Chapter Text
It was that time of year again, Shota Aizawa noted as he stepped out of his apartment in the school dormitory building, absolutely dreading the week ahead of him.
Classification week was always hectic no matter how much prep work the staff of UA put in to help it go smoothly. With new Little’s dropping left and right, new Caregivers trying to handle the new rush of hormones and instincts, and Beta’s caught in the middle of it all trying their best to help but not overstep their bounds, it was a recipe for chaos.
If he was being perfectly honest, he would have taken this week off if his husband hadn’t guilt-tripped him into going. The scent of freshly classified littles hung in the air like a fog and Shota knew it was going to be practically intoxicating for new caregivers who had never picked up on the scent before.
He really did not want to deal with that.
Shota took a sip of the coffee that Hizashi had left for him on the dining room table. (It was too sweet. ‘Zashi always added too much creamer.) Usually, they walked to the main building together, but Hizashi had wanted to get some stuff set up in his room early and make some last-minute adjustments to the schedule.
Hizashi had been put in charge of Group One this year, while Shota was given the least wanted job of presenting his class with their results. He was not looking forward to dealing with teenagers upset about their Classification. No matter how hard the staff tried there was always at least one breakdown during the presentation results (usually a Little devastated by their Classification).
Shota sighed as he entered his classroom to find it covered in colorful signs (no doubt placed there by Hizashi earlier that morning) all telling the teens that ‘Classification doesn’t make a hero’, ‘they are still capable no matter what!’, and other such things. He knew that they wouldn’t make a difference, people’s feelings on Classification wouldn’t change because of some glitter glue signs. Although his class would probably enjoy the fact that Eri had no doubt helped make them.
He glanced at the clock that sat above his door, as he took another swig of the too-sweet coffee. He had 30 minutes until the doors unlocked for students and Iida came rushing in. He might as well use it productively, so he pulled the sleeping bag that he kept under his desk up and over him and laid his head down on his desk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Iida and Yaoyorozu were the first to come in as usual, with the rest of the students trailing in slowly during the 20 minutes that they had to get to the classroom. And as if on cue, 5 seconds before the final bell rang Ashido and Kaminari came running in at full speed proudly declaring that they’re weren’t late.
Shota was almost surprised by how normal the class was appearing. Some of the girls were aweing at the inspirational messages that Eri and Hizashi had left for them, while others gather around a desk to laugh together at some video. There were a few stragglers who stayed by their desk or sat by a window, content to just look at their phone or a book for the time being, but it was normal for them to do that.
Honestly, if he didn’t know these kids so well, Shota would think that they were completely unbothered by the test they were about to undergo.
But Shota did know these kids. That’s why he could feel the sense of nervousness that was slowly filling up the room.
He could see it too, he saw the way that Midoriya was scribbling down in his notebook at record speed, he saw the way that everyone who would touch Denki got a little shock, he saw the way Yaoyorozu was slowly rubbing her hands together, and he saw the way that Uraraka was wringing her shirt in her hands.
All of his kids had nervous ticks and he practically knew them all by heart by now.
He flipped through the packet in his hands and let out a cough to gather everyone’s attention.
“Right, so…” He stood up, letting the sleeping bag drop to the floor as he walked around to the front of this desk. He stood there as the rest of his students shuffled into their proper places and quieted down (or in Iida’s case was loudly telling everyone else to be quiet). “I have to read this by law, so just let me get through this and I’ll give you free time until your group leader comes to get you.”
The nervousness was growing, he could feel it. But nervousness was normal (this test would no doubt change their lives as they knew them), so he ignored it and began reading.
“The test you will be taking today is the Government-issued, National Classification Branch Approved, Classification Test. The test comes in three parts. The written portion, where you will be asked a series of questions about your habits and interest. Please note, you are expected to answer honestly as these questions factor into many things, not just baseline Classification.” Shota said void of any enthusiasm. He noticed Todoroki’s knee beginning to bounce, but continued on. “The mental assessment portion, where you will have your brain waves monitored as you are asked a series of questions and are given various items. Finally, there is the Physical portion, where you are overlooked by a Medical Professional as they check your past and present physical state. Please note, blood will be drawn during this portion of the test, if you wish to or need to be sedated (whether it be because of a quirk or simply because you’re uncomfortable with needles) please let an attendant or adult know beforehand.”
Shota looked up as he flipped the page, he saw Tokoyami begin to tap his hands on his leg at the mention of blood being drawn and made a mental note to let his group leader know about Dark Shadow’s tendency to cause havoc if he believed Tokyomki was going to be harmed.
“If it is found that you have somehow cheated or faked the result of this test you will be subjected to a 22000 yen fine and will be forced to retake this test in a secure testing location while being monitored. If you think that someone is faking or helping someone else fake their results please tell a staff member immediately, if you wish to do so anonymously please call this number,” Shota walked over to the board behind his desk and wrote down the number.
“If you are scared about you’re home life due to classification results please tell an adult or call this number,” He wrote it down before labeling the two phone numbers and turning back around to face his class.
“Finally we would like to remind you that all information gathered during this test is confidential and will only be used to help us determine your Classification. Once your assessment is complete, all the information gathered will be discarded, so please be honest and transparent. We wish you all good luck and a good testing day.”
Shota dropped the paper right into the garbage bin next to his desk and in a bored tone ask, “Any questions?”
Since filled the classroom as the students all held their breath waiting for someone to go first.
“Yeah, uh,” Kaminari muttered, slowly raising his hand, “What if we don’t know the answer to the questions on the written part?”
Shota hummed. “Just answer to the best of your ability, you can also call a teacher over if you want it explained. Anything else?”
“Yeah, I got one!” Bakugou snarled plopping his feet up on the desk, “Why we gotta do the dumb written part anyway? Seems pretty useless to me!”
“The written part is mostly Little’s,” Shota explained walking back over to his desk and sitting down. “It helps to detrain a Little’s age range and what type of Caregiver would work best for them.”
There were a few other questions, mostly about what they would be asked on the test, Shota simply rolled his eyes and told them he wasn’t allowed to answer that.
“Ok now, these are the testing groups you’ll be in. Pay attention,” He said holding up his phone and looking at the email that Hizashi had sent him yesterday. “Do not make me go over this again.”
As he read their names off the teens wandered over to respective their groups and sat together quietly discussing what they thought was gonna be on the test and what they were going to do later that night.
“Alright brats, I’m not going to see you again until you come back to the dorms tonight, so be good and do not cause a scene.” He said sending glares to the respective problem children. Midoriya averted his eyes as a blush slowly crept up his face while Bakugou simply crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.
With that final statement, the bell rang and Hizashi practically burst through the doors with a beaming smile.
“Alrighty, group one! Let’s get this thing started!” He said with enthusiasm, quickly shuffling his kids out into the hall and into his classroom. “Hurry up listeners! Today is gonna be a busy day, we don’t have time to dilly-dally!”
Hizashi winked at him as he continued to push his group of kids out the door. Shota sent him an unenthusiastic thumbs down, but it didn’t seem it affect Hizashi as he simply smiled and shut the door.
All Might came in next to get Group Two (who seemed rather relieved that they wouldn’t be having to deal with Hizashi energy all day), Midnight came for Group Three not long after that, and finally, Snipe came into collect Group Four.
He made sure to pull Snipe aside and tell him to let Recovery Girl know that Tokoyami might need to be sedated during the blood testing. Snipe had simply nodded and ushered his group out leaving Shota alone in his classroom.
And now the easy part is done, Shota thought to himself as he pushed himself over the walls that had the most posters covering it.
Eri had clearly done most of the work on it. Hizashi had written ‘Just do your best!’ in big bold letters in the center and just let Eri go crazy with decorations. Smily faces were drawn on in colorful marker and glitter and stickers practically covered the words that Hizashi had written.
“Do you like it?” A small voice questioned from behind him.
Shota turned around to see Eri covered in glitter and stickers standing in the doorway of his classroom.
“I love it.” He said walking over to her before bending down on her level. “But I think that you turned out more decorated than the posters.”
He licked his thumb and rubbed a spot on Eri’s cheek that had a bit of marker on it. She left out a gag and then a giggle as she leaned her head away from him and tried to lightly move his hand away.
With a soft smile, he scooped her up and began walking towards his desk to grab his wallet and keys. As he placed them in his pocket he felt something be placed on his cheek. He turned to see Eri holding a sheet of stickers in one hand and placing one of them on his cheek with the other with a proud grin on her face. Ah, revenge, two could play that game.
“So what do you wanna do for breakfast?”
“Pancakes please!”
“Okay then, a stack of pancakes coming up right after a bath for Eri.”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise but they quickly furrowed into a pout. Damn, she was really too cute to mess with.
“Well, I guess taking a bath and then eating syrup doesn’t make a lot of sense…”
Eri’s eyes lit up at the talk of postponing a bath. “Mmhm!” She hummed. “No sense at all!”
“Well, then I guess we’ll just have to make the pancakes first, but we have to take a bath right after, okay?” He said turning off the lights and shutting the door to his classroom.
“Okay, Daddy!” Eri happily said snuggling into his shoulder.
And with that, the two set off back to their apartment.