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See, the thing is, Izuku is pretty sure that he and Shinsou Hitoshi could be really good friends if the other boy would kindly remove the stick from his ass. Sure, they’re texting buddies, mainly because Izuku has an excellent source for quality cat memes, and Shinsou simply can’t resist the little cuties, but if Izuku tries to sit with him at lunch?
Nada. Shut down, every time.
Izuku is starting to get frustrated, because he’s been trying to befriend Shinsou since the damn Sports Festival. It’s now nearly the end of term, with final exams rapidly approaching and Izuku hasn’t made any progress. He even bribes Officer Tamakawa for the really good memes, the ones that normally don’t trickle out into general social media for months , and still he sometimes gets stonewalled beyond keysmashes and the occasional ‘lol’. The few times he’s coaxed out genuine conversation have been amazing, and Shinsou is so clever and funny!
So, Izuku draws up a battle plan - literally. On a Friday evening, he takes advantage of the whiteboard in the common room that’s meant to be for schoolwork, but more often ends up with random doodles by bored students, and Iida’s neatly printed handwriting telling them to cut it out. It takes well over an hour, and Izuku is very much ignoring his giggling audience by the time he’s satisfied with his plan.
“Izu,” Eijirou broaches cautiously, “are you sure this is a good idea?”
Izuku snorts as he steps back to better admire his handiwork. “Oh, it’s not,” he replies, and smiles to himself. “But at this point, I’m desperate.”
“And if he refuses?” Ochako probes warily.
“Then I’ll give up,” Izuku admits. “If, after this, Shinsou still doesn’t want to be friends, I can’t force it. I just don’t get it though! He’s happy enough to text me, but not sit with me at lunch?” He can’t help the exasperation that creeps into his voice, and Eijirou, Izuku’s very best friend in the whole world, huffs out a laugh.
“I don’t get it either, bro,” he says in commiseration. “You’re like, the nicest guy, and I can’t imagine not wanting to be friends with you.”
“Right!” Ochako chimes in, and even Tenya agrees!
Izuku of course, can’t help but burst into tears at the showering of love they give him, and then there’s three of them are bawling in the common room because Ochako and Eijirou are sympathetic criers. Poor Tenya, as always, ends up on back-patting and tissue-supplying duty with fond amusement.
Monoma, passing through from the kitchen to head upstairs, rolls his eyes at their dramatics, but also tosses them a few bottles of water to share.
He’s a weird guy, that one.
Either way, by the end of the night, Izuku has a Plan. He also has the encouragement of his friends, and a tight amazing wonderful brilliant hug from Eijirou to support him.
Saturday morning is when Izuku would normally be waking up early to head to his mother’s - he’d go on Friday night, but he’s also aware that Friday’s is the one night Aizawa-sensei’s always keeps free for dates with Izuku’s mum, and he has zero desire to get in the way of that... Which is still weird in so many ways, but Izuku also genuinely likes Aizawa-sensei. And more than that, Izuku likes seeing his mother happy.
Inko smiles so much more these days, and Izuku knows that Aizawa-sensei is the source of a lot of her new happiness. It’s not that Izuku feels like he wasn’t enough for her to be happy, though, far from it. He knows that no matter what, he’s number one in his mother’s book. If Izuku is the text, then Aizawa-sensei is the gilded pages, the cover binding it together, a wonderful addition to be sure, but not essential to understand the story, just... just there and wonderful that it is.
...He’s getting sidetracked. The point is, Izuku wakes up, goes through his morning routine and then beelines to the 1-C dorms when he'd normally be heading home. It’s early still, just past 8AM, but Izuku knows Shinsou has insomnia and will undoubtedly be awake. So, it’s with his brightest smile that Izuku knocks on the door, and waits for someone to answer.
Unsurprisingly, it’s Yamada-sensei - Zashi, when his hair is all down and pretty - that answers, and he snorts softly in amusement when he sees Izuku waiting patiently. “You’re here for Shinsou, I presume,” he says and Izuku nods eagerly. Without hesitating, the man turns and bellows into the dorms for Shinsou to come see his friend.
Izuku rolls his eyes at Zashi’s dramatics, and then sneaks in a quick hug before anyone can come down and see them. “You’re still coming over for dinner tomorrow, right?” Izuku checks and the blonde nods with a cheerful smile.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” he says brightly, and Izuku can’t help but smile back just as happily. He wonders if he can convince the man to bring his nail polish over... His nails from his birthday haven't really held up considering the intensity of training in the lead-up to their term exams.
“Oh god,” Shinsou says, “nope, it’s too early for this.”
“You weren’t asleep anyway,” Izuku says, “besides, I didn’t come here for no reason. I have some passes for a cat café and I thought you might like to come with me!” It’s only a small misdirection, and that Izuku had prepaid for the vouchers is irrelevant. A logical ruse, Izuku would call it just to piss off Shouta.
“At 8AM on a Saturday?” Shinsou asks, but Izuku can see the gleam of interest in his eyes.
“Yeah, before the cats get sick of people,” Izuku explains. He ignores Zashi watching them with unbridled amusement. “C’mon,” he cajoles, “I even have some more memes to show you!”
Shinsou crumples like a wet tissue. “Fine,” he concedes. “Let me get changed.” And then the boy disappears again, and Hizashi snorts.
“Impressive,” he says approvingly. “Stage one of your plan is complete then?”
Izuku blinks up at him. “How-?”
“If you’re planning a secret op, maybe don’t leave it written on the common room whiteboard where your homeroom teacher can take incriminating photos,” Zashi advises, and Izuku blushes profusely. Okay, that’s probably a good point.
Luckily, when Izuku and Shinsou get to the cat café after a silent but not awkward walk, the good table is still free. Izuku beelines for it immediately, tugging lightly on Shinsou’s arm and shoving him into a chair. “What do you want to drink?”
“Um,” Shinsou says, “black coffee, extra shot. Please.”
Izuku beams. “No problem!”
From there Izuku coaxes Shinsou into conversation, from comparing their English assignments to what Zashi Yamada-sensei is like as a homeroom teacher. He even manages to get Shinsou to admit to his private lessons with Shouta - which Izuku already guessed at because the man isn’t as sneaky as he thinks - and gets the teen going on a good rant about Eraserhead and how cool he is.
Admittedly... Izuku and Shinsou spend a lot of time talking about Eraserhead, which isn’t difficult because he’s Izuku’s homeroom teacher, and also his favourite hero. Shinsou seems disbelieving when Izuku says that, eyes flicking down to Izuku’s knuckles, but he doesn’t voice it.
However, it’s only after a few hours of cuddling cats that Izuku can see Shinsou’s social meter getting dangerously low, so he decides to call it a day. With an easy smile, Izuku mentions his pre-planned excuse of needing to have lunch at his mother’s, and they head back to UA.
Of course, because Izuku is involved, nothing is ever easy, and the progress he thinks he’s made with Shinsou is ruined when the other boy stops just inside the UA gates and turns to him.
“So, when are you going to give up this little charade?”
“Charade?” Izuku asks, and frowns up at the taller boy. “What charade?”
“The one where you pretend to be my friend,” Shinsou snaps. “I’ve met people like you before.”
Izuku recoils at the sudden venom in Shinsou’s voice - he thought things had been going well. Oh gods, Izuku thinks, and desperately goes back over his prior conversations with Shinsou to try and figure out why he thinks Izuku would ever do something so cruel.
“No one wants to be the villain’s friend,” Shinsou hisses and he steps forward to loom over Izuku. “So what’s your angle, golden boy?”
The... the villain’s friend? Izuku scowls ferociously and stops backing away, his sudden defiance startling Shinsou. “Call yourself that again and I’ll punch you,” Izuku warns, and there’s a low, burning anger building behind his ribs.
“What?” Shinsou scoffs, “is the little hero student worried about the villain?” He snorts and turns to walk away.
Well, Shinsou can’t say Izuku didn’t warn him, he thinks wryly as he grabs Shinsou’s arm to halt him as well. Only when Shinsou is glaring at Izuku does he strike, with a low and hard blow to Shinsou’s stomach.
“The fuck, Midoriya!?” Shinsou yells, and Izuku glares right back at him.
“You’re not a villain, Shinsou!” Izuku snaps, and he shoves the other boy up against a convenient tree. “So stop saying you are.” He’s almost pleading now, because it hurts to see Shinsou hate himself so much, to self-destruct when there are people willing to help him.
“Break it up!” A far-too familiar voice yells, and Izuku groans as Shinsou pushes him off, staring with wide eyes at the man stalking up behind them. Typical.
“Midoriya,” Shouta says sharply, and Izuku very meekly recategorises him as Aizawa-sensei right now.
“Eraserhead,” Shinsou murmurs, and despite the annoyance flickering in his eyes, Izuku can see the man preen a little at the awe being shown towards him.
“That’s me,” Aizawa-sensei says flatly, and then fixed Izuku with a disappointed look. “Explain yourself.”
Izuku hesitates, and then eyes Shinsou, biting his lip. It takes him a moment, but Shou Aizawa-sensei waits patiently. Izuku decides on being fully honest, probably more than Shinsou would like. “Shinsou called himself a villain,” Izuku mutters sullenly, and ignores the way the other boy blanches. “I told him if he said it again, I’d punch him. He said it again.”
Aizawa-sensei closes his eyes and tilts his head back, seemingly praying for patience. “You understand that that was immature and not behaviour fitting of a hero-in-training, yes?”
Izuku winces. “Yessir.”
“Detention every day for a month for assaulting another student,” Aizawa-sensei decides. “A minimum three page essay on how heroes-in-training are expected to behave, and no home visit next weekend.”
Izuku pouts but doesn’t argue; he doesn’t want to miss this weekend as well, which Aizawa-sensei hasn’t mentioned yet, but undoubtedly will if Izuku pushes his luck. As it is, those detentions will eat into two weeks next term as well.
Aizawa-sensei turns to Shinsou, and raises an eyebrow. “Why do you think you’re a villain?”
Shinsou rolls his eyes. “My quirk is brainwashing,” he drawls, any hero-worship pushes aside by blatant self-loathing. He shrugs, then. “I don’t know why Mr Perf-Quirked over there even cares. It’s not like-"
“My quirk force manifested late, you absolute prick,” Izuku interrupts and Shinsou’s eyes widen. “That’s what I was trying to tell you before you decided to be a jerk!”
“Midoriya,” Aizawa-sensei snaps warningly, and Izuku subsides, turning his head away. He stares darkly at the ground as Aizawa-sensei sighs loudly. “Teenagers,” he mutters under his breath.
Shinsou is staring at Izuku, but he pointedly ignores the other boy. ‘Perf-Quirked’ rings through his mind and he wants to puke as something bubbles in his chest. Gods, if Izuku had been ‘Perf-Quirked’ his mother would still have her old friends, and his dad wouldn’t have left, and Kacchan wouldn’t have bullied him and maybe Izuku wouldn’t be stupidly depressed half the time. Damn, maybe if he’d had any quirk, he might not have ruined his mother’s life!
Ah, Izuku realises absently, he’s angry, trembling with a full-body rage he hasn’t felt since Iida went after Stain while they were both interning with Manual. It’s unfamiliar, and uncomfortable, and-
“Midoriya,” Aizawa-sensei says evenly, “follow my counting.”
And now he’s having a panic attack, goddammit!
Izuku, in his defence, does try very hard to follow Aizawa-sensei’s counted breathing pattern, but it’s a little difficult when his hearing keeps tuning in and out like a bad radio.
Eventually, though, Izuku manages to calm himself, and as soon as he’s in full control again, reddens and drops his gaze to his shoes. “Back with us, Problem Child?”
It’s the slightest hint of fondness in Aizawa-sensei using that name that tethers Izuku back to his body, and he nods shakily.
“Good. Shinsou,” he continues, “I’ve called your homeroom teacher, so I expect you’ll explain the situation to him; I’ll be following up with him later, so I would avoid leaving anything out.” Aizawa-sensei pauses briefly, and then sighs. “I’d also like to recommend that you do some personal reflecting about what happened today. For what it’s worth, from someone else with a ‘villainous quirk’, there’s no such thing.”
“Yessir,” Shinsou mutters. “I see Yamada-sensei, can I go now?”
“Shoo,” Aizawa-sensei responds, and he flicks a hand lazily. Only once the other boy disappears does he speak again.
“Izuku,” Shouta says, and it’s definitely Shouta now because Aizawa-sensei never sounds so soft. “We need to talk about this.”
Izuku trembles silently, but doesn’t resist when Shouta carefully folds him into his arms.
“I think,” Shouta says carefully, “that the time before your quirk manifested was very hard on you. And you survived that, and you’ve done so well, but now that you’re safer, that you have a support system, that trauma is all starting to rear it’s head.”
“I just got so angry,” Izuku whispers, and tears of shame start building up. “I don’t know what happened.”
“I know,” Shouta soothes. “And I understand that. But the way you reacted was not appropriate.”
Izuku nods as best he can, tucked against Shouta’s chest like this. “I don’t want to be like this,” he says, and he hates how his voice breaks. “I don’t want to be bad.”
Shouta sighs. “Izuku,” he says softly, “you’re not a bad person. You made a bad decision, but you can learn from this.” He squeezes Izuku gently. “Now, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while now, but it’s doubly important now. Would you feel comfortable speaking with Hound Dog? Or would you prefer a therapist that’s not associated with UA?”
Izuku decides not to comment on the implied “you will be speaking to someone” and lets out a breath. “Hound Dog is fine.”
“I’ll arrange an appointment for you,” Shouta tells him. “At least two, actually. You’ll have them in place of two of your detentions, but therapy is not a punishment. It’s a tool to help you.”
“I know,” Izuku manages to choke out, and he finally lifts his arms wrap around Shouta instead of just standing there. “Thank you.”
Shouta pulls Izuku closer and rests his chin on his hair. “You’re fine, Izuku. And I’m proud of you for reaching out to Shinsou, even if you both could have dealt with it better.”
Izuku snorts softly. That’s an understatement if he’s ever heard one.
“The worst is behind you with that one, I think,” Shouta adds. “But next time you hang out, stick to the cat café, and maybe try to avoid punching him.”
“He deserved it a little,” Izuku mutters and Shouta squeezes him tightly in a gentle reprimand. But he doesn’t disagree, and Izuku hides his smile in Shouta’s shirt.
“Alright,” Shouta says eventually. “We need to get you to your mother before she thinks you got kidnapped. And you get to explain to her why you won’t be seeing her next weekend.”
Izuku winces. “I don’t suppose you could just take away my home visit privileges for this weekend as well?”
“Definitely not,” Shouta says, and that’s unmistakeable soft laughter in his voice. “But nice try.”