Chapter Text
Shota Aizawa was 21 years old at the time and was beginning to gain recognition in the underground hero scene. During that period, he started feeling confused about his emotions. He watched all his friends begin forming romantic relationships; some were already dating, and others were even married. The final straw was when Yamada started dating one of their coworkers. Shota felt out of place because of it. Whenever he and his friends got together, everyone was accompanied by their partners.
Shota never liked leaving his house, and now, knowing his friends would be with their romantic partners, it only made things worse. But when Nemuri sent him a message suggesting they meet at a bar—just the two of them—he couldn’t resist the curiosity eating away at him. Before he knew it, he was already at the bar.
He scanned the place, looking for Nemuri and Yamada. When he found them, they were seated in the farthest booth of the bar. It was odd. That was the kind of spot Shota would choose, but Nemuri and Yamada usually preferred more crowded areas. They said it allowed them to help others if needed.
Shota approached and greeted them both. He sat alone while Nemuri and Yamada sat across from him.
Everyone seemed serious, which made Shota nervous.
Nemuri took a deep breath, preparing to speak.
"WE MADE YOU A PROFILE ON A DATING SITE!" she yelled, standing up and slamming her hands on the table.
"NEMURI! We agreed to be more discreet!" Yamada exclaimed, grabbing Nemuri’s arm with a slightly desperate expression.
They didn’t even have time to react before they felt Aizawa’s Quirk activate. By the time they realized it, Shota’s hair was floating, his eyes were glowing red, and an expression of rage was etched across his face.
"You… did… WHAT?!" Aizawa growled, ready to strangle them both.
Yamada began waving his arms, trying to calm Aizawa down, which worked just enough for him to sit back down and deactivate his Quirk.
Nemuri cleared her throat, still a bit shaken by the earlier events.
"Sorry for doing this without your permission, Shota… We just wanted to help. We’ve noticed you’ve been feeling out of place lately. We’re worried. You don’t talk to anyone besides me and Yamada, and now we both have our own relationships to take care of. I know this sounds weird, but you really need to meet new people. It could help for future relationships... Just, please, give yourself a chance to find a partner."
Nemuri sighed as she finished speaking.
Shota was still reluctant, but seeing the concern in his friends’ eyes, he decided to give it a shot.
He blushed heavily, his face as red as a tomato from embarrassment.
Standing up, he finally spoke:
"I-I’ll try…" he said, trying to hide his shame with an impatient tone. "Now hand over that account you made for me."
°•°•°•°
When Shota got home, he simply collapsed on his bed. Unfortunately, he couldn’t sleep. Thanks to his patrols, he suffered from insomnia at night. He decided to check out the profile Nemuri and Yamada had created for him. In the bio, they described him as a "cat lover." He might have found it offensive if it weren’t true. They didn’t mention anything about his job as a hero, only that he worked night shifts.
As for preferences, Shota didn’t have many. He was pretty open as long as the person respected his personal space. He decided not to change anything on the profile.
In the end, he accidentally opened the compatibility list on the app. He started swiping through people. None caught his attention until he stopped at a picture of a woman named:
"Tane Tsushima."
She piqued his interest immediately—not because of her appearance but because of her description. She was 22 years old, a "cat person," a bit lazy, but also had many qualities. She liked chess, cards, checkers, and Uno. She was very intelligent and described herself as outgoing.
What stood out most to Shota was one piece of information about her:
"I don’t have a Quirk."
Shota didn’t see that as a negative and felt sad that she thought it might be. He decided to take a closer look at her photos. Tane had long, wavy dark hair that seemed quite tangled and messy, which reminded Shota of his own hair. She had large dark circles under her brown eyes and wore a black dress with a matching overcoat. In the photo, she made a peace sign while drinking bubble tea, likely taken by someone else.
"Her smile was cute," Shota thought, shivering at the realization.
He decided to like her profile, not realizing she was online. Shortly after, they matched.
They talked a lot over the next two months and finally arranged their first date.
Aizawa was incredibly nervous. Despite Yamada and Nemuri’s support, he still felt his stomach churning. He tried to look as presentable as possible and even tied his hair into a ponytail.
When he arrived at the restaurant, she wasn’t there yet. He sat at the reserved table and waited. Shortly after, she came running in, out of breath, but ended up slipping as she entered. Aizawa quickly rushed to help her up. She had a silly smile on her face.
The conversation flowed effortlessly, and Shota grew more comfortable with her.
After four months, they were officially dating. Nemuri organized a party to celebrate, and Yamada was there too, though a bit more distant.
Five months later, they were living together. And seven months into the relationship, Tane accidentally got pregnant.
That’s when their relationship began to fall apart. She said she wanted to terminate the pregnancy, while Shota wanted to keep the child. In the end, they reached an agreement: she would have the baby, but Shota would take full responsibility for raising it.
At eight months pregnant, the baby was born prematurely. Aizawa was terrified and nearly fainted. Nemuri and Yamada tried to calm him down.
When the doctors informed him the baby was fine, Shota broke down in tears.
A few days later, he saw his son for the first time. The baby was in an incubator, and when Aizawa reached out to touch him, the little one grabbed his finger and wouldn’t let go. As a result, Shota stayed there for over two hours, unable to leave.
Three days after the baby’s birth, he and Tane still hadn’t decided on a name. When Aizawa entered Tane’s room, he found her with tired eyes and a cold smile. He announced his presence, and she slowly turned her head, looking at him with disdain.
"Oh… it’s just you," she said curtly.
"Sorry for barging in, but we still haven’t decided on a name for our so—"
"His name is Shuji Tsushima," she interrupted with a sharp, serious tone.
Aizawa didn’t like her attitude, but he knew he couldn’t argue. After all, she had given birth to the child and had every right to choose the name.
The next day, Tane disappeared. She left a note saying she had fulfilled her part of the agreement and would not be returning.
Aizawa had expected this.
°•°•°•°
A few months later, Shota finally brought Shuji home. Shuji was a peculiar baby. All the books warned about endless crying and restless babies, but Shuji was… different. He didn’t cry or make noise. He also refused all baby food, drinking only milk—not even porridge. Shota began to worry.
°•°•°•°
One week later.
Aizawa and Shuji were asleep. Shuji didn’t like sleeping in the crib; he could only fall asleep on top of Shota.
The two were startled awake by a deafening noise and violent shaking.
Aizawa jumped out of bed, holding Shuji tightly. He looked around and heard screams coming from outside.
Grabbing his capture weapon, which was nearly gathering dust, he ran out of the building.
Outside, he saw black smoke rising from several buildings and flames spreading. People were screaming and running. Aizawa did his best to guide civilians to safety.
Once the situation calmed down, he sought out the police to find out what had happened. Since he was on paternity leave, he wasn’t receiving updates on incidents.
By chance, he ran into Detective Tsukauchi. He asked what was going on and if the villain responsible had been captured. Tsukauchi, recognizing Aizawa’s voice, was preparing to answer but froze when he saw Shuji with an expression of confusion and horror.
Aizawa sighed.
"I’ll explain later."
Tsukauchi nodded quickly and began explaining:
"It was a terrorist sent by the Port Mafia. She planted bombs throughout the city. When she was cornered by police and heroes, she made a speech saying that in eight years, the Port Mafia would take over all of Japan. In the end, she made a signal, and a sniper, likely from the mafia, shot her three times in the heart."
"Have you discovered her name?"
"Yes. Her name is Tane Tsushima."
Panic overtook Shota. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
His breathing became erratic. He ran off, holding Shuji tightly.
When he got home, he placed Shuji in the crib and collapsed on the floor, starting to hyperventilate.
It felt like he was dying. The woman he loved. The woman he let into his home. The woman who gave birth to his child. She
was a terrorist.
She was dead. Dead, like everyone he had ever loved.
As he lost himself in these thoughts, he heard a sound he had never heard before.
Shuji was crying.
Aizawa quickly stood up and went to the crib. Shuji had never cried before.
He picked the baby up and sat on the floor. Shuji stopped crying. Now, Aizawa held him tightly.
He would protect Shuji with his life.
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°