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Aizawa and Yamada were on their way home from an evening out. There was a nip in the air, enough so that Aizawa had put a scarf on top of his capture weapon. Yamada had laughed at him for this. Imagine if they got tangled, he had said, chuckling. Aizawa shrugged him off. He preferred to be prepared for a villain attack at all times, regardless of whether or not he was on duty. There would have been no skin off Yamada’s nose: all he had to do was shout in the right direction.
They took a shortcut through a park and spotted someone familiar some distance away.
"Isn't that Yagi-san?" Yamada asked, pointing to the hunched-over figure on a bench.
Aizawa raised his head a fraction out of the folds of his scarf to see. The mass of blonde hair was enough of a dead giveaway, but the extra long limbs and angular facial features confirmed their suspicions.
"Mhm," Aizawa mumbled in confirmation, putting his face back behind his scarf to shield his face from the breeze.
Yamada slowed their pace and said with a knowing grin, "Maybe we should go over."
"It's one of his few nights off, I'm sure he doesn't want to be bothered by co-workers."
“Maybe he’ll put a smile on that resting bitch face of yours,” his friend teased, nudging Aizawa with his elbow.
“Shut up,” Aizawa answered in an irritable tone. Fortunately for him, it was cold and his cheeks were red anyway, so Yamada might not notice them getting redder. Yamada, being his closest friend, knew him far too well, and when it became evident that he had developed a soft spot for their new colleague, it was non-stop ribbing and attempts at meddlesome match-making.
“Hm…” Yamada suddenly looked concerned, and he dropped his mocking tone. "He looks kinda down, man."
Aizawa lifted his head again, and now that they were looking properly he could see Yamada was right. Yagi's eyebrows were knitted close together, lips pursed, nearly hidden by the green scarf he had wrapped around him. His fingers were tightly interlaced and his knuckles were white; the tension was further emphasised by his rigid posture.
Aizawa briefly entertained the notion to agree to Yamada's idea when Yagi pressed his eyes shut, inhaled sharply and rose to his feet, taking off into the night at a very quick pace.
Aizawa clicked his tongue. "He must have heard you coming."
Mic looked affronted. "If anything, he could sense your gloomy aura!"
They chuckled and carried on. But Aizawa glanced briefly back at the space Yagi had just occupied.
~*~
Over the next few days, Aizawa noticed a shift in Yagi's behaviour. He was still fumbling about with lesson plans, cue cards and mark schemes like the hopeless case he was, but instead of his usual cheerily awkward apologies, he would stare silently at the floor and move on without a word.
Yamada, ever the oblivious optimist, greeted him to ask him what was up with him that night in the park.
He patted his shoulder lightly, but Yagi ducked away from the gesture very quickly. It wasn't over the top in any way; in fact Yamada didn't even seem to clock it: but Aizawa noticed. Yagi dismissed the matter just as fast, making some excuse behind a forced smile and left.
Aizawa’s thoughts lingered on Yagi’s reaction to the hand on his shoulder. Surely as Japan's Number One hero and therefore celebrity-slash-public-figure, he would be used to people touching him, trying to get their hands on him. Aizawa shuddered at the thought of complete strangers feeling entitled to physical contact with you just because you were famous. But All Might, the Symbol of Peace, looked like he revelled in it on camera.
Then again, maybe it was all part of the act. As someone who didn't like to be touched by anyone, let alone strangers, and how much he would hate it if he had to put up with it on a nearly daily basis, Aizawa could see how potentially uncomfortable it might have made Yagi. Quite a sacrifice for the sake of public image.
"Yagi-san."
He managed to catch him before he left the teachers' lounge at the end of the work day.
"Yes?" the taller man asked somewhat distractedly. Aizawa squinted. For whatever reason, whether good or bad, Aizawa made Yagi nervous: he would usually get endearingly flustered when they spoke to each other. But now he was acting rigid and aloof. Something was definitely up.
"Tell me what's wrong,'' Aizawa said abruptly.
Yagi's brain must have short circuited, because it took him a second to respond. "I'm sorry?"
Aizawa sighed. He realised his to-the-point manner of address was something Yagi was still getting used to, but he didn't want the other man to think he was being told off, or that Aizawa wasn't concerned. "I can tell something is bothering you. Perhaps I can help."
All Might expelled a puff of air in a feeble attempt at a laugh, though the smile he put on didn't meet his eyes. "It's nothing..." he said, unconvincingly.
"Come on, now. I know it's something. Whatever is bothering you, perhaps talking about it will help." Aizawa didn't know why he was being so persistent, not to mention hypocritical. Usually when someone didn't wish to be talked to, that was fine by him, and in turn he didn't want people pushing him to talk either. But for some reason, seeing Yagi upset also made him feel upset.
Yagi's smile tightened uncomfortably. "I doubt it. Besides, it's nothing new. I'll deal with it."
Good grief, this man is stubborn. At least now I know for certain something is up.
Aizawa responded, perhaps a little sharply, "You've been dealing with crap on your own for years now. I hope you know you have people around you who care about you, who are concerned for your wellbeing, don't you?"
He was surprised to hear it coming from his own mouth. Not that it wasn't true, but this was not something he would usually admit out loud.
Yagi's face dropped in response. The false smile was gone, leaving only a befuddled expression. Then the blonde suddenly expelled a laugh.
"Thanks Aizawa-kun. That helped."
Aizawa paused. "I didn't do anything," he responded, puzzled.
"You did."
Yagi rose, placed a grateful hand on Aizawa's shoulder and left. He was still dragging his feet.
~*~
The next evening, Aizawa and Yagi were the last ones left in the teacher’s lounge. They had migrated from the office because it was more comfortable, and they were in for a long night: a large pile of essays and quizzes for each of them. Aizawa was getting through his pile much quicker, but he began to take his time on each one to let Yagi catch up. The man was still slow at marking, and Aizawa would rather he didn’t try to keep pace with him for the sake of it, in case he made a mistake. Besides, he was in no hurry to leave him all alone.
As the evening slowly progressed, and daylight had faded from the windows, Aizawa kept an eye on Yagi. The man’s brow was furrowed, as it usually was when he was grading - he himself had stated finding it difficult - but tonight he was shuffling as if he couldn’t get comfortable. Every time Aizawa glanced up from his desk, Yagi looked increasingly agitated. It couldn’t just be the papers, he was sure.
This time, when Aizawa looked up, Yagi was staring straight at him, which took him a little by surprise.
“Is there something on your mind, Aizawa-kun?” Yagi asked, somewhat shortly. Quite unlike him.
Aizawa exhaled and asked, “Why are you shifting in your seat so much?”
Yagi straightened his posture and pursed his lips, taking his time to formulate his answer. “I'm deciding,” he finally declared.
“If you need a new seat cushion?”
“If I should tell you what's bothering me.”
Aizawa paused. "Oh. You don't have to, you know."
"But you want to know."
"I didn't say anyth-"
"You keep looking at me," Yagi said quickly. He couldn't tell for certain because of the lighting but Yagi’s face had gone red.
Aizawa grimaced, feeling caught. "Sorry. But you haven't been yourself."
The other man looked surprised, then hummed defeatedly. "I thought I was doing an alright job keeping it to myself."
Aizawa shrugged, giving Yagi due credit. "I'm very observant."
Yagi nodded, but didn't say anything further, lowering his head back to his marking. Aizawa decided not to pry any further, and returned to his own papers.
After what could have been minutes or possibly an hour, the silence being broken only by the scratching of pens, Yagi finally cleared his throat.
"I uh... I got stood up on a blind date."
It took Aizawa a moment to register what he'd said. He tore his gaze away from the papers to look up at him.
Yagi shrugged. "As a pro I never had time for things like dating. Not that I wasn't interested in being in a r-..." He coughed awkwardly, perhaps thinking he was over-sharing. "I mean, I just never actively sought anything out. If something were to have happened organically..." He trailed off, and cleared his throat again. "Anyway, now that I'm not on duty 24/7, I figured why not?"
He didn't sound terribly convinced of this himself, but Aizawa held his tongue.
"So I signed up for this blind dating service that matches people up. Fill in the bio, list interests and so on. After a long while I eventually got matched up with this guy and we arranged to meet up. And, well." He finished with a nonchalant shrug.
Aizawa perked up and his eyes widened slightly in surprise. He had no idea All Might was into men.
"I'm sorry about that. What a waste of your time."
Yagi hummed dismissively. "It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't shown up at all."
"Hadn't?" Aizawa asked, puzzled. Surely Yagi meant if he had shown up?
Yagi exhaled somberly, his upper body tensing. "He arrived, saw me, and went straight back out again. I pretended not to notice."
Aizawa stared at him. "He must not have seen you," he reasoned hurriedly. "Perhaps he thought you hadn't shown up?"
Yagi shook his head with a sad smile. "No, he knew to look out for a tall blonde wearing a green scarf."
Aizawa was fuming. The audacity of that guy! He soon became aware of the fact he was gaping, and promptly closed his mouth. He was half-tempted to ask for the guy’s name, just for a ‘chat’.
There was a long, uncomfortable silence.
"When you said, 'it's nothing new'..."
Yagi tensed again, clearly debating whether or not to answer. "I'm used to people shrinking away from me in public by now. Most people assume a cadaver got loose from the morgue, hah…" He finally put down his pen and stared morosely at Kaminari’s terrible handwriting. “I guess I was just hoping that in a more intimate, personal setting... I know looks aren’t the be-all end-all, and I’ve mostly accepted what I look like now… but it still stung a little, if I’m honest.”
Aizawa was at a loss for what to say. All he could think of was, “That’s no reason to be rude.”
“Hmm. I clearly wasn’t his type,” Yagi responded dryly. “I doubt I’m anyone’s type.”
"Bullshit. You're a very attractive man, Yagi-San."
The taller man grimaced, disbelieving. "That's kind of you to say, Aizawa-kun..." Yagi answered, though there was an edge to his voice. His hand subconsciously went to his scar and he clutched the fabric of his shirt tightly. "But you don't have to fib to spare my feelings."
“Do I look like the fibbing type?” Aizawa replied dryly.
Yagi kept his eyes down, and his grip on his side tightened, and Aizawa felt himself scowl involuntarily. Did Yagi really think he would lie to him? Or was the man truly that self-conscious? He didn’t think it possible of the naturally charismatic and confident Symbol of Peace. Then again, his smaller form was considerably different. It must have been difficult both physically and mentally for him to get used to, despite how long it had been since his injury.
Either way, it distressed him to see Yagi looking so dejected.
He rose to his feet and shuffled over to Yagi’s side of the desk and leaned against it, not far from him, hands in his pockets. When Yagi gave him a questioning look, he said calmly, “You should know by now that I don’t just say things, Yagi-san.” He was glad his face was half-covered by his capture weapon, lest Yagi see his cheeks flush pink.
Yagi swallowed and looked away quickly. “In that case… thank you.”
Aizawa let out a low rumble from his throat, and his expression softened. “Again, I’m sorry that happened.”
Yagi shook his head and attempted a smile. “That’s alright. I’d like to think I don’t need a relationship, but still… it might be nice…” he pondered lightly. Aizawa wondered if he knew he’d said that last part out loud.
“Have you ever been in a relationship?” Aizawa was just as surprised by his own question as Yagi was. “Sorry,” he added quickly. “I wasn’t trying to be nosy-”
“No no, it’s fine. Just… unexpected,” Yagi answered with a hint of amusement. “And to answer your question, um, no. I had a singular goal in life and I guess I just let work take priority over, well, everything.” His hand moved to his side again. “What about you?”
On any other day, with any other person asking, Aizawa would have deflected the question with a disinterested huff and moved on with his day. But it was only fair to answer as honestly as Yagi had. “Nothing serious. I’m a little like you I guess; I’m not actively looking, but if anything were to happen…” He suddenly became aware who he was telling this to, and quickly stopped, hiding his flushing face deeper into his scarf before Yagi noticed.
“I think I may need to reassess that,” Yagi said glumly.
“What do you mean?”
It took a while for Yagi to answer. He shuffled in his seat before standing and moving to the window, staring out over the UA grounds. “It comes and goes, but sometimes I get these feelings, these thoughts… am I allowed to want this? Have I done enough to earn the love of another person? I haven’t exactly nurtured any close bonds with people outside of hero work. How many people have I met in my life that adore All Might, but would merely tolerate Toshinori Yagi?” He looked forlornly at his emaciated hands and wrists. “I guess I’ll find out sooner rather than later...
“I think you're being too hard on yourself.”
“Oh?” Yagi replied quickly, with a scoff. “When I first started here, the staff were certainly friendly, and eager to talk to me. When I was bulked up as All Might, that is. Once they got over the shock of seeing me like this it was fine. But even with them, I could feel this sense of discomfort whenever I transformed. It’s subtle, and I don’t think they mean it, but it’s there.”
Aizawa’s scowl returned. “If you really think that, then why are you telling me any of this?”
“Hm?” Yagi asked, distractedly.
“Do you think I also shrink away from you?” he asked Yagi perhaps a little too sternly. But he couldn’t help feeling slightly offended. “Am I so superficial in your eyes?”
Yagi had to think for a moment. “No,” he began sadly. As his breathing deepened Aizawa could see the corners of his eyes dampen. ”But you do look at me differently.”
If only you knew why, Aizawa thought somberly. But now might not be the time to bring it up.
“I’m sorry, I’m rambling now,” Yagi expelled a mirthless chuckle. “I just wish I had a comfortable relationship, you know, like you and Yamada-kun have-”
“We’re just friends,” Aizawa corrected quickly, his chest going tight.
Yagi's eyes widened for the briefest fraction of a second. “Ah yes, well, that too. It must be nice to have someone you're so close to.”
“Don’t you…?”
He shook his head. “Not really. Work associates, colleagues, a few casual friends. But no one I’d say I'm really close to. For a while I thought that maybe w-” Yagi's eyes widened suddenly. “I'm sorry, I don't know why I unloaded on you like that,” he said, wringing his hands and looking away.
“Perhaps it's because you needed to let some things out,” Aizawa answered hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck. “And… I'd like to think it's because you feel comfortable enough with me that you could, at last.” He felt the tightness in his chest become a suffocating, clenching sensation.
Yagi nodded appreciatively. He continued, his voice strained. “I thought perhaps if someone met me without the expectation of All Might; without the knowledge of my other form that I could just pop in and out of to satisfy their preconceived image of me, then…” He clenched his fists and shook his head roughly. “I used to be so busy, and surrounded by people at the agency, and people who needed saving that I didn't spend much time with myself. So I don't know if the person that's left is-” His voice caught in his throat. “If I can't be happy with my own company, how can I expect anyone else to be? After All Might, what's left? I'm a husk, Aizawa-kun. I'm just… tired.”
Aizawa could see his chest rising and falling erratically, and noted that Yagi was avoiding looking at him.
“I uh, I should go…”
He returned to the desk and fumbled about with the unfinished marking.
Aizawa watched him, and in a flash he imagined what would happen if he allowed him to just walk out without saying anything to him. If he waited until the next day, whatever he said may come across as empty, or as an act of pity. They may still be taken that way if he said anything now, but if he waited he would surely miss his chance.
Screw it.
He lightly caught hold of Yagi's wrist as he rushed past him. He felt the man tense up, but contrary to his previous observations he did not try to pull away, so he kept hold, gently.
“You mentioned that I look at you differently. You’re right.” He heard Yagi sniff, and his breath caught in his throat. “But whatever you think the reason is, you’re probably wrong…”
“Oh?” Yagi asked hesitantly. Aizawa reluctantly let go of him, and Yagi pulled his hand up to his chest, fist clenched.
“I always saw the All Might persona as a front. Of course, I understood that Japan’s Number One had to be big, buff and intimidating for the villains, and big, buff and reassuring for the public. But I always found it phoney.”
Yagi huffed loudly, rolling his eyes and pursing his lips. “You’re pretty lousy at pep talks, Aizawa-kun,” he muttered bitterly.
“Let me finish,” he replied firmly. Yagi nodded, but still wouldn’t look at him. Aizawa sighed and continued. He’d already resolved to do this, but saying it out loud was proving difficult.
“When you first revealed yourself to us, whatever reaction you thought you saw from me wasn’t shrinking away, wasn’t recoiling at your new form. I was taken aback; not at how you looked. But that you would share this part of yourself. The real you. It was comforting, for me at least, to know that there was a real person under the Symbol.”
From what he could see of his face, Yagi was narrowing his eyes. Perhaps he was insulted that Aizawa didn’t think he was a real person before. God, he really was bad at this.
“The thing is… the truth is…” he corrected, feeling the air enter his lungs at an excruciatingly slow pace. “I like you a l-”
“I don’t need your pity…” Yagi spat harshly.
He finally turned his head to face him, face set and eyes cold; Aizawa’s heart wrenched when he saw a tear streaming down Yagi’s cheek. This was precisely what he didn’t want; his confession was far from an act of pity. But he wouldn’t deny his timing was terrible.
Yagi looked as if he had more to say, but he took a shaky breath in, and his next words were spoken in a hollow, defeated, hurt tone. “Good night, Aizawa-kun.”
Without another word, he left swiftly, leaving Aizawa reaching for the empty space he had previously occupied.
He grunted and dropped his head into his hands.
~*~
The next day, Aizawa approached school at the usual time, expecting to see the pack of hyenas that called themselves reporters who seemed to have set up permanent residence huddled outside the school gates as usual. But there were only a handful of reporters and cameras. Strange, he thought to himself, they’re usually all over us for something about All Might. Were they finally losing interest? All Might being a teacher here was hardly news to anyone at this point.
As he strode through the doors, eyeing the chattering students filing into their classrooms, he noted a distinct absence of grinning teeth and blonde hair. Where was he?
He wasn’t in the staff lounge when he entered. The teachers had about twenty minutes at the beginning of each day before the actual teaching started, and All Might was usually in here frantically gathering his flashcards and cheat sheets. But not this morning.
He grabbed a juice pouch from his shelf in the fridge and slumped onto the sofa next to Yamada, who was looking over what looked like the daily rota, while periodically glancing sideways at him.
“Hm, that’s weird,” Yamada eventually said, puzzled.
“What?”
“Today isn’t Yagi-san’s usual day off.”
Aizawa sat up quickly. “He’s taken today off?”
“Looks like it.”
“Shit…” Aizawa screwed his eyes shut and grimaced.
Yamada raised a questioning eyebrow. “Do you know something I don’t?”
After letting out a long, agonised sigh, Aizawa explained the events of the previous evening to his friend. When he’d finished, face red and chest tight, Yamada drew a deep breath.
“Woof. Your timing sucks, man.”
“I know that,” Aizawa answered through gritted teeth and screwed-shut eyes. He could feel a headache coming on.
“But also, you might want to deflate that ego a bit, buddy.”
That he wasn’t expecting. “Excuse me?” he asked somewhat incredulously.
Yamada waved his hand and said, “It’s kinda big-headed of you to assume that that’s the reason he’s not in today. He isn’t exactly at peak health. I mean, he did take a big hit recently. He might just need rest.”
Aizawa scoffed, but nodded. Yamada could be right about why Yagi wasn’t there; although knowing Yagi he wouldn’t willingly take a rest day. But Yamada was definitely right about one thing: he needed to keep his ego in check. But he still felt abysmally guilty.
Yamada continued, “And even if it is the reason he’s playing hookie, I honestly can’t say I blame him.” He raised his hands defensively when Aizawa gave him an affronted glare. “I’m not saying it’s your fault or anything, but it sounds like he’s real down. You obviously meant it in a good way and it came from a good place, but imagine how it sounded to him, at that moment in particular.”
Aizawa grunted heavily. “I have! That’s all I’ve been thinking about!”
Just then, the bell for first period rang. Yamada huffed and rose to his feet. “We’ll catch up later man. Don’t beat yourself up too much, you hear?” He gave Aizawa a clap on the shoulder before heading off to his English lesson for the second year General Studies class.
Aizawa shook his head, having little doubt in his mind: that was all he would be doing.
~*~
As he predicted, Aizawa had a miserable day. Not that any of his students would have been able to tell; outwardly he was the same straight-faced, pragmatic educator he always was. But every now and then he felt his insides twisting uncomfortably, and it was distracting as hell.
“Yeesh, you look like crap,” Yamada observed at the end of the day. “More than usual, I mean,” he added with a grin, attempting to lift his friend’s mood.
“Gee, thanks,” Aizawa responded as if on autopilot.
Yamada cleared his throat, changing tactics. “I thought I told you not to stress over this too much, man. It’s out of your control. Hardly logical, is it?”
Aizawa scowled. That was rich, coming from Yamada. But he was right: it was irrational to obsess and fret over someone else’s actions, inactions or reactions. What was in his control were his own actions… but this revelation didn’t help much. He had still upset Yagi. And he still felt terrible about it.
He retreated into his capture weapon and buried his hands deep into his pockets as he and Yamada descended the steps to go home for the day. Aizawa barely listened as his friend recapped his third year lesson of using some foreign author’s book ‘Northern Lights’ to help them improve their English reading comprehension.
“Yagi-san!” Yamada said so suddenly it made Aizawa jump. He looked and saw the man in question making his way to the school steps, hunched and breathing heavily.
“Oh hey,” he answered, and his voice sounded huskier than usual.
Yamada strode over to him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Thought you’d run out on us, my main man!”
“Never crossed my mind,” Yagi answered with an attempt at a laugh, but a cough came out instead. “I just had a routine checkup at the hospital, ran a little longer than I thought. Well, a lot longer,” he corrected with a shrug.
“Oh, a hospital checkup, gotcha!” the Voice Hero answered with deliberate emphasis, eyeing Aizawa, who wanted to smack him.
“Uh, yeah,” Yagi replied, confused. “I just came by so I could set up tomorrow’s class.”
“Want us to give you a hand with it? Not to brag, but I am the master of lesson plans!” Yamada boasted. Aizawa snorted: nothing could be further from the truth. Yamada ignored him.
Yagi stammered, “Ah, no, it’s alright. It’s the same lesson I’ve done with the A class, I’m just delivering it to B. I only need to double check the register and the kids’ quirk compatibilities.”
“Cool dude, then we’ll keep you company,” insisted Yamada, stepping between the two, throwing his arms around their shoulders (a difficult task with Yagi) and steered them up the stairs.
What the hell do you think you’re doing? Aizawa mouthed with a glare.
Make nice and straighten things out like a grown up, Yamada answered with his raised brow.
Just as they got to the staffroom door, Yamada dramatically smacked his forehead. “Ooooooh, shoot! I totally forgot I told Nemuri I’d meet her after work. Dangit. Guess I'll have to leave you guys to it, sorry.”
If Aizawa didn’t know him better - which, sadly, he did - he could have sworn he saw an evil glint of enjoyment in those green eyes. Both he and Yagi tried to stammer their protests, but Yamada was already halfway down the corridor with his back to them, waving merrily before disappearing around a corner.
Aizawa glowered at the spot Yamada had just occupied. He could practically see the shit-eating grin on his smug face.
He didn’t realise how still he was standing until he heard Yagi shuffle quickly into the staffroom. Not sure what to do with himself, he hovered in the doorway as Yagi hurriedly gathered some papers, pointedly not looking at him. In fact, he seemed to be busying himself doing nothing in particular: he picked up and put down the same pile of papers three times at different locations around the desks.
After a few minutes of unbearable silence, Aizawa cleared his throat. “Um, listen, Yagi-san-”
But he was interrupted by Yagi straightening up and holding up a hand. “If I could just stop you there, Aizawa-kun…”
There it was. He knew it. He had irreparably damaged his working relationship with Yagi, as well as the tentative friendship they had started to develop, not to mention any potential for…
Aizawa braced himself.
However, to his surprise, Yagi said, “I’m sorry for storming out last night. I wasn’t in the best place, and I appreciate what you were saying, but your timing-”
“Sucked?” Aizawa asked sheepishly.
Yagi paused. “Frankly, yes.”
“I know. And I’m sorry.” He dropped his head and inhaled sharply. “I didn’t want you to leave feeling so low about yourself. But I see how you might have thought I was being insincere.” He felt Yagi’s gaze bore into him. He clenched and unclenched his fists in his pockets as he searched for what to say. Dammit, his poor communication is what caused this mess in the first place. What made him think he had any chance of smoothing things over now?
“Did you mean it?” Yagi asked suddenly, prompting Aizawa to look at him at last. He was pressing the tips of his index fingers together. “When you said you like me? Because I’ve been trying to get closer to you for a while now, I’ll admit. And I’d consider myself very lucky to call you my friend.” He shuffled and cleared his throat. Aizawa couldn’t help but smile. Somehow, the most charismatic hero in the country got super flustered when he felt awkward. It was incredibly endearing.
“I meant it. But… not quite like that.”
Yagi instantly went beet red. “I… didn’t dare to think that you could have been talking about-”
“I was, though.”
There was a long pause, in which they fixed gazes, wide-eyed.
Yagi suddenly coughed loudly, and wiped away a few specks of blood. “You can understand why I found it hard to believe, though. Considering-”
“Considering I act like a disinterested jackass ninety percent of the time?” Aizawa finished, smiling wryly.
“I uh, wasn’t going to say anything remotely like that,” Yagi replied with a grin. The first real one Aizawa had seen for a while. It suited him. “Besides, I happen to think your stoic demeanour is very…” He covered his mouth with his hand, gripping tightly as if to stop any embarrassing words escaping involuntarily. “Er, what I meant to say was that, despite the ‘disinterested jackass’ front,” (Aizawa let out a chuckle) “it’s clear how dedicated you are to your duty, your students and your friends. I can tell how much you really care.”
Aizawa felt a little disarmed. Only Yamada and a few others knew him like this. Everyone else knew him on a surface level, assuming he was just scruffy and strict. But it seems that Yagi was a lot more observant than he had ever given him credit for. He felt the tightness in his chest loosen somewhat, knowing that despite not being very open with the man thus far out of fear of rejection, he had still managed to see that side of him.
“That’s… very perceptive of you,” he said, rubbing the back of his head, thankful that his capture weapon was high enough to hide his blushing cheeks behind.
“I didn’t mean for it to come off as creepy!” Yagi said hastily, misreading Aizawa’s bashfulness. “I was just… trying to say… I reciprocate…”
Aizawa was taken aback. His wide-eyed expression made Yagi laugh.
“Are you really surprised?”
“Er… obviously.”
“I was scared I was being super obvious,” Yagi explained bashfully. “In fact I’m almost certain Yamada-kun is onto me.”
Aizawa paused and thought. He scowled slightly as he thought back to Yamada: trying to get them to go over to Yagi that night in the park, looking for him on the rota while side-eyeing Aizawa, tricking them into the staffroom on their own.
The sneaky bastard.
After a long awkward pause, Aizawa broke the silence. “So. It’s out in the open then?” he asked uncertainly.
Yagi fidgeted with the hem of his blazer. “I’m, uh, I’m not sure what to say going forward. I’m not used to this.”
Aizawa chortled. “Seriously? I would have thought the Symbol of Peace would have been courted on a regular basis.”
Yagi snorted in response. “Only propositions shouted at me from crowds, and some creepy fan letters.” He turned his head shyly away. “No one’s really put in the effort like this…”
Aizawa took a few tentative steps forward. “On that note, it seems unfair that you missed out on a date. So…” He tentatively held out his hand. “Would you maybe like to-”
“Yes!” Yagi’s quick response surprised both of them. The taller man went red again and spluttered apologetically, “Sorry. That was loud.”
Aizawa smiled, extending his hand further. Yagi stared at it for a second, and then reached his own hand out and took it. Aizawa closed his fingers around Yagi’s, and noted with a pang of affection that he was trembling.
“So uh, where would you like to go?” Aizawa asked, suddenly remembering he hardly ever did this sort of thing. What do people even do on dates?
He looked up to find Yagi gazing down at him fondly. “I couldn’t care less,” he answered softly, squeezing his fingers gently. “As long as it’s with you.”
A chuckle escaped his lips. “Are you always this cheesy?”
“I don’t know,” Yagi replied with a cheeky smile.
Aizawa raised a wry brow. “I guess I’ll find out…”
As they left the building, they didn’t untwine their fingers. Much to both of their surprise, Yamada was waiting for them, leaning on the pillar outside the door with the smuggest toothy grin.
“You are such a meddling asshat!” Aizawa growled, while poor Yagi hid his blushing face behind Aizawa’s head, gripping his shoulders tightly.
“That’s Mr Meddling Asshat to you! And look where it got you. About time!” He ruffled Aizawa’s hair, ignoring the death glare coming at him, and gave Yagi an affectionate fist bump on his arm. Then he swung his arms around both their necks and said, “Now that you clueless idiots have finally figured things out, I have to talk to both of you about your wardrobes before you actually go out on a date! I mean look at you, you need-URK!”
Yamada coughed when he realised his voice was gone; Aizawa’s floating hair and glowing eyes saw to that. He removed Yamada’s hand from his shoulder and lightly pushed him to the side, and stepped closer to Yagi.
Yamada rubbed his neck when his quirk (and voice) was returned to him. “Right, okay, I get it, you need some ‘alone time’, but don’t think this is getting either of you out of a shopping trip!” he shouted after the pair happily ignoring him as they walked away hand in hand.