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Aizawa Shouta apparently has a habit of picking up strays. His loud colleague is eager to make a list. First came his niece, then Yoru, then his class (Aizawa disagrees because it's his literal job), the purple-haired kid that he's personally mentoring, and now the young girl they saved from Shie Hassaikai.
Not that he intended to. Having to take care of someone left a sour taste in his mouth. Being responsible for another sentient being, having to put time and effort into taking care of them, and even risking their safety due to his line of work was all but illogical in his opinion.
This "habit" of his started seven years ago when a niece he'd met once before was dropped off at his doorstep just as he was about to leave for a mission, with a small suitcase and an All Might plushie in hand. She was eight at the time, the daughter of his now-dead brother, and now his only living relative.
At first, she clung to him, even though he showed nothing but reluctant responsibility. He's twenty-four and at his prime, so why is he saddled with a kid?
But he dealt with it, just like he did everything in life—with Present Mic's commentary in the background. The blond immediately dressed her up in black overalls and a grey scarf, claiming that she's basically a clone of him. Aizawa didn't see it. Just because the girl was dressed like him, had pale skin, wavy black hair, and a quirk similar—not the same—to his, didn't make her his clone. Her cheeks were too round, her eyes were too wide—not like his chronically dry and irritated ones.
Somehow, she grew up normal (much to everyone's, including his own, surprise). Now his niece is a middle-schooler and preparing for her entrance exam into UA the next year, to follow in the footsteps of her uncle.
Even with her time spent with him, the girl's personality is too similar to his late brother's—always barging into his room and messing up his bed, reading manga, and disturbing him with giggles while he's trying to grade papers.
"Don't you have studying to do? What third-year has time to bother others?"
She sets the book down and bounces to Aizawa's side. "I have no friends here," she complains. "You should be nicer to your favorite niece."
"You're my only niece," Even though they lived together before both moving to UA dorms, she barely saw him due to his jobs. Yes, plural. His day job at UA and his every other waking hour job as a pro-hero. His incredibly useful quirk put him in high demand to team up with other heroes. So technically, she grew up under the watch of her teachers, Present Mic, and the internet.
When she first arrived at Aizawa's apartment, "bare" was the only word to describe it. The small studio was something he rented out right after graduating from UA, and per his minimalist lifestyle, he never saw the need to upgrade even after getting more jobs. So, for the first week, she and Aizawa slept in the same room—with him on the couch in his sleeping bag.
When they moved to a bigger place, she was quick to pick up on the domestic chores. Although he thought she was too young to be self-conscious about the concept of freeloading, he quickly realized she felt guilty about being forced into his care. Aizawa had to have one too many talks with her that he actually wants her to be in his life and that she didn't owe him anything for doing the bare minimum as an uncle. It always led her to crying on his shoulder despite his best effort to cheer her up with her favorite ice creams.
He's glad that she's mostly over her abandonment issues now—first by her mom, then, unfortunately, her dad. Not that his demanding line of work helped, tying up his time from her more often than not.
The first two years were the hardest, with him being on call 24/7 and her separation anxiety. More often than not, he'd find her curled up in his bed when he came home just before sunrise.
The night after she graduated elementary school, however, changed everything.
They were having a celebratory dinner with Mic and then dessert at a street stall at her request when a stray kitten wandered up to him.
He wondered what kind of cosmic joke made cats like him so much. Before he could even let out a breath, she stared at him with the widest eyes, hands clasped together, and Mic with a shit-eating grin whispering into her ear.
That's why there's currently a black cat sitting on his keyboard and typing random keys in his report.
"Even Yoru is telling you to take a break!"
Aizawa sighed, admittedly weak to her persuasions. Because while she enjoys the hell out of annoying him—something that developed after getting the cat—she's nothing but considerate still.
So sure, she drags him out of his room and orders a taxi with his card, but it's for him that she takes him to a nice massage parlor to relax his tense shoulders and restaurants with good nutritious food. She gets him a humidifier for his dry eyes and makes sure he gets some sleep every day. (He has a sleeping bag in every color as a joint birthday gift from her and Mic two years ago.)
So, he couldn't care less whenever Mic sees her drag him out to do "normal people things," even if he thinks they're illogical and unnecessary—and laughs at him for being a big softie.
__________
She is considerate, but that doesn't mean she's not a scheming brat. Aizawa should've known she was buttering him up for something.
He should've paid attention to the alarm bells in his head when she declined dessert tonight. And again when she asked to go to the konbini—there's no way she depleted her snack stash already—and came out with two full bags of snacks.
"Please let me meet your students, please, please, please."
He regrets letting Mic babysit her so often, teaching her all the ways to get him to do her bidding. He glares down at her. He regrets spoiling her too. "They're all busy with homework and the festival."
"But I already got all these snacks—and there's ice cream," she protests in the car on the way back.
Despite his reputation for being a hardass, someone who takes no shit from others, he wonders how his relationship with her became like this. Maybe he was overcompensating with the guilt of her dad passing and her resulting trauma, maybe because he suddenly became a guardian overnight despite barely taking care of himself, but definitely not because she crawled her way into his heart and proceeded to take up most of the space in it.
Aizawa lets out a sigh.
Since she's an expert in Aizawa Sigh Language, she immediately knew she had won (or maybe because she almost always won anyway).
Despite her insistent badgering to meet his students, she stops in front of the door to their dorm. Aizawa looks down at her, then to the bags in his hands, then back to her twiddling thumbs. His lips curl at her sudden shyness, and with a huff, moves both bags to one of his hands before pulling the door open.
The kids are in the lounge practicing for the performance next week. The band is the first to spot them, abruptly stopping and causing the rest of them to greet him. The bags of snacks are promptly put down onto the dining table where the effects team was working.
"Aizawa-sensei, you didn't tell us you have a daughter!" Mina was the first to approach, skipping up to the younger girl who was half-hidden behind him.
"She's my niece," he says, placing a hand on her head, and then pushing her forward to greet them. "Why are you acting shy now after begging me to bring you?"
Her cheeks puff out at his teasing, and she pushes his hand off her to get a better look at his students who crowd around, blinking a few times, deciding on how to make a good impression.
She turns to Aizawa, then back to the students, crossing her arms and pursing her lips. Her eyes turn red and her hair charges with energy, lifting up from her shoulders. "Why are you all messing around? Is being a hero a joke to you? Expelled! All of you!"
Aizawa fights to keep a straight face as his students stare at her, stunned. He lightly whacks her on the head when he hears Kaminari whispering to Jiro if she has the authority to do that.
She yelps and glares at him, rubbing the back of her head. Deciding she's had enough fun, the girl sends a blinding smile at his class. "How was my impression of Shouta-oji?"
The sudden change, and the cuteness pouring out cause the girls in the class clamor over to her as the younger girl struggles to introduce herself over all the questions.
A loud cry is heard amidst the crowd as the young girl remembers the now-melting-ice cream in the bags and runs over to pass them out to the class.
Midoriya thanks her for the snacks and asks her why she got them for them. The class stops their chatter, all wondering the same thing.
To all of their surprise, Aizawa included, the girl bows. "I just wanted to thank you all for protecting Oji-san in the beginning of the year... Even though you just started school. And I'm glad everyone came out okay after that."
Yes, she definitely holds a large space in his heart.