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Aizawa considered himself a perceptive man. As an underground hero, he dedicated a majority of his time to gathering intel on his targets and making logical deductions based on that information. That being said, it didn’t take a trained detective to deduce that Todoroki Shouto was a cranky sleep deprived teenager. Every day this week the boy came into class with darker and darker bags under his eyes and a worse and worse temper; by late Friday afternoon, Shouto was rivaling Bakugou for snippiest classmate in 1-A. At first the teacher had written the behavior off, assuming his student was having trouble sleeping because of nightmares relating to his father’s fight in Central Fukuoka, but now he knew that couldn’t be it. The previous night the Erasure Hero had sat outside his student’s door, waiting for the sounds of restless sleeping but they still hadn’t come by two in the morning despite the kid dismissing himself for bed at nearly 8 o’clock.
Something was depriving the boy of sleep, but it certainly wasn’t nightmares.
“I said leave me alone!”
Aizawa’s eyes darted to the back of the room where he saw a stunned Tsuyu backing away slowly from Todoroki’s desk with her hands raised in surrender. Of all the people this child could have chosen to blow up on, he zoned in on one of his only classmates that didn’t somehow ever deserve to be yelled at. ‘That won’t do’, Aizawa thought as he unzipped himself from his banana yellow sleeping bag and strode over to the group of students. “That’s enough,” he said as he put himself between Tsuyu and Shouto. “Now who wants to tell me what’s going on?” He asked as he looked between the two students.
“It’s nothing.” Shouto huffed as he leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms. “Let’s just drop it and get back to class.” Apparently, the boy had not outgrown his dismissive attitude from the beginning of the term. Aizawa had hoped he would pass that stage, but maybe that was too high of an expectation. After all, Aizawa still found himself reverting back to his moody teenage angst whenever he did not get enough sleep; so it should not be too surprising that an actual teenager wouldn’t have full control over his emotions whenever he wasn’t sleeping.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow at the sheer petulance his student was displaying but Shouto just started down at his desk refusing to make eye contact. “Umm, Aizawa-sensei?” The teacher turned to see Tsuyu pushing her squishy pointer fingers together and gazing down to the floor, cheeks flushed from all the attention she was being given by the class. “I’m sorry,” she said, finally looking up with her big innocent eyes. “I was pestering Todoroki because he looked tired, but he’s right that it wasn’t my business and I should have left him alone. I apologize for being part of a scene and disrupting class.”
Turning his gaze slightly, Aizawa saw that Shouto wasn’t making a single move to follow his classmate’s example. Clearly only one of the parties involved in the spat had any self preservation. “Thank you Tsuyu.” He said, placing a gruff hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. “I appreciate the apology, but I do not believe you have much to be sorry for. Showing concern for the well being of others is an admirable trait in a hero.” It was difficult not to be a bit soft with the girl, he was never one to give passes with his students for their gender because in real life a villain wouldn’t go easy on someone because they were a girl, but his little frog had such a tender heart for her classmates that even Aizawa Shouta wasn’t able to resist her charms. “Please go take your seat, I need to have a conversation with Todoroki.”
The green haired girl quickly nodded and turned on her heel to return to her desk. With that settled, Aizawa crouched down next to his other student that was trying to hide the clear pout behind his hair, only running into the problem that the hair was not even close to being long enough. “Do we need to have this conversation in the hall or can you talk to me here without any other issues?” Aizawa kept his voice short and gentle, hoping that if he modeled a calm tone, his student would respond in kind.
“I don’t want to move.” Shouto said, pretending to focus on a pen that he was fiddling with between his fingers. “I just want to get back to class.”
Aizawa reached up a hand to rest on the child’s shoulder, but a sharp flinch caused him to pull away. “Todoroki, are you alright?”
“Why does everyone keep asking that?” The boy huffed and for a moment the teacher thought he saw actual steam come out of the kid’s left nostril. “Wanting to be left alone so I can work on the assignment you gave us shouldn’t mean that I’m not alright.”
“Normally I would be inclined to agree with you.” Aizawa admitted. Shouto had proven to be a rather dedicated student, he wasn’t number one but he was always towards the top in all of his classes, not that he would expect anything less than the child of the new Number One Hero. “But you have been having a pretty rough week. So how about you tell me what’s going on?”
The child’s lips thinned in a scowl and he clutched the pen tight. “It’s nothing.” He dismissed. “I’m fine.”
“You know how I feel about lying.” Aizawa reminded. The kid was just inching closer and closer to something neither of them would enjoy, but was becoming more inevitable by the second. “Try again kid.”
“I’m not lying!” Shouto shouted, standing up from his seat. The pen the child had been holding now lay on the desk burnt completely in half, the smell of simmering ink assaulting the teacher’s nostrils.
That was it, Aizawa couldn’t ignore this any longer. A quick glance around the room proved that all eyes were trained on the steaming boy. “All of you,” Aizawa’s tone commanded as he stood up, knees cracking ever so slightly. “Get back to work, this conversation doesn’t involve you in the slightest.” One by one heads turned back to their papers, pencils and pens scratching down answers to each individual problem that the teacher had assigned in the beginning of class, the only set of eyes now remaining trained on them was the worried glance of one Midoriya Izuku. “Problem Child,” Aizawa called. “Work. Now.”
“Just do as he says Midoriya.” Shouto said.
The silent conversation went on between the two friends for another couple of seconds and then finally the hesitant boy turned his green eyes back to his notebook. Good that was solved, the teacher didn’t really feel like dealing with two brats at the moment, especially because he could already tell the one was going to require a lot of his attention.
The hand that had earlier delivered a reassuring squeeze to his favorite amphibian was now clutching onto Shouto’s bicep, leading them out of the room and into the hall. The child had flinched again at the touch, muscles still tense even after it was obvious his sensei wasn’t going to hurt him. What was going on with the kid? Aizawa thought that they had made so much progress over the course of the term. Shouto was opening up and making real friendships after the conclusion of the Sports Festival, and the provisional license exam had only served to remind the kid that he was better off as a hero if he didn’t revert into his old ways. What could possibly be pushing him back to this point?
Having the kid stand against the wall, Aizawa placed both of his hands on Shouto’s shoulders. “This is your last chance to tell me what is going on with you Todoroki. I have been more than patient with you, but if you keep up this attitude of yours, you aren’t going to like the end result.”
Twin pale fists tightened, squeezing together to give Shouto some semblance of control over his emotions. Clearly the child didn’t want to have another explosive outburst, but he was having difficulty fending it off. “Nothing is wrong.” Came the strained reply. “Just leave me alone sensei.”
Tears of frustration we’re already welling up in the bicolored eyes. The poor kid looked so unbelievably lost at the moment that Aizawa couldn’t help the pang of sympathy that beat through his chest. “I already warned you about lying young man.” Still, he was a sensei and when a student misbehaved, he had to follow through with the consequences. Sad puppy or not. The teacher quickly used his grip to turn the child to the side and delivered five solid smacks to the seat of Todoroki’s school pants before turning him back around. “Would you like to stick to your lie and head to the discipline rooms or do you want to try being honest with me now?”
Todoroki’s lips were pressed together tight but began to wobble as the ultimatum was doled out. “Why can’t you just let things be?” He asked, gripping onto the lower rings of Aizawa’s scarf.
“Because I’m your teacher, Todoroki.” Aizawa answered as he placed his own hands on top of the trembling child’s. “It is my job to look after you and not ‘leave something be’ when it is obviously bothering you. Now, I expect a rational answer out of you young man instead of another outburst. What is going on?”
The first year student let his gaze drop as the righteous fury that had just occupied his eyes had vacated after hearing his sensei’s words. His shoulders slumped, visibly displaying the fight he had been tense and ready for had now left him. “I—,” the child tried but then shut his mouth, clearly unsure of what he should say since his lies were not getting him anywhere he actually wanted to be. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Aizawa could understand that, he was a reasonable man after all. However, understanding a student’s preference and allowing for that to happen were two different things. “Unfortunately,” the teacher lifted Shouto’s chin so the two could make eye contact. “That isn’t what I asked of you. Your behavior has been terse the last few days but now it is becoming unacceptable. I gave you time to sort yourself out, but now my intervention is required. You have the choice to speak with me like the responsible young man I know you are, or to be escorted to a discipline room where we will have another conversation before we have this one.”
“Am I not already going to be punished?” Todoroki’s eyes widened. “After the way I spoke just now, I thought—”
“I am capable of mercy.” Aizawa interrupted the boy in an attempt to calm him, and to coax him into cooperation. “However, it is up to you to take advantage of that mercy. Tell me what is wrong now, and I may let you go with those five warning swats and this lecture.”
Aizawa allowed himself to continue with his patience as he saw genuine contemplation passing across his student’s face. Todoroki was a good boy, he never actively tried to disobey and be rude, so he deserved a chance to comply. Even if he had just passed up on quite a few chances just before this one.
“I’m tired.” The boy finally confessed. “I can’t fall asleep until late and then we wake up early for classes. It feels like I fell behind and now I can’t catch up.”
“And that is causing you to lose your temper with others?” As a sensei his job was to lead his students to the correct answers. Normally he would try to be a little less obvious in his attempts, but he did have hope of rejoining the class after this and finishing their lesson for the day.
Shouto winced at the suggestion. “Maybe,” he finally relented.
“Todoroki.” A scolding tone bubbled up in Aizawa’s tone again.
“Fine.” Shouto all but huffed. “Yes, I’m tired and it has made me more easy to upset.”
While the linear progression was what Aizawa had been expecting from one of his best students, he was still encouraged to see Shouto taking these steps. There was no denying the boy had stubborn blood running through his veins. “I’m glad you can see that.” Aizawa nodded his head and closed his eyes. Now it was time for the actual hard part: getting his student to sleep. “When you are ready, I want you to go back into the classroom and collect your things. Then, you will go back to the dorms so you can take a nap and get some much needed rest.” When he saw the child open his mouth to voice some opposition, Aizawa flicked the boy on the nose as a reminder to behave. “Don’t argue with me Todoroki. Like I said earlier, I am choosing to be merciful here. If you cause any more disturbances, then you will be taking your nap while sleeping on your stomach with a warm bottom.”
“Sensei,” Todoroki took a breath to keep his voice level and professional, clearly understanding that Aizawa’s threat was not a bluff. “If I miss classes for the day, I will be behind. How is that helpful to my becoming a hero?”
“Heroes need to know when to take a break, kid.” This was the thing that Aizawa hated most about heroes. He himself was guilty of this too, but so often the members of the hero community believed their mission to come before everything else in their lives, including their own physical and mental well-being. He wanted his kids to be different. He wanted them to recognize when their bodies had had enough, and when it was time to step aside for a little while so they could recover and come back stronger than before. “If you are physically and mentally exhausted, you would be more of a hindrance in the field than an asset. Heroes need to operate at a level where they are still effective. If they are below that rate, then they need to recognize it and take a step back from work for a bit, otherwise they are likely to do more harm than good.”
“But I’m not in the field.”
“No, you aren’t.” Aizawa agreed. “But you are a hero in training. The habits that you pick up at UA will likely carry over into your practice as a hero when you are older. Which is why I am trying to teach you how to recognize the state of your physical and mental health now and how to treat it, that way you can make better decisions than current heroes do in the future.”
That seemed to strike a chord with the child standing before him. Todoroki leaned forward a bit, almost as if seeking permission to have his head rest against his teacher’s chest before pushing himself back into place against the wall. “I—I apologize for my behavior earlier. It was uncalled for.”
“I accept your apology Todoroki.” Aizawa settled his hand on the top of the boy’s hair, just as he had done to the Tsuyu minutes earlier. “I expect you to make the same apology to your classmates as well.”
“Yes sensei.” The first year quickly agreed. Then without further adieu, he broke from his teacher’s grasp and ducked back into the classroom to fetch his things.
It was a bit brash and odd, Aizawa knew that Shouto enjoyed praise more than he let on and would usually allow himself a few moments to bask in it if possible. It left the older man a little concerned with how they just ended things, but he let it be for now. He had an entire group of students that required his attention and it seemed that Todoroki had learned his lesson and was about to go off and treat his body to some rest.
When the sensei entered the room, he was greeted by the sight of the half and half child bowing before his classmates and issuing an apology to all of them. His shoulder bag was packed neatly and ready to travel back to the dormitories on campus. “I hope the rest of your day is productive.” Shouto concluded before standing back at attention.
“Thank you Todoroki,” Aizawa moved to the center of the classroom. “I’ll have someone take notes for you, so you won’t be too far behind and I’ll go over this assignment with you tomorrow over break.”
“Yaoyorozu has already agreed to do that sensei.” The boy reported back. “She also volunteered to walk me through the assignment, so you don’t need to bother yourself with me. Thank you for the offer though.”
Bother himself?
Aizawa was a teacher and a hero; his calling in life was to bother himself with the troubles of others and take on their burdens. He hated the idea of a child thinking that he was demanding too much attention from a person meant to dedicate themselves to him. “Nonsense,” the teacher said. “Yaoyorozu is an excellent student, but she isn’t your teacher. I’ll go over it with you tomorrow because you are the student and I am your teacher.”
With that being said, he was a teacher with other students to attend to as well.
“Now go on,” he waved his hand in the direction of the door. “Straight to the dorms, no detours.”
Todoroki nodded his head and turned to the exit. He walked away with a respectful, “yes sensei” and everyone went about the rest of the class period ignoring the empty chair in back and the scene that had played out before them.
Thankfully, even Bakugou had the common sense to hold his tongue and focus on the subject matter at hand in his lesson for the day.
****
The rest of the day somehow managed to pass without any more issues. A fact that Aizawa was extremely grateful for given how rambunctious and loyal his kids had a tendency of being. Sending Todoroki off had given him a little anxiety, because he was halfway expecting Midoriya to cause his own scandal in an attempt to make his way to the dorms as well and check on his friend. Thankfully, the boy had a modicum of common sense and decided against making a decision so blatantly terrible.
“Aizawa-sensei?”
Speaking of the problem child. Classes for the day had only just been dismissed, about three and a half hours after Shouto had left them for a decent nap, and now the green-haired fanboy was standing in front of his homeroom teacher’s desk with a worried look on his face.
“Is there a problem Midoriya?” Aizawa was packing up all the papers he still had to grade that night into the black faux leather briefcase that Hizashi had gifted him last Christmas. “I was hoping to go check up on Todoroki, so if you could make this quick I would be very appreciative.”
The child standing before him was clearly nervous, his poor feet were knocking against each other and his eyes were firmly placed on his big red shoes. “I actually wanted to ask you about Shouto, sir. I’m worried about him. He’s been reclusive lately, like he was in the beginning of the term and I don’t want him to go back to being alone like that.”
“I understand your concern.” The teacher came around his desk, placed his hand between the boy’s shoulder blades, and began to lead them out of the classroom. “He apparently has been having some trouble sleeping. He didn’t tell me exactly what was causing it, but hopefully he will feel comfortable enough now that he’s gotten some rest and tell me what is going on.”
It was good that Shouto had come to make such good friends. If Midoriya was here expressing his concern, then without a doubt, Iida and Ururaka had lent some encouragement to ensure this conversation was had. There was also Yaoyorozu, one of the first people that Shouto had actually bonded with and respected as a fellow student. They would be a good support system for their friend once Aizawa managed to get a better idea of what was going on.
He hadn’t forgotten the fact it was practically impossible for Shouto to be losing sleep over some sort of nightmares.
“That makes sense I guess,” Midoriya muttered from below. “He’s been on the phone a lot with his sister.”
“Oh?” Aizawa tried to keep his tone as disinterested as possible. He knew his students were insanely loyal to one another, and would hide things from their teacher if they believed they were protecting one of their friends.
“Yeah, I heard him talking to her the other day. She said something about their mom, so I bet Todoroki is stressed about that since he only really gets to write to his mom right now.” Well, Midoriya just provided him with an interesting tidbit of information.
Aizawa was aware of where Todoroki Rei was currently residing in a mental health hospital in the area. It was just a stray sentence, laid out in passing in Shouto’s file as if it wasn’t an extremely important fact that any sensei should be informed of before the beginning of the school year. It was a good thing Aizawa made it his practice to diligently study each of his student’s personal records before their first class because had he not done so, what Midoriya had just stated would most certainly have been shocking.
“I will ask him about it,” Aziawa said as they made it to the first year dorm. “Don’t worry too much kid. Todoroki will be okay after a few days of a normal sleep schedule again. I’m sure it isn’t anything nefarious.”
Just as Aizawa was about to take another step forward, he felt the back of his jumpsuit being tugged in the same way Eri had a tendency to do whenever he was walking with her in a large crowd.
“Sensei?”
“Yes, problem child?”
Midoriya’s hand had yet to drop, even though his teacher had turned to look at him. At this moment, he appeared to be just as small and vulnerable as the little girl with silver hair and a horn they had found not too long ago. “I—I don’t want you to think I’m...I’m a bad friend.” That was odd. Out of any critique that Aizawa could ever come up with for the first year standing in front of him, the title of bad friend was not even on the periphery of things he would say.
Self sacrificing to the point of stupidity had far more evidence than being a bad friend.
“Why would I ever think that?” Aizawa asked.
Midoriya knew something, that was obvious. Now it was a matter of finding out what that something was.
“I heard something outside last night.” Midoriya looked down at the grass and tightened his hold on Aizawa’s suit. “When I looked out my window, I thought I saw Todoroki climbing up the gutter.”
The blood running through the teacher’s veins went cold. “You saw what ?”
Green hair started shaking wildly and Midoriya backed away from his sensei. “I know I should have told you sooner but I thought I might have been mistaken! It was very late and I could have been delirious! Forget I said anything! I bet I didn’t actually see that at all! I’m sorry to have wasted your time!” With his head still shaking back and forth, the boy also started bowing up and down at a rapid pace. It honestly was the most terrifying hokey pokey that he had ever seen.
“Midoriya.”
The bowing continued as if Aizawa had said nothing.
“Midoriya, calm down.”
When the behavior continued instead of stopping, the teacher reached down and physically held the boy up from his shoulders. “I said calm down young man.”
Finally a clarity had taken over the student’s eyes, “sorry sir.” He said as a blush crossed his freckled cheeks.
“I want to thank you for telling me what you saw.” Aizawa bent down so he was eye level with his most energetic and apparently guilt tripped student. “You are correct that you should have told me about it this morning, but you remedied that mistake by informing me now.” He couldn’t deny there was an urge to give the boy’s bottom a firm smack for delaying their conversation to this point in the day, but he also knew how difficult it could be to tell on a friend.
He had sat through nearly a two hour rant from Hizashi detailing the gut churning guilt the blonde man had felt in their third year whenever he had ratted out Aizawa to their own homeroom teacher and Nezu, who then was not yet the Principal of UA, about Aizawa’s own self-destructive habits. The Erasure Hero would argue that whatever pain Hizashi had felt didn’t compare to the physical ache in Aizawa’s ass following the Ectoplasm and Nezu’s conversation with him, but Hizashi argued to the high heavens that they were equally put out in that situation.
Every single emotion running across Midoriya’s face was framed perfectly by the sun that was setting just behind them. “Look at me, problem child,” Aizawa said as he secured Midoriya’s chin. It was a practiced maneuver at this point he used on almost all of his students, and the two children currently in his care, whenever he needed their attention. “I also need you to understand that what you did was not tattling. You were actually a good friend just now, because you cared more about Todoroki’s well-being than you did about this pact against snitching your class has seemed to adopt.”
A pact he was determined to end.
“I cannot help if I don’t know what is wrong.” Aizawa leveled the boy with a knowing look. “Keeping things from me will never be the right answer. All of you are still children and you aren’t equipped to solve all of the problems that life can present. That is why there are adults around to help you.”
Midoriya’s lip wobbled slightly before he pulled it in and gulped out a steady, “yes sir.”
“Thank you for having the courage to tell me the truth.” The teacher said as he let go of the boy’s chin. “I promise you that I will do my best to help Todoroki, even if that isn’t something he particularly wants at the moment. You did the right thing.”
“Will you tell him that I told you?”
Kids always had such funny concerns.
“No,” Aizawa said as he turned once again to walk away. “Now have a good night and join your classmates for dinner. I need to go have a talk with another young man.”
****
Shouto had managed to nap for about a couple of hours before his phone began buzzing repeatedly on his desk. Without much thought, the first year arose from bed and padded over to where his phone was lying there, still buzzing as new messages were coming in, and looked at the screen. His elder brother and sister were seemingly having yet another conversation about their mother in the siblings group chat, mentioning how each of them were still unable to make their way over for a visit. Apparently, their father was still hesitant to allow Fuyumi to travel by herself in the city district alone after his clash with the Nomu. The young woman clearly understood and wasn’t willing to fight her father on the decision for her to remain in the house after she got home from work in the afternoon, but it did cause her additional stress because she had been the one maintaining regular visits with their mother.
She had originally asked Natsuo to stop by the hospital after he finished up with classes for the day. After all, the college student did have a strong bond with their mother and didn’t much care what their father had to say about traveling in the city without supervision. Their strained relationship was something that Fuyumi was trying to mend, but at the moment it was also a tool to make sure their mother was properly cared for. Unfortunately, Natsuo had seen an uptick in his coursework and had several tests coming up within the next week or so, which left him spending nearly all of his free time in the library.
At first, Shouto had been a little confused why he had not been immediately asked the same question as his elder brother. He was also a student that had free time he could spend at the hospital once he was finished with classes for the day. However, when he brought this up, both of his siblings quickly agreed that he shouldn’t be going to the hospital at such odd hours whenever the League of Villains were obviously behind the Nomu attack on their father and Bakugou’s previous kidnapping.
So all that was left to do was allow his phone to ding or buzz with notification after notification of his sister’s worry over the state of their mother’s mental health. It wasn’t like he could tell her that everything was fine, that he had been secretly visiting their mother each night and staying there until the woman closed her eyes and peacefully fell asleep.
He had set his phone down after that, deciding to ignore their messages and get dressed in his casual clothes. If he went to the hospital now, then he would have a better chance of getting out early tonight and getting some actual sleep like his sensei had mentioned. His bones were still aching with exhaustion, but it was a feeling he would need to ignore.
He was the reason his mother was trapped in that building. The very least he could do was to go see her.
Knock Knock
Shouto’s eyes shot over to the analog clock hanging on the wall above his bed and sighed. It appeared that enough time had passed that his classmates could have reasonably returned to the dorms since finishing with classes for the day. It wouldn’t be unusual for Midoriya or some of the others to come by his room, all of them were fascinated with the traditional Japanese set up that he had created for himself.
Though something told him that the person on the other side of the door was not particularly interested in his interior design choices at this particular moment.
“Todoroki?” The voice on the other side called.
There was no mistaking that the person at his door was Aizawa sensei. None of his classmates were nearly that good at their imitations of their teacher, although Kaminari claimed one day he would perfect it.
He had to make a choice, and he needed to do it soon. Aizawa sensei was abnormally patient with him earlier given how defiant he had been. However, Shouto was doubtful that the trend would continue if he forced the man to keep waiting on the other side of a closed door much longer. Pretending to still be asleep was always an option, but probably not a good one. He was dressed in street clothes after all, and if Aizawa chose to come in and check on him then he would surely be able to see the lie in front of his eyes. The stern words his sensei had leveled him with earlier about lying wrang through his head along with the memory of the warning swats he had been delivered.
No, pretending to sleep definitely wasn’t the answer.
“Coming Sensei!” He called back before practically bounding across his room and to the door. He didn’t know what he was going to say to Aizawa once they were face to face. He would just need to think on his feet like they were taught to do in their hero training.
A sense of regret immediately took over whenever Shouto slid open his door to reveal a distinctly frustrated looking sensei on the other side. The mop of black hair looked even more disturbed than usual, likely as a result of the man running his hands through it so much.
“Can I help you Aizawa sensei?” The boy asked. His tone was even, refusing to let on to the fear raging in his stomach. All thoughts of ‘thinking on his feet’ were absolutely gone. Bending the truth to make a quick exit and see his mother like he had originally planned was not an option any longer. With the way his teacher was looking at him, it almost made him think that sitting wasn’t going to be an option very soon either.
Which was confusing to Shouto. What had he done that Aizawa would be so angry about? He had complied and gone to his dorm for a nap after their conversation this afternoon. The way his teacher had spoken, it seemed like a second punishment wasn’t a possibility as long as Shouto had done as he was told and maintained a respectful attitude for the rest of the day.
And he had done exactly that! He hadn’t even seen his teacher after, so he couldn’t have been disrespectful after leaving the classroom. He had even gone straight to his room, not even detouring to the kitchen for a snack before going to bed.
His gruff looking sensei didn’t bother answering the question, he just made his way into Shouto’s room and closed the door behind him. His presence was an absolutely horrible combination of comforting and menacing, and the dual quirked kid would never understand how that concoction was possible to begin with.
“How was your nap?” His teacher asked.
“It was fine.” Shouto’s feet slid back on the tatami floors, giving himself some space from his teacher. “Thank you for letting me miss classes so I could rest. I feel better now.” He could see his teacher examining him, trying to find if that statement was true and Shouto was indeed feeling better. The boy’s shoulders were more relaxed now, and not so tense as if those muscles were the only thing holding him together. The bags under his eyes were still present and accounted for, but they didn’t seem as deep as before.
And most importantly, the kid’s eyes didn’t look as lost and angry. His emotions must have regulated themselves with the bit of sleep he had managed.
Aizawa nodded his head and grunted. Sometimes that was all you could get from the teacher but that didn’t bother Shouto. As long as Aizawa wasn’t staring down at him with disappointment, then everything would be fine in his book. “Remind me,” Aizawa said as he took a few steps forward, resting his hand on Shouto’s work desk. “Why was it you needed to come up here in the first place?”
Shouto recognized the danger of such an obvious question. Aizawa sensei knew something and he wasn’t happy about it. If Shouto didn’t proceed carefully, then something was definitely going to happen that he wouldn’t be happy about. “I have been having trouble sleeping.” He reported back, just like he had done in the hallway outside of their homeroom just hours ago.
“And what, pray tell, has been the cause of that?”
A tingling sensation started up in Shouto’s gut and he began to feel uneasy. Every instinct in his body was telling him that he was in trouble. A single brain cell had the brilliant idea to use his ice to freeze his teacher and get himself out of there as fast as he could. Thankfully, his more functioning brain cells reminded him that Aizawa was a pro hero and likely would react with his erasure quirk before Shouto could even strike him. “I’m not sure what you want me to say,” was about the best that the boy could come up with as an answer.
Without a sound of shoes scuffling across the tatami, Aizawa was suddenly standing directly in front of his student and holding both of Shouto’s shoulders in his grasp. An urge to flinch sprang up but now that Shouto was well rested, he had better control over his muscle reactions and suppressed the near automatic response. “At this point I thought it would be clear that I want you to tell me the truth.” His teacher’s calloused thumbs were dug into place but the touch didn’t feel uncomfortable or scary like the large grip of another person he knew. “Did you, or did you not sneak off campus last night?”
Shouto gulped upon hearing Aizawa’s question. He couldn’t lie but he desperately wanted to do nothing more than just that. “I—”
The faces of his two siblings flashed in his mind. Both of them looking worried and asking him not to go see their mother in such a dangerous climate. He may not have actually seen their faces whenever the texts came through, but he had seen both of them in a stressed and sorrowful state before.
When they had lost another brother.
“I did.” Shouto looked down at his socked feet. One blue and one red, both featuring the beaming face of All Might and the phrase Plus Ultra in bubble letters. Midoryia had given him the gift, claiming his mom had sent him back from break with too many new pairs to be reasonable. Now, Shouto could be a rather gullible child but even he could tell that the socks were not spares that his friend was trying to re-gift. Those socks were bought with him in mind, they were meant to be a symbol.
The symbol of peace though would likely be as disappointed in Shouto right now as Aizawa surely was. He had really messed up.
The sound of a heavy sigh caused Shouto’s head to raise up and meet his sensei’s gaze. “My mother hasn’t been doing well.” The boy offered his mild explanation. “My brother and sister couldn’t go see her, so I decided to go instead. It isn’t fair and I’ve been before.”
“With school permission.” Aizawa added with a raised brow. It was a point that Shouto couldn’t refute, so he simply nodded in acknowledgement. “Your previous visits were cleared by the school and all took place with the supervision of a sensei as far as travel was concerned. Was that the case with your latest visit?”
Shouto bit his lip in contemplation. There were so many choices sitting right before him, to the point that the sheer number was a bit overwhelming and made them nearly impossible to sort through before he was expected to give an answer. So far, Aizawa had yet to swat him, which was a good thing. It was potentially the product of the level of honesty that he had been displaying, and maybe that was the best avenue to continue along.
“Multiple nights.” Shouto said.
“Excuse me?”
Or maybe he had just shot himself in the foot. It was too late though to take it back and further elaboration was definitely warranted.
“I have visited my mother nearly every night this week, so it’s been multiple nights.”
Aizawa sighed again, this time allowing his body to rest against Shouto’s desk and sink back into his own frustration with the situation he had found himself in. It must be difficult to be a mentor for so many students, especially those so hell bent on proving themselves as heroes. But that was the job, so Aizawa likely didn’t begrudge his students for that. Shouto was happy for his classmates on that front, because he had a feeling that his own misdeeds were not being viewed as favorably.
“Do you understand how dangerous that was?” The sensei asked.
“Yes.”
“And I suspect you don’t regret it?” He prodded further.
“No sensei.” Shouto answered with conviction in his voice. “My mother needed me. I don’t want to lose her again.”
“So risking your life by sneaking out and traveling across the city unaccompanied was the solution?” Aizawa had had enough at this point. “What you did was reckless and irresponsible Todoroki. I understand you were coming from a good place and were trying to be a good son, but the means that you chose to do so was completely unacceptable.”
The harsh tone that his teacher was taking caused heterochromatic eyes to widen. He hadn’t been spoken to like that in a long while. Memories of his father’s deep and chastising baritone came flooding back and the beginnings of tears were already springing towards his eyes. “I—” He started. “I’m sorry.”
Aizawa could clearly see the distress of the child standing before him. No matter how furious he was to learn the truth, he would never want any of his kids to be afraid of him. “Hey,” he said as gently as possible. “Don’t be afraid. It will be okay.” Ever so slowly, the man moved to wrap his arms around his student and pull the boy in for a comforting embrace.
“Are you going to tell my father?” Shouto’s voice was hushed by his teacher’s capture weapon, but Aizawa’s hearing had always been sharp.
“UA Policy doesn’t dictate that I have to.” With his left hand, Aizawa began to rub small circles to relieve some of the tension in his student’s back. “I have the discretion to inform a parent of their child’s discipline, but I’m not obligated to do so unless there was a true emergency. You managed to get back here in one piece, so I don’t see why a call to Endeavor needs to be made.”
The words had the desired effect as Shouto’s muscles began to relax in his hold. “Thank you sensei.” The boy whispered. “He would have been furious.”
“Make no mistake young man,” a sharp smack landed directly in the center of the boy’s jean covered bottom, “I’m not thrilled with you at the moment either. You and I are about to have an unpleasant conversation. Is that understood?”
Unpleasant was an understatement, Shouto was very sure of that. Those five swats he had earned this afternoon were some of the only he had earned while attending UA thus far. He was far from perfect and had been handed a number of threats for trips to the discipline room or stray swats here and there, but this would be his first major encounter with Aizawa Sensei: the Dreaded Disciplinarian of UA.
“Yes sir.” The child muttered. He hated the idea of this very much. It was embarrassing to say the least but he also detested the idea that someone he looked up to now had lost some respect for him. “When will it happen?”
The genuine innocence of the question is the only thing that held the sarcastic adult from answering with a snide remark. Shouto wasn’t trying to stall the inevitable punishment, he was just trying to figure out the schedule for the night. “We are going to take care of this now. Given how you are dressed, I can assume you were about to sneak out again to go see your mother?”
The wince was all the answer that Aizawa needed.
“That settles it then.” In a quick and practiced move, Aizawa turned the desk chair around and sat down comfortably in it. “Come over here and lower your pants. We will handle your punishment, then you can have your dinner with the others. After that, if you have behaved yourself, I will take you to go see your mom.”
Shouto nodded his head initially and started to move to the place his teacher had indicated before suddenly processing the entirety of what had just been said. “You’ll let me see her?”
“If you are good and take your punishment without an incident or lies. Then yes,” Aizawa confirmed. “I will escort you tonight.” Those seemed to be the magic words as Shouto slid his jeans down with ease and placed himself across his teacher's lap without an ounce of hesitation or fear. “Do you understand that what I’m about to do is meant as a punishment only? There will be no permanent damage done to you and it will not escalate to anything other than my open hand.”
The only thing that surprised Shouto was that he wasn’t being given more than his teacher’s palm. Being friends with Midoriya and Bakugou meant he knew a lot about how their sensei conducted himself in a punishment, and there was almost always something more than a hand. Not that Shouto wanted things to be worse for him but it did feel a little unfair.
“The others,” Shouto started. “They have gotten more. Why not me?”
There was an obvious answer to that question, but Aizawa knew if he gave it then it would just make the child all the more self conscious about his upbringing. It was clear that his student was still hesitant around adult males, not that anyone could blame him after the way he was raised, and it wouldn’t do Shouto any good to push his limits with a spanking. Things needed to be clear, caring, and methodical. All of which could be accomplished with his hand.
Still, that answer wouldn’t cut it with the kids.
“After I confronted you, you chose to be honest with me. ” Aizawa settled on instead. “I intend to reward that behavior, even if only marginally.”
Shouto found himself suddenly feeling grateful for his decision not to lie to his teacher about all the sneaking out he had been doing and simply owning up to his mistakes. Not that he would necessarily classify visiting his mother as a mistake whenever she clearly needed the support of her family, but he did understand why so many adults were worried about him. His father had a target on his back, a big bullseye with the phrase ‘The New Number One’ on it; and because of that, the man’s entire family became a liability. Anyone who wanted to test their new Symbol of Peace had four perfect marks to pick from.
The hero in training may have the most skill when it comes to self-defense, but taking him down would also send the biggest message to Endeavor.
Rather than responding to his sensei’s words verbally, Shouto just nodded his head and placed his hands square on the ground in front of him. He was determined to follow orders and behave himself. He would be the perfect angel during this punishment if it meant getting to bring his mom some peace tonight.
“Do you understand why you are being punished?” Aizawa asked.
“Yes sir.”
“Is there anything else you want to say for yourself? Anything else I should be aware of before we start” The invitation for more honesty was clearly there. Aizawa didn’t want to be any more harsh with his student than he already planned on, and if he later found out about a lie then he would pretty much be backed into a corner. Todoroki seemed to have been laying all his cards on the table though, not hiding anything from his teacher the second he recognized that he was well and truly caught.
The boy shook his head no and took a breath. So, he was already compartmentalizing the situation and they hadn’t even started.
That wouldn’t do.
“Todoroki, I want you to tell me exactly why you are getting this spanking.” Aizawa said as he brought his hand down for the first time. It wasn’t particularly hard, the kid’s skin wasn’t ready for something like that, but he had cupped his palm enough to make it loud. It would definitely be something to grab the kid’s attention.
Shouto gasped for a second when the first spank landed. He could feel a slight sting starting to form under his blue boxers, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. It was actually a lot less than what he had been expecting given the nature of the situation. “I left campus without permission.” The answer was very clinical, something Shouto knew he used as a bit of a defense. If he was far enough removed emotionally, then any pain he sustained wouldn’t break him. As the spanks continued to rain down, he thought it might benefit him to add a quick, “which doing so is a violation of school rules.”
Aizawa continued to bring down his hand at a steady rate. For now he was establishing a predictable pattern, a mercy that was not likely to persist as they got further along. For now though, he wanted to keep Shouto as comfortable as possible. Breaking down emotional barriers was an art form, one that required patience and finesse. “Do you know why we have that rule in place?”
This time the smack that came down had a little more power behind it. Shouto squeezed his eyes shut in an effort to keep himself composed. He wasn’t sure but he had a feeling it was still far too early for him to be reacting this way. “For...because of safety sir.” That’s what it all came down to, right? Everyone was so enamoured with his safety that they felt the need to baby him and keep him locked up away in the dorms while the one parent that actually attempted to encourage him was in need.
“Exactly,” Aizawa’s affirmative answer was accompanied by several sharp spanks to the sensitive undercurve of Shouto’s bottom. Now that they were getting to the heart of the matter and he had administered a sufficient warm up, he felt it was time to break the pattern and make the sting of his hand far less predictable. “Whether you like it or not young man, you are still a child. I thought after you and the others took Bakugo’s rescue into your own hands you would learned that sneaking out to do what you believed to be the right thing wasn’t acceptable.”
Shouto bit down on his lips at a particularly sharp smack to his left cheek. His teacher’s hand was plenty hard to make this situation nearly unbearable. Maybe the ruler and paddle the man was known to wield were actually the reprieve and it was his hand that was the true implement.
“Given that you’ve been warned about this sort of thing before, I would have no problem justifying your expulsion to Principal Nezu.” Aizawa paused his movements for a moment when he noticed the reaction his words had caused. Shouto’s feet pushed around in little kicks and his hair was starting to cross his distinct part due to his head shaking viciously. “Calm down kid,” the teacher placed his hand on the crown of Shouto’s head. “Just because I could expel you for this doesn’t mean I’m going to. You are already being punished.”
He was going soft, that was the only logical explanation. In the past he hadn’t seen anything wrong with scaring the life out of a kid by declaring their expulsion and then taking them across his knee for a real punishment after informing them that their original sentence was just meant to teach them that their actions can have real life consequences. Life wouldn’t always allow you to learn a lesson from a sore rear end, sometimes it just kicked you to the curb and that was that.
“Please don’t struggle like that again,” Aizawa petted the hair underneath his hand. “If you do, I will need to pin your legs.”
“It hurts,” Shouto whined.
That made the teacher smirk. All of his kids seemed to possess the need to inform him that a spanking hurt, no matter their rank in the class. Geniuses, all of them. “It’s supposed to hurt, kid. Next time you think about doing something as naughty as sneaking out, you can think about how your bottom feels right now and maybe make a better decision.”
A strained, “yes sir,” came from across his lap and Aizawa took that as a signal to continue.
“Do you have any idea how worried I would be if I had checked your room and found that you weren’t there?” Just thinking about a scenario like that had Aizawa’s heart racing. “After the League took Bakugou from us, the idea of even one of you being unaccounted for—”
The thought was far too painful to finish. Everyone knew that Aizawa’s aloof attitude towards his students was an act. Each of them were precious to him and he would do everything in his power to keep them safe. The USJ incident was more than enough proof of that.
A shroud of guilt enveloped Shouto as his teacher’s words rang in his ears. Aizawa sensei’s voice had caught, he had been unable to finish his sentence, and it was the thought of Shouto being in a similar helpless situation as Bakugo had been in not so long ago that was the cause of it all. “I’m so–sorry...didn’t mean...didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I know you didn’t mean to,” Aizawa assured. “But that doesn’t make what you did okay. I need to make sure you understand that.” This was something he hated to do but it was absolutely necessary. To make sure his point was emphasized, Aizawa reached out and pulled the last layer protecting Shouto’s bottom down to rest with his pants.
“No sensei!” The boy cried. “Please don’t! I promise I won’t do it again. I will ask permission from now on!”
It was uncharacteristic for someone as stoic as Todoroki to be so openly yelling but Aizawa imagined the kid was still a bit more tired than he was letting on, that coupled with the distressing situation that he was in would be more than enough to secure such a reaction. “I’m sorry Shouto but I need to make sure that this lesson is learned. I honestly don’t think I could recover from another student being kidnapped.” The very idea caused Aizawa’s gut to clench uncomfortably and for an emotion he didn’t not want to name or feel to start bubbling up in his chest. “Let alone if we had actually lost you.” He had lost enough people in his life already…
A flash of light blue and a bright smile crossed the sensei’s mind and gave him the strength to resume the punishment.
“Never scare anyone like that again young man.” Aizawa ordered as his hand crashed down. This was the time he was going Plus Ultra. His hand was covering every inch of the bottom before him, and he knew he was doing his jobs when little seething ‘ows’ and ‘pleases’ were filling the room. “If I find out you snuck out of UA again, at any point for the rest of your time as a student here, I promise you that I will make this spanking seem like a cake walk.” The boy’s bright red bottom would probably disagree with that current characterization but hopefully that would serve as more than enough motivation to make sure something like this didn’t happen again. “I would also be visiting you before bed every night for a week to give you a reminder. Is that something you would like to happen little boy?”
“No sensei!” Shouto cried. Tears were now spilling past his eyes and down his cheeks as the stinging swats to his bare flesh came down one after another with zero signs of stopping. The hands he had previously planted on the floor were now gripping onto his teacher’s ankle as if it were his only life line. “Please! I’ll be good.” He promised as he saw little dribbles of his own tears making a small and pathetic puddle on his tatami floor. “I’ll be good.” He whimpered out again after another circuit of spanks had finished up.
All of the sudden, Shouto felt his body being lifted and maneuvered as if he weighed nothing until he was curled against his sensei’s chest and being gently rocked. “I know you’ll be good,” Aizawa assured as he placed a feather light kiss onto the tip of Shouto’s forehead. “It’s okay now, it’s okay.” His gruff voice was hushed and it was somehow the most comforting sound that the first year had ever heard. “Just let everything out, Shouto. It’s alright. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, so just let it all out.”
Todoroki Shouto had never once been permitted to feel his own emotions in a manner that was appropriate for his age since his mother had been put away. He had locked everything away after that out of fear of just being hurt all over again. He had let himself fall down into a pit of simultaneous anger and indifference until he became a shell of the hopeful child he had once been. So being here, right now, and being extended that permission to just fall apart and being taken care of was both shocking and unconditionally freeing. Without further hesitation, Shouto decided his teacher was safe and could be trusted to put him back together. So, for the first time in years, Shouto allowed himself to break.
When the full on sobbing began, Aizawa found himself being a little nervous and confused. He knew logically he hadn’t delivered as hard of a spanking as he could have, so the boy couldn’t be crying this hard from the pain, but he initially couldn’t think of any other cause. It wasn’t until he felt Todoroki press his left side even deeper into Aizawa’s clavicle, pushing the scarf up close to the man’s face, that he finally understood what was happening. The poor child had never allowed himself the comfort of a meltdown in such a long while. The truth of the matter was simply heartbreaking.
But it was also an honor.
“Shh Shouto,” Aizawa continued to rock them back and forth in a slow and steady motion. “Everything is going to be okay son, don’t worry. You did very well.” The teacher reassured. “You were so good.”
That was the common insecurity shared amongst his students. All of them doubted their own capability to be good on some level. Whether it was a fear that their quirk was more villaneous than heroic or just a fear that they would never amount to what was considered “enough” varied, but they all shared one common theme: they wanted to be considered good.
“You are very good Shouto,” Aizawa whispered into the now tangled multicolored locks. “So very good.”
The sob induced shaking eventually came to a close and Shouto began to regulate his breathing once again. Slowly but surely, the boy squirmed around to find a new comfortable position where he could put the least amount of weight on his sore bottom but also look at his teacher.
“Was I good enough to go see my mom?” Shouto asked shyly. His voice was practically a whisper at this point, which Aizawa believed to be a combination of the wariness to figure out the answer to the question and a sore throat from all the crying the kid had just done.
“Yes,” Aizawa answered as he pushed back Shouto’s hair once again and rubbed a little circle on the kid’s forehead with his thumb. “After we have dinner of course.”
Shouto nodded and a small smile graced his lips before he leaned back into his teacher’s chest. “Thank you Aizawa sensei.”
“You’re welcome son.” The man answered as he tucked the kid in a little closer, content to stay in this position for a bit longer.
It would be a dangerous day when these kids realized he would do nearly anything to keep them safe and make them happy. A dangerous day indeed.