Chapter Text
Neito Monoma slowly chewed his food, a thoughtful expression on his features as his periwinkle eyes flickered around his father’s apartment. It was odd that after so many years of living together in their old place the two of them were now separated on the UA campus, along with all the other students and teachers.
They both lived typically busy lives between studying and work, making their home life the only time they could unwind together and truly be themselves: father and son, not teacher and student.
For the last few years that they’ve lived apart, Neito found their quality time together sorely decreasing, especially in the wake of the previous year’s villain fiasco.
It made moments like these all that more special for them.
"You know, I really should keep you away from the other class’s training sessions. Your obsession with rivalry can't be healthy," came his father’s amused voice, pulling him from his thoughts.
Neito glanced across the table to his father, Sekijiro Kan, also known as the Pro Hero Vladking. The man had been his father for over a decade now, after he decided to adopt him shortly after meeting Neito at the tender age of 7.
“We both know I get my competitive streak from you, father,” Neito drawled, a teasing lilt to his tone giving his facade away. Completely unbothered by his son's usual tongue, Kan just threw his head back in a bout of boisterous laughter causing Neito to chuckle as well.
The pair settled down and continued eating their breakfast, knowing they both had to get to the group home soon.
“You know,” Kan spoke around the food in his mouth, much to Neito’s disgust. “I was really impressed with 2A yesterday. Despite the main three of Aizawa’s kids that are always making leaps and bounds, I could really see the improvement from the others.”
Neito pondered over this.
Although his disdain for the other hero class wasn’t a well kept secret, he wasn’t blinded by hatred, especially when it came to skill, and 2A did have skill, he’d just never admit it to any of them.
“Yes, I was rather surprised by Asui and Uraraka. They did an exceptional job with their team up, and I must admit, I’m eager to spar with Uraraka on Friday,” he confessed, picking at the remaining pieces of meat on his rice.
Kan hummed in agreement, taking a sip of his drink to, thankfully, wash down his food before he spoke once again. Neito was half listening, enough to gather that he was complimenting and criticizing 2A, all while formulating some game plan for Friday.
Now, normally, Neito would be super invested in strategizing against 2A, especially with their first joint training session at the end of this week. But his mind was elsewhere, on someone specifically.
Shinsou Hitoshi.
When Neito first met Shinsou during their First Year Sport Festival, he admittedly dismissed him as just another Gen Ed kid fulfilling the school's participation requirement. A grave mistake on his end.
Suddenly, the kid was in the finals with the best of the hero students holding his own. If his fight wasn’t with Midoriya, the golden child of UA, Neito knew he'd have made it to the last round. That he could have won.
Neito was intrigued by the perpetually tired looking Gen Ed student from then on. But with the chaos of the previous year his curiosity took a backseat in his mind until those tired eyes appeared at the first joint training session, bulked up and with Aizawa vouching for him was a pleasant surprise.
Watching Shinsou fight was memorable and fighting beside him was even more exhilarating.
Neito hadn’t been able to get the other boy out of his mind since that moment, no matter what else had been going on around him.
So you could imagine his surprise when their second year of school rolled around, Hitoshi’s first official year in the hero course, and Neito spots him with the likes of Izuku Midoriya and the rest of the 2A attention seekers, going to their class together.
Neito was crushed, utterly destroyed to learn that he had lost Shinsou to them.
In typical Neito Monoma style, he confronted the boy as soon as he was alone, demanding why he chose 2A over 2B. If Shinsou was bothered or even surprised by Neito's antics, then he did very well at hiding it. He just lazily shrugged and said he didn’t get to decide, the decision was up to the home room teachers before walking away.
Neito had been sitting on that for two weeks now, the knowledge that his father let Aizawa rob 2B of Shinsou. He didn’t know what to do with the information. Confront him? Discuss it? Just ask him why? Anything to give him some peace of mind over the whole ordeal.
“You okay?”
Neito snapped his eyes up, meeting his father’s concerned gaze. The man obviously had noticed Neito’s lack of contribution to their conversation.
“Hmm?” Neito hummed, clearing his thoughts and straightening himself out, “yes, yes, I’m quite alright. What were you saying?”
Kan stared at him for a beat before dropping the subject, knowing his son well enough to not push and repeated what Neito had missed earlier.
“I said that the next competition between the classes is going to be exciting with the new dynamics in 2A.”
At Neito’s blank stare, his father gave him an almost teasing grin.
“Oh come on, are we going to pretend that you of all people didn’t notice Shinsou?”
Neito bristled under the knowing stare his father gave him, his cheeks flushing at the man's implications.
“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re trying to imply.” Neito turned his nose up, ignoring the ever growing smirk on his father's face as he heaped more meat over his rice and continued to eat.
Except the taste of the perfectly grilled fish was ash in his mouth as his stomach turned in knots. This was his chance to talk to his father about Shinsou and his transfer to the hero course.
Obviously the man could tell that Neito cared for the boy to some degree and he more than knew about Neito’s competitive spirit with the opposing class.
So why is Shinsou a part of 2A now?
“Father?”
Kan hummed around a mouth full of food, his red eyes flickering to Neito’s to show the younger man that he had his attention, his face kind and patient as the younger man pondered over his words.
How did he want to address this? A question? An accusation? An interrogation?
What came out instead was a blurt of feelings and worries on the ends of an exhale, jumbled and disorderly and very raw.
“If you know that I care for Shinsou- I mean to say, know that I like him, and that he’s good enough to be an asset to class 2B, then why is he in 2A, especially since his placement was up to you and Aizawa-Sensei? It was, wasn't it? He found himself heaving breaths, an accusing glare making his eyes appear like steel. “It was up to you, wasn’t it? You’re always pushing us to be better than 2A, yet you lost Shinsou to their teacher!”
The words sat heavily in the air between them.
Neito found himself horrified by how immature his outburst came out, but held his chin high as he waited for his father’s answer or possible punishment for his tone.
What he didn’t expect was the fond eye roll Kan gave as he sighed at his son.
“You’re so dramatic sometimes.” He chuckled, before placing his chopsticks on his empty bowl and reaching for a napkin to wipe at his face.
Neito flushed deeper, feeling more ashamed at being treated like a small child rather than being scolded.
"It’s true. Nezu left the decision to Aizawa and I, and I did try to offer the boy a position in our class, but Aizawa was firm." He placed the napkin in his bowl and gave Neito a half smile. "I mean if you're allowed in my class, it's only fair Shinsou is with Aizawa, right?"
No, not right. What did he and his father have to do with anything?
"What?" He blankly asked.
Kan started to pack up their dishes, ready to be washed at a later date, seemingly oblivious to Neito's confusion.
"Yeah, I knew you took a shine to Shinsou so I really did try to get Aizawa to agree to letting me have him, but he said if I got Shinsou, then you had to transfer into his class."
If Neito was confused before, he know felt completely baffled now.
What did he have to do with anything? Aizawa would trade Shinsou for him? No, Shinsou was his protégé. It didn't make any sense.
"Hey, are you done eating?" His father’s hand hovered near his bowl, waiting for the dish. Only then did the man truly look at him and realise how lost Neito looked.
"What's wrong?" His father placed the dishes he held onto the table and placed a comforting hand on Neito's shoulder.
The blonde bristled slightly. Nothing was wrong, he just needed clarification on what the hell his father was talking about!
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" He confessed with a childish huff "Why would Aizawa-Sensei want to trade Shinsou for me? Is it because I can use Eraser? Does he want me in 2A to help? Because I have a lot of respect for him, but not even that could make me join that class."
His father just stared at him in disbelief before he started to chuckle, shaking his head as he sat back down across from Neito and leveling him with an amused look.
"Neito, Aizawa is Shinsou's father."
Cold shock ran through Neito's body, reality seemed warped around him as his whole world view was rumpled.
He couldn't seem to wrap his mind around the statement. Couldn’t comprehend it because surely it couldn't be true?
He would have known, wouldn't he? Or at least someone would have known or noticed?
His mind seemed to categorize every similarity between Aizawa and Shinsou, trying to connect them together with more than just his father’s word.
Kan, realizing that he may have just broken his son's mind, was quick to elaborate.
"He's been recently adopted." He rushed out, huffing a little at Neito’s reaction. "He and Yamada officially adopted Shinsou and little Eri a few months ago."
Adopted? Huh, that made more sense.
"So, Aizawa said if I wanted his son, then he got to take mine."
The wheels finally started to turn in Neito’s mind and with every rotation an assured giddiness seemed to build in his chest.
He already knew that he and Shinsou were alike, kindred spirits, if you will. They both had easily villainized quirks. They both were in the hero course with non physical ability that set them apart from their peers. And now they are both the adopted children of pro heroes that doubled as their homeroom teachers!
Something must have shown on his face, although he couldn't think what it could have been, but his father gave him a soft, fond smile before gathering all the dishes once more.
"You really should talk to him more. From what I've heard of his story you both have a lot in common and maybe someone with similar experiences as him is what Shinsou needs right now." Kan walked towards the sink, already rinsing and stacking the dishes to be washed at a later date, leaving Neito to his thoughts.
What did his father mean by that?
Memories of his adoption flutter around the edge of his consciousness, kept at bay by sheer, stubborn will.
The memories were bittersweet at best, a very good outcome from a very bad situation.
Perhaps that's what his father meant. Maybe Shinsou had experienced something similar? He thought of how lonely he was back then, a touched-starved child being taken in by this stranger and not understanding what he needed to do to earn it.
What he wouldn't have given for a friend back then…
That's it.
He stood up with purpose, his chair screeching across the floor and making Kan jump where he stood at the sink.
His father didn't have time to question him because he was already collecting his uniform and making his way to the bathroom, eager to get ready for class today.
At the soonest possible moment, he was going to find Shinsou and talk to him. The days of their tentative friendship were over!
Monoma Neito was going to become Shinsou Hitoshi’s best friend by the end of the week.