Chapter Text
Calm down. Calm down. You’re ok. Dont cry. God FUCK. Do Not cry right now.
“What the hell?” Why was the problem child’s voice echoing in his head? He swished his head in a swivel as he looked around his apartment, but it was empty. Mic was in the bathroom showering, but he was sure that the rest of the apartment was empty.
But he could definitely hear Izuku. And he didn’t know if it was just because of what the kid was saying, but he felt his own chest tightening, and eyes filling with water. Which was strange considering his dry eye and how rare it was for him to cry.
What the hell is going on?
The constant stream of panic and sadness halted.
What?
Wait. Can you hear me? Izuku?
What the fuck. What the FUCK!?
Ok so I’ll take that as a yes.
Aizawa? Oh my god this isn’t happening.
Yes, it's Aizawa. Where are you kid?
I can’t tell him! I don’t want to face him. Why the fuck can he hear my thoughts? What am I gonna do? I have to figure out how to get back to normal. We were likely hit with a quirk… Maybe just seeing him in person could cancel out the quirk, or making physical contact. There has to be some kind of deactivation requirement… Unless it’s based on a time limit. Oh fuck. Stupid! You just heard all that…
It’s fine, breathe. Don’t worry so much, problem child. We’ll figure this out. In the meantime I can promise you that I’m not going to judge anything that I hear.
Ok.. i’ll be back at the dorms in like an hour.
Alright, I’ll come meet you there in an hour.
Aizawa let out a sigh. At least it was the weekend and he didn’t have to worry about classes. But it did worry him that the kid had dutifully avoided answering the question of where he was.
“I know we were planning to go out for lunch today, but we can just get takeout. You seem pretty worn out from your patrol last night, and it'll be nice to spend the rest of the day in. Plus we can have a movie night later after we do some grading.” Hizashi said as he rubbed his hair dry with a towel.
Aizawa turned to his sun of a partner, leaning his head into his shoulder. Hizashi let out a small oof when the man let his full weight fall against his chest.
“What’s wrong Sho?” Hizashi brought a hand up to rest at the top of Aizawa’s head. He fanned his fingers back and forth a bit, the tired man nuzzling his head into the touch. That brought a fond smile to the blonde's face. His Sho really was just like a tired cat.
“Must’ve gotten hit with a quirk.” He sighed.
“Shit are you ok?!” Hizashi pulled back from him, holding his shoulders tightly, and inspecting his entire being, then landing on his face and searching his eyes.
“Nothing bad. Don’t worry Zashi,” He plopped his head back against his shoulder, “It’s some kind of mind link quirk. I can hear the Problem Childs thoughts and he can hear mine.”
Aizawa really had been hoping for a day full of sleep and relaxing with Zashi, but he’d make do with the circumstances.
He felt a pang of guilt hit him at that thought. He didn’t get it. He was tired, not guilty. Wait..? Was that the kid too?
I’m sorry.
You don’t have anything to be sorry for. Though now there was the issue that he could feel Izuku’s emotions. He began searching memory for a time they could’ve both gotten hit with a quirk.
“I don’t think it’s just thoughts either. I was close to tears this morning, and not because of any of my own feelings.” They both frowned at that.
“So you think your emotions are somehow connected too.” Present Mic’s brows creased in concern, “Is the little listener ok?”
“I’m gonna head over to the dorms to try and find out what quirk hit us and how to undo it. I’ll figure out what's up with the kid too. Would you mind coming with? We’ll probably have to go to Recovery Girl if the quirk doesn’t resolve itself when I see the kid in person.”
“Of course Sho. I wanna check on Izuku anyways. I don’t think I could just sit in the apartment and not know what's going on. Plus I wanted to spend the day with you.” He gave him a soft smile.
Aizawa felt a slimy type of panic filling his chest. He was able to differentiate his own feelings as opposed to the kid’s. But that didn’t make him any less worried. He told Hizashi as much.
They didn’t want to intrude on Izuku’s personal life, but at the same time if they knew there was an issue they weren’t going to leave it. And unfortunately for Izuku, Aizawa could feel that there was a problem.
Everything was foggy. He was laying on his bed, staring at his ceiling, but his eyes were unseeing. His heart beat hard in his chest, and his breaths were shallow.
Izuku’s mom wanted him to visit more often, so he’d come home Friday night and slept over. It was Saturday now, and he was distantly cursing himself for coming. He felt off all day Friday, but had ignored it because he rescheduled this visit twice already.
He clenched and unclenched his fists, but they were unfeeling. This only served to panic him slightly. He let his eyes fall closed as he attempted some uneven breathing exercises.
It wasn’t new for him to get like this, and the warning signs had been there. He really wishes he had cancelled on his mom. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with people.
“Izu!! It’s already almost 12! Get up and come to the store with me!” His mothers loud yells cut through the walls and caused a spike of nauseated panic to radiate through his chest and throat.
He kept trying to breathe, but after a few moments of no reply his mom’s yelling began again and wouldn’t stop.
“Izuku! C’mon! Don’t ignore me! You never visit and now that you’re here, all you’re doing is sleeping!”
Calm down. Calm down. You’re fine.
“I-I’m coming now mom.” He raised his voice slightly hoping she’d hear. He didn’t have it in him to yell, and even just replying to her as he did made him feel exhausted.
“HELLO?! Izuku! I cannot believe that he’s doing this to me right now.” Looks like she didn’t hear him. But he could hear her talking to herself in between yells that she directed at him, “I really have no one. I do everything for that boy, and he leaves me here all alone. It’s not like I have a husband who’s with me everyday.”
He rolled to his side, his panic filled chest being mixed with guilt. He felt more nauseous than before, but willed himself to throw his legs over the side of the bed.
“Are you coming?” Her voice was a lot closer now, and looking up he noticed that she had opened his door and was standing there.
He bit his lip hard. Izuku really didn’t want to go to the store with the bright LED lights and all the people. He knew it would only make him feel more disconnected from his body. But he also knew that his mom wouldn’t understand that.
“Y-yeah,” He bit out, “can you give me a few minutes to get ready?”
“Hurry.” She said as she left his room.
He snatched a pair of clean socks and a hoodie, pulling both on. Izuku squeezed his eyes shut tightly, and felt his nails biting into his palms.
He started to go though five things he could feel. His feet touching the carpeted floor. He pressed his hand against his cold window, letting out a shaky breath. His other hand wrapped loosely around his bed post. He could fe-
“IZUKU!!! C’mon I got to go!!”
Fuck! Please stop. Ok I’m fine I’m ok I’m ok I’m-
“Are you serious?!” He could clearly hear her voice start to shake as she began crying, “I’m just gonna have to go by myself.” Then she directed a steady yell at him. “I’ve been waiting for you for almost a half an hour!! If you don’t want to come with me just say that!”
He heard the front door to his house slam, and a deafening quiet was left in it’s wake.
His heart seized at the loud slam. He bit into his lip and tasted blood.
Izuku started gathering his uniform that he left thrown on the floor the night before. He shoved it into his backpack, then grabbed his charger. He slipped on his red sneakers while he tried to take deep breaths.
He left the house and began walking in the direction that UA was. The streets were filled with people. He kept his head down, but felt like everyone was looking at him. He roughly dragged his hands against his cheeks, trying to rid himself of the drying tear tracks.
Calm down. Calm down. You’re ok. Dont cry. God FUCK. Do Not cry right now.
He could break down later in his room. Or better yet he could just pretend this never happened. He could already feel himself starting to forget what his mom had even done to make him cry. Which was another indicator that he’d be feeling nice and numb soon.
What the hell is going on?
What? Izuku looked behind him, sure that he had just heard his teacher's voice.
Wait. Can you hear me? Izuku? He heard it again, and with a sinking feeling he realized the voice was coming from in his head.
What the fuck. What the FUCK!? Izuku thought.
Ok so I’ll take that as a yes. The voice was deadpan.
Aizawa? Oh my god this isn’t happening.
Yes, it's Aizawa. Where are you kid? He could hear some concern leaking thorough.
I can’t tell him! I don’t want to face him. Why the fuck can he hear my thoughts? What am I gonna do? I have to figure out how to get back to normal. We were likely hit with a quirk… Maybe just seeing him in person could cancel out the quirk, or making physical contact. There has to be some kind of deactivation requirement… Unless it’s based on a time limit. Oh fuck. Stupid! You just heard all that…
It’s fine, breathe. Don’t worry so much, problem child. We’ll figure this out. In the meantime I can promise you that I’m not going to judge anything that I hear.
He doubted that. Ok.. I'll be back at the dorms in like an hour.
Alright, I’ll come meet you there in an hour.