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Shouta is looking forward to the end of his shift. Patrol has been exceedingly boring today which would normally be a good thing, but it's cold and wet out and Shouta wouldn't have minded a little fight to get his blood pumping.
Just a small scuffle would have been fine but it seems that not even petty little criminals are out and about and Shouta wishes he didn't have to be either.
But it's just one more hour before he can go home and slink into a warm bed, pressing his cold hands to Hizashi's stomach and making him grumble half-asleep and just that image is enough to almost make the next hour bearable.
When something finally happens, it takes him a minute to realise that it's actually a thing that requires his attention, because for a moment, all he sees are sparks on a rooftop.
Which could be nothing at all, teenagers fooling around with fireworks at best, and a flayed cable at worst, or maybe even some villains getting up to some more nefarious shenanigans, and that means it's definitely something Shouta should check out.
He touches down on the rooftop, silent and careful, in case it's something more sinister than at first assumed and then he can do nothing but blink because that's a kid.
That's a wet, shivering, small child on the top of a house in the middle of the night on a Saturday.
Something is definitely wrong.
Shouta observes the kid for a while, in case it's a trap and someone else is waiting to attack him should he step out into the open, but there's no one there and the kid doesn't give any indication that he's waiting for someone either.
He's staring down at his hands with a scowl so fierce it looks out of place on his face and his hands periodically spark, making the kid frown harder, as if he's waiting for something else.
Shouta observes the same pattern for a moment longer, before he finally steps out, cautious to make some noise so the kid doesn't startle too badly.
"Hey, kid," he greets him and he comes to a stop when the kid’s head snaps up and an angry glare is levelled at him.
"I'm not a kid," the kid says and despite the situation they are in, Shouta's lips twitch upwards.
He thinks pointing out that the boy can't be older than eight isn't going to win him any points with him, so he bites that particular comment back and instead nods.
"What are you then?" he asks as if it makes perfect sense that a child denies being a child and maybe all of that teaching talk he had to endure from Hizashi lately is rubbing off on him after all.
"I'm going to be a hero," the kid says with absolute conviction and Shouta waits for a beat before he points out the obvious flaw in his answer.
"That doesn't explain what you are right now, though," he gives back and a look of utter surprise flashes over the kids face. "My name is Aizawa," Shouta then offers, in hopes of getting a name in return, but all that earns him is a squinted look. "I'm pro hero Eraserhead," he tacks on, though he doesn't have much hope of that helping him because he's underground for a reason.
"You must be a shitty hero cause I have never heard of you," the boy predictably says and Aizawa smiles at him.
"Or I'm very good, because being unknown is literally my job," he shoots back and that, at least, makes the boy pause.
"'m Katsuki," he finally offers and that already feels as if Shouta has won a fight.
"Nice to meet you, Katsuki. What are you doing out here? It's a little late for you, isn't it?"
Shouta looks around but there's no obvious way down from the roof and he can't see a latter or even a rope attached to something so it begs the question on how the kid got up here and—most importantly—how he's going to get back down.
"It's not," Katsuki almost hisses at him and then his hands spark again. "I'm training."
Shouta's eyebrows almost climb up to his hairline.
"Training? Your quirk? At this hour and in this weather?"
Katsuki sticks out his chin and nods, but his decisive appearance only holds for a moment before his lips start to wobble and his eyes glaze over with tears.
"I've got to get stronger," he shakily says and Shouta is definitely no longer liking where this is going.
"Says who, kid?" he gently asks Katsuki, who tries his best to blink the tears away and somehow even succeeds.
Still, his voice is wobbly when he answers.
"My parents. Everyone. With my quirk, I gotta," he gives back as if it's set in stone that he has to be a hero, that he has to train and be the best and Shouta's stomach churns with all these expectations placed on such tiny shoulders.
"What is your quirk, exactly? It's not just these sparks, is it?" Shouta wants to know because that hardly seems like a quirk that would make a good hero out of anybody.
"Explosion," Katsuki gives back and his hands spark again. "I can't make it work during this weather very well, yet."
"Is that why you're out here? To train that?"
Katsuki visibly hesitates at that question and Shouta can already sense that he's not going to like the answer.
"Not really," Katsuki hesitantly gives back and eyes the edge of the roof, sending a spike of fear through Shouta. "I'm supposed to get down alone."
"Alone how?" Shouta prods because he hasn't seen the quirk in action yet and so he doesn't know how powerful the explosions are.
Could they be enough for this kid to break his fall should he jump?
Katsuki raises his hands in answer but when a shiver wrecks him, he quickly drops them again.
"I can make them big. Big enough to make them break my fall, my parents say."
"And what do you think?" Shouta asks and curls his hands into fists, because all of that anger inside of him has to go somewhere.
"I think—" Katsuki thinks for a moment, eyes the ledge and the sky again and then turns back to Shouta. "I think maybe I can. With more training and better weather."
It's a good assessment of his abilities, Shouta thinks, and it only drives the point home that something here is horribly wrong.
"You seem like a smart boy, Katsuki," Shouta tells him and Katsuki preens for a second before that fierce scowl settles back on his face.
"But?" he demands to know as if there's no doubt about the but coming.
"No but," Shouta says with a shake of his head. "You seem smart enough to realise that the training you're supposed to do here isn't the way to go about this."
Shouta lets his words sink in for a moment, gives Katsuki time to assess his situation again and it's no surprise when Katsuki's eyes start to water again.
"My parents said it's the only way to make me learn," he gives back, his voice thin and reedy and Shouta wants to hurt them very badly for a moment, before he forces himself to concentrate on Katsuki for now.
"Did they bring you up here?"
"Yeah. They want me to get down on my own. And I can! I promise, I can, it's just—the weather—"
Katsuki trails off and Shouta hates the fact that he clearly feels as if he has to justify himself for staying on the roof.
"Is this the first time you're up here?" Shouta asks even though he doesn't really want to know and just like he feared Katsuki shakes his head.
"It's the third time," he admits and he presses his lips together. "I just can't make it work and when I look down—"
He breaks off there, clearly more than worried about the huge drop that greets him when he looks over the edge and again, the boy is smart.
"You're right to be afraid of that drop," Shouta softly says and gives him half a smile. "It's smart to be scared of things that can hurt you, and going down the side of the building is going to hurt you, especially if you're still training your quirk. This is not the way to go about this."
"But I have to be a great hero," Katsuki protests and Shouta nods.
"If you want that, then you can be that. But you're not going to be great or good if you fall down this building and break every bone in your body."
"I could—survive," Katsuki tries to argue, even though he very much doesn't seem to believe it and Shouta sighs.
"Surviving and making it work are two very different things. And you shouldn't have to survive a training exercise. That's not how that's supposed to work."
"What would you know," Katsuki grumbles out and eyes Shouta up and down. "You're just a no-name hero."
"Maybe," Shouta acquiesces. "But I did go to U.A. and I scaled this building without a quirk, so I know what I'm speaking of."
"You went to U.A.?" Katsuki's eyes predictably shine with excitement as he learns this and at this point, Shouta is not above taking this cheap in.
"Yeah. You wanna go there, too?"
"Of course," Katsuki haughtily says. "The best heroes go there."
"And those who don't shatter both their legs and their bodies on top for a pointless exercise," Shouta adds and Katsuki ducks his head.
"I might have made it," he mutters and fiddles with the hem of his pullover, before he drops them as if he's been scolded.
"You might," Shouta agrees, because who knows what this kid is really able to do but also— "Or you might not have. Best to not find out, mh?"
Katsuki looks to the side, worrying his lower lip before he fixes Shouta with his glare again.
"What's going to happen now?" he demands to know and Shouta settles himself on the ground.
His jumpsuit is already soaked, it hardly makes a difference at this point and Katsuki eagerly steps a bit closer as soon as he's seated.
"I don't like what your parents are doing to you," Shouta admits. "And you said this isn't the first time."
"Third," Katsuki fills in for him and Shouta nods.
"That's no way to treat a child. For how long have you been up here?"
"Since yesterday," Katsuki admits after a moment and then shivers again.
Shouta wishes he had anything to wrap him up in, but his capture weapon is positively dripping at this point and Shouta doesn't carry anything else with him.
"And how long were you supposed to be up here?"
"Until I can make it down, or school starts. Whatever comes first," Katsuki gives back and then pushes out his chest. "Because I haven't missed a single class this year and I'm at the top of my class," he preens and Shouta reaches out to pat his head.
"Well done," he praises because it is praiseworthy and it also seems to be something Katsuki takes great pride in. "You like going to school?"
"Eh, it's okay," Katsuki mutters. "Too many extras around."
"Extras?"
"People who don't care to be a hero or who are too weak," Katsuki immediately gives back and Shouta frowns at him.
"That's not very nice, to call them that. It wouldn't be good if everyone wanted to be a hero anyway. Who would do all the other jobs if we only had heroes?" Shouta asks and Katsuki shuts his mouth again, clearly chewing on Shouta's words.
Well, it seems Katsuki is a very prideful, confident kid, who hasn't had much guidance in what is right and appropriate if their short interaction is anything to go by, but that's not really a surprise if his parents deposited him here so he can train his quirk.
Or break every bone in his body.
"Katsuki, I can't let you go back to your home," Shouta cautiously tells him, because there's no way he's going to let this bright, promising kid go back to people who apparently don't care about his well-being.
"Why not?"
"Because what your parents are doing is wrong. They are hurting you and that is not right and I can't let that go on."
"I'm not injured," Katsuki gives back, but he's snivelling again and Shouta thinks he's smart enough to realise that being hurt doesn't just come from injuries.
"Thankfully you are not. But you are neglected and your parents are putting you into situations where getting hurt is inevitable, because I don't see any food or extra clothes around. You're cold and I bet you're starving and I would guess you don't feel very safe here."
"What do you know," Katsuki grumbles. "I'm not some weakling."
"I never said you were. You're not stupid for being afraid and you're not weak for being hurt. And you're not at fault for not asking for help," he pre-emptively adds, because he feels as if that could be a problem, too, if he doesn't address it first. "This is on your parents and I won't allow them to hurt you anymore."
Katsuki's lower lip is wobbling almost non-stop now and there are silent tears streaming down his face, but he's quiet and only stares at Shouta with his piercing eyes.
"So, Katsuki, take my hand and I'm going to get you down and warm and fed and somewhere safe, alright?"
The normal procedure is to get him to a police station and then leave him there but something about this kid makes imagining handing him off to strangers almost impossible and Shouta already hopes his husband is going to forgive him for bringing home a kid unannounced.
Shouta was so caught up in Hizashi's potential reaction to this, that it takes him a moment to realise that Katsuki has fisted his hands in his shirt, instead of taking Shouta's offered one.
"Everything alright?"
"My parents say I'm not allowed to touch them," Katsuki gives back and suddenly he sounds small and young and impossibly hurt in a way he previously didn't.
"And why's that?"
"Because it's not just an explosion, my sweat is what causes it and so that's dangerous."
With everything Shouta has already learned about Katsuki's parents, he doubts that Katsuki's sweat is actually that dangerous and even if—
"That's alright," Shouta tries to reassure him and continues to hold out his hand. "Are you going to make it explode on purpose if you take my hand?"
Katsuki shakes his head vigorously and Shouta nods.
"Then it's fine. If it's does go off, then it's an accident and you're not to blame and if you don't intend to hurt me, then I have nothing to fear otherwise, right?"
Katsuki blinks at him as if he has a hard time understanding his words, but when Shouta throws a meaningful look at his hand again, Katsuki hesitantly reaches out for him.
"There you go," Shouta softly says when his small hand slides into his. And now I'm going to get you down and somewhere safe, alright?"
Katsuki gives him one small nod and that's really all Shouta needs because he's going to make sure that this kid is going to be just fine, away from parents who think dropping him on a roof for training is a normal thing to do.
And once he’s settled and safe and not in danger of breaking his every bone, Shouta will figure out if he still wants to be a hero and if so, then he’s going to make that happen, too.