Chapter Text
Shouta Aizawa was sitting in his room in the dormitories. He was enjoying the peace and quiet, a nice cup of coffee because fuck sleep schedules, and his favorite book. He's read it many times before, but he's not really one for change, nor is he someone who likes trying new things. So re-read his favorite book he will.
CRASH!
...
What the fuck was that?
It sounded like it came from the common room, which was a floor below where Aizawa's room was. Was it shattering glass? It sounded like glass, or maybe ceramic. Did something fall on it's own or is a student down there?
Aizawa set his coffee mug down on his bedside table, tossing his blanket off onto the bed and putting a bookmark where he left off in his book. He stood up from his bed, and quickly started putting on his house slippers.
What if it was a robber? Or a villain? Or just a criminal In general? What if his problem children were in danger and it'll all be his fault because he didn't get his damn HOUSE SHOES ON FAST ENOUGH- FUCK!
He finally got his shoes on and opened his door, being quick, but trying to be quiet enough so it wouldn't wake up any of the teens in the other rooms incase it really was nothing, and a plate or something fell off a counter on its own.
He didn't bother using the elevator, what If it somehow broke down while he was in it and he was stuck there and the villain was free to hurt his ki- students?
He went down the stairs, swiftly yet quietly-- exactly his style, and as soon as he was to the door to the common room, he quietly walked into the room and looked around.
He didn't see anything.
...
He continued looking around the common room for any signs of danger. He saw none. He felt he should check the kitchen, since, y'know, he assumed it was a cup, or a plate, something glass or ceramic that broke. Most likely kitchenware. It really wasn't that hard of a conclusion to come to.
----------------
He walked into the kitchen, his steps quiet. He didn't see anything yet, but when he walked around the kitchen island, on the inside walkway of it, he saw familiar blue-colored shards of one of their ceramic plates, shattered on the ground.
He saw a a head of green hair, too. When he circled the island more, he saw that Problem Child #1 was against the bottom cabinets, sitting on the ground, his knees pulled to his chest, with his forehead rested on his knees. His face was hidden.
The shattered plate on the ground was accompanied with a few cheez-its scattered on the ground.
Looks like Problem Child was trying to make himself a.. very.. nutritional meal.
"...Midoriya. what are you doing up? It's.. two-thirty in the morning. You should be asleep. Like your classmates,"
Aizawa said, resisting the urge to scold him. The kid really should be asleep. Though, Aizawa was a bit of a hypocrite there.
But usually Problem Child would be asleep. He wouldn't be down here if something wasn't wrong.
Aizawa waited for a moment, before he came to the conclusion that he was in fact, not going to get an answer.
"Midoriya, answer me. Whats going on? Why are you down here?" Aizawa asked, kneeling down infront of Midoriya. Though he made sure not to kneel on any shards of ceramic.
...
"Did you drop your plate?"
Aizawa asked,
He could tell something wasn't right. Infact, something was very wrong. This behavior was so unlike Midoriya. It was so unlike most people.
"...I dropped my plate,"
Midoriya replied, his voice barely audible.
"Yeah, kid, I can tell."
Aizawa replied. The room was filled with an awkward silence for a few more moments before Aizawa spoke up again.
"...How are you feeling, Problem Child?" He asked quietly.
Aizawa was always stern. Rough. Strict. He had to be, or else what kind of teacher was he? He had to prepare his students for the real world. The hero industry. And its not all fun and games.
But... that doesn't mean ignoring it when one of his students is obviously struggling.
Aizawa is a teacher. That means he's responsible for his students. And ever since they started the dormitory system at UA, he's only more responsible for them. To make sure they're safe, and healthy, and happy. Like a parent. Except- except not like a parent. Not at all.
"..N-not good.."
Midoriya whispered.
That wasn't surprising. The only part that was surprising, is that he was so honest about it.
The problem child. Midoriya. Admitting he's not okay? Thats.. new. Usually he's the type to push feelings way down and ignore them.
"Can you tell me how you feel? More specifically? Are you physically hurt anywhere?" Aizawa asked, looking him over. It didn't look like he was hurt anywhere, though he had a long-sleeved shirt and baggy pants on so it was hard to tell.
"...no," Midoriya said quietly. Aizawa wasn't exactly sure if he was telling the truth or now. But, for now, he'd give the kid the benefit of the doubt.
"Then what's wrong?" Aizawa replied quickly, getting slightly frustrated and very worried. Though he wouldn't let it show in his voice.
"..I- I'm just.. really.. anxious.." Midoriya said, his voice practically a whisper. He looked up, taking his forehead off of his knees and pointing his head in Aizawa's direction. He didn't want to make eye contact, though.
He had eyebags and his eyes were slightly red. His hair was messier than normal, and slightly matted on the back due to not having combed it in a while. It was dark in the room, but Aizawa could tell he was paler than his signature, usual tan.
"...is that why you didn't attend classes yesterday?" Aizawa asked, referring to how Midoriya had called in sick the previous day.
Midoriya nodded, wiping his face with the heel of his palm.
"Are you sure it's just anxiety? You've been missing class a lot lately. And you haven't been joining your classmates for dinner time either. What have you been eating?" Aizawa questioned him, still looking him over for any possible injuries.
Izuku stayed quiet for a moment before taking a deep breath and speaking.
"...I don't really.. eat anything for dinner. Lately, anyway. I don't have an appetite..." he mumbled, looking at the ground.
"And.. why is that?" Aizawa asked, moving to sit down next to him, his back on the back cabinets as well.
"B-because I just don't, damn it!"
He shouted, his chest rising and falling quicker than normal.
Aizawa's eyes widened with surprise, not expecting him to have shouted at all, let alone that loud.
He shushed Midoriya, clamping a hand over his mouth. "Kid! What was that for? Other students are asleep, y'know!" He whisper-yelled.
Izuku yanked Aizawa's hand off of his mouth and put his head back on his knees and started letting out small sobs.
"Wha- what the- kid! What are you doing-? Why-" Aizawa panicked, he really doesn't know what to do when a kid is crying. Especially when he doesn't even know why the kid is crying. He was having huge mood-swings and Aizawa doesn't know why.
Aizawa really doesn't know how to deal with a crying kid. Usually he knows what to do if there's a situation involving his students, he's supposed to stay calm and rational, being rational is his whole thing, damn it! But it's hard to not panic when something is happening that you don't know how to deal with-- and he doesn't even know where to start! How was he supposed to fix this if he didn't know what was wrong!
"..T-this.. sucks.."
Midoriya stuttered out, his voice a whisper. He kept sniffling and crying quietly into his knees.
Damn it- why is this happening?? Everything was fine (for the most part) like two seconds ago!
"...Problem Child. please tell me why you're crying. I don't know how to deal with this," Aizawa said sympathetically, putting his hand on the kid's shoulder.
He kept sniffling, and crying into his knees.
"I- I.. did something bad.." Midoriya whispered.
Aizawa didn't quite know what he was referring to. Though, he had an idea of what he was talking about.
"...What did you do? You can tell me, Problem Child. I won't be mad at you," Aizawa said calmly.
Now, if Aizawa finds out Midoriya did something like murdering someone, yeah, he's gonna be mad. But he has an idea of what happened and it's better to be safe than sorry.
He wasnt usually like this. Heck, he was rarely like this. But if one of his students is doing what he thinks he's doing, he needs to be more gentle than his normal rough, stern persona.
"I.. hurt myself.." Midoriya said quietly through his sniffles.
Aizawa expected this to be the case, but that didn't make his heart hurt any less.
Aizawa had his own history with things like that. He was no stanger to depression, nor self-harmful behavior. He was already depressed in highschool, but as soon as Oboro died, his condition practically skyrocketed, and he almost tried to do something he definitely regrets even thinking about now.
"..I see. Would you like to show me how you hurt yourself? if you're not comfortable with that, that's perfectly fine," Aizawa said, trying to keep his voice as steady and stable as possible.
Midoriya needed support and stability right now. And if he felt that showing where he hurt himself would make himself feel better, then Aizawa would look at them 1000 times just to help him not have to do that anymore.
Midoriya nodded, sniffling.
There was a suspenseful silence for a few moments, Midoriya fidgeting with the hem of his long-sleeved shirt.
After the moments passed, before Midoriya slowly started lifting up his left sleeve, all the way up to his elbow. He had a square of paper towel wrapped around his arm as kinda a bandage, with a few thin lines of blood soaked through it.
He took off the home-made wrap, and showed Aizawa his wounds.
There were about 20 fresh cuts, about one inch long, in a scattered, frantic row down his arm. Some of them had started to scab already, others hadn't and were still bleeding a bit. Some of his skin seemed stained red from the thick color of his own blood.
Aizawa also noticed some fully healed scars, they were a light cream color on his tan arm, though there weren't many. Either he didn't do this often, (on this arm, atleast) or he did a pretty decent job of getting them to heal. Aizawa didn't know.
"..Kiddo," Aizawa mumbled, a thick tone of worry and concern to his voice. "This.. fuck.." the teacher mumbled quietly, running a hand down his face and covering his mouth.
He didn't want Midoriya to see how his lips were pressed into a thin line, he didn't want Midoriya to see how anxious he was, how worried he was, how much he was internally panicking.
He saw Midoriya's cuts. Fuck. This hurt a lot more than he thought it would.
He saw a younger version of himself in Midoriya. The silent suffering, nobody noticing something was wrong until it was nearly too late. Which reminds Aizawa; how the fuck didn't he notice?
He likes to say he doesn't have favorite students. Which is true, but you do naturally get along with some people better than others. Midoriya was one of those people to Shouta. At first, he saw him as a student, obviously. A lump of clay to be sculpted into a fine hero. But now, it's like.. this is his kid. A little carbon copy of him, of whom he needs to care for and nurture. Which, he didn't see that in any of his other students, so this was confusing to him, too.
And his kid. His KID. Is hurting himself. On purpose. And Aizawa doesn't even know how to help.
Midoriya sniffled, wiping his face with his other sleeved-arm.
"I'm.. s-so sorry.. I'm s-sorry.." he mumbled, his face still buried in his knees.
"..n-no," Aizawa said. Fuck. He stuttered. Aizawa never stutters. This.. fucking sucks.
"I'm not mad at you. I- i'm just.. sad. Sad that you would hurt yourself like this. You're not in trouble. Do you understand?" Aizawa said, his voice gentle but his tone stern.
Midoriya lifted his head off his knees, sniffling, giving Aizawa a small nod.
"Good.. good. Okay.." Aizawa said quietly, trying to figure out some kind of plan of action.
"..Okay. let's go get you cleaned up, let's put some ointment on your cuts, and get them bandaged up in some better wraps, Okay?" Aizawa said, his voice quiet yet stern.
Izuku nodded slightly, looking up at Aizawa while he stood up, from his previous position on his knees.
"Don't even worry about the broken plate, Kiddo. We can get that cleaned up in the morning."
Aizawa hesitated for a moment before speaking agaun.
"Y'know what, you stay there. You don't have shoes on and I don't want you to have to worry about stepping on the shards. I'll go get the first-aid kit," Aizawa added, taking a large step out of the area with the most ceramic shards.
Aizawa rushed over to the closet, trying to be as fast as he can without making too much noise to wake up the other students. He opened the closet, looking around for a few moments. He couldn't find it. Damn, they should really have the first-aid kit in a more obvious place, in case of a more urgent emergency.
After moving some things around, he found the kit behind a few storage bins. He grabbed it, and checked inside to make sure it had everything they needed.
Bandages? Check
Ointment? Check
That was pretty much all they needed from there. Aizawa can grab a washcloth and put warm water on it when he gets back to the dormitory kitchen, where Midoriya was.
He closed the door to the closet, and started walking back. Again, making sure not to be too loud.
When he made it back to the kitchen, he stepped the first aid kit down on the kitchen island, and opened a cabinet, grabbing a washcloth. He walked over to the kitchen sink and turned it on, waiting for the water to start running warm, before dipping the washcloth in the warm stream of water.
While he was up, he made a small effort to turn on the hanging lamp that was over the kitchen island, so they'd have some light, but not too much that they'd wake up other students.
He went back over to where Midoriya was sat, making sure not to step on any ceramic shards, even if he did have shoes on. He didn't want to spread the broken ceramic throughout the dorms where students were barefoot all the time.
He kneeled down, giving the kid a small smile to assure him. Aizawa didn't smile around his students often, but he wanted to make sure Midoriya knew he wasn't mad or angry at him.
"...can I use this washcloth on your cuts?" Aizawa asked quietly, holding it up. Midoriya gave him a small nod.
Aizawa carefully grabbed Midoriya's arm, and started cleaning the blood off of the skin. He was careful to not irritate them and make them bleed any more than they already were. He was careful to not break any of the already healing scabs off of them.
Once he was done with that, he grabbed a paper towel off of the roll on the kitchen counter, and out ointment on it. Enough to cover the area where the cuts were. He put that on Midoriya's arm carefully and gently, making sure it wouldn't come off easily, before he stood back up and put the ointment away. He grabbed the wrap and kneeled back down, wrapping the paper towel so it would stay on Midoriya's arm without him worrying about it coming off.
"...okay, Kiddo. Your going to want to change this bandage atleast three times a day until they're healed. Understood?" Aizawa say sternly, looking Midoriya in the eyes.
Midoriya had stopped crying, though his eyes were still slightly red.
"Understood.." he mumbled, sniffling still.
"Alright, Problem Child. We're gonna talk about this in the morning, okay? Then I'm going to send you to the school counselor. Hound Dog is a great counselor, you'll be in good hands. I promise. You'll have the day off of school," Aizawa said in a reassuring tone, making sure to explain to Midoriya what would happen the next morning, so he wouldn't be anxious about it..
"..I understand," Midoriya said with a tired sigh.
"Here; let me help you up," Aizawa said, standing up, and grabbing the kid under his armpits to lift him up, and set him down where he wouldn't step on ceramic with his bare feet.
It was kinda funny how Aizawa could lift an entire 5'5, 135 pound Problem Child like a toddler. You'd never guess by seeing him in his average attire, but he's very muscular. He dresses that way on purpose, to give villains a surprise when he beats their asses.
Midoriya mumbled a quick "thank you," before Aizawa spoke again.
"I want you to get a good sleep tonight, Kid. It's.. three in the morning now. If you wake up when you usually do, you'll only get four hours of sleep. But since you're not going to class later anyway, you have permission to sleep in as much as you'd like. Just for today," Aizawa said, giving him a small smile.
"..A-alright," Midoriya said tiredly.
"Goodnight.." he said quietly as he walked to the dorm elevator.
"..have a good sleep, Kiddo. I'll clean up the plate," Aizawa said as Midoriya boarded the elevator to go up to his dorm and sleep.