Work Text:
UA announced dormitories for its students, effective immediately. Several members of the League of Villains had escaped during what was now called the Kamino Disaster, even if All For One himself hadn’t survived, and it seemed that this was the strategy to avoid any further incidents.
All of said incidents had been Yuuga’s fault, and he had quickly blocked Shigaraki’s number once he’d been released from the hospital. Of course, he couldn’t tell the Principal that, so dorms it was.
The dorms were to be split up by class. This, of course, had worried him, since he was now in class 1-J. Would he have to live with complete strangers? Fortunately, Principal Nedzu allowed him to live in the 1-A building. Officially, it was so that Izuku could assist him during his recovery. Unofficially, it was another of UA’s ways to apologize and appease his family. Either way, Yuuga would rather live with his former classmates.
On move-in day, he and Izuku were swarmed by concerned friends that hadn’t seen them since the Training Camp. Mina in particular gave him a firm, but gentle, hug. They’d texted, of course, but it was different. She’d been trapped in the remedial building while he was being kidnapped.
His new mobility aids gave everyone pause. He had an electric wheelchair for traversing campus that stayed in the entryway, and a manual one for bad days in the dorms. On better days, he could get away with just a cane. All, of course, were the sparkliest he could find. If they were going to be with him from then on, he would turn them into statement pieces. People were going to stare no matter what. He even had canes of different colors to go with any outfit.
The one person who refused to interact was Bakugou. It was no major loss.
Everyone got to work decorating their rooms. Yuuga’s room was on the second floor, closest to the elevator. Izuku’s room was next to his, then Tokoyami’s, and finally Mineta’s at the end of the hall.
He gazed at the blank canvas of a room with determination. Soon it would be beautiful!
Maman arranged the paints and tools while Papa moved the furniture. Izuku and Midoriya-san would come to help when they were finished with Izuku’s much less complicated renovation.
Yuuga took days to plan his own.
They painted the ceiling and accented the walls with a sparkling indigo that matched the rest of what they’d brought. One of the family’s suits of armor was placed in the corner as a reminder of home, and then Maman and Papa got to work bringing in Yuuga’s mirror collection.
Yes, Yuuga collected mirrors. They each had intricately carved golden frames. Some were large, some were antique, some had hidden compartments and storage, and Yuuga loved each of them.
Yuuga directed everything from his bed. He would’ve helped more, but his physical therapist had said not to lift heavy objects for the time being. His stitches were out, but the wounds were still fresh enough that he could injure himself further, even with the abdominal binder relieving the worst of the aches.
Izuku and his mother joined them while they were putting out the finishing touches. Izuku and Papa raised the disco ball to its final position. He helped Yuuga to his feet, and they stood back to admire the space.
Everything matched perfectly, of course. He’d designed it that way. It was decorated differently than his room at home– he’d needed something fresh. This was his brand new start, a school career untainted by that man , no more secrets between him and his happiness.
His canes and chair were collected by the door, his earrings and necklaces sat on the desk, and his special keychain sat on the bedside table; this was his space.
There was one last thing…
He’d managed to save his cape from his hero costume. Alas, he hadn’t been able to replace his shades when they were destroyed in the final exams, but the cape now hung on the back of his door. He ran his hand over the fabric. He wouldn’t wear it again.
Aizawa-sensei called them down to the common room. Sero and Ojirou made space for him on the couch.
Aizawa-sensei locked eyes with him, then glanced away.
“I have a few announcements,” he said. “First, to the six students that went out to Kamino that night, and the nine who knew about it and said nothing- basically, everyone except Hagakure, Jirou, Aoyama, Midoriya, and Bakugou. What you did was reckless and stupid, and if circumstances were different, I would expel you all. You’re incredibly lucky that society needs its heroes now more than ever.” He sighed. “Second, well, I’ll let Aoyama tell you himself.”
Ah, thank you for the warning , Sensei. Yuuga stood and turned to address the class.
“ Mes amis , I first wish to thank you all for your kind messages during my recovery, which is still ongoing. However, it is with great sorrow that I must inform you– I will not be returning to the hero course.”
There were gasps and protests from those who didn’t already know. He held up a hand to stop them.
“I want you all to know that this was my own decision. UA offered me my spot back, and I declined. My injuries gave me the opportunity to reevaluate what I wanted for my future, and I decided to transfer to the management course. I will continue to work with you all, so that I may help you all shine as brightly as I did.” There were a few eyerolls at that, but they were good-natured. Hopefully.
“I will still be living in the 1-A dorms for reasons related to my recovery, so we’ll still see each other. Thank you all for your continued support.”
He sat back down to whispers and pitying glances. He had no idea what they were thinking, and it didn’t matter. His decision was his decision .
As it turned out, transferring meant catching up on all of the Management coursework from the previous semester. The core subjects were the same, but the course-specific classes… Well.
For Support, there was independent lab time. For Heroics, there was lots of physical training.
For Management, there was a fuck ton of assigned reading.
First year Management classes covered basically everything about agencies, marketing, finances, etcetera. They would be allowed to specialize as time went on, but they first had to have general knowledge about how everything in heroics worked.
Yuuga was very, very far behind.
Yaoyorozu and Iida had helpfully taught him some study methods, and Iida offered to get him in touch with managers at Idaten if he had any questions. It was nice of them. Unfortunately, hero students went back to training almost immediately while Yuuga himself had almost another week before joining his new class.
He groaned as he set aside another textbook. He’d been third from last in 1-A academically, and while that had partially been a facade, he was nowhere near good enough to get through an entire semester of work in a week .
Maybe a tea break would help.
He grabbed his cane and made his way down to the kitchen. Yaoyorozu had also offered use of her special “study blend.” Perhaps he would give it a try.
He didn’t expect anyone to be downstairs, since they were all working on special moves, so he almost jumped when he noticed a figure lurking next to the coffee pot.
“Aizawa-sensei?”
His teacher– former teacher– grunted before opening the refrigerator and practically sticking his head inside. Clearly, he was busy.
Yuuga grabbed the tea and pot from the cabinets and set his cane to the side as he prepared his beverage. He glanced back at Aizawa-sensei, but he still seemed engrossed in the fridge. Apparently he wasn’t finding what he was looking for.
The tea finished steeping and- oh, he would need both hands to lift it, wouldn’t he? He flexed his left arm, grimacing. It lacked the necessary strength.
“Sensei, I don’t wish to bother you, but could you please help me pour my tea? I would greatly appreciate it…”
Aizawa-sensei shut the refrigerator door firmly, coming away empty handed. He stiffly stepped over to where Yuuga was standing and assisted him. Once the tea was poured, he crossed the kitchen again to busy himself in the pantry.
“... Merci , Sensei.”
He grunted again.
Yuuga didn’t trust himself not to spill his teacup if he attempted to move to a table, so he remained in the kitchen to drink.
Aizawa-sensei remained in the pantry until Yuuga went back to his room.
He didn’t think anything more of the interaction. Who’s to say Sensei wasn’t always like that outside the classroom?
The next day, he saw his former teacher again. It made sense, since he was assigned to supervise the dorm.
“Sensei, what do you think of Ishogashi-sensei? I have not met her yet.”
“I don’t work with her very often,” he said. Yuuga waited for him to elaborate, but Aizawa-sensei just hid the lower half of his face in his capture weapon and said nothing more.
“Alright. Thank you, Sensei.”
After that, Yuuga didn’t see him for a while. He thought he saw him, flashes of black and white disappearing through doorways and around corners, but when he reached them- nothing.
It was almost like he was avoiding Yuuga.
That didn’t make any sense, though. Why would Aizawa-sensei avoid him?
Unless…
Maybe he was disappointed in Yuuga for leaving the hero course. Maybe he was mad that he’d vouched for Yuuga and he’d still transferred out. Maybe he was disgusted at Yuuga’s wasted potential, or lack thereof. Surely someone like Aizawa-sensei didn’t want his time to be wasted, and training someone only for them to drop out was certainly time and energy gone.
That had to be it. Aizawa-sensei hated him.
Izuku knew something was wrong– it was hard to hide what one was feeling from someone when they literally had an empathic connection– but Yuuga couldn’t let Izuku know it was about Aizawa-sensei. Izuku still had more than two years to work with him, he couldn’t hurt his relationship with probably the best teacher either of them had ever had.
He assured Izuku that nothing dangerous was happening, and that he would go to him if that changed. Izuku dropped the subject.
Once again, the hero students were training. Apparently, Izuku had made some kind of breakthrough and decided to incorporate more kicks into his fighting style. Yuuga was happy for him, if a little envious. He just had more reading.
He dragged his books out to the common room for a change of scenery. The sparkles weren’t helping his ever-building headache.
He’d been reading for maybe a half hour when someone approached. He looked up to see Mic-sensei, dressed down and holding a plastic bag full of takeout containers.
“Hey there, listener,” he said. “How’s the studying going?”
Yuuga took the opportunity to stretch, paying careful attention to his abdomen and arm.
“It is going as well as studying can go, I suppose. Thank you for asking, Present Mic-sensei.”
Mic-sensei laughed, much lower than his usual bark. “I guess you’ve got a lot to catch up on, yeah? I was just delivering some grub for Eraser, figured I’d check in. It can’t be fun, being here all by yourself.”
Yuuga shook his head. “It is quiet, at least. The others are being kind and helping me study, but they can be rather loud at times. Not that there’s anything wrong with loud-”
“Hey, hey, I get it! There’s a time and place for noise, and it’s usually not study time. I’m glad you’re doing alright, yeah? Just let me or Eraser know if you need anything.”
Yuuga paused. “Actually- no. No, nevermind. It’s silly.”
Mic-sensei pointed finger-guns at Yuuga. “Well it just so happens, listener, I rule at silly. Lay it on me, yeah?”
Yuuga bit his lip. “It’s just… is Aizawa-sensei upset with me? I know I must have disappointed him, with my transfer, but-”
“Hold up, hold up. Who said Eraser was mad at you?”
Yuuga winced. ‘You’re close with him, aren’t you? You must’ve noticed how he keeps avoiding me, or maybe he told you something. At first I thought it was just how he was, but I suppose I had to face it sooner or later…”
Mic-sensei crouched down next to him. “No, kid, I don’t think it’s like that at all. I’ll tell you what, I’ll talk to him, okay? I think there’s been a big misunderstanding.”
“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that-”
“I kinda do, actually. See, I’m the Eraserhead wrangler like you’re the Midoriya wrangler.” Mic-sensei tapped his forearm with a wink. “But you didn’t hear that from me.”
That was dangerous information. If Yuuga had still been a spy-
But he wasn’t.
Yuuga nodded. If anyone knew what was going on with Aizawa-sensei, apparently it would be Mic-sensei.
“ Merci , Sensei. I appreciate it.”
“ De rien , mon étudiant .”
Once again, Yuuga was studying. It reminded him of something Kaminari had once said, where “studying” was a portmanteau of “student” and “dying”. Yuuga personally knew what almost dying felt like, and honestly, the sensation wasn’t dissimilar.
He’d actually spoken to Isogashi-sensei. She was nice enough, a retired hero manager who hadn’t quite found satisfaction in a quiet life. She assured him that she didn’t expect him to be perfectly caught up by the beginning of the semester, and that he was welcome to ask any questions he may have about the material. UA was for the best of the best, after all, and she was there to help her students succeed. Quite different from Aizawa-sensei’s “sink or swim” attitude, at least on the surface, but hopefully she would be just as excellent a mentor.
He was about two thirds through the reading. He honestly impressed himself, but it was actually interesting to learn about the “backstage crew” of heroics. If heroes were the actors, then management was the directors and, well, stage management. The heroes were the main show, but he would be making sure that show ran smoothly.
His phone dinged.
Izuku 💚
>Practicing with Iida, don’t forget to take a break! You’re doing so well! 💖
He smiled. Even as busy as they both were, Izuku was still taking care of him.
Ah, shoot, was it that late already? He’d been working non-stop for three hours. He absolutely needed that break. And perhaps a snack.
He had cheese in his mini-fridge, of course, but perhaps some fruit would be better. Some sugar to help keep his mind working. For that, he needed to go downstairs.
The common room was more inhabited than he’d seen it in days, with students sprawled out over couches and collapsed into chairs. Mina offered him a lazy wave without really lifting her head from her arms. Todoroki’s cold hand rested on Uraraka’s forehead. Iida and Izuku were missing, as the text message had informed him. As hard-working as ever.
He placed some apple slices and caramel sauce into a container to take back to his room and turned back to the elevator.
“Hold on there, listener!”
Mic-sensei practically kicked in the front door, dragging an unreadable Aizawa-sensei behind him.
Oh no.
“We just gotta have a quick little meeting about some transfer stuff, then we’ll let you get right back to whatever you were doing.”
What “transfer stuff?” As far as he knew, everything had been taken care of…
Mic-sensei guided him to a small lounge off of the common room. He practically shoved Aizawa-sensei in after him.
“You two are gonna talk things out, ‘kay?”
And then he shut the door behind them.
Um.
Yuuga found a seat and stared up at Aizawa-sensei. He looked rather pained. He pulled up a chair to sit across from Yuuga and crossed his arms– not in a way that suggested anger, but almost defensive.
“Aoyama…” he started, then sighed. “I have been acting illogically these past few days. I would like to apologize for upsetting you.”
“Upsetting me?” What was he talking about? “I’m the one that has been upsetting you . I wasted your time the entire last semester. It’s bad enough that you still have to see me even after I rejected the hero course…”
Aizawa-sensei studied him. “No, kid, I’m not upset about that. You’ve gotta do what’s right for you at this point. I don’t know why you’d think I was mad about that… except that I was avoiding you. Shit.” He put his face in his hands.
“If you were not upset, then why would you do that?”
“It was my fault that you were in this situation to begin with. I should’ve been there to protect you at camp, and instead you got kidnapped, had your quirk stolen, and almost died. I figured that was why you transferred, so that you didn’t have to be in my class.”
Oh.
Yuuga couldn’t stop an incredulous laugh from escaping. To think that whole situation could be anyone’s fault besides Yuuga’s own…
“Sensei, I don’t blame you for that. It was unfortunate that some villains happened to overhear me at the wrong time. They used me to get to my soulmate, and that’s not your fault. I transferred because, as I said to the class, I reevaluated what I wanted. That is all.”
They stared at each other for a moment.
“For what it’s worth,” Aizawa-sensei said, “I still think you could’ve been a hero. A little different than what you planned, but still great.”
“I know, Sensei,” Yuuga said with a smile, “but I’ve found a new path, and I’m happy with it. Even with all the reading.”
And he was.