isn’t an idiot; he takes the olive branch for what it is and beams.

He also shoots an incredibly smug look at his cat-deprived classmates who stare at him jealously as he pats illegally soft fur. It’s not Izuku’s fault the rest of his class is too scared of Aizawa-sensei to get within patting distance of the beautiful grey kittens.

It’s with great reluctance that Izuku lets Aizawa-sensei skulk out of the class when homeroom finishes, kittens tucked securely against his chest. The rest of the class unanimously give Izuku the cold shoulder for their first class of the day as punishment for not sharing the babies, until he saves them from failing a class pop quiz in Modern Literature with Ishiyama-sensei.

Izuku happily vibrates away at his desk and the day passes smoothly. He drags all his friends back to the 1-A class during lunch so they can eat with Aoyama, and the blonde sparkles at him in thanks. Izuku would happily eat there with him every day but once a week is apparently enough for the other boy who had quietly admitted to Izuku and Shouto the week before that crowds could be overwhelming sometimes. So it was a weekly shared lunch, but Izuku wasn’t going to skip one for anything.

And then it’s Foundational Heroics, and Izuku buzzes his way to the training room, already plotting on how to steal the kittens from his teacher. Maybe if he posed it as a stealth exercise...

“Don’t even think about it,” Aizawa-sensei all but hisses at Izuku when he walks into the room and he can’t help but pout.

“But Sensei,” Izuku says pleadingly, “they’re so cute!”

“This is my only day with them before Hizashi makes me take them to a shelter,” his teacher says forlornly. “Please let me have this.”

Izuku narrows his eyes. “You’re trying to emotionally manipulate me.”

“Damn,” Aizawa-sensei mutters. “Fine, you take this one.” And then he very gently plops one of the little kittens into Izuku’s eager hands. “I get him back when you move onto the physical half,” he says sternly and Izuku nods happily. He has a tiny little baby in his hands and he swears -

Aizawa-sensei’s eyes flare red and Izuku hits the ground with a thud and a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Sensei!”

His teacher snorts at him. “Another test of resolve, I see.”

Izuku nods in determination. “I can do it, Sensei!” Kittens and Yamada-sensei may be his greatest weaknesses, but Izuku will power through! He then very politely ignores the muttered ‘mood’ Aizawa-sensei lets slip. He does have some self-preservation instincts, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Shinsou arrives soon after and their heroics lesson begins. They’re back to urban rescue procedures, with a quick recap of last week’s lesson before moving into a more in-depth examination of a few select case studies. It’s fascinating and so Izuku doesn’t hesitate to ask Aizawa-sensei questions about the examples they’re given, particularly because even Izuku can see where some glaringly poor decisions were made by pros. His teacher is happy enough to answer, although that usually just means prodding Izuku’s attention to specific details so he can work it out himself, which is even more fun! It’s only when his questions broach a topic that they haven’t covered yet that Aizawa-sensei explains things fully himself - Izuku takes close notes when he does, because the way the pro hero lays out logical trains of thought is nothing short of stunning.

It’s the sort of precision and skill that Izuku can only dream will one day be able to fill his analysis notebooks. He knows he has a lot of good ideas and theories, but his current way of organising his thoughts is messy and rushed, so Izuku hopes to one day be able to be as concise and thorough as Aizawa-sensei. Plus ultra!

Izuku’s control over Float only slips a few times, and he’s very pleased with that, especially because he has to be careful of his little passenger! The kitten has tucked himself into Izuku’s mess of a tie, just in the hollow of his throat and he could nearly cry from how soft the fur is against his skin. It’s also very clear that in the time Aizawa-sensei has had the kitten - less than 24 hours, the man had mumbled out after Shinsou had asked with a hint of jealousy- he’s already managed to corrupt the little cat and teach him bad habits. Not that Izuku minds, but having a cat in such a position when it gets bigger might be a little more difficult.

When the time for the practical half of heroics arrives, Izuku reluctantly hands the baby back to Aizawa-sensei who smirks at his pout, and then races off to get changed.

Izuku returns to the training room and Aizawa-sensei has carefully deposited his scarf on a table and both kittens are sleeping soundly in its folds. It’s so cute he can’t help the photo he takes even though the man glares half-heartedly at him.

“Are we learning the throw now, Sensei?” Izuku chirps as he puts his phone away and Aizawa-sensei nods, looking tired.

Then, Izuku reflexively steps back because that’s his teacher’s manic smile, the one that always precedes - “Thank you for volunteering to be my example, Midoriya-kun,” - pain for Izuku or his classmates.

Izuku only gulps a little.

As sadistic as his grin is, however, Aizawa-sensei is an excellent teacher as he demonstrates a few times to Shinsou and Izuku how to toss someone who was reaching to grab you by the neck. He ends up using both of them as examples despite his threat, so that they can both watch carefully as he tosses them onto the mats.

Aizawa-sensei is even nice enough to not knock the air out of them with every throw. Then, with a wary eye and a threat to behave, he lets Shinsou and Izuku at each other.

To Izuku’s surprise, Shinsou is an excellent sparring opponent - when he isn’t mouthing off under his breath. But Izuku has years of experience dealing with people that don’t like him, so he keeps his head down and his mouth shut. Friendly, polite, don’t react, he reminds himself.

So Izuku ignores the comments Shinsou mutters, the hissed ‘ hero-brat ’s and the glares, and works on perfecting his technique. By the end of the lesson, Aizawa-sensei seems pleased with their progress and gives both of them a rough ‘good’. Izuku gifts him a tiny smile, and only floats a little bit off the floor before he catches himself. His teacher sighs in exasperation - as though Izuku can’t pick out the fondness - and sends him off to pick up his coffee before meeting him at Gym Gamma.

Izuku was right earlier - it is a good day.

Chapter Text

Shouta snorts softly into his capture weapon as Midoriya all but skips out of the training room. He looks at Shinsou who’s staring after his classmate with a perplexed frown, eyes narrow and calculating. He’s pleased to see the kid is wearing the weighted scarf, even though by this point his shoulders must be aching.

“Shoo,” Shouta says dryly when Shinsou makes no move to leave. “It’s after hours, you’re not my problem anymore.”

Shinsou actually smiles at that, a tiny, crooked thing that shouldn’t be as sweet as it is. “Right. Sorry, Sensei,” he says, and runs a hand through his perpetually uplifted hair. Shouta is just glad that his own hair only levitates when he’s using Erasure. Damn mental quirk side-effects.

“Yet you’re not leaving,” Shouta observes. “What do you want?”

“I uh - I’ve been thinking about what you said last week.” It’s muttered almost shamefully. “I still don’t - I’ve been doing my own research - it’s a lot .”

“Mm,” Shouta hums noncommittally. “Quirk discrimination is a nuanced issue with lots of threads that go in different directions.”

Shinsou looks determined. “It’s something I need to understand but - there’s so many stories from people with all types of quirks and - I don’t understand.”

“It’s alright that you don’t,” Shouta reminds his student, quietly pleased that he's admitting to some vulnerability. “You’ve only been looking at this for a week, and dealing with your own things on top of that. It’s not a race or something you have a time limit on. Don’t push yourself too far.”

“Right.”

Shouta sighs and tilts his head at his overwhelmed student. “I’ll send you some resources that I’ve found over the years. They can be fairly clinical which is both better and worse in some ways, but they’re accurate and trustworthy sources of information.”

Shinsou looks desperately relieved. “Thank you, Sensei,” he says. “I’ll see you on Friday?”

“Mm,” Shouta says. “Now shoo.”

Shinsou shoos, with a casual wave and feigned nonchalance.

Shouta knows better though. He can see right through the teen’s prickly facade to the kid that’s just excited to spend time with his favourite hero.

Christ, how did Shouta become someone’s favourite hero? He’s tempted to ask Midoriya but - he’s not entirely sure he’s ready for that discussion, so he files it away in the same folder where he shoved his question about how he earned said kid’s trust.

Those are questions for later Shouta. Current Shouta has to go find a man whose name had made the Symbol of Peace tremble in fear and choke up blood. Which was entertaining but also made Shouta curious as to why Yagi would ask him to be involved with Midoriya’s training if that was his reaction to the retired hero.

Shouta is stalking down to the admin office when he catches sight of familiar obnoxious hair, and grins. The few students lingering in the halls after school visibly edge away, a small part of his attention notes with glee. He gently pulls the kittens from his capture weapon, slips up behind Hizashi and dumps them onto his head, their little claws easily getting a grip.

“Shouta,” Hizashi groans. “I told you to leave the babies at home.”

“They were in my scarf when I went to put it on,” Shouta says smugly. “It would’ve been cruel to take them away from somewhere they clearly felt safe.”

“You know we can’t keep them, Sho love,” Hizashi says, and Shouta shrugs.

“All the more reason to keep them close while I can.” He presses a chaste kiss to his husband’s cheek and then heads off to continue his search for the retired pro hero, tactfully ignoring Hizashi cursing behind him as he realises he’s now got two kittens stuck in his hair.

Gran Torino, when Shouta finds him in the admin office is smaller than expected. An old man in a yellow tracksuit with a cane. That said, he has an aura that very distinctly screams ‘do not underestimate me’.

Then the old man turns around, sees Shouta and promptly asks where the fuck the disaster child from the sports festival is.

Shouta feels like he’s staring at his future, given forty more years and with his patience finally worn down. He decides right then and there that Gran Torino is someone to aspire to.

He gives the old man a sharp grin. “He’ll be waiting for us in Gym Gamma,” he says, all teeth and watches as Gran Torino gives him an obvious once over.

“Eraserhead,” the old man says. “You’re not half bad for a hero.”

Interesting that Gran Torino knows who he is, even with the prying media attention the USJ had given him. “Thanks,” Shouta drawls out. “Aizawa Shouta.”

“Torino Sorahiko,” the old man returns. He leans heavily on his cane for a moment. “The sports festival was a mess. What that kid was thinking...”

Shouta scowls at the reminder of the festival. He’s still - displeased that the school board had sided with the HPSC to force the event to continue. “It was a mess,” he agrees shortly, “but not one of Midoriya’s making.”

Gran Torino raises an eyebrow. “You really believe that.”

“I do.” With that, Shouta gestures for the man to follow him to Gym Gamma.

Shouta walks into the gym and nearly activates Erasure on instinct. Because Yagi Toshinori, fucking All Might is standing in the building where he has no reason to be. He gives a brief thanks to the universe that Midoriya must have got caught up grilling Lunch Rush about his quirk again and isn’t here to witness what will undoubtedly be an unpleasant interaction.

“Why are you here?” Any wise person would be running for the hills at the fury that’s evident in Shouta’s deceptively calm question.

Yagi is evidently not a wise person, because he has the gall to look insulted. “Because I’m the boy’s mentor! I deserve to be involved in his training!” He blusters, and Shouta rolls his eyes, attempting to convey exactly how much he cares, which is to say, not at all.

“I distinctly recall telling you to stay away from Midoriya-kun.”

“Come now, Young Aizawa. I haven’t talked to him for over a week! You’re being unreasonable -“

“Unreasonable?” Shouta snaps, and his quirk activates instinctively, hair rising upwards in a mirror of his increasing rage. “I’d say I’m being incredibly reasonable in not forcibly evicting you from this room,” he hisses. “Now get out, or I will make you.”

Yagi gets. Shouta relaxes his quirk, but turns his gaze to Gran Torino who had rather sensibly remained silent during the... altercation. “Explain to me why you invited Yagi,” Shouta demands. His patience is non-existent after this second attempt by Yagi to get to Midoriya in two days. He whips out his phone and sends a text to alert Nedzu to the situation. The man is on two strikes already, so the rat? will undoubtedly be rubbing his paws together in anticipation of the lecture he’ll soon be giving.

Gran Torino leans on his cane, looking every bit his age. “I was unaware that Toshinori was...”

“Banned from being within the same room as my student?” Shouta growls.

“Yes, that. He asked and I answered. As the previous holder of One For All, I assumed he was involved. I apologise.” The retired hero gives Shouta a searching look. “Can I ask what exactly I’m apologising for? I seem to be out of the loop, as you young ones say.”

“Yagi is a fucking idiot,” Shouta says, which in his opinion is a rather generous understatement. “And intentionally or not, he has caused severe mental and physical harm to Midoriya.”

Gran Torino scowls. “Do I want to know?”

Shouta barks out a laugh. It’s not a kind sound. “No.” Shouta says. “You don’t. And frankly, it’s none of your business except to the extent that you should not allow Yagi to interact with Midoriya, even supervised. And I expect from now on you will keep Yagi uninformed of Midoriya-kun’s progress.”

“I understand,” Gran Torino says tiredly. “Once again, I apologise. Now, where is the zygote?”

“Uh,” Midoriya says from behind Shouta, who turns at his student’s voice and snatches the proffered coffee with a small nod of thanks. “Is that... meant to refer to me?”

Gran Torino cackles and turns around. “Yes,” he says and his tone promises something Shouta can’t identify. “You’ve got One For All, huh.”

Midoriya looks nervously at Shouta, as if wanting approval to confirm this. He gives the kid a subtle nod, knowing that even retired, a pro like Gran Torino won’t miss it. “Yes sir,” the kid says quietly, shifting his gaze to the ground.

Gran Torino frowns. “You’re a runt,” the man says, but his tone sounds more concerned than judgemental. Shouta still tenses, ready to intervene if the old man says anything that will damage Midoriya’s already fragile self-esteem. “How long did you train to build muscle?”

“Ten months, sir,” Midoriya responds politely. He looks up at Gran Torino with narrowed eyes. “Why?”

“There’s no easy way to put this,” Gran Torino says, “so I’ll be blunt. Your body is still too small for One For All to be contained. That’s why it’s so damaging. And,” he sighs then. “Your muscles are still too new. Rush training may have stopped your limbs from blowing off, but it’s done you no favours otherwise.”

“Explain,” Shouta interjects.

Gran Torino shifts his weight, the frown on his face growing deeper. “You were obviously a shrimp ten months ago, right?” Midoriya nods hesitantly, only looking slightly insulted. “All the past holders including Yagi were already at above-average muscle mass when they began training for One For All. The fact that you weren’t means that your body has undergone too much strain too fast.”

“Oh,” Midoriya says. “That...makes sense.”

It does, Shouta realises. Gods, just how much of the damage done to this child could have been avoided? Fucking Yagi was permanently on the top of Shouta’s shit list now and forever.

“We can work around it,” Gran Torino says. “Tell me what you’ve been doing so far.”

When Midoriya finishes explaining the frankly horrifying way his quirk works, Gran Torino looks even more troubled. “Yagi gave you shit advice, kid. Ignore everything he told you. What we’re going to do, starting now, is pretty much the opposite.”

Shouta glances at Midoriya and sees the kid shaking his head frantically. “I don’t really feel like dying, Torino-san.”

Fair comment from the kid who shatters his limbs whenever he uses his quirk.

Gran Torino looks amused. “Kid, you’re not going to die. Besides, I’m pretty sure Eraserhead here would kill me before that could happen.”

Aw, Midoriya is flushing bright red. It’s not cute, Shouta reminds himself. The kid is not cute. “I would,” he agrees amiably because well, the old man’s not entirely wrong and if he ever tried to lay so much as a hand on Midoriya he would certainly lose it.

That comment, of course, sets the kid off into the air and he sighs. “Midoriya-kun,” he chides gently.

The kid blushes even brighter. “Sorry, Sensei!”

Gran Torino chokes. “Kid, how the hell are you flying? I thought Yagi said you didn’t have a quirk.”

“Oh, Float manifested!” Midoriya chirps as he lands back on the ground and the old man pales significantly. Midoriya tilts his head at the man’s reaction.

“Float,” Gran Torino whispers, ashen, and Midoriya nods enthusiastically.

“Yeah we were a bit worried when that happened!” He says as if he didn’t have an entire breakdown over it. “We thought I might’ve been a nomu somehow until Yamada-sensei realised that One For All also stocks quirks not just power!”

Gran Torino stills. “Stocks quirks?” He whispers with horror. Huh, Shouta thinks. So the old pro wasn’t aware of that aspect either. Does that mean that even Yagi was unaware of the full potential of One For All? It wouldn’t be a surprise, what with the man’s obliviousness, and evident willingness to skate by on raw power rather than brains.

“Did Yagi ever tell you how One For All was created?” Oh, Shouta has such a bad feeling about this, he thinks as Gran Torino speaks.

“It was created?” Midoriya asks and a chill runs down Shouta’s spine. Christ they’d only just convinced the kid he wasn’t a nomu; what information did Gran Torino have that they didn’t. Because if the quirk was created and the nomu were created that was - it couldn’t be a coincidence.

Gran Torino takes a deep breath before he answers. “Yes. Back at the dawn of quirks, there were two brothers. All For One was a great leader of many people, and his quirk was... the ability to give and take quirks from others. He had a younger brother, who was sick and quirkless. But he hated the tyranny All For One was creating, and so he aligned himself against his older brother. All For One, as a punishment, forced a stockpiling quirk onto his younger brother. As it turned out, the younger brother did have a quirk; the ability to give his quirk away. It merged with the stockpile and became One For All.” The old man sighs. “And ever since, All For One has hunted down and killed every single user of One For All, except for Yagi. He’s effectively immortal with some of the quirks he’s ripped from people.”

Midoriya looks terrified , which - yeah, Shouta is also terrified for the kid. This is a monster under the bed made real.

Gran Torino looks at the kid, a shadow in his eyes. “I am sorry that I’m telling you this. Yagi - he should’ve told you this before he gave you the quirk. So you could make an informed decision.”

“Why hasn’t he killed All Might?” is Midoriya’s soft question and actually, that’s a good point. Shouta wants the answer to that as well.

He looks curiously at Gran Torino as he rests a comforting hand on Midoriya’s shoulder. The kid shoots him a small smile in return.

“Yagi thought he was dead until the nomu appeared at the USJ with multiple quirks,” Gran Torino explains. “He thought he killed him six years ago, in the same fight that cost him his health.”

Shouta ignores the last part in favour of the start because - if the USJ was when Yagi realised - that means that the man has been aware of a threat to Midoriya’s safety since the first week of term.

And he didn’t tell anyone who could do something practical to protect him.

“Huh,” Shouta says. “I’m going to kill him.”

“All For One?” Gran Torino asks, a single eyebrow raised.

“Yagi,” Shouta corrects, and Midoriya squeaks in surprise beside him.

“S-sensei?”

“Don’t worry,” he says reassuringly to his wide-eyed student, “I’ll make sure you’re not there when I dismember him.”

Midoriya giggles nervously. “You’re - you’re joking right?” His eyes are marginally brighter, and he’s looking up at Shouta with a laugh dancing across his cheeks.

Only mostly, Shouta thinks to himself. He gives his student a small, sharp smile and doesn’t answer.

“My point,” Gran Torino says into the awkward silence, “is that it’s entirely possible that if One For All is stocking quirks, you may also inherit the ability to give and take quirks from others. And that - that would make you even more of a target.”

Midoriya stills, all amusement gone and Shouta curses the old man in his head. “W-what?”

Gran Torino dips his head. “As All For One was the original holder of One For All, his quirk may also be caught up in the stockpile. Along with seven others. And he is not a man that likes to share.”

“Wait,” says Midoriya suddenly. “Why only seven more? If there were eight previous holders not including All For One...” He stiffens and Shouta twitches a hand, because Midoriya looks broken. “I’m not the first quirkless person to have it, am I?”

Gran Torino frowns. “No,” he says slowly. “Yagi was also quirkless prior to receiving One For All from Shimura Nana.”

Fuck, Shouta thinks. Midoriya trembles beside him, and drops to the floor. Instantly, Shouta is crouching in front of him, a hand carefully, gently wrapped around the kid’s elbow. “Midoriya-kun,” he murmurs. He looks at Gran Torino, who’s actually pretty easy to look at directly now that they're at a similar height. “That’s enough for today,” he says firmly. “Midoriya is just a kid and this is - this is a lot. If there’s anything else at all that you know about One For All and this All For One, please inform Nedzu. Oh, and let him know what you wanted to try with One For All.” He turns away from the man in clear dismissal and focuses back on Midoriya, offering his hand to his shaking student. The kid latches on like Shouta is a life raft.

“I’m sorry,” Gran Torino says, before he taps away. Only when the gym door clicks shut beside him does Shouta speak again.

“Midoriya-kun,” Shouta says softly. “I will keep you safe.” He says it again so Midoriya hears his sincerity. “I will keep you safe, and I will teach you how to protect yourself. This is why you’re at UA. And not just myself, but all of the staff will help you, okay? You don’t have to do this alone. You won’t be alone.”

There are tears streaming down Midoriya’s face but these ones are silent and awful to see. For once, the child is silent as he cries, and Shouta wants nothing more than for his student to never cry from anything but happiness again. He can’t do that, but he can do his best to protect the kid. “I’m causing so much trouble,” Midoriya whimpers.

“No,” Shouta says sternly. “No, none of this is your fault.” He sighs then, because Midoriya still hasn’t met his eyes. He reaches out and gently, so gently, lifts the kid’s chin so Midoriya can see his face.

“Midoriya-kun,” Shouta says, serious as the day he swore his life and love to Hizashi, “this is not your fault. Can you please repeat that for me.”

Midoriya takes a shallow, stuttered breath. “It’s not my fault,” he says, but his voice is dull. Shouta will take what he can get.

“C’mon, kid, let’s get you home.”

“M-mum,” Midoriya whispers. Right.

“I’ll talk to her,” Shouta assures the kid. “You don’t have to do anything else tonight.”

He’ll make sure of it.

Chapter Text

Izuku can’t stop his hands from shaking as he trails after Aizawa-sensei. He feels bad that he couldn’t talk more to Gran Torino especially since he’d come all this way, but - the things he had said, that All Might should have already told Izuku, had been overwhelming.

In his mind he’s frantically going over and over the mindfulness exercise Inui-san had taught him only the day before, but he knows it’s not working. He needs - Izuku catches Aizawa-sensei’s sleeve and the man half-turns and glances down to meet his eyes, even as they continue walking. “Midoriya-kun?”

Izuku shakes his head and continues to cling onto his teacher’s sleeve. He knows it’s childish but - but Aizawa-sensei is solid and there and most importantly, he’s safe. His teacher seems to understand, because he just nods quietly, and looks forward again. “Alright,” Aizawa-sensei says, “We’ll get you home and to your mother.”

“She has night shift,” Izuku says quietly. “But she can probably call in late, there’s no one super important at the Gateway right now.”

“Sounds like a plan,” his teacher responds. “Who’s the most interesting person she’s met there?”

Ah, Aizawa-sensei is trying to distract him. Izuku is happy to oblige. “She’s met a lot of really cool people,” he says. “Lots of politicians and diplomats, and top ranking heroes too! Apparently Miruko is really nice!”

“Miruko and nice in the same sentence?” Aizawa-sensei asks, his tone incredulous.

Izuku nods. “Mhm! She was really good to the staff,” he explains. “A lot of people that stay there are really rude and mean, but Mum said she used her manners and even signed autographs for some of the staff’s kids!”

“Did that include you?”

Izuku flushes slightly, adjusts his grip on Aizawa-sensei’s sleeve. “Maybe,” he admits. “But it’s still cool!”

Aizawa-sensei snorts, in what Izuku is becoming to realise is pretty much his teacher’s version of a laugh. “Hizashi and I will drop you home again today,” he says suddenly. “We were planning on having a weekly check-in with your mother anyway, so tonight is a good a time as any.”

That sounds like a sensible decision, Izuku thinks. It also takes a lot of the pressure off of him to explain everything to his Mum. “Thank you,” he mumbles and then feels a soft tap on his nose that startles him.

“It’s not a problem, problem child,” Aizawa-sensei says with a hint of teasing in his tone and Izuku instinctively pouts up at the man who snorts again. “C’mon, Hizashi has the kittens waiting for us in the car.”

Ah, that’s where the little ones went. Izuku had been curious about that, but figured that Aizawa-sensei would’ve left them somewhere safe due to the possibility of him trying to use One For All.

Izuku can’t help but frown when he recalls why their session had been cut short, and a tingling numbness grows in his chest. He clutches tighter onto the material in his hand, focuses on the grain of the fabric, the deep black colour and its surprising softness.

“Midoriya-kun,” Aizawa-sensei says suddenly, “tell me about the worst person who stayed at the Gateway.”

Izuku nods and thinks for a moment. “Oh,” he says darkly, “definitely Endeavor. He scared my mum.”

Aizawa-sensei makes an encouraging noise, so Izuku launches into the story of the time Endeavor stayed at the Gateway, traumatised the staff and earned a three-year ban from the establishment. He makes sure to emphasise that it takes a lot to get banned.

Izuku is not subtle in mentioning exactly how close the so-called hero had come to permanently scarring his mother’s face with his quirk, unleashed in a moment of agitation and uncaring of the people around him. And yes, he knows that it was actually Shouto’s mother that had injured him, but a little extra cause for Aizawa-sensei to open a subtle investigation into Endeavor wouldn’t go astray.

Yeah, he’s noticed Aizawa-sensei giving Shouto considering looks, the ones that have concern woven in them. And even with his heart trying to beat out of his chest in his own panic, Izuku will look out for his friends!

Ah. That might be something else to bring up with Inui-san at some point.

By the time he’s finished his story, Aizawa-sensei has led them to his car, Yamada-sensei leaning casually against the side. He gives them a bright smile, and then looks at Izuku with blatant concern. Izuku tries to smile in return but..

“Aw, listener, you don’t have to pretend for me,” Yamada-sensei says gently. “Let’s get you in the car and then you can have one of these menaces.” It’s then that Izuku notices the little kittens sitting perched on his teacher’s head, looking rather satisfied with themselves as they make a mess out of the vertical hair style. It’s enough to get a small giggle free from Izuku’s tight throat, because it’s ridiculous.

Yamada-sensei then ushers Izuku into the car, which means reluctantly prying his fingers from Aizawa-sensei’s sleeve but it’s not too bad because then there’s a little grey kitten in his cupped palms and he automatically presses a kiss to its tiny head. It gives him a sweet little mew and Izuku falls in love.

His distraction is why he’s startled when Aizawa-sensei slides into the back seat as well. Izuku twitches in surprise and his teacher smirks slightly. “You need to work on your situational awareness, even if there are kittens,” he’s informed and he flushes.

Aizawa-sensei ducks into his capture weapon, and Izuku knows that means he’s hiding a smile. Yamada-sensei gets in the front and passes the other kitten back so his homeroom teacher can take it with gentle hands.

The ride home passes quickly, with both of his teachers prompting more stories from Izuku. He knows it’s partially to keep him from drifting but - it’s nice that they want him to stay present, so he doesn’t mind too much. Especially not when he gets to brag about how cool his mum is!

“Once when she was pregnant with me she dropped her keys while she was out so she used her quirk to pick them up, and some rookie hero was gonna try and get her in trouble for public quirk use, and apparently she just looked him dead in the eyes and asked if he’d rather she bend over and risk early-onset labour,” Izuku rambles. “I think he actually retired after that because I looked him up and he hasn’t been active in fifteen years; his name was Sensoji or something.”

“Please stop telling me horror stories about your mother.” Aizawa-sensei pleads but Izuku can see the amusement hiding in the crinkles of his eyes. He also made a note of the way his teacher had subtly twitched when he said the ex pro's name. Interesting. 

Aizawa-sensei is however saved, because they pull up at Izuku’s building moments later. Except then, as they all pile out of the car, kittens in hand, Yamada-sensei gives Izuku what can only be described as a shit-eating grin. “Midoriya-kun,” he says brightly and Izuku notices Aizawa-sensei twitch again, “you should tell Sho your theories about your Mum’s quirk!”

Oh Yamada-sensei is evil, springing this on Aizawa-sensei right before he’ll have to talk to his mum. But who is Izuku to deny a perfectly reasonable request from his english teacher?

Aizawa-sensei, when they finally reach Izuku’s floor, looks like he’s regretting every single choice that brought him here. It’s a stunning expression, and the cherry on top is the kitten that has made itself at home in the hollow of his throat, purring away. Yamada-sensei doesn’t even try to hide the fact he’s taking photos of his husband’s misery.

It’s made even better when they knock on the door, and Izuku’s mother takes one look at his pale face and the wan look of his teacher and shuffles them inside and onto the couch immediately, fussing over them simultaneously while Yamada-sensei chokes on laughter. Aizawa-sensei seems to understand that struggling would be futile and so just submits to Izuku’s mother as she makes him tea and forces a biscuit on him.

Izuku is also given a biscuit and then his mother sends him to take a nap. He can’t even be embarrassed in front of his teachers because a nap sounds amazing right now.

Especially because he still has a kitten tucked into his tie.

Chapter Text

Shouta watches the problem child stumble off for a nap with no small amount of jealousy. He also did not miss the brat smuggling the kitten with him, but lets it slide, for now , because the kid had a rough afternoon and cats really do make everything better.

He does wish Midoriya hadn’t gone into detail about his mother’s quirk because frankly, the idea that the small woman in front of him could rip his eyes out is viscerally horrifying. It also explains so much.

Shouta sips his tea and nearly dies of bliss. He immediately retracts every fearful thought he’s had of Midoriya-san because this - this must be the caramel brownie tea her son had mentioned and it is exquisite. Hizashi stops laughing long enough to settle beside him on the couch, and Midoriya-san takes the love seat again.

“I thought we agreed that we weren’t going to make a habit of this,” Midoriya-san says bluntly, but there’s a teasing lilt in her voice.

Shouta sips his tea. “Your son is a trouble magnet.”

Hizashi swats Shouta’s shoulder lightly. “What Shouta means to say is, it’s lovely to see you again, Midoriya-san.”

Shouta can’t even hide in his capture weapon because he doesn’t want to disturb the kitten, so he sends a glare his husband’s way. Hizashi, as usual, ignores him.

Shouta takes a deep drink from his cup - which is pastel pink and has cute little cat prints on it and looks new - and tells Midoriya-san what updates he has for her about her son.

It takes a while, and at one point Midoriya-san pauses him so she can text her co-workers that she’ll be in an hour later than usual, before he can continue.

“What sort of sanctions will Recovery Girl face?” Midoriya-san asks after Shouta mentions he’d filed a report on Monday to the medical association. He shrugs in answer.

“It’s possibly the first incident she’s ever had reported so it won’t be anything drastic like suspension,” he admits. “But Nedzu will certainly be hiring new staff to assist in the infirmary, which we should have done years ago. Midoriya-kun won’t have to be treated by her again if he doesn’t want to.”

Midoriya-san looks thoughtful for a moment. “Actually,” she says, “As Night Manager for the Gateway I’m in charge of new hires.” She pauses and Shouta is curious as to where she’s going with this. “I don’t want to overstep but I have a list of questions that I’ve tailored specifically to weed out applicants that have discriminatory tendencies. I can - email that to Principal Nedzu?”

Midoriya-san sounds nervous but Hizashi is quick to reassure her. “That would be great, Midoriya-san,” he says enthusiastically. “Nedzu-sama is always happy to look at other perspectives and frankly, as the mother of a quirkless child your input into this process would be invaluable.”

Shouta nods in agreement and finishes his tea. Hizashi takes another sip of his before passing over his own cup - pastel yellow with music notes had Midoriya-san bought them mugs? - like the wonderful husband he is. Midoriya-san watches with amusement dancing in her eyes but doesn’t comment.

So Shouta moves on from Recovery Girl and outlines the steps UA is taking with regard to both Bakugou and All Might. She cries when Shouta explains the removal of the teen from Class 1-A and he feels helpless.

“Thank you,” she gasps out, “no one has ever - ever actually done something to help. All his old teachers always blamed Izu like - like he was asking to be tormented.”

Beside Shouta, Hizashi sucks in a breath, and he can’t blame his husband because Midoriya-san is trembling like her son had been earlier. A glint of tears is the only sign that the woman in front of them is sobbing, so different to the joyous tears she and her son so frequently burst into.

Shouta gives Hizashi a pleading look because he can barely handle crying civilians at the best of times, and this is the crying parent of Midoriya. Hizashi gives him a look so Shouta flees into the apartment’s small kitchen and pokes around to find a glass. He gives himself thirty seconds and then braves the living room again, where Hizashi is gently patting Midoriya-san on the shoulder. She’s looking calmer thankfully, as Shouta shoves the glass of water under her nose. After a moment of hesitation, he also gives her the kitten.

Midoriya-san takes both offerings with a small laugh. “Thank you, Aizawa-san. I feel better now, so please, continue.”

Shouta sits back on the couch and Hizashi joins him. “What I have to say next is unpleasant,” he says, and there’s bitterness in his voice. “And to be quite honest with you, it’s also terrifying.”

Instead of tears, Midoriya-san is still, except for where she’s absently patting the kitten, as Shouta tells her, and Hizashi, about what Gran Torino had known about One For All. He apologises at the end, but Midoriya-san waves off him off absently. “I - I need a moment,” she murmurs, and disappears into the kitchen, gently clutching the kitten to her chest.

Shouta turns his face and buries it into Hizashi’s neck. His husband holds him tightly with an arm wrapped around his waist. Neither of them speaks; talking can wait for later, when they’re not in the living room of a family that may or may not be being hunted by a boogeyman from the dawn of quirks. Presumably Nedzu will have ideas as to how to protect the small family.

Midoriya-san returns after a few minutes, the little bundle of fluff perched on her shoulder. She gives them a tired smile. “Thank you for keeping me informed,” she says softly. “And for everything you’ve done so far.”

Shouta valiantly does not go out the fire escape even though he keeps it as an option. He really hates acknowledgment for doing what is, essentially, his job. Hizashi, presumably sensing his likelihood of leaping out the window increasing, wraps a hand firmly around Shouta’s wrist in warning.

Midoriya-san once again looks too amused for Shouta’s liking. “May I ask about the cats?”

Ah. It is a bit strange to be carting around two kittens for no apparent reason. Hizashi snorts beside him. “It’s because someone,” he nudges Shouta less than gently in the ribs, “didn’t want to be parted from them this morning. Even though we have to take them to a shelter soon; we both work too much for it to be fair to the babies to keep them.”

“Oh?” Midoriya-san says, and Shouta narrows his eyes. Is she - “They’re up for adoption then?”

Hizashi beams. “Yes, they are! I found them on patrol last night and I couldn’t just leave them,” he explains cheerfully. “They’re both about seven weeks old, and completely weaned. Not fixed yet, as they’re still a little young.”

Oh god, Shouta is going to lose the kittens to the problem child and his mother. The brat was going to be unbearably smug about this.

“They’re yours now, free of charge. Only condition is you have to let Sho visit,” Hizashi continues, and Shouta hisses at him, pink tinting his cheeks.

“Of course!” Midoriya-san exclaims. “Just let me know when in advance.” She looks genuinely happy to be able to keep the little kitten still on her shoulder, and it is sweet the way she leans her head sideways so the kitten can bunt her gently. Damn. The woman has a spine of steel and enough love for her son to drown Japan, and now she has cats. Midoriya-san is definitely going to be the death of Shouta, whether by fear or tea, he isn’t sure yet.

And then Midoriya’s mother gives Shouta and his husband a sharp grin. “If we’re co-parenting, we should be more familiar,” she says sweetly as she hasn’t just made Shouta choke on air.

“What?” He asks flatly.

“Call me Inko,” Midoriya-san says, and there’s definitely a threat hidden in the request.

Hizashi recovers quickly. “Of course, Inko-san! And you can call us Hizashi and Shouta,” he offers as well, ignoring Shouta’s disbelieving look.

“You mean co-parenting the cats, right?” Shouta asks a little desperately but is ignored by both Hizashi and - Inko - apparently. They’ve only known each other for two weeks, and met only three times!

To Shouta’s humiliating relief, it’s then that Midoriya wanders back out, changed into rumpled sweats and - christ does the kid’s shirt say ‘beans’? What is that supposed to mean? Out of the corner of his eye he sees Hizashi raise an eyebrow in bemusement. Weird kid. But his presence reminds Inko that she has to leave for work, and then Shouta and Hizashi are shuffled out of the apartment as quickly as they’d been ushered in, now minus the kittens.

Must be that Night Manager efficiency at work, Shouta thinks blankly as he stares at the Midoriya’s closed front door. He turns his stare on Hizashi, who takes one look at his expression and has to turn away to hide his smile. “Traitor,” Shouta hisses, but there’s no heat behind it.

“Let’s go home, sunshine,” Hizashi says with a laugh. “You need a nap.”

Well. Hizashi isn’t wrong, even if he is a hypocrite. Shouta lets the blonde drive them home, and plots out ways to get his husband to snuggle with him as he naps. He’ll call it punishment for giving up the kittens without a fight, even though Shouta agrees logically that between the two of them they’re not home enough.

Yes, that excuse will do nicely.

Chapter Text

“Kitten thief,” Shouta greets Midoriya the next morning. The brat has the audacity to beam at him, bouncing on his toes.

“They’re so cute!” Midoriya babbles happily. “We haven’t decided on names yet; was there anything you and Yamada-sensei were calling them?”

Shouta sighs. “No,” he says, holding open the 1-A door for the kid to scurry through. “Naming them just makes the attachment worse.”

The kid hums thoughtfully at that, and then smiles widely at him before darting off to his friends. Shouta narrows his eyes. That was a suspicious silence from the brat.

Ah well. Shouta will get his own back during homeroom. It’s why he’s actually here early for once, rather than slinking through the door right as the bell rings. A few students give him curious looks but he impassively ignores them as he tucks himself into his sleeping bag in his usual corner.

The bell rings, and homeroom begins. All nineteen kids are present and accounted for, even if a few of them still flinch when Bakugou’s name is skipped over during roll call.

Making sure his expression is one of pure exhaustion without any hint of mischief, Shouta makes sure that he’s facing the wall, back to his students when he slumps back to the ground. He gives them ten minutes of peace, and then - there it is.

The distinct smell of acid, and the soft rustling of tape being dispensed. Excellent.

Shouta grins wickedly inside his sleeping bag, concentrates in the familiar size of his classroom and activates Erasure.

The grilling on his quirk he gets from Midoriya during Hero Law & Ethics later that day is well worth the chaos he caused.

And Midoriya is absolutely delighted that his quirk trap theory was viable, although Shouta does admit that it was more of a strain than regular use, and would probably be kept as a surprise technique for enemies. That of course, sets Midoriya off into a string of muttering about various ambush strategies that could be augmented with what was effectively a quirk suppression field, temporary as it would be.

With an amused huff into his scarf, Shouta taps the kid’s nose and gets the expected offended pout. “You’ll be late for lunch,” he drawls out and Midoriya’s eyes widen before he bolts off to the cafeteria.

He shakes his head and it isn’t fond, Shut up Hizashi! before heading up to Nedzu’s office - the rat? had sent an email wanting to ‘talk’ which is something that always gives him a headache. Shouta is just hoping that whatever bombs Gran Torino has left with the principal to drop weren’t as horrific as the previous ones.

In anticipation of a headache, Shouta makes his way to Nedzu’s office, and nearly turns right around and walks out when he sees the rat? grinning widely at him. His fear wrestled with his apathy for a moment, but apathy wins so he enters the office and sits on the good chair - now on the right. “Nedzu,” he greets tiredly.

“Good afternoon, Aizawa-san,” Nedzu says far too pleasantly for the amount of teeth he’s showing. “I trust you’ve had a nice morning.”

Shouta can’t help his own sharp smile then. “It seems Midoriya-kun’s theory about using Erasure to create a suppression field is accurate.” He grins with more teeth. “And my class had a very interesting homeroom.”

Nedzu chuckles lightly, and leans forward in his chair. “Good, good,” he says brightly. “Midoriya-kun is a very clever child, as is his friend Todoroki-kun. In fact, after internships I’ll be inviting them to have tea with me!”

Shouta raises an eyebrow. “They worked out your nature,” he comments, only a little surprised. Midoriya is sharp as a tack, and Todoroki could be as manipulative as Nemuri given the right training. Shouta himself had figured out the Principal’s - then General Studies teacher - little game in his second year. Of course, Shouta enjoyed watching others fumble, and so feigned ignorance as to his superior’s species. Nedzu, the ironic bastard that he was, referred to this long con as ‘the playing possum saga’.

Nedzu nods enthusiastically. “Indeed!” he cheers. “It’s been a while since a student called me out so thoroughly! And two at once, both having come to the conclusion independently! I simply can’t wait to talk to them!”

Shouta nods. “They would certainly both benefit from your tutelage,” he says dryly. “Especially in terms of confidence.” He sighs then. “I know I did.”

And yes, Shouta certainly had benefited, his logic and reasoning skills owed in no small part to Nedzu’s teachings. And having two students at once would be a new thing for the Principal - it would mean twice the chaos he could cause vicariously. It would be incredibly entertaining to watch unfold.

But Shouta was there for a reason. “What else did Gran Torino have to say about One For All and All For One?”

Nedzu stills for a moment, and then shakes his head. “Not a great deal more than he told you already, I’m afraid. He mentioned that Nana had called her predecessor’s quirk ‘Smokescreen’ but that he never pried as to how it worked.”

“It’s better than nothing,” Shouta says, “and the name does give some indication.”

“Indeed,” Nedzu agrees. “I’ve begun looking into past heroes with smoke or screening quirks but, well. These things get lost to time unfortunately.”

Shouta hums. “I’ll ask Midoriya-kun as well. He has a vast knowledge of heroes and quirks, so something may be floating around in that brain of his.”

“Yes,” Nedzu murmurs. “And Gran Torino also said that with regards to using One For All, Midoriya-kun should stop focusing its power in the limb he wants to use, and instead over his whole body. That he needs to scale back the percentage of power that he uses until it’s at a level that won’t harm him. I’ve already informed Kayama-san of this as well, as she’ll be teaching him next week.”

“That’s logical,” Shouta says, because it is. Nemuri has a quirk that uses her whole body, so she’ll be well-suited to helping the problem child. “Who did you tell her the advice came from?”

Nedzu has a disturbingly pleasant smile on his little face. “Why, from Gran Torino, of course! I’ve also directed her your way, so you should probably expect some questions about that!”

“Thank you,” Shouta says bleakly, because he now has an interrogation to look forward to, “for making my life so much harder than it needs to be.”

“You’re very welcome, Aizawa-san,” Nedzu tells him.

Shouta gets the feeling he genuinely means it, too.

He spends the rest of lunch gossiping talking with his boss, and getting updates as to how All Might is taking his restrictions. The answer to that is ‘not very well at all, Aizawa-san!’ which just means that Nedzu has definitely got a lecture already in the works to torment the pro with.

With great reluctance, he heads off to the 1-B classroom for Hero Law & Ethics, and ends up giving Monoma a detention for unauthorised quirk use when the brat tried to copy Erasure. Lovely kid that one, really. He gives Vlad a sympathetic look when the man comes to relieve him for their Japanese class.

The other teacher looks resigned to his fate and just waves Shouta off, and as he slinks out into the hallway he hears a groaned ‘Monoma-kun, what the hell did you do to piss off Eraser now?’

Slumping into his capture scarf, Shouta drags himself through his last class and then homeroom, where his students are frightfully well behaved after their scare that morning. It’s a sweet, sweet half hour of peace and quiet to nap in before he has to deal with Midoriya’s boundless energy for their after school session.

And by god is Midoriya all but bouncing off the walls when he gets to Gym Gamma. He accepts his coffee with a grunt of thanks and that’s all it takes for the kid to beam up at him. It’s like being in front a spotlight, Shouta grouches to himself, but he’s quietly pleased that the kid has recovered from the information overload of the previous day.

Once again, Shouta directs Midoriya through a mindfulness exercise as they sit cross-legged on the mats. Even for Shouta it’s soothing, as the kid rambles his way through what he can see and feel.

“Well done,” Shouta says once Midoriya finishes. “You’ll be doing the basic forms that I taught you last week.”

Midoriya looks understandably nervous. “Yes, Sensei,” he says quietly.

Shouta tilts his head sideways, takes in the way Midoriya is curling on himself and sighs. “Don’t worry about trying to reach for One For All,” he says levelly. “Just run through some sets and we’ll see how you’re feeling before we try anything else.”

Midoriya nods and gets to his feet, with that nervous look still on his face. But there’s also a glint in his eyes that promises dedication and determination, so Shouta leans back on his hands and nods for Midoriya to begin.

He’s pleased to see that Midoriya has evidently been practicing on his own time, as his movements are much more fluid and concise than last week. Shouta only has to correct the kid on a minor posture issue with his blocks before letting him continue.

After three steps, Shouta gives Midoriya the go ahead to try and reach for One For All without using it. He keeps a sharp eye on the kid, Erasure at the ready but doesn’t end up having to use it. At the end of their hour, however, Midoriya looks exhausted from calling up and dismissing his quirk so frequently.

Shouta gives Midoriya one of his more genuine smiles, a quick little thing with barely a hint of teeth. The kid’s eyes widen in slight shock, and it’s only then he remembers what an observant little shit Midoriya is. Ah well. The kid deserves to know that Shouta’s proud of him, not to mention relieved that there was no cause to use Erasure. “You did well, Problem Child,” he says, leaking the tiniest inflection of warmth into his voice. “Now go home and get out of my hair.”

“Yessir!” Midoriya says cheerfully, snapping a faux salute that makes Shouta roll his eyes.

“Brat,” he chides and taps the kid’s nose for good measure. “Get!”

Chapter Text

Friday dawns with another downpour of rain, and Izuku gets soaked, even with an umbrella, before he even gets a block towards the station. It’s frustrating especially because it makes his hair frizz up in a way that’s decidedly not cute, no matter what his mother insists.

Izuku will persevere of course, but maybe he can ask Aizawa-sensei if he can wear his gym uniform for the rest of the day? It’s not very plus ultra to catch a cold, after all. Actually, he might phrase it exactly like that just to see the man’s eye twitch.

And twitch it does, as he sends Aizawa-sensei his sunniest smile and drips all over the classroom floor. To be fair, half the class is in the same boat as him, so their teacher just shoos them out and tells them to be back in five minutes and dry or he’ll expel them.

Aw, Aizawa-sensei is worried about them!

Izuku happily ignores the red-eyed glare that chases him out of the class, even as his fellow classmates giggle.

Within five minutes, however, all of class 1-A is back in their seats, because while Aizawa-sensei wouldn’t expel them, he would quite happily make them run laps during their afternoon homeroom. He called it character-building; behind his back, his students called it sadism.

Aizawa-sensei looks out over the class, and very obviously resists the urge to face plant into his podium. Izuku hears Kaminari whisper ‘mood’ from the row ahead of him and has to choke down a laugh. “I’m telling you all this now because I know none of you brats will listen this afternoon,” Izuku’s teacher drones. “So pay attention to what I tell you because I won’t repeat it.”

What follows is an extremely long list of rules and subtle threats about what exactly Aizawa-sensei will do to his students if he finds out they’ve broken even one of them. Izuku is suitably intimidated even as he scribbles down every rule his homeroom teacher lays out. Homeroom finishes and his classmates scamper off to Foundational Heroics while Izuku tags along after Aizawa-sensei.

Before they can enter the training room, Izuku steels himself. “Sensei?” The man pauses and turns to face Izuku, eyes slightly tightening in concern. “Uh, I just wanted to - to say thank you,” Izuku rushes out. “This is so much extra work for you and now there’s like this creepy quirk stalker thing and just,” he trails off. “You’ve been really good about it.”

Izuku’s not entirely sure but he thinks there might be the faintest hint of pink on Aizawa-sensei’s cheeks as the man reflexively ducks his face into his capture weapon. “It’s my job,” Aizawa-sensei mutters. “But.. you’re welcome.”

Izuku beams at him.

The lecture half of the class goes by smoothly - they’ve switched back to structural damage again, and Izuku is once again excitedly asking questions. Aizawa-sensei is so patient with him, it’s amazing!

Shinsou glares at Izuku a few times but after having four classes with the other boy, he’s used to it. God, how had everything been happening so fast? Is it just the universe out to get Izuku or does he have some sort of trouble magnet quirk?

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you did,” Aizawa-sensei drawls. “But as you’re meant to be identifying load bearing walls, that theory can wait.”

Izuku flushes and clamps a hand over his mouth sheepishly. Oops. Shinsou gives him a weird look, but thankfully doesn’t comment, for once. He manages to keep his mutterings contained to class-related topics after that, however, and he glares subtly at Aizawa-sensei because the man had the audacity to look amused by Izuku’s struggles.

Unfair. But Izuku can now withhold tea and cat privileges. He smiles sweetly up at Aizawa-sensei, who gives him a suspicious glare in return, but clearly decides to deal with whatever trouble Izuku is causing later. Instead, his homeroom teacher wraps up their theory class and directs them to the mats on the other side of the room.

“You’ll be practicing the throw I taught you on Wednesday,” Aizawa-sensei tells them. “I'm tired and I want a nap, so you will behave yourselves while doing so.”

Izuku nods enthusiastically. “Yes, Sensei!”

Somehow Izuku’s words make the hero look exhausted. A sudden ring breaks the silence and his teacher looks even more done with existence. “Goddamn registrar,” Aizawa-sensei scowls as he pulls out his phone and looks at the ID. “I have to take this; it’ll only be a few minutes.”

He gives both of them a stern glance before walking out of the room with a hissed, “Y es , this is Aizawa; why are you calling me during school hours?”

Ooh, Aizawa-sensei is pissed, Izuku thinks somewhat gleefully. It’s always entertaining to watch the man get angry - when it’s not at 1-A of course - like when he’d scolded all the pros underestimating Uraraka at the sports festival. He wishes he could be a fly on the hallway wall, but alas, he and Shinsou have to toss each other around instead.

Izuku nods politely at the other boy, who doesn’t bother glaring, just stares at him impassively. “I’ll be first victim,” he tries to joke.

The impassive stare continues and then Shinsou rolls his eyes. “Get started then.”

“Right!” Izuku forces out as cheerfully as he can. He hesitates only for a moment before breathing out and rolling his shoulders. If he’s too tense, he’ll end up pulling a muscle.

Izuku shifts into position, with the loose and sloppy stance of an untrained attacker, he reaches out as though he’s going to grab Shinsou by the neck. A moment later, he’s flying ungracefully through the air and hitting the mats, air knocked out of him. It was a good throw!

“Fuck,” Shinsou grumbles under his breath. “Why the fuck are you so heavy?”

“I train a lot!” Izuku explains, bouncing up from the floor, his bright tone is definitely sounding strained, and not just from having the wind knocked out of him.

But Shinsou doesn’t seem to care either way as he gives him a look before slamming Izuku a little too roughly into the mats. Izuku doesn’t complain, because honestly he’s had worse but still. It was rude .

“Why the fuck are you bothering? You have such a fancy fucking quirk.”

“Ah, right,” Izuku mumbles, as he takes his turn to be the one to throw Shinsou. “I can’t - use it that well and it breaks all my bones. So I need to get physically stronger so my body can contain it.” Izuku fluidly hoists Shinsou through the air like Aizawa-sensei had demonstrated.

“And you just left it for your first year of UA? How fucking typically entitled,” Shinsou mutters after he catches his breath from being dropped unceremoniously. “Finally figured you can’t just skate by on your quirk alone?”

That’s a bit rich coming from the absolute string bean that is the other teen, whose height can’t quite make up for what he lacks in muscle mass.

Izuku is starting to lose patience with Shinsou. He gets being angry at the world, he genuinely does, and he knows he’s had as hard a time as the other boy, but this is becoming ridiculous. Izuku hasn’t done anything to deserve this treatment. But he shoves down how he’s feeling and tries to focus on their training. It’s Shinsou’s turn to throw again.

He reaches out his arm as though as he’s going to grab Shinsou by the neck, and is soon slamming into the training mats again. Izuku wheezes as the breath is knocked out of him. “Tone it down,” he wheezes. “We’re just training, Shinsou-kun.”

“What, can’t take it?” Shinsou taunts and Izuku holds tightly onto his temper.

“This is only our second time practicing this move,” Izuku says as patiently as he can manage. “We’re meant to be getting used to how it feels and making it muscle memory, more than taking down the other person.”

“Whatever,” Shinsou snaps. “With your perfectly heroic quirk, you’ll never have to use this shit, so why do you even care?”

Izuku stands up from the mats, turns his back on his opponent in a clear dismissal. “I’m done,” he says firmly. “I refuse to train with someone who just wants to hurt me.”

“Holy shit,” Shinsou spits out. “You’re so fucking entitled, you know that? Walking around with your fucking strength enhancement quirk, and now you’re too good to spar with me? With my lowly villain quirk?”

“Quirks aren’t everything,” Izuku snaps, spinning around to glare at Shinsou, whose bored expression shifts to one of shock. “So stop acting like they are. I’m smart, and good at analysis and really good with kids, and none of that has to do with my quirk.”

“Wha - Midoriya-kun?” Shinsou takes a step back nervously, and Izuku doesn’t care.

“Don’t use my name,” Izuku hisses. “Just call me hero-brat, seeing as that’s all you think I am.” The other boy looks startled. “I’ve heard you say it behind my back, so don’t look so surprised.” He steps forward, spots Aizawa-sensei returning to the training room, phone gone from his hand. Izuku feels the slightest bit more relaxed with his teacher back but there’s still a fire bubbling under his skin, and it feels almost like Kacchan’s quirk it’s that vicious and painful. And he’s already started on Shinsou, so the man’s sudden look of concern doesn’t deter Izuku in the slightest, as he continues, “For someone who’s been so judged by their quirk, you sure are a piece of work; I’ve had to deal with you the same way I dealt with my middle school bullies!”

Izuku is so angry that he’s trembling. He hates it, hates when he feels like this even though it happens so rarely, so he takes a deep breath and looks at Aizawa-sensei, who looks so worried . “Can - can I please go? I - I need some air.” For once, it’s not anxiety making his words trip, but his anger, wrapping around his tongue and choking him.

“That’s fine, Midoriya-kun. Take your time.” Aizawa-sensei’s face softens minutely. “Mic has a free period right now, if you want company. He’d love to have you.”

Izuku just swallows tightly and nods.

Yeah. Yamada-sensei would be really great right now.

Chapter Text

“Well done,” Shouta says dryly as the door snaps shut behind Midoriya. “You’ve pissed off the most easy-going kid in the whole school.”

Shinsou glares, which is impressively ballsy considering Shouta’s dwindling patience; this was exactly the situation he was trying to avoid.“You’re just letting him leave after that little spat?”

“Yes,” Shouta says, “because when he gets frustrated his quirk control slips.” He pauses to let that sink in with Shinsou. “I know you’ve seen what happens when he’s in control. So it’s best to let him cool off.” He really doesn’t want a repeat of last Wednesday when Midoriya pulverised his wrist against the air.

“So what, he can just snap and get away with it?” Shinsou hisses, clenching his fists at his sides.

“Sure,” Shouta says, and he makes sure he keeps his voice coolly level. “Especially when that snap you’re talking about is the result of you deliberately antagonising him for the last week and a half.”

“I - what?” And damn if Shinsou doesn’t sound absolutely lost.

“Since the first joint lesson between yourself and Midoriya-kun, you have incessantly needled him about everything and anything, despite his consistent attempts to be friendly and work with you.” Shouta huffs. “If I were him, I’d have snapped, as you called it, after the first hour, but Midoriya-kun has considerably more patience than I do, and has made sure to remove himself from the situation that upset him.”

Shinsou looks shaken at Shouta’s admission. “I - was it- was I really that bad?”

“Yes,” Shouta says, because this no time to pull punches. “You’re lucky Midoriya-kun has the restraint of a saint. That said,” and he sighs then, “Go back to your regular class, Shinsou-kun.”

“What?” The kid’s voice is small and strangled and scared.

“I’m disappointed with your behaviour,” Shouta explains. “I’ll see you on Monday at the usual time. But we’re done for today, Shinsou-kun.” He’s not going to give up on Shinsou, obviously, because he really does have potential, and despite his prickliness Shouta likes the kid, who is clever and insightful and sometimes makes comments that are so funny and on point it takes effort for him to not laugh and ruin his reputation. And Shouta’s sympathetic to Shinsou, knows what he’s going through but his behaviour towards Midoriya has passed obnoxious into the realm of intolerable. “Consider this a warning: sort out your attitude or at the very least your behaviour. I won’t hesitate to drop you from Foundational Heroics if I decide that you’re actively detrimental to his learning.”

And he will, he absolutely will bar Shinsou from the class because while it’s an optional lesson for him, Midoriya is part of the Hero Course and therefore his attendance is mandatory. It’ll push back Shinsou’s transfer even further, but he can’t sabotage Midoriya’s learning for someone else.

Shinsou stares blankly at Shouta for a moment after his declaration and then turns roughly away. He’s clearly holding back tears, is shaking with his upset, and Shouta sighs. This isn’t entirely fair to Shinsou either, this whole situation being what it is. Because Shouta had planned on slowly breaking down the kid’s barriers and working with him to overcome his past experiences.

But right now, Shouta needs to prioritise Midoriya, who is traumatised and angry and has every reason to lash out at the world like Shinsou does but doesn’t. Midoriya, who in this state of mind, can slip and potentially kill himself with One For All so easily. Shouta has had waking nightmares after the hospital incident, where Midoriya breaks his ribs not his wrist, and shards of bone explode in his chest. The thoughts are downright disturbing, but not so much as the actual potential that that could happen if Midoriya breathes wrong while his quirk is active.

He does recall how it felt to be Shinsou, to have to fight against everyone just to be respected but the teen is lashing out at his allies. At the people who just want to help, like Midoriya. But it’s a reality check that Shinsou will have to come to terms with himself, that biting the hand that offers aid isn’t sustainable in the long run. Lucky for Shinsou, Midoriya really is a better person than Shouta, and will extend that hand of friendship again (after a small tactical retreat to lick his wounds).

“Go back to class,” Shouta says more gently, “and get some rest over the weekend. I’m not giving up on you, Shinsou-kun.”

And then before Shinsou can actually start crying, Shouta leaves, because yet another difference between Midoriya and his personal student is this: Midoriya craves affection and care when he’s emotionally wrecked, craves recognition of his suffering after so long ignored but Shinsou, who has always had two loving parents, loving older siblings - an actual support system not just one woman trying her best - and a quirk , however villainous, prefers to hide away, to be private in his distress. So Shouta offers Shinsou comfort how he can, and leaves the teen to the solitude he needs.

He takes his time as he wanders to the teacher’s lounge and Hizashi’s office. Best to give Midoriya some time to cool down after his not-entirely-unexpected outburst.

Not unexpected no, but it had been very startling to see Midoriya standing in front of Shinsou with clenched fists and a stiff posture, not quite yelling, but coldly and firmly ripping into the other teen. The icy expression on Midoriya’s face had been so out of place, and Shouta had realised that the frustration from last Wednesday had been a mere shadow of the anger the kid has in him.

If Midoriya wasn’t already seeing Hound Dog, Shouta would’ve arranged meetings immediately. He’s seen that sort of cold burn anger before, usually in the mirror, or Hizashi’s face after a bad case, and Shouta knows it’s the kind that burrows beneath the skin too easily, and turns inwards. With all the hate the world has already spewed at Midoriya, he doesn’t need it from his own mind too.

Shouta steps into the teacher’s lounge, which is mercifully empty except for Snipe snoring away on a couch, but that’s a normal sight; the third years run the man ragged constantly.

He knocks on Hizashi’s door and gets a quiet ‘come in’ from his husband. Inside, Midoriya is pacing back and forth in front of the window, muttering under his breath, hands clenching and relaxing intermittently. Hizashi is keeping a wary eye on him, as he gestures Shouta over. “Do I want to know?” he asks, worry tainting his words.

“Shinsou-kun pushed too far,” Shouta says and he feels older than his thirty years. “Add on everything else over the last two weeks..”

“Ah,” Hizashi says. His face is creased ever so slightly with worry, so Shouta reaches out and gently smoothes the lines by bright green eyes. ‘Sap’ Hizashi mouths at him and Shouta smirks. Midoriya is still pacing when he turns his attention back to the kid, and he ends up frowning himself.

“Midoriya-kun,” he calls softly and the teen stumbles in surprise, head snapping up and vibrant eyes meeting Shouta’s own dark ones. “Do you want to talk, or do something else?”

The kid is finally standing in one spot, but he is far from still. The fidget is out now, twisting and scrunching in scarred fingers. Worst of all, he’s still trembling slightly, little jitters that are so painfully different compared to Midoriya’s frequent excited vibrating. “I - I don’t know,” the teen says and he looks absolute distraught at the admission. “I don’t do angry, I don’t want to -“ he cuts off almost sobbing.

Shouta takes a half-step forward out of instinct before he stops himself- “Midoriya-kun,” he says gently, “that’s alright.” Because it is, but he doesn’t know how to get this angry teenager, Midoriya, to understand that what he’s feeling is justified, is valid, is okay. It’s evident that the kid has just been forcing down all his frustration and anger and doesn’t know how to deal with it safely.

Midoriya looks up at him with wide, desperate eyes, tears forcing themselves out, and Shouta’s heart tugs. “Sensei,” he says with a shaking voice, “I don’t know what to do.”

Shouta doesn’t think Midoriya is just referring to Shinsou anymore.

“That’s alright,” Shouta repeats. “We’ll figure this out.”

“Sho’s right, Midoriya-kun,” Hizashi says from beside Shouta. He glances at the blonde and there’s concern etched into every line of his face, deliberately showing vulnerability so Midoriya can read him easily. “We’ll be right here with you.”

Midoriya’s eyes dart from Hizashi back to Shouta and he tips his head in a quiet agreement. He sees the kid make a jerky, aborted movement forwards, and - Shouta doesn’t stop himself from reaching out this time, and offering his hand for Midoriya to latch onto, although he does so with more uncertainty than he would like. “I don’t mind,” he reassures the kid. “Whatever you need.”

It’s the smallest twitch that clues Shouta in to what Midoriya really wants, and he doesn’t hesitate to tug the kid close and against his side, his arm wrapped tight around small shoulders. Midoriya tucks his face into Shouta’s chest and clings on with considerable strength. It’s - damn, Shouta can’t even deny how sweet it is, the way the kid just trusts him, and he still doesn’t know why. He takes a moment to give Hizashi a look, one that threatens extreme violence if a photo of this ends up with Tensei and Nemuri, before lifting his other hand and gently patting Midoriya’s illegally fluffy hair. “Midoriya-kun,” he murmurs, but just that because the kid clearly just needs comfort right now, not words. Shouta can feel the tremors wracking the teen’s body, and flicks his eyes at Hizashi meaningfully.

His wonderful husband nods and signs ‘of course’ over the kid’s head before slipping out of the room. Shouta is pretty sure Midoriya doesn’t notice, what with the way he’s pressing into his jumpsuit. And he’s also fairly certain that the kid is about to have a long overdue breakdown, and that he probably wants as few witnesses as possible, even as much as Midoriya clearly loves Hizashi.

What follows is nearly an hour of Shouta holding Midoriya as the kid lets out everything that’s been building up since the sports festival. It’s awful, hearing him keen in pain and gasp for breath, but Shouta stays with him; he knows that for whatever reason, Midoriya has deemed him safe. Eventually the tears slow to a trickle and his breathing becomes less frantic, but his face is still hidden against Shouta’s neck. They’re both on the floor at this point, with Midoriya half on Shouta’s lap - a little uncomfortable given the kid’s muscle mass but Hizashi is bonier so it’s fine.

This is something Midoriya so clearly needs, and given the kid’s reluctance to burden his mother, Shouta is more than happy to help him through it. He knows Hizashi will have arranged for someone to cover his classes until lunch, so there’s no rush for the kid he’s cradling.

Midoriya hiccups, a small not cute thing. “I’m so sorry,” the kid whispers, “I’m so sorry.”

“You’re fine, Midoriya-kun,” Shouta says again. The kid had been intermittently sobbing out apologies, but - “You have nothing to apologise for. I’m a teacher, and helping students is part of that. I’m not doing anything that I didn’t sign up for.”

“I - I should be better than this,” the kid whimpers.

Shouta closes his eyes briefly and curses Yagi again for the weight he’s put on Midoriya. “You’re still a child,” he says, impressing his sincerity upon the kid with a strategic tightening of his hold. “You don’t have to do this alone. And even when you’re older, relying on others isn’t a bad thing.” It may have taken Shouta years to accept it himself, but by the gods is he going to make sure Midoriya doesn’t follow in his self-destructive footsteps. “It’s strong,” he continues, “to know when you need help. You coming to me about One For All in the first place was so incredibly brave. And it was the right thing to do. Please trust me when I say that.” He shudders to imagine what might have been had Midoriya not reached out to him for help.

“Okay,” Midoriya sniffles. “I’m still sorry about crying all over you though.”

Shouta snorts. Tears are the least of his worries when it comes to messes on his jumpsuit; it’s vomit that really does him in. “It’s fine,” he reassures the kid. “Hizashi is a giant crybaby so I’m used to it.”

As intended, Midoriya giggles at that. “I can see it.”

“How are you feeling now?” Shouta checks after a few more minutes of Midoriya clinging to him like a barnacle.

The brat has the audacity to say “I’m very comfortable; you give great hugs, Aizawa-sensei!”

There’s definitely a flush on his cheeks and Shouta can’t even hide in his capture weapon because Midoriya’s already half buried in it. Goddammit. “I meant more along the lines of being up for class,” Shouta manages to say levelly.

“Oh, right. I think I’ll be okay now,” Midoriya says quietly but doesn’t move even a single muscle to show he intends to move out of Shouta’s hold. He wonders absently if the kid is slightly touch-starved, because even though Midoriya-san - Inko - clearly loves and supports him, they have conflicting schedules leaving only a few hours a day together.

Whatever the case is, Midoriya clearly craves physical affection like it’s all that keeps him alive. Shouta is a logical man; the kid needs a hug, and he is comfortable with doing so, so holding the teen for over an hour as he sobs his pain and stress out is simply the rational thing to do. And he definitely isn’t going to be the one to decide when Midoriya has had enough.

It takes another ten minutes before Midoriya tenses slightly, and Shouta relaxes his grip. “Thank you,” Midoriya mutters, still directed at Shouta’s neck.

Then the kid peels himself off of Shouta’s legs and bolts out the door.

Shouta stares after him in bemusement. “Problem Child,” he says, and in the privacy of his own office, he will admit to himself that is is fond.

Well fuck. He’s attached.