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Aizawa storms into his house with a police officer behind him.
“You guys called the police?” he demands, folding his arms.
“Yes, we were worried. We haven’t seen you since last night!”
“Yeah, after you kicked me out of the house! You were the ones that told me to leave.”
“That is not true. You said you were going to stay at a friend’s house, then wouldn’t tell us which friend. We got worried when you didn’t come home from school,” his mom says, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.
“You can go now, thank you for your help,” his dad says to the police officers behind him.
“Alright, well, stay safe, Shouta.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you sure that you don’t need anything else?” he asks, shifting uncomfortably.
Aizawa knows what he’s referring to. The abuse and neglect that he’s been trying to prove for years. Aizawa has never helped, but never barred him either.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
After he walks out, his mother glares at him.
“What was that about? What have you been telling him?”
“Nothing, Mother. I don’t know why he asked that.”
She slaps him across the face, whipping his head to the side. He breathes evenly.
“Go to your room. You are never going to pull something like that again. I don’t know why you were really out, but you better stop lying to me.”
“I had detention.”
“You were gone for three hours, Shouta. That’s stupid. I know that you were trying to run away from us using your stupid little friends. I don’t want to see them around the house ever again, and it would be in your best interest to never try to leave again.”
Aizawa turns around, heading up the stairs. He walks straight to his room, slamming the door behind himself. He sniffles as he slides down the door.
I’m not going to cry. I’m not giving anyone that power anymore.
Despite his bold thoughts, tears start to slide down his face. He cries for a while, trying to stop the whole time. His phone starts ringing, the tone muffled by his bag. He wipes his eyes as he reaches for his phone. Hizashi is calling so he answers and puts it on speaker.
“Hey, what’s up?” he asks, opening his closet so he can change clothes.
“I was just calling to check on you since I got home a few minutes ago.”
“I’m fine. My parents spun this ridiculous story about how I ran away to hang out with one of my friends. I’m changing out of my hero costume right now. I’ll probably get a shower first though…”
“Ok, well, I won't keep you then. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you then.”
Hizashi hangs up. Aizawa sighs, grabbing a pair of pajamas. He heads to the bathroom for a quick shower. His hair curls, framing his face, so he pulls it back in a bun. The night is quiet so he takes that time to work on his school and a few of his projects. He walks to school alone, making it there early. School is quiet too, especially since Kumo and Hizashi barely speak to him. They run from him in the hallways, whispering in class. They finally run up to him after heroics class in the locker room. He doesn’t say anything in case they don’t actually want to talk.
“You’re not mad at us?” Hizashi asks, leaning against the locker.
“No, why would I be? You guys can do things that I’m not involved with.”
“Well, we were talking about the fact that you lied about when you left your house. Where did you spend the night, Shouta?” Kumo says, a frown pulling at the edge of his lips.
“I was still on the property. I just slept in the shed outside of my house. It wasn’t anything dangerous. That’s why I didn’t say anything. Also, I didn’t lie per se.”
“You just omitted the truth. You need to come to my house if anything like that ever happens again,” Hizashi says, sounding angry.
“Why? You think it’ll be safer for me to walk all the way to your house in the dark at a ridiculous hour then it is for me to hang out within my secure land? That’s ridiculous. Just drop it.”
“We have to go, or we’re gonna be late for drama class and Ms. Kai is gonna have a fit,” Kumo says, looking at the ground.
Aizawa scrutinizes him, curious about his reaction.
“You’re not mad at me?”
“No, I don’t have any right or reason to be mad at you.”
Hizashi walks past, grabbing Aizawa’s wrist as he does. Aizawa stumbles before catching himself on the locker. He lets Hizashi lead him out of the locker room and towards the repurposed gym. Once again, they’re the first ones there besides Ms. Kai. She doesn’t say anything about their detention, confirming their suspicions that she forgot about them.
“I hope you boys are working on your lines, because you all need extra work. Except for you, Yamada.”
Hizashi sticks his tongue out at her, folding his arms.
“Also, Aizawa, no more assaulting your classmates.”
“I won’t, unless they assault me first again.”
“She did not assault you. It was a small accident. Even you should be able to admit that you were a little out of line.”
Aizawa shrugs, folding his arms.
“Also, I don’t like your appearances. Shirakumo, Aizawa, can’t you guys find clothes that fit you? Why does it look like you’re wearing trash bags? Yamada, your shoes are untied, and your hair looks like it hasn’t been brushed in ages.”
“Why does it matter what I look like? I’m not even part of the play. I’m just part of the stage crew. No one’s gonna see me.”
“This school has a standard of excellence. You don’t measure up.”
“Then why are we the ones in the most prestigious hero school in the hero course? It sounds like we measure up,” Aizawa says, clenching his fists.
“Detention, and the only reason you’re in that course is cause your parents are rich.”
“Shut up! Shouta has had to work harder than anyone else to get into this course just cause he doesn’t have a traditional quirk,” Hizashi says.
“Don’t speak to me like that. Detention for you and Shirakumo both.”
“Why is Kumo getting detention?”
“Another detention for all three of you.”
Aizawa sighs as everyone starts flooding into the classroom. Keiko runs over to them, slinging an arm around Aizawa’s shoulders.
Aizawa flips Keiko over his shoulder onto her feet then without any hesitation, he says,” Don’t touch me unless I tell you that you can.”
Her eyes are wide, holding her arm where he grabbed her to flip her over his shoulder. “I touched his abs,” she shrieks as she races back over to her friends.
“Was it nice?” one of them asks.
“He definitely has six pack abs, and it’s amazing,” she squeals.
Aizawa sighs.
“Well, that backfired.”
“Did she really touch your abs?”
“Her hand brushes my jacket when I was dropping her to her feet. So, since I’m wearing a t-shirt and a hoodie that’s mostly zipped up, no.”
Hizashi laughs.
“Man, she’s insane.”
“Alright, let’s start with scene one,” Ms. Kai says.
Aizawa groans.
“How many scenes am I in?”
“Ninety percent,” Kumo says, patting him on the shoulder.
“Damn.”
“Language, and get on stage,” Ms. Kai fusses, shooing him onto the stage.
He steps onto the stage, pulling the shoulder of his hoodie back over his shoulder.
“That’s why you should wear clothes that fit you. They wouldn’t fall off, and I know you have money for it.”
“Why are you so concerned about what I’m wearing?” Aizawa says, rolling his sleeves up.
“Don’t talk back to me, and I need you to function properly in this play. Take your hoodie off.”
Aizawa folds his arms.
“No.”
“Take it off now. I don’t want you getting tied up in your clothes. If you don’t, I’m going to give you and all of your friends detention until the play is over. That doesn’t count if you misbehave during the rest of our time together.”
Aizawa takes a deep breath before unzipping his hoodie. He pulls it off, tossing it towards his bag. He feels everyone’s eyes on him, staring at the bruises on his arms. He grabs his copy of the script.
“Alright, I’m the only one in the first scene. So, I’m a thief who’s master dies somewhere in the story. What’s the point of the plot?” he asks, turning to Ms. Kai.
She’s one of the few people who isn’t staring at his arms. Kumo has a sympathetic look on his face, and Hizashi just looks sad and disappointed.
“You’re a thief, but you’re like Robin Hood. Your mentor is killed by someone that has it out for you. So this story centers around you taking down the people who killed him, and your budding love with Keiko.”
“Alright.”
“Why haven’t you fully read the script yet?” she demands, frowning deeply again.
“I just haven’t had time. I have a life, and this is already encroaching on it. If you hadn’t noticed, all of the ridiculous detentions aren’t helping either.”
“Stop being a brat. Just run the scene.”
Halfway through drama class, Keiko gets called to the office. She doesn’t come back, leaving the rest of class to run smoothly. Still it’s four forty five before Ms. Kai dismisses them.
“Not you three. You still have detention, and you’re gonna spend it building props. More came in today.”
Hizashi groans. Kumo elbows him in the gut, quickly silencing him.
“I’ll be back later.”
She walks out, rummaging through her purse. Aizawa covers his mouth to stop himself from laughing.
“Did you guys see that?”
“No, are you trying to change the subject so we don’t have to talk about what happened earlier?” Kumo asks.
“No, I’m not, I swear. I just saw drugs in her bag. How is she so uptight if she literally walks around with drugs in her bag all the time? Maybe she just doesn’t use enough of them,” he says, laughing.
“Are you serious?” Hizashi asks, a smile lighting up his eyes.
“Yeah, I’m serious.”
Kumo laughs too.
“Do you think we can get her fired?”
Aizawa shrugs.
“I don’t know.”
He jogs over to his bag to grab his jacket, but it’s not there.
“Wha…”
“What’s up?”
“Someone took my jacket. Probably so I couldn’t cover back up. My parents are going to kill me.”
“It’s fine, you can just take my hoodie home with you. You can tell them that it’s new.”
Aizawa takes a deep breath, turning to Kumo.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it’s not gonna be a problem, if that’s what you mean. My parents won’t know the difference.”
He nods.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t even think about it. I just want you to be safe.”
Aizawa’s face turns bright red and he looks down.
“You stay here Shouta, we’ll get the stuff out of the closet.”
“Ok.”
He sits down on the ground with his backpack. He grabs his phone, taking a pic with one of the props that’s still in a box as soon as Kumo and Hizashi start bringing them out. He sends it to his mother, telling her that he’s in detention today too. She reads it but doesn’t respond. He can hear Kumo and Hizashi in the closet, goofing off when he turns his phone off. The door to the gym opens and Nezu walks in.
“Ah, Shouta.”
His eyes scan over Aizawa, landing on his arms. Aizawa manages to keep himself cool, forcing a small smile onto his face.
“What’s up, Nezu?”
“Did you get hurt during hero classes? You should have gone to see Recovery Girl if you did.”
“Oh, no, I have this really unstable staircase in my house. We haven’t gotten around to fixing it, so one of the stairs broke as I was walking down it. I have quite a few bruises from that tumble this morning.”
“Well, you should tell your parents that it really needs to get fixed. It looks like it was a really nasty fall.”
“I will. I think they already called a maintenance worker. Thanks, sir. What brings you over?”
“I heard from one of your classmates that you had some pretty bad injuries. Everyone was scared to ask, but I have heard that your parents have had problems with the police before. So, I wanted to come check.”
“It’s true that my neighbors called CPS, but all of the accusations were false.”
“Didn’t someone else call CPS too?”
Yeah, Kumo and Hizashi did.
“Yeah, I think so, but once again, nothing came of it. My parents are dealing with a lot from other people believing those rumors. I would appreciate it if you didn’t spread them too.”
Nezu opens his mouth to respond, but Hizashi and Kumo come out of the closet, holding two big boxes each.
“Hey, what’s up?” Kumo asks, putting down the boxes.
“Nothing, Principal Nezu just came to check on us cause some of our classmates were concerned about my bruises. I explained it to him, and we were just talking now.”
“Oh, ok.”
“What did you guys do this time that you’re stuck with prop duty?” Nezu asks.
“I don’t think Ms. Kai likes us very much. She was insulting our clothes, so I told her that we’re fine. Then she told me that the only reason I’m in the hero course is cause my parents are rich, and Hizashi yelled at her. In her eyes, that warranted both of them getting detention.”
Nezu frowns.
“That doesn’t sound like her. She has great reviews. I’ll talk to her.”
“Ok,” Aizawa says, cutting all of the tape on the box.
“Alright, well, I’ll let you boys get to it. You’ll want to get something done before you go home.”
Aizawa nods as he starts taking the pieces out of the box.
“Have a nice day,” Kumo calls as he sits down too.
“You ok?” Hizashi asks as he opens a box.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Anyway, what did you guys do last night?”
“I went home and did homework. Then I dealt with my mom’s garden since she didn’t come home last night, and my dad asked me to,” Kumo says.
“I watched this really cool movie with my mom. It was about women who take out men who prey on other people. I don’t remember what it’s called though.”
“Ok, well, what were the main character’s names?” Kumo asks.
“Dunno.”
“Ok, well, did they have a team name?” he asks.
“Better question, do you remember what it was?” Aizawa asks, laughing.
Kumo chuckles, causing Hizashi to start pouting.
This makes Aizawa laugh harder.
“Did they have one?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember what it was?” he gasps out between laughs.
“No,” Hizashi says, laughing too.
This makes Kumo laugh harder, doubling over the piece of wood in front of him. It takes them a few minutes to calm down since they keep making each other laugh just by glancing at each other.
Aizawa, still gasping, says,” Guys, we gotta stop. We have to get something done in case Nezu sends her back here.”
They work for a couple hours, still talking, completely losing track of time in the process. An alarm on Kumo’s phone startles them all out of their easy silence.
“What’s that for?” Hizashi asks.
“Holy crap. That’s for me to water my mom’s plants, but that means it’s seven fifteen. I have to get home.”
“My parents are gonna be out of the house tonight, so I won’t get in trouble, but they said that they wanted me back by eight. Do you need anyone to help you get home, Shouta?”
“No, I’m good. I’m gonna finish up here. I’ll put everything away, and then I’ll call an Uber.”
“Ok, but you’ll have to step outside to call the Uber since the signal in here isn’t usually good enough to call someone,” Hizashi reminds him as he heads for the door.
He pulls on it, but it doesn’t budge. He pulls harder, reaching for the lock at the same time. The only problem is that it’s a key lock on both sides so no one can lock it from the inside without a key.
“Do you think they decided not to clean the gym, and just close it up?” Kumo asks, still packing his bag. He doesn’t seem concerned though. “Does anyone have anything that we can pick the lock with?”
“I don’t,” Hizashi replies, frowning.
“I usually keep hair pins on me, but I left them at home this morning,” Aizawa says, looking up.
“Are you sure it’s locked?”
“Yeah, I’m certain. That or it’s blocked from the other side.”
“My parents are out of town. If we can get a signal, who should we call?”
“I can text my parents. I’m not supposed to call them unless there’s visible blood. If need be though, we can call 911,” Kumo says.
“Alright, let me know if your parents answer.”
It’s almost fifteen minutes before they give up on the idea of Kumo’s parents answering, but none of them can get a call through.
“Are we really stuck here?” Hizash says, seeming slightly panicked.
“Eh, we might be,” Aizawa says with a small shrug.
“How are you ok with that?”
“I’ll text my parents. I know that we don’t have any friends, but there has to be someone that we can text that’ll contact the school for us. Calm down, Hizashi.”
He pulls out his phone to text his parents.
“I have some of our teacher’s numbers from my mom. I can text one of them,” Hizashi says, grabbing his phone.
Aizawa shoots his mom a text.
‘Hey, mom, i need someone to come pick me up. I’m locked in after detention. Call someone for me?’
“Nevermind, it’s dead. Can one of you two text one of our teachers?” Hizashi asks, looking up.
“I don’t have any of their numbers,” Aizawa and Kumo both say at the same time.
“Right, well, I don’t remember their numbers off the top of my head.”
Aizawa’s phone dings, so he looks down at his chat.
‘Good for you brat. You can stay there for a while until you learn some manners.’
He sighs.
“Well, my parents are not going to help. I’m not allowed to have anyone else’s number in my phone, so that exhausts my options.”
“My parents put a lock on my chats so I can only text them and ‘approved’ people,” Kumo says, sitting back down on the floor.
“So who does that entail?” Aizawa asks.
“You two and them. That’s it. I guess we’ll just have to wait until my parents come to get us, or send one of the teachers our way.”
“How long could that take?”
“It could take a while for them to see the text. I really don’t know.”
“Crap,” Hizashi says.
“Well, we should make the most of this situation. We should see what’s around, and make ourselves comfortable. Kumo’s dad doesn’t get off work until eleven. So, that’s probably the earliest we’re gonna hear anything,” Aizawa says, standing up.
“How did you know that?”
“You mentioned it once. I figured it hadn’t changed since then.”
“I’m never gonna know how you manage to remember things like that,” Hizashi says, shaking his head.
Aizawa laughs, heading towards the closet.
“Did you guys see anything in here?” he asks.
“Yeah, there were a bunch of cardboard boxes that were taped up. Do you wanna raid them?” Kumo asks, running over.
“Yeah, definitely.”
They carry the boxes out and over to where Hizashi is pouting, dramatically sprawled across the floor.
“Get up, Hizashi.”
Hizashi makes a big show of sitting up, sighing loudly.
“Oh shut up,” Kumo says, flopping down in front of the boxes.
Aizawa starts opening the boxes with his knife, pushing a box towards each of them. Kumo sits there, staring at his arms.
“Do you want my jacket now?” he asks, still not able to pull his eyes away.
“Yeah, sure.”
Kumo pulls it off, handing it to him. Aizawa pulls it on, looking back down at the boxes.
“Do they hurt?”
“Not much, no. Can we focus though guys?”
“Yeah, sorry,” Kumo says, turning back to his box.
“This one has fabric and a sewing machine. I guess it’s for making costumes,” Hizashi says.
“This one has towels, paper towels, cleaning supplies, and sponges,” Aizawa says.
“Well mine has an assortment of useless stuff,” Kumo says, pushing it to the side.
“Ok, we’ll keep the towels, then put the rest of it back.”
He stands up.
“I’ll get it,” Kumo says, grabbing the boxes.
He quickly makes his way back to the closet. Aizawa and Hizashi watch him, confused.
“Was that weird, or was that just me?” Hizashi asks.
Aizawa shrugs.
“I dunno, but it definitely seemed weird.”
Kumo walks back in, dusting his hands off. They set the towels around them to cushion the hard mats on the floor as they lounge.
“So, what’s the newest gossip?” Kumo asks, leaning towards Hizashi.
“Midnight thinks she’s pregnant again. I told her that if she was so worried about it, she shouldn’t keep hooking up with random people.”
“Do you think she might actually be pregnant?” Aizawa asks, slightly alarmed.
“Nah, I’d be more concerned if I did. This is the fourth time she’s told me that. She’s just alarmed because her parents told her that if she had sex then she was just automatically gonna get pregnant. She knows it’s not true, but it freaks her out anyway.”
“You know, I just realized that we haven’t spoken to her since the play started. Usually we talk everyday. It’s so annoying that she was put in a different extra class than us,” Kumo says, folding his arms.
They spend a few hours talking about school and Midnight before Hizashi starts getting antsy again.
“It’s eleven thirty now. Have they seen your text yet?” he asks, drumming his fingers against his leg.
“Nope, neither of them have responded. It says that my mom read it, but she’s not in town right now anyway. I’m surprised that she even looked at it.”
“You both need new parents,” Hizashi says. “Do either of you have a signal?”
Kumo shakes his head. Aizawa picks his phone up.
“Nah, still nothing. My last texts still haven't been sent.”
“Ugh, ok. Well, I’m gonna do some homework. I don’t wanna fall asleep before someone comes to get us. I won’t be able to get back to sleep.”
“Fair,” Kumo says, opening his bag to grab some of his homework.
“We probably should have been doing this before. It’s almost like a study group though,” Aizawa says even though he doesn’t reach for his bag.
Hizashi raises one eyebrow at him.
“Oh, I don’t have any homework. I finished it early this morning, and the only project that we were given today is an essay that’s not due for two weeks. I don’t have to start on that for a while.”
“Of course you did. I don’t know how you keep up with everything, but don’t you have anything to do while we’re working?” Kumo asks.
“Not on me. I’ll probably go looking for spare parts so I can build something, but we’ll see if I find anything worth using.”
Hizashi falls asleep before finishing his homework while Kumo stays up just until he’s done. Aizawa stays up longer than anyone else. He’s tinkering with some random odds and ends he found in the closet until three a.m. Occasionally he checks Kumo’s phone, but no one texts him, and no one comes to get them. His signal is still non-existent by the time he passes out with his head against the towel. Since all of their alarms were turned off due to the fact that someone coming in the gym is the only thing that should need to wake them up, they all wake up late. There are no windows in the gym so none of them notice anything off. Aizawa wakes up to Kumo shaking him.
“Wake up, Shouta. It’s almost eleven o’ clock, and no one has come in here. My dad still hasn’t responded either.”
“Shit, it’s already eleven?” He stretches. “I guess we just have to keep waiting. There really isn’t anything else for us to do.”
“How long do you think it’s going to take? We’ve already missed multiple classes.”
“At the most, the end of the day. Someone has to come in here to open the gym for drama class. This is a pretty good excuse for missing class. If they try to mark it as an unexcused absence, I’ll just tell my mom. She’ll threaten to sue them, and they’ll fix it. Have you tried the door though? It might have gotten unlocked already.”
“Yeah, I tried it when I woke up a few minutes ago. It makes a lot of noise when it unlocks, so I think we’ll know when it does. Should we wake Hizashi up? He might freak out.”
“Yeah, but we have to wake him up soon, or he won’t sleep tonight. He might not sleep tonight anyway.”
“Alright, I’ll get it.”
He crawls over to Hizashi, who is still fast asleep.
“Hizashi, wake up.”
He shakes his shoulder, effectively waking Hizashi up.
“What do you want?” he mumbles, pushing Kumo’s face.
“That was rude, and mildly unnecessary,” he says before smacking Hizashi in the face.
“Ow!”
“Exactly.”
“What was that about?”
“Not important. You need to wake up though. It’s getting late.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s eleven in the morning, Hizashi.”
“Holy crap. No one’s come to get us?”
“Nope.”
“Well, I guess it’s ok.”
“You’re not upset?” Kumo asks.
“No, there’s no point in being upset at this point. I just wanted to get home cause that’s where my parents thought that I was going to be. At this point if they show up, they’re gonna think I’m at school. There’s no way we’re gonna get in trouble with the school for this, so I’m not too upset. I am really sore though.”
“Me too,” Kumo says, standing up.
He begins stretching with a small sigh.
“Don’t let Midnight see you like this. She might just finally pounce on you.”
“Oh shut up.”
“Seriously, your shirt is riding up. She would be so turned on.”
“Seriously, Mic, can you not?” he demands, straightening up.
“Are you being touchy again? You could always just ask her out instead of beating around the bush like you do.”
“I don’t like her like that. I don’t think we should be dating in school anyway. We’re too young, and there’s too much that could happen. Too much that could go wrong.”
“I actually agree with him,” Aizawa says without looking up from the little contraption in his hand.
“I thought that was just your excuse to get you away from Joke.”
“Please don’t mention her. I have enough psychotic women in my life that go to this school, much less the ones that don’t.”
“She’s not that bad.”
“Yes she is.”
“Anyway, back on topic. I think that you and Midnight might have something really special. The way you two look at each other just confirms it. Some people spend their whole lives searching and never find something like that, and you’re gonna let it slip through your fingers? Especially over something as dumb as a rule about not dating until you’re out of school?”
“Yes, I am going to wait. I never said that it won’t ever happen. I just think that I should wait until I’m in an emotionally stable place to start seeing someone. I don’t think that’s gonna happen until I get out of the system, and get my own place. So, I’m waiting until after school.”
Hizashi huffs, not arguing further though. Most of the day is spent in silence. It’s right before the last period starts that they hear the lock turning. Much to their surprise though, it’s Nezu who walks in. His eyes widen.
“What are you boys doing in here?”
Aizawa holds up his hand to stop the other two from talking.
“When we were left to do detention, we were told to stay until Ms. Kai came back. This is the second time that she’s failed to do so. However, we’ve just let ourselves out once it hits a certain time. When that time came around yesterday, the doors were locked. The cleaning staff failed to clean in here, so we were left. It’s been locked all day.”
Nezu stares at them for a moment, shock and horror written all over his face.
“Come on, boys. I’m going to call your parents and have them come pick you up.”
It’s not long before Hizashi and Aizawa’s parents show up.
“We came home a little early, but we thought you just went to school already,” Hizashi’s mom says, near tears.
She throws her arms around him.
“Are you all ok?”
She pulls back, looking at each of them in turn.
“Yes, ma’am,” Kumo and Aizawa both say.
Hizashi just nods.
“We’re fine, Mom.”
“Your parents still aren’t picking up, Shirakumo. Is there anyone else that we can call? We can’t release you until someone shows up for you,” Nezu says.
“No, there isn’t anyone else. Can you just try calling them again, please, sir?”
“Yes, I’ll call again in a few minutes.”
Kumo nods with a small smile.
“Come on Hizashi,” she says as Aizawa’s mother walks in.
They barely glance at each other before she leads Hizashi out of the room.
“Shouta, get your bag. I’m going to have a word with Principal Nezu, but then we’re heading home.”
Aizawa nods, curling further into himself.
“It’s alright. She knew that we were here, and she didn’t care. She’s just going to yell a bit to put on a show,” Kumo whispers into Aizawa’s ear.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I just really don’t want to transfer. You know how hard I had to work to get my spot in this class.”
“Yeah, I do, but it’s not gonna come to that. It’ll be fine. Just calm down, Shouta.”
Aizawa doesn’t respond, but he does relax a little bit. His mother is in Nezu’s office for around ten minutes, and they can hear her yelling from the outer office. They can’t make out what she’s saying, but it obviously gets more heated in the middle of the conversation. Aizawa sits with his knees pulled up this chest, his ears covered by his hands, and his face pressed against his knees. Kumo watches, tense as a board. Nezu follows Aizawa’s mom out, both of them freezing when they see the boys. Nezu’s eyes narrow. Kumo forces himself to relax despite what yelling tends to do to him.
“Hey,” he says, standing up.
He taps Aizawa on the shoulder, who cautiously pulls his hands away from his head. He stands up immediately following that, slightly embarrassed.
“You’re free to go home. Have a nice day. Shirakumo, do you wanna follow me into my office so you don’t have to sit out here alone?”
Kumo nods, following Nezu into his office. Aizawa’s mom grabs his arm, pulling him out. The car ride home is quiet to say the least. Once they get home, she immediately heads towards the dining room. Aizawa follows her. The rest of his family is setting up for an early dinner. Aizawa folds his arms.
“Well, I’m going out with my friends after school tomorrow. Have a nice night.”
He turns around, but his mom catches his arm.
“Where are you going? We’re having dinner early since you haven’t eaten since lunchtime yesterday.”
“Not interested. I’m gonna turn in early since I’m tired. I didn’t sleep well on the gym floor. I just thought that I would let you guys know that before I leave in the morning.”
“Whatever, I’m not going to make you eat,” she says, letting go of his arm.
“Thanks.”
He walks out, rushing to his room. He falls forward onto his bed, burying his face into his pillow for a minute before composing himself. Seeing as he actually slept really late, he opts to work on one of his projects for 1-B’s kids. He doesn’t actually climb into bed until almost one a.m. The next morning is hectic since their chef is out and no one seems to know how to make themselves breakfast. By the time Aizawa gets down the stairs, the toaster is on fire, and his oldest sister is screaming. He rolls his eyes as he walks past to grab the toaster. He puts it in the sink, turning it on.
“I think we’re gonna need a new toaster,” he says as he heads towards the fridge.
“Don’t be a smartass,” his mom scolds.
His dad is still calmly reading his newspaper at the table, waiting for someone to bring him breakfast. Aizawa shrugs, pulling out a bottle of juice and a few eggs. He puts a pan on the stove before making some peanut butter and honey sandwiches. He cooks them like french toast, leaving the cinnamon off of one since he doesn’t like it.
“Alright, everyone can come get a plate. I’m gonna take this on the way, so if you need anything, please just don’t.”
He shuts the water off as he makes his way out of the door with his french toast sandwich that he wrapped in a few napkins so he didn’t get his hands dirty. Hizashi and Kumo are waiting by the gate when he gets there.
“Hey, how did it go with your family?” Kumo asks, immediately falling into step with him.
“Fine, I guess. I didn’t really talk to them. I made excuses, and then I left. Spent the whole night in my room. How long did it take for your parents to show up?”
“Only a few hours. It was almost eight o’ clock at night. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be though.”
“You guys are such sad individuals,” Hizashi says, slinging an arm over each of their shoulders.
Aizawa laughs.
“Well, I told my parents that I was going to be hanging out with you guys after drama class today. Are you guys free?”
“Yeah, I’m always free,” Hizashi says.
“Sure,” Kumo replies, smiling.
However, once the last class is over, they’re all called to Nezu’s office over the loudspeaker.
“I wonder if it’s about yesterday. We’re not in trouble, are we?” Hizashi asks.
Aizawa shrugs, but Kumo elbows him.
“Of course not. In trouble for what?”
“Good point.”
Nezu is waiting outside of his office for them.
“Boys, I just wanted to let you know that you’re not going to drama class for the next few days. At least until I can sort things out with Ms. Kai. Especially since she neglected to make sure that you all got home safely the other night. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask.”
“Yeah, are you just going to let us know when we’re going back to drama class? Is this gonna mean more work for us since Shouta is playing the main character?”
“Yes, I will let you know. It shouldn’t have too big of an effect on your schedule since it’s not going to be very long. I plan to make this as quick and painless of a process as possible. I will be looking into everything that you guys mentioned to me though.”
Aizawa nods.
“Alright, if there isn’t anything else, you’re free to go,” Nezu says.
Kumo and Hizashi both nod.
“Thank you, sir,” Aizawa says before turning around to walk away.
“Sweet, we get a few days off,” Kumo says as he catches up.
“I know,” Hizashi says, smiling.
“Well, where do you guys wanna go?” Aizawa asks.
“We could go get milkshakes at that dinner we all really like. We can get food too. I noticed that you didn’t eat lunch today, Shouta.”
Kumo nods seriously.
“Yeah, and I’m not eating with my family right now.”
“Why what happened?” Hizashi asks, concern creeping into his tone.
“Nothing, don’t worry about it.”
So, Hizashi drops it, and they all head to get milkshakes and burgers. It’s a quiet evening, just what they needed after how crazy the last few days have been.