Chapter Text
The ride to the hospital was quiet. The only thing Shouta could hear was the muffled sirens from the ambulance he was in and the constant beeping of the heart monitor. It was only him and the unconscious body of his student.
The student who he didn't know what he was. And even after everything that had gone down, he still didn't have a clue. No creature or being had the abilities the kid revealed tonight or the amount of power to pull off a spell like that. The broken arm did show that he had had difficulty with it, but he knew all the steps and chants. He must have practised it before. Now, which spell had he used? Shouta had no idea. He had never heard or seen or read any semblance of even a theory about that spell.
But the kid had still done it. And it had worked. And it left every single one of them speechless.
After Midoriya fell to the ground and the body of Muscular was swallowed by the earth, everyone went quiet. Mandalay was the one who reacted first. She ran into the forest without a word to search for Kota. Her scream of anguish confirmed that she did find him. Or at least, his body. Kan, Tiger, and he checked on the injured and called emergencies while the rest of the students whispered and murmured between each other. They, too, were shaken to their core.
Apart from Mandalay, nobody separated from the group. Maybe they were too scared or still in shock from what went down. Shouta noticed that all of those who had jade pieces were clutching onto them tightly. Bakugou looked the most troubled out of everybody. But the incident must have been more personal to him. He had no way or time to find out, though. His mind had been in too many places to focus on one thing in particular. He wondered if his students were okay; if they would be okay when the shock wore off. He kept replaying what had happened in his mind and stared at Midoriya, questioning everything he knew. And his eyes kept being dragged to the patch of new daisies where a dead body should be. Had his problem child probably committed a crime with everyone as a witness?
He didn't know. He hated it; he was supposed to be the adult here. His students looked at him for answers; he had to know.
With a sigh, he leans back on his seat, exhausted. Without realizing it, he puts his hands on his pockets, and his right one touches the smooth surface of jadestone. He tries not to flinch, but he can't help it. While everybody was still startled, Shouta caught a glimpse of something near Midoriya. Next to his broken arm, there was a small bunny figurine made out of Jade. It was perfectly carved and looked fragile and unassuming. But the feeling it had...
It made someone like him shiver.
He didn't even need to touch it to feel the cold and menacing aura it possessed. He didn't know why he took it. He had logical reasons to excuse his actions, but he still didn't know. It looked dangerous; It could clear some things up; He was curious. It gave him a fake grasp of control over the situation.
He had pocketed it with him and then forgotten about it, not ready to open another can of worms. And once he graced it, he did the same. Just having that thing near made him tense up, so he was going to ignore it for as long as he could. Instead, he straightened himself and tried to find his voice to ask for a phone. His had broken during the fight, and the longer he took to call his husband, the longer the lecture would be.
The man at the front of the ambulance jumped when he asked if he could borrow a phone, not expecting him to say anything. But they still lent him the device. The familiar number and the possibility to hear Hizashi calmed him down, thankfully. Kan had already contacted Nezu, so his husband must be expecting the call.
"Hello? Sho? Is this you?" he heard from the other line after one beep.
"Yes, Zashi, it's me," he says. "Sorry I took so long to call you, my phone broke during the fight,"
"Are you okay!? Is Hitoshi okay!? Are the students okay!? What happened!?"
"We are all fine," or as fine as one could be after having their reality turned upside down by one (1) problem child. "Hitoshi stayed at the camp with the others, and I'm accompanying the injured back to Musutafu in an ambulance. Pixie-bob has a concussion and a possible fractured leg. Ragdoll is the one that's worse, she lost an arm. I just have some bruises and cuts and a minor concussion," he's had worse. Hizashi knows that.
"Sho, are you okay?" his husband asks again more quietly. The man knows him too well.
"I will be," he didn't know. "I just need some time to wrap my head around it," if he kept telling himself that, maybe it might come true.
"Alright," Hizashi sighs from the other side of the line. He can tell he needs more time alone with his thoughts. "I'll go make you company once Hitoshi is back, okay? You can tell me everything then,"
"Thank you, Zashi. I love you," he usually doesn't say that so out loud, where people but his husband and/or son could hear him. But it's been a weird night.
Hizashi hangs up after saying it back, and he gives the man on the front his phone back. The vehicle goes quiet again, and he closes his eyes, feeling a migraine coming.
He wished he could tell if this was good or bad. But he doesn't know anything. And he hates it.
There is only darkness.
It surrounds him and filters into his body.
It's everywhere.
He is scared.
He doesn't know where he is.
Or where he was.
Then there's a light.
It's small, and far away.
But it's better than the darkness.
It has to be.
So he goes towards it.
But then there is another light.
Brighter.
Friendlier.
Calling his name.
Mo Chansu in Remisio Wanai!
The light envelops him.
It feels like a hug.
Like someone saying, "I got you".
Or, "I won't let you go".
It feels nice.
Then the light goes brighter.
It blinds him.
And he wakes up with a start.
Shouta didn't know when he fell asleep, but he hates that he did. He woke up to screams, white turning into pitch void and expressing eyes turning dead. It scares him more than it should. It's been years since that happened. He buried the hatchet, he moved on. He had accepted what happened and became stronger thanks to it.
This isn't the same thing.
Midoriya is not Oboro.
The ambulance is not moving anymore, and the doors are slammed open as doctors and nurses take Midoriya to emergencies. He gets out on his own, shooing away a nurse that tries to check on him to follow his student. They will take him to the building exclusive for magical beings, and once he is there, Shouta has to call Mrs Midoriya and tell her what happened.
He is already dreading that conversation. But stops in his tracks when he sees her in the hospital, waiting for them.
"IZUKU!" she exclaims. The woman with green hair is already crying, and once the woman spots her son, she runs to his side. Three nurses have to hold her down while they take Midoriya away to an operating room to set his bones back correctly. Behind him, they also wheel in Pixie-bob and Ragdoll, both unconscious and the latter missing an arm. Shouta sees them be wheeled to different rooms and asks a nurse to keep him informed about them before going to Mrs Midoriya.
She offers him a cup of coffee, which he takes gladly, and they sit in the waiting room. The mother of his student asks what happened, and Shouta takes a deep breath before starting. "We don't know how, but an intruder got inside the camp. He called himself Muscular and seemed to be a werewolf type soul-eater. He didn't get to any of the students, and the only one to be so hurt was Izuku. He jumped in to protect us all," he tells her.
"That sound like my little Izuku," she nods and sobs as her tears don't stop. "Always thinking about others first," it's a harmless and true comment, but it leaves him feeling dread inside.
A man with a knife. A car. White turning black. Screams. Blue turning yellow. Death without dying.
"Did something else happen?" she asks, wiping her tears off.
"He got hurt by his own means mostly. The spell he cast required a lot of control of great sums of power that he doesn't have yet. But I don't know which spell it is. I don't know much of anything at the moment," whatever had compelled him to say that made him spiral.
He was 16 again. Zashi, Nemuri, Oboro, and he went out to the arcade. They got attacked by some hunters. But they were UA students; they knew what to do. They had it handled. But then one guy had a knife. And he took him by surprise. He was going to hurt him. And then the guy was falling, and his head made a cracking sound when they hit a corner. And then the screaming began. Oboro's hair, which had always been a pure shining white, turns black. And his wings start burning as he dies. He falls and dies because of him.
"Mr Aizawa?"
Because Shouta couldn't do one thing right.
"Mr Aizawa,"
Did it happen again? Had he let another kid die because he wasn't capable enough?
"Shouta!" the small woman snaps him out of his spiral as a feeling of calm surrounds him. "It's alright. Breathe," she continues, looking him in the eye. "This is not another Oboro,"
He doesn't have much time to react to what she says as a nurse tells them Izuku is out of danger. He has a cast, and his hand is forever scarred. But he was fine now and expected to have a full recovery. Mrs Midoriya stood up in an instant when they also mentioned he was allowed visitors now. The two left after that while he stayed, too shocked and calm to do anything else.
It took him five minutes to snap out of it. The calm and peace were replaced by confusion and fear. How had she known? Did she read his mind? Did he say anything? Could her son do that?
What the hell was this family?
And why was he the teacher assigned to them?
...
He was too tired for this...
Except, as he slid further into the chair and put his hand on his pockets, he felt fine. Which he shouldn't. Because he was supposed to have a jadestone bunny figurine that palpitated danger.
But he didn't.
Because it wasn't there.
He checked his other pockets and the floor, but he found nothing. He didn't have it with him.
Had he dropped it? He doubted it. The thing would have made a sound if it had hit the ground at some point. And he had left it in his zipper pocket. So unless somebody had... taken it...
He looked back to the door where Mrs Midoriya had gone.
Had she...?
No...
She wouldn't...
Wouldn't she...?
...
He needed a raise...
Trees were all around them. Soft grass below their feet. The only sound was their tiny feet hitting against the earth and his voice. God, he loved to talk, didn't he?
Then, they arrived at the creek, to the old fallen tree that now was used as a bridge. He got on it; the other followed. He kept talking and roaring; the other listened.
And then he fell.
The other didn't.
He could feel a throbbing on the side of his head. He heard someone call for him and cry for him.
They wanted him to wake up.
But it was so dark.
He didn't know where he was.
And the calls were getting weaker and fainter each second.
Then the light came.
He tried to go to it.
Mo Chansu in Remisio Wanai!
But then another one came too.
Brighter, shinier, friendlier.
Familiar.
And it enveloped him.
Hugged him and held him until he opened his eyes again.
And he saw green.
Then, Bakugou woke up with a start.