Chapter Text
(3rd Person's POV)
*beep beep beep*
"Ugh" Izumi groaned as she hit the alarm clock next to her. She shifted so she was on her back, staring at the ceiling, blinking tiredly. She rubbed her hand down her face and got up, grumbling on how cold it was. It was almost Christmas break, so that meant students got to go home until the New Year. "One month left..." she whispered to herself, changing into her school uniform. She grabbed her bag and walked towards the door, stopping short at the mirror by her bed. She observed her face, hair, curves, everything about herself, and it all felt wrong wrong wrong. 'what is wrong with me?' she thought, shaking her head, and rushing down stairs to grab breakfast.
To be honest, she always felt like that, never feeling comfortable in her own skin, like something was missing, but that had to be ignored, after all, that feeling came from the fact she was quirkless for 90% of her life...right? But now she had no reason to complain. She was trained and given a quirk by her childhood hero, got into the school of her dreams, made real friends and was no longer being bullied (for the most part). 'What else do I need? Why do I have to be so selfish all the time? So what if you want to be a boy, it doesn't need to be everyone else's problem. Just keep your mouth shut, this feeling will go away.' Izumi told herself that in the beginning of her time at UA, and she was wrong, that feeling did not go away, in fact it got worse. She felt stuck in a body that wasn't hers, she hated when people said her name, she hated it all, all that was her physically. Some time after the Stain incident, she couldn't handle the stress anymore and began slicing into herself when everyone was asleep. 'you deserve this' is what she always would tell herself.
Izumi ran down the stairs of the dorms, and into the kitchen. She glanced at the clock which said 6:34. Recently, Izumi had been getting up early to avoid conversations with her fellow classmates, but mainly Bakugo. She didn't have the emotional energy to deal with his taunting anymore, so of course instead of telling him to quit it, she instead does everything she can to avoid the loud blonde. She took a muffin from the counter and quickly ate it before grabbing an energy drink from the fridge. Did Aizawa tell everyone to stop buying them...yes, did they...of course not. Izumi headed outside to run a few laps around the track before entering Class 1-A's homeroom. It was still too early for Aizawa to be there but Izumi didn't care, she just sat down and added a few drawings to one of her prized analysis journals.
"Good Morning Midoriya!" Iida announced loudly while entering, causing the greenette to flinch. "H-hey Iida, good morning." she said, while putting away her journal. Iida studied his friend with great interest before speaking again. "Midoriya, when was the last time you slept? You look exhausted, not to mention you keep coming into class incredibly early." Izumi tired her best not to sigh, this was the third time that week that he had asked her that. "I told you Iida, I'm ok, I just have been studying a lot for the exams coming up and I've been training really hard with my quirk, it's nothing to worry about, really." she said, giving him the best smile she could. Iida didn't seem like he bought it but he nodded anyway. "I'm glad you're working hard, but do not overdo it or else it will be all for nothing." he said, waving his arms. "Thanks Iida." she muttered sadly as other students started filling in to the classroom.
Izumi kept her head down as the class was talking before the bell rang. 'too loud, head hurts' she thought painfully to herself. Luckily enough for her, Aizawa entered the class, in all of his tired glory. "Shut up brats, class is starting." he grumbled, stepping out of his precious sleeping bag. Shushing sound swept across the room, and everyone was quiet, listening for instruction. "Originally, today we were going to go over hero laws..." Aizawa was interrupted by scattered groans throughout the room, before he glared at them and continued, "BUT...because of your exams coming up, today will be a free period to study. If you choose to waste this time to talk or whatever the hell you want to do, don't complain to me later after you've failed your exams." he stated dully, getting back into his sleeping bag, letting the students do their own thing.
There was something off, and it's been that way for a while, but more now, than ever. Aizawa always did his best to keep an eye on all of his student's mental health and well being. They all had their problems, but Izumi stuck out to him the most out of all of them. He didn't even know what, but he knew that she wasn't as happy and carefree as she presented herself. But now it seems like she's avoiding everyone, including her friends, which is very out of character for her. Today for class he gave them a free period to study (not just because his patrol went too long and he got zero sleep) and usually Izumi would look ecstatic about the idea of getting free time, but to day she wasn't even looking at him, she was laying her head down, covering her face. This was very concerning, and Shouta had enough of sitting around watching, he was going to look into his Problem Child to see what the fuck is up with her.
(Time Skip to Teacher's Lounge After School)
"Sho, what's wrong? You've been zoning out all day." Hizashi asked, giving his husband a concerned look. Shouta was at his desk, looking out the window, ignoring his work in front of him. "Wha- oh, I'm just...thinking." he mumbled, going back to his computer, obviously still upset. Hizashi sighed, getting up and wrapping his arms around him. "Yeah, no shit Sherlock, can you tell me what you're thinking about." he said in a light, teasing tone. Shouta leaned into the touch and closed his eyes. "What are your thoughts about Izumi Midoriya?" Shouta asked. The blonde raised an eyebrow at the question. "Um, she's a great student, excels in English, and never causes any problems, she's also really sweet. But Sho...why are you asking me this?" Aizawa sighed, and ignored the question. "No, I mean is there anything that seems off to you about her." Hizashi stood up from leaning on Shouta's chair. The raven swiveled his chair around to meet his husband's confused face. "Just answer the question...please." he added quietly. Hizashi softened his face into a more thoughtful look. "Well, I don't think there's anything off with her...wait, actually she's seeming to be more distant from the rest of the class recently." Shouta nodded, "Yeah...anything else you've noticed?" "I don't know if it's just coincidence but it seems to me that whenever someone says her first name she seems upset by it, like it's an insult or something." the voice hero said hesitantly. Aizawa nodded slowly, than got up from his desk. "We should go to the dorms to see if the kids haven't killed each other yet. I promise I'll tell you what's up after dinner, ok?" he said softly, kissing Hizashi's forehead. He nodded but was still concerned, and followed his husband out the door.
Thankfully the dorms weren't on fire when the two men got there, but there was some bickering between Bakugo and Denki in the kitchen, which Aizawa stopped easily. When it was time for dinner, Aizawa decided to pay attention to everything Izumi did to see if there was something he was missing. Everyone came downstairs, laughing and teasing each other, grabbing and filling their plates up with food...except for Izumi. She made a beeline for the food before everyone else, and when she thought no one was looking, sprinted back upstairs with her food. Shouta watched the whole interaction with a slightly stunned look on his face. 'does she do this every night? how have I not noticed this before? shit, I guess I always get too busy dealing with the other kid's loud bull shit at the table. I'm the one who tells them about situational awareness and I don't even notice a student running off every night, I'm such an idiot! All I had to do wa-' A hand on his shoulder interrupted the raven's internal battle with himself. "Sho, breathe." his husband whispered gently. Shouta sighed and took a few deep breaths. 'how'd I get so lucky?' he thought affectionately before standing up. "Zashi, I need to go an-" "No," Hizashi interrupted, holding Shouta's wrist. "I saw it too, but you probably don't even have a plan do you? You can't just go in her room and demand to know why she left." Shouta looked at the ground as if it was the one causing him all these problems. "You said you'd tell me what you're thinking after we ate, right? Well let's eat, then we'll make a battle plan, ok?" Hizashi asked, smiling softly. Shouta sighed in defeat and sat back down, nodding slightly. Hizashi gently squeezed the raven's hand under the table. "It'll be ok."
The first thing after dinner Aizawa put on a movie for the class (so they hopefully wouldn't get into trouble) and dragged his husband to his room. Once the blonde had shut the door behind him, Shouta started pacing, muttering stressed things under his breath. 'woah, he never gets this worked up over a student' Hizashi thinks, taking off his directional speaker, and fixing his hair into a half bun. He walks over to Shouta's small couch and sits down, patting the space next to him. "Come here babe." he says patiently. Aizawa pauses mid pace and looks at his husband with nervous eyes before faltering and curling up into his husband's side. Hizashi stroked his back lightly, allowing Shouta to calm down. When he felt the other man's heartbeat slow down, Hizashi shifted to look at him. "What's going on Sho?" Aizawa sighed, straightening himself up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get that panicked about it." he mumbled. "Babe, don't apologize, you've been stressed all day, and you didn't get any sleep last night, it's good to get it out." the blonde said reassuringly, which won him a small smile from Shouta. "Thanks. But back to what we were talking about earlier, after what you've said and what I've observed I think Izumi is going through some kind of deep depression. i don't know what it's about for sure but I have my assumptions." Shouta said, concern imminent in his voice. "Yeah I think you're right, she seems to be good at masking her true emotions, which is pretty concerning actually." Hizashi said thoughtfully. Shouta nodded, leaning into the blonde again. They sat there for a few minutes in comfortable silence before Hizashi spoke up again. "I think you should go talk to her." Shouta tensed, "...what should I say?" he said, almost whispering. "Just say what you're thinking. You're concerned about her right?" Shouta nodded. "Then tell her that. Just make sure you aren't too strict while talking to her, break down that aloof wall of yours and be gentle." Hizashi said with a hint of amusement in his voice. Aizawa sighed, and got up. "Whatever, I'll text you if I need your help, or something happens." Hizashi smiled, "I love you babe!" he called out after him. "...love you too." And with that, Shouta made his way up to the Problem Child's room.