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Aizawa Shouta notices the shaking in a routine training session. It was slight, hardly noticeable – to anyone other than the Underground Hero who had had to be perceptive before he had even gotten to UA.
Izuku looked entirely too comfortable with the shaking, so he had put it down to exhaustion. The boy worked himself to the bone and beyond. With a note for him to eat more, or to get more sleep, Aizawa let him go without fully allowing himself to read the kid’s face for any signs of guilt or anything else.
Aizawa notices it again, this time near the beginning of the training session. A joint 1-A vs 1-B session which would – as it always did – turn into a slugfest. Aizawa was ready for it, and very much enjoyed watching his brats beat Blood’s snotty brats into the ground. It was a therapeutic experience when he didn’t have to watch Midoriya use every opportunity to not use his arms.
Even Blood noticed it, which sent him digging into his capture scarf. Wishing he could join in the class to only beat up his fellow hero when he brought it up. Izuku had only fought a couple of people so far, and was doing well with just his shoot style.
And after a particularly nasty block from Shishida in beast form to his left arm, Aizawa noticed how he was subconsciously cradling it.
So that ruled out both exhaustion as a reason for why his hands were shaking – nothing else was as Aizawa could see – as well arrogance. Even if Aizawa would never believe Izuku Midoriya, problem child and not so secret, secret child of All Might, would ever be arrogant.
So, it was an injury.
“Problem child, here, with me for a second.” With most of his class turning to him, he had to clarify to the humour of his colleague. “Midoriya, no don’t argue, come here. We need to talk.”
Turning around to go to the end of the hall for privacy, passing Blood king at his desk writing his notes the old bastard whispered to him. “You know telling them you need to talk is the biggest indication that you are going to skin their hide. Look how terrified the poor lad is, the looks Todoroki is sending your way. Hehe.”
Scowling down at him Aizawa hissed a quiet, “Stop meddling.” As Izuku drew closer, falling into line beside him. Head bowed.
Letting out a sigh Aizawa opened with, “your not in trouble, now can you let Todoroki know before he tries to freeze me kid. I just want to talk to you about your arms.”
Carefully watching the tension ease from his shoulders, before slowly climbing up again, the boy nodded humming a reply and turning to nod at Todoroki, smiling brightly as the boy relaxed and focused on the fight in the centre of the hall.
“How long have your arms been shaking like that? And don’t think I didn’t see you cradling your arm after that hit from Shishida, what’s is going on Problem child, I know you didn’t hurt yourself, that was a clean block. Is it your old breaks?”
Nodding, still not looking him in the eye, Izuku shrugged.
“The breaks have just been aching recently in the cold, nothing’s wrong with them. I went to recovery girl when it first started I promise! It really is just the old injuries hurting. It’s the cold! I think they will be better soon as well, since the dorms are heated, and we just had break.”
“What do you mean dorms are heated, your home wasn’t? Midoriya, its winter.”
Shrinking further into himself Aizawa, who was like a dog with a scent in things that might concern his students health at him – but also knew Izuku’s character, let it go for now.
“Ok we’ll talk about this later, but I want to have a chat with Recovery girl, with you in the room now. There is no use pushing your arms when they are in pain and fragile, I want her opinion on you doing harder things. No” putting his hand on the top of his head, fingers lacing through curls mouth open to argue, “no you will not fall behind if you miss one training session. No this is non-negotiable. No, no, no. Come on. Tell me more about that localised theory about Eri’s quirk. Maybe if Chiyo approves we can test it out and see if it would work on your arms.”
Aizawa said leading him out, the worries about his home burning in his mind.
It was confirmed that it was just strain on his old injuries, and that when the shaking stopped it would be safe for him to continue training. Luckily for Midoriya’s anxiety in falling behind he was able to come back to training almost immediately. Missing less than a week of training sessions while his arms decided that the cold didn’t hurt anymore. It was also confirmed that Eri did need a few more practising sessions before Chiyo was comfortable with using a live source for practice. She had not quite gotten a handle on the localisation aspect of her quirk, as well as the control. Didn’t want to rewind Izuku into the 13-year-old version of him.
It had a caveat that Shouta was very, very hard on ensuring that Izuku would follow. That if Shouta found out his arms hurt and he didn’t come to him to see if there was something he, or the school, could do, then it was an expulsion.
It was harsh, and probably a lie – Aizawa was not sure he would be able to expel Izuku without half the class leaving – but it kicked Izuku into gear. Warming his heart when after one particularly cold night Izuku came to him about his right arm aching.
With a heat pack, and a firm order to only use his legs in the non-combative practical – it was rescue practice mainly focusing location and extraction. Easy to avoid aggravating his injuries, as well as something the boy needed to learn.
It was hard to save a person if injured.
Suddenly it was half-term, and the weather had significantly increased in temperature.
The foster family – that had been ruthlessly torn apart for any villainous connection by Aizawa – who had taken Eri in, who had a less powerful touch-based Erasure quirk were settling in nicely. Living near to UA, as well as Problem Child’s house that Eri wasn’t totally separated from her safety net of the heroes that had saved her.
Having gone home for the holiday, Aizawa was surprised when he got into the dorms the day before term started up again and the resident Problem child hadn’t shown up yet to say hello. Or to offer him a coffee. It was suspicious, but not particularly surprising. His mother had been a frightfully protective woman, and it wasn’t school rules that they had to move in the day before – but it was so much easier. For both him, and the kid. The parent as well.
Illogical emotions.
But then Uraraka confided in his ear shot to the others of their friend group – names the Deku squad by his classmates which was a term stolen by the staff – that Midoriya had not responded to her messages for the last couple of days. No texts, or calls, nothing. He hadn’t even read them. The other two agreed, and with worried faces moved out of his earshot deeper into the building to discuss and most likely plan something that will age him and colour his hair by decades.
Knowing the Problem child he probably broke his phone trying to watch a hero fight, and didn’t remember their numbers to let them know from his mothers phone. Letting it rest for the night, he did one last head count for the 19 students there and went to bed. Hizashi with him settling into bed.
It had been far too long since he had seen Eri, he would need to do that soon.
Midoriya wasn’t in his homeroom in the morning. His classmates had not seen him, and there was no message sent to the office. He had gone totally AWOL and no one could contact him or his mother. He had even taken to pulling the Bakugou’s into it, knowing from Katsuki Bakugou that Bakugou Mitsuki, and Midoriya Inko were close friends.
But even that seemed fruitless, and it was made even more irritating because the Bakugou’s had moved from where they used to live for higher protection because of Katsuki’s kidnapping and interest of the league. So they couldn’t even pop around and check. This was turning into one infuriating day, and since the increased villain attacks, Aizawa would like to go and check on one of his most problematic students. An idea that Nedzu whole heartedly agreed with. Sending Yagi to take over the demons for the rest of homeroom, with Hizashi and Nemuri having them for their first lessons.
It was a mundane drive over to the house, even with anxiety burning underneath his skin. He just couldn’t get the thought that there might be something wrong here. The fact that Izuku made it seem he didn’t have heating over winter, or that he looked like he had not got a good night sleep until he came back to UA.
He was aware of the irony, and had always been resolved to be the type of teacher whose motto was do as I say, not as I do. It had worked to far.
The area was nice, if a bit run down. Picketed fences next to large apartment complexes, and schools too small and underfunded. A far better place than where he had grown up, but not the shining roads of Legacy houses. It fit Izuku. Messy, but quaint and thriving despite the barriers against them.
The apartment complexes were one of the bigger ones, standing tall amongst the other drab grey buildings. Making it disgustingly easy to get in and out of, as well as navigate. And he was before his Problem Child’s houses door, with a disgusting amount of dread.
He hated home visits, he hated them. They always brought bad news.
He knocked and waited. And waited some more. And some more until the 5-minute mark had passed and he had heard nothing from behind the door. Shuffling, he knocked again, agitated, and subtly checking his watch. It was late in the morning, Inko might have been at work, but Izuku should have been in. Even then, it was just encroaching 9am, there was no reason the house should be empty and he hadn’t got any notification that Izuku had arrived at school.
He was stood waiting for 30 minutes before he decided to do some snooping. Suspicious behaviour and the safety of his student was top of his thoughts as he climbed the fire escape in a possibly illegal manuver, having already called Nedzu and updated him on the situation. Getting the go-ahead to check on the inside.
It was annoying it wasn’t the bottom floor where he would have been able to just look in. But possibly for the best, first floor flats were notorious for being broken into.
Reaching the right floor, and double checking it was the right flat the first thing he noticed was how all the curtains were drawn and open. Spilling sunlight into the flat. Shining its morning rays into the large pool of blood he spotted sitting underneath the two green-heads in the middle of what he would have assumed was the dining room.
It was not even a second of thought spared to anything or anyone as he slammed his elbow into the window, thanking Power-loader for the padding and strengthened joints, and hurrying into the flat itself.
Rushing to the still form of Inko Midoriya, who looked smaller in death. Huddled and hunched over.
Checking her over, the sickening scent of a fresh death marked the area, and a decay had not even set in yet. But with the temperature of the blood as he kneeled infront of him was not as cold as the bolt sent down his spine at the missing, and gaping eye-sockets in place of her eyes. Allowing his training to take hold, he turned and hurried to the small form of his student. Only mere feet from where his mother lay.
Even from where he was standing infront of him he could see how much smaller he looked. How blemish free he looked, as if he were simply sleeping.
Praying under his breath, and from a atheist heathen it must have been presumptuous – but it would have been the first time he had done it.
And it worked, and he found a pulse. Slow, sluggish. Pulling out his work phone he quickly dispatched police and medical to this location, putting Nedzu on speaker as he went through his checks on the small boy.
He was far too small, and that was the first thing he noticed when looking over Midoriya. How small he was, how much muscle mass he had lost in the week he had been at home. Morphing from a young teen into a child. Baby fat, chubbing his cheeks. This was not a 15 year old hero student. This was barely a middle school child.
“sen-ei” Izuku murmured, quietening the rage building in his heart, he could do nothing but hold onto him as the emergency services came, “sen-si tell A’Mit I’m sorry. It’s gone. He couldn’t take it, so he removed it from the world. Took her, took everything. Tell him I’m sorry. Aizawa sensei im sorry I couldn’t protect her.”
Startign sleepily and quietly his murmering was building until it was audible over the phone.
“Young Midoriya, what do you mean? Taken what? Who.”
The boy breathed out, a harsh breath as he curled into Aizawa’s chest.
“One for all, its gone, its gone and its never coming back.”
“Who took it Izuku. All for One is in Tartarus.”
“Eri, Eri took it.” Izuku was frantic, with his arms wrapped around him being the only reason he wasn’t tearing at his arms. “No. No No it wasn’t her. She was scared, it wasn’t her fault it was his. All his fault and now there is no one to stop him, because its gone. She re-wound it.”
“Izuku I need you to breath, can you follow my breathing. Let’s talk about this when you feel better, when the medical staff look you over.”
“No! No. No. I can’t! All For One. He did it, he did it. He killed mum, and then he used Eri and took One for All from me. Couldn’t stand having a hero as a son so much that he decided having a quirkless one was so much better!”
He was shouting now, saying words and phrases that Aizawa simply didn’t know, rubbing his back and rocking him back and forth. The silence through the line from Nedzu and All Might told him a simple enough story, which he would be pulling out of them later. He would sort through this later – the quirkless comment. The fact that his student might be the Kamino scourge’s son, all of it. Later. Not when they were kneeling in his mother’s blood.
“Send someone over to Eri’s house now. We will be talking about this later. Not here, and when we all know something more. Come on Problem Child, lets get you away from here. You still remember your training for victims, talk me through what you would do in this situation.”
Pulling himself out of Aizawa’s grip he saw a wild, unrecognisable look in his eyes. And suddenly he felt he was looking after a wild animal, his arms out and fingers flexed in the typical surrender geture. But the frantic movements and breathing from Midoriya were harsh and panicked.
“No, no. NO! I cant be a hero, I cant not anymore. Who would want a quirkless son of a villain as a hero? I killed my mum! I’ll kill everyone I come into contact with. He’s never going to let me be a hero! I can’t please.”
And then he crumbled, falling into Aizawa’s arms. They sat again Aizawa curled over him protectively even after ambulances and his mothers body was taken. Even after All Might had arrived and the night was starting to settle in did Aizawa hold onto Izuku. He would look after his students forever, and even if he couldn’t be a hero, Midoriya Izuku would always be his.