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Izuku stared out the window, unfocused eyes blurring the rain clouds together until it was all one gray mass. He can hear the rain if he focuses, but he doesn’t bother. He’d heard rain plenty of times before. After all, drifting like this was far more comfortable. He almost didn’t feel the pain in his hands, and the anxiety permanently churning in his gut.
“-idoria? Hey, are you there kid?”
Izuku slowly turns his head back from the window to stare at his teacher, and it takes his brain a while to catch up to the question he was asked.
“Uh, yeah, um, sorry.”
He was sure the response was difficult to understand, as his tongue felt like lead in his mouth.
“Tell me if you need something okay? Try to focus.” Mic said before returning to his class.
Izuku turned his head to stare blankly at the board, missing the concerned glances his friends shot him. It didn’t matter if he focused though, as he was already decently fluent in English. His mom had taught him back when she believed his dad went to America for work. He can still vividly remember the moment his mom read the messages his dad's new girlfriend had sent her. The tears streaming down her face, the sobs racking her body.
Ever since that night, he’d had to rely on English comic books and movies to practice English.
Izuku blinked sluggishly, trying to pull himself back to reality. He was almost excited for his heroics class. He’d figured out pain grounded him way more than exercise a while ago, but either was fine. Not like he couldn’t sneak in a stumble here and there to-
Izuku took a sharp breath. He shouldn’t be thinking about those things, especially not in class. Besides, he’d left those habits behind in middle school. There was no reason to think about it now. Everything was better now. Sure, school was stressful, but he could manage. He had friends, and the dorms were great!
So why was he thinking about stuff like this? He figured it was probably because he didn’t get enough sleep. His head snapped up at a sudden surge of movement to his left, and he noticed classmates packing their stuff. He joined them, putting the few items he had on his desk back in his bag. He vaguely noted how he hadn’t even bothered to grab the English book from his bag, much less open it.
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Aizawa knew something was wrong with his number one problem child the moment he walked onto the field. His smile seemed a bit too forced, eyebags creeping out from underneath the poorly applied concealer. He sighed, deciding to ask Midoria if he was alright later.
“Quiet down everyone. Today we’ll be doing quirkless 1 on 1 sparing. I’ll be walking around to assist where needed”
Iida's hand immediately shot up.
“Yes, Iida?”
“Why are we sparing quirkless? Shouldn’t we focus on improving our quirks?”
“Yes, Iida, we will also be working on your quirks. But basic fighting skills are the base of quirked fighting. This way I can also standardize your training to some extent.”
Iida gave Aizawa a curt nod. “Alright, sensei! Let’s all do our best today!”
Izuku zoned back into reality just as Aizawa was paring them together based on skill. Because of Izuku’s efforts to learn martial arts when he didn’t know he’d ever get a quirk, he was always on top of the pack.
“-and Uraraka, Midoria and Kirishima. Please all make your way to an empty mat alongside your partner.”
Izuku robotically made his way to a mat. Aizawa said he’d have to fight Kirishima. It shouldn’t be too difficult, considering his weaknesses. He tended to rely on his quirk to take hits, so he often left himself open. He’s also more of a puncher and thrower than a kicker. So, all Izuku needed to do to win was stay low and hit a few well-placed jabs.
Izuku took his place opposite Kirishima, and they gave each other a nod before getting into their fighting stances.
“3, 2, 1, start!” Aizawa called out.
Attempting to get in a quick blow, Izuku dashed forward, making sure to steer clear of Kirishima’s arms. He quickly fell into the familiar rhythm of fighting; dodging, hitting, falling back. He felt Kirishima's fist graze his hair and stepped back panting. Kirishima doubled over the moment he saw Izuku take a step back, borderline hyperventilating.
"That-" Kirishima took a deep breath, "was so manly! Yo- You did really well!"
Izuku smiled and nodded. Kirishima hadn't even managed to land a single hit.
"Alright class, give your partner some tips and move on to the next partner. One person stays on the mat, the other rotates clockwise."
Izuku turned to fully face Kirishima. "You need to kick more. You focus on punching, which is fine, except for when your opponent is faster than you. It would've been way too easy to seriously damage your legs. You also leave too many gaps in your defense." He felt a twinge of awkwardness at being so direct, as he usually shied away from being so upfront.
Kirishima looked taken aback. "Ah- thank you, bro! It's super manly how you know me so well! Um, you could, I guess you- well- you actually did really well. You can be rougher with me though! You were pretty much only evading. It's fine, it's not like I want to be punched." Kirishima laughed. "But I can take a few hits."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thank you." Izuku looked over to the next mat, where Bakugo and Uraraka were just sparring. "Should I move on to the next mat?"
"Sure Bro! It was fun sparing with you!"
"Mhm. See you later." Izuku turned to walk to the next mat, just as Uraraka was walking away to spar with Tsu. He'd be sparring with Bakugo. A grin threatened to creep up his face. He normally didn't quite enjoy sparring with Bakugo because of the boy's rather... Violent tendencies. But today, that's just what he was looking for.
Izuku walked over to the matt and got into a fighting stance. Bakugo glared at him as he did the same.
"3, 2, 1, start" Aizawa announced.
Izuku instinctively dodged under the right hook aimed at his head and stepped forward, twisting on his left foot and aiming a right hook of his own at the spot below Bakugo's ribs. Bakugo jumped back just in time with a swear, dropping his defenses for a split second. Izuku instanntly struck, jabbing Bakugo in the face. Bakugo twisted his head just in time so Izuku's fist only hit his jaw.
"Fuck, Deku," Bakugo grunted, before attempting to kick Izuku square in his chest.
Izuku twisted away just in time and Bakugo lost his balance, stumbling forwards a few steps. Thinking quickly, Izuku kneed him in his ribs, causing Bakugo to double over, right into an uppercut that would've broken his nose if Izuku had made a fist instead of a flat hand.
"ARE YOU LOOKING DOWN ON ME? DON'T GO EASY ON ME!" Bakugo screamed, recovering quickly, pops of explosions dancing along his hands.
Izuku blanched. A voice in the back of his mind was telling him that this was supposed to be quirkless sparing, but he was already activating OFA. He got an explosion straight to his face as retribution. He gave a cross right into where Bakugo's face just was, but Bakugo had already ascended into the air above him, and an explosion struck him in the back. He felt himself fade away as his instincts took over. He could feel where Bakugo would strike before he did and knew how to move to get in hits of his own.
Izuku was about to hit Bakugo in the side with a roundhouse kick when he was abruptly pulled back to the front of his mind, OFA deactivated. He stumbled and turned his head to find Aizawa's quirk-enhanced glare aimed at both Bakugo and him. Izuku glanced at Bakugo who was bleeding, bruises already blossoming all over his body. His gym uniform was torn. Now that he was thinking of it, he felt burns on his shoulders and back, though he'd manage to evade most of the hits.
"Problem children. What happened to quirkless sparing?" Aizawa said, sounding utterly disappointed and exhausted.
"I- I'm so sorry sensei! I guess I just got too excited?" Izuku squeaked.
Bakugo grumbled something inaudible, most likely reluctantly agreeing with Izuku.
"Bakugo, go to recovery girl. Izuku, over here."
Izuku nervously walked over to Aizawa as Bakugo stomped off to see recovery girl.
"Kid, what was that? These are spars, not life or death battles." Aizawa said, eyes softer than they were a moment before.
"I know! I'm just really tired, so I rely on my instincts and they- uh- can't tell the difference between the two." Izuku stuttered.
"Ah. You're going to have to sit out for the rest of class. It's not fair to your classmates to have you beat them up." Aizawa said, glaring at Izuku.
Izuku's eyes widened a fraction. "But-"
"No arguing. Bakugo won't be allowed to participate for the rest of class either. Would you rather write an essay on why you should listen to your teacher?"
"No, but, I really need this right now. I want to fight."
"That may be, but it's not fair to your classmates to have you punch them into oblivion because you're tired."
"Can't I just- spar with you?" The words left Izuku's mouth before he could think about it. "Because I can't actually hurt you! And that way I'd still be able to spar."
Aizawa looked at Izuku, considering. "Fine. No using your quirk, no punching me in the face, no aiming to harm."
Izuku beamed. "Thank you Aizawa sensei!"
"Class, continue with the exercise. Switch partners every 10 minutes. I expect you all to be able to read time." Aizawa announced to the rest of the class.
The duo walked over to an empty matt and settled into a fighting stance. There's a jump in Izuku's step and a smile on his face. Aizawa dropped the annoyed and tired front, his eyes looking a lot clearer than they did a moment before.
"Well, let's get started," Aizawa said, his calculating gaze settling on Izuku.
In response, Izuku aimed a jab at Aizawa's shoulder. Aizawa dogged downwards instead of twisting, throwing Izuku off his rhythm. He barely managed to jump over the kick aimed for his ankles as he stumbled back, the stupid giddy smile still on his face, though his eyes were harder now. Aizawa leveled him with an unimpressed glare.
Undeterred, Izuku pressed on, slightly more weary and cautious. Though he'd sparred with pro heroes (namely Allmight) plenty of times before, Aizawa's fighting style was different. It was fairly balanced, and power seemed to be traded for speed and agility. Where Allmight depends too much on punching and his legs were sparsely used in fights, if at all, Aizawa switched freely between punching kicking, kneeing, and elbowing Izuku. The two spent most of their time dancing around each other, looking for openings. The younger found themselves sprawled out on the floor after a badly timed punch plenty of times. However, as the rhythm of the fight began to settle in his bones, his mind started to feel cloudy again. Soon, he was dodging the attacks with much more grace than he should've been able to, and he felt himself floating, staring down at the battle from an above perspective. Aizawa had noticeably started trying harder, getting more defensive. Izuku felt the cross coming before he saw it. He instinctively grabbed his teacher's arm and hip and threw him over his shoulder.
The haze over his mind lifted just as he heard Aizawa hit the matt. He turned around to find Aizawa, who had quickly recovered into a crouching position, staring at him with bright red eyes.
"Uhm, sir?" Izuku asked, anxiously wringing his hands together.
"Kid, have you ever practiced Aikido techniques?" Aizawa asked, his hair lowering.
"No, I don't think so. I'd like to do so at some point though! It seems useful."
"Hm. That's weird. That move you just used to throw me is a pretty advanced Aikido technique." Aizawa said, staring at Izuku like he should have an answer for him.
"Uh- Yeah, that is weird. Maybe I picked it up by watching other people train?" Izuku chuckled nervously.
"I guess." Aizawa stood up, rubbing the part of his hip he'd landed on and raising his voice. "Stop gawking." He looked at the clock. "You still have time left of your match. You're not going to become heroes by standing around and doing nothing. I will expel you if you slack off."
Izuku's head shot up as he nervously looked around the class, noticing a large number of his classmates were staring at him and Aizawa. His face flushed red. "Uh, yeah, so, um-"
"Let's just keep going problem child," Aizawa said, an exasperated sigh escaping him. Izuku nodded eagerly in response as he got into a fighting stance.
The two sparred for the rest of class, trading blows. Izuku didn't end up throwing Aizawa again, though he could swear he sometimes moved out of the way before he could even see the hit coming. He decided to ask Allmight about it later. Maybe it was just another part of OFA that he unlocked now that he could use it better.
The bell rang, and the students drained out of the gym. Just as Izuku was about to leave, Aizawa called out to him.
"Midoria, come over here for a moment." Izuku walked over to Aizawa until he was standing in front of the taller man.
"If you ever need someone to just go all out with on a spar you can ask me. There's no need to beat your classmates into the ground. I know that wasn't your intention, but your actions still have consequences. Either way, using sparring or training as an outlet is decent, though you shouldn't overdo it. You can always come to me or any other teacher if you ever need someone to talk to. Hound dog is also available as the school counselor."
Izuku stared at Aizawa for a moment before realizing he had to reply. "Of course sensei! Oh god, I still need to apologize to Kirishima and Kacchan! I'm fine though, there's no reason to worry! Sparing with you was fun though, I'd love to do that again. But I- uh really need to get going or I'll be late for class! Thank you for sparring with me!" Izuku said, turning as he walked out the door.
He missed the fond glance Aizawa sent his way before starting to tidy up the mats covering the gym.
__________________
Aizawa let out a happy sigh as he finally sat down at his desk with a nice steaming cup of coffee, letting out a small disgruntled groan as the bruise the problem child had caused dug uncomfortably into the chair. He supposed he shouldn't whine, as he didn't go by Chiyo. He closed his eyes as he took a nice sip of his scalding coffee.
"Shota, did Midoria seem off to you today?" Yamada asked, sitting down on Aizawa's desk.
Aizawa opened his eyes just enough to glare at the intruder before responding. "He beat both Kirishima and Bakugo into the ground during training. I think 'off' is an understatement."
Yamada's eyes widened a fraction. "Ah- he was totally zoned out during English class today. That's so unlike the way the little listener normally acts! Should I be concerned?"
"I don't think so, though I'll keep an eye on him. I just think he might not've slept enough or something. People have off days sometimes."
"That's true. I just hope he feels better now, he seemed totally out of it."
"I believe he does. We sparred together, and that seemed to take the edge off for him."
"You sparred together? That's nice of you! I hope you didn't beat him up too bad?" Yamada asked, a smile on his face as he poked fun at Aizawa, knowing full well he'd never actually hurt any of his students.
"The better question would be if he didn't beat me up too bad. Kid threw me. I didn't even know he knew how to do that." Aizawa grumbled.
Yamada started laughing. Aizawa's quirk-enhanced glare only seemed to encourage him, and the loud blonde was soon wheezing on Aizawa's desk.
"It's not that funny. Maybe you should get thrown by a teenager, see who's laughing then." Aizawa deadpanned, looking utterly exasperated.
As that only seemed to incite another bout of laughter, Aizawa decided to change topics. "Where is Allmight? He's usually here during lunch period."
"Don't change the topic Sho, I'm not done laughing at you yet." Yamada managed to get out in between gasps of air.
Aizawa shrunk further into his seat as Nemuri walked into the break room and Yamada retold a more colorful version of the story Aizawa had told him, causing her to start laughing too.
__________________
"Allmight, can we talk? In private please, it's about, you know." Izuku asked, wringing his hands together.
"Of course my boy! Allmight exclaimed, leading them to the roof.
Izuku waited until Allmight shut the door before starting. "So, I was sparring today. And when I got into the rhythm of the fight, I could feel the moves of my opponent before I could see them. It was really weird. Is this a part of OFA?"
Allmight looked at him with a contemplating look. "I'm not sure my boy. It might be enhancing your instincts. No matter, it's only beneficial to you. As the saying goes, don't look a gift horse in the mouth!" He clapped Izuku on the back in a way that was probably intended to be reassuring but made Izuku stumble.
"Ah, okay. Thank you! I'm going to go have lunch now." Izuku said as he awkwardly stumbled towards the door.
"See you, my boy!" Allmight exclaimed.