Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shouta Aizawa A.K.A Eraserhead, a man in his early thirties who looks like he's in his early forties. But being a teacher to a bunch of high school students with superpowers will do that.

The previous year was the hardest year for him as a hero, a teacher, and as a person. And even harder for his students.

He cared immensely for these kids, and gave his all to see them survive to graduate someday.

But Shouta had to admit, that he preferred how things were now. Their second year started off strangely, it being difficult for everyone to adjust to normal life again. But now that they had settled in things were looking up.

Shouta was up late grading papers, insomnia striking him as it usually did, hence his spontaneous naps.

It was about one in the morning when he got a call on his personal cell.

It was the caller I.D for his husband, Hizashi Yamada.

"I could be asleep you know." Shouta answered the phone with a growl.

"I know you well enough to know when you aren't asleep, you're grading papers right now I bet since you slept after class." Hizashi teased.

"You know me too well, we should get a divorce." Shouta joked, in his own sense of dark humor.

Hizashi didn't laugh though, which he normally would, even if Shouta's jokes weren't funny.

"Is something wrong Hizashi?" Shouta put down his pen and sat up.

"It's probably nothing, but have you heard from Hito today? I haven't seen him since he left my class with the others, and that was the last class of the day, but nobody in the dorms said they saw him since they got back." Hizashi said hurriedly, Shouta knew he spoke quicker when he was panicking.

"I haven't heard from him since class either. Did you text him?"

"I did, I even called him but I think his phone is off, it went straight to voicemail."

"It'll be fine, he can't leave the campus without permission and no alarms have gone off so he's probably in the dorms. I'll check his room." Shouta reassured. "Don't worry okay?"

Hizashi took a deep breath before replying. "Okay, call me as soon as you find him. I love you."

"I will. I love you too." Shouta hung up.

Among the many huge changes their lives had gone through in the past year, two of the hugest were the fact that Shouta and Hizashi had adopted two kids. Last year they had adopted Eri after it was clear she had no family that would take care of her.

The other child they adopted was Hitoshi Shinso.

While Shouta was helping train him last year he had learned about the boy's not so great past, which included abusive parents.

It took quite a bit of time, only finalizing shortly into the start of the second year, but they managed to get custody of Hitoshi from his parents.

And now Hitoshi was in Class-2A after Mineta was expelled at the beginning of the year.

Shouta stood from his desk, cracking and popping all the joints he could.

He figured the best place to start looking for Hitoshi was his dorm room. There was always a good chance that he passed out after class and his phone died. His son was as prone to insomnia as he was, something about quirks that affect the mind.

Shouta grabbed his master keycard and stepped into his slippers before leaving his apartment.

He went down to Hitoshi's room and knocked on the door. He waited a moment and after hearing nothing come from the room he used his keycard to open the door.

He normally wouldn't use his keycard unless it was an emergency, but if he could check if Hitoshi was just asleep or not it could potentially save him alot of time and headache.

Shouta slowly opened the door, giving time for anyone behind it to react and let him know whether he could enter or not.

He managed to get the door wide open and found the room devoid of life.

It was pitch dark, no signs of a backpack or a uniform, meaning Hitoshi hadn't been back to his room since leaving class.

This meant his search would have to continue.

Shouta's next destination was the ground floor to check the common room and kitchen.

He found no traces of anybody. He checked the communal washroom and the showers, nothing.

Shouta searched the dorm for a full hour. He had wished he would run into Jiro or Shoji, or anybody else with a tracking quirk to try and help him locate Hitoshi.

He was making his way back up to his apartment when he passed by a linen closet at the top of the stairs and heard a noise coming from inside it.

It sounded like shuffling, he supposed it could have been one of Koda's animals but he thought he should check anyway.

Shouta opened the closet door.

"NO!" A voice screamed out.

It was dark in the hall but Shouta would recognize the mass of purple hair cowering in the closet anywhere.

Hitoshi was curled up into a ball in the closet, sobbing, still in his uniform.

"Shin- Hitoshi? Are you okay?" Shouta asked, hesitating.

Hitoshi stayed curled up, mumbling sorry over and over.

"Hey, Hito, I need you to look at me." Shouta knelt down to get closer to his son.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be like this." Hitoshi apologized without making eye contact.

"You don't have to be sorry Hitoshi, you didn't do anything wrong." Shouta explained clearly.

Hitoshi looked up at that, tension in his shoulders lessening when he saw who was kneeling in front of him.

"Ai-Aizawa?" Hitoshi sniffled.

"Yeah it's me. You okay?" Shouta asked again, more hopeful for an answer now.

"I'm, I'm, I'm f-fine." Hitoshi tried to squeak out.

"Hito, I know fine and that's not fine."

"I, I just had a flashback to when I was younger." Hitoshi explained.

Shouta knew what was going on now. As a part of the custody battle for Hitoshi they knew his parents regularly abused him because of his quirk, stating it to be a villain's quirk and were afraid he was going to use it on them.

Closets were a hiding place for Hitoshi, somewhere isolated his parents wouldn't look.

So if he was having a panic attack related to his trauma, a closet would be the first place he would go.

"Hey, Hito, you're safe, nobody is going to hurt you." Shouta cooed as he reached a hand out towards Hitoshi.

Hitoshi flinched at first and Shouta froze.

He was about to pull his hand back when Hitoshi flew towards him, gripping onto his shirt and burying his face into his neck.

Shouta was taken aback at first, but then he wrapped his arms around his son tightly.

"It's okay Hito, everything will be okay." Shouta soothed as he rubbed Hitoshi's back.

Hitoshi cried into Shouta's shoulder, wrinkling his shirt with a death grip.

They sat there like that, holding each other for awhile, until Hitoshi's sobbing slowed into occasional sniffles.

"You feeling better now?" Shouta asked.

"A little bit yeah. I'm sorry." Hitoshi sat back and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "I shouldn't have worried you."

"It's okay Hitoshi, you're my son and my student, your well-being is my only concern." Shouta reassured.

Hitoshi looked down at his hands awkwardly and stayed silent.

"Look, healing doesn't happen in a straight line, sometimes you make tons of progress quickly, sometimes it's slow. Sometimes you lose a bit of progress. What matters is that you keep trying." Shouta explained.

"You had a bad day today, tomorrow you get up and try and have a better day, and if it's another bad one then you get up the day after that and try again. I know it doesn't always seem like things will improve but they will, I promise you."

Shouta stood up and offered his hand to Hitoshi. The boy looked at the hand and up to his adoptive father before taking it, allowing himself to be pulled into a standing position.

Hitoshi's legs were asleep from sitting for so many hours and he stumbled, falling forwards.

Before he hit the ground Shouta caught him. "Got you kid."

"Sorry again." Hitoshi apologized as he steadied himself.

"You're gonna have to work on the not apologizing thing, maybe spend more time around Bakugo he's great at that." Shouta joked, eliciting a quiet chuckle from Hitoshi.

"Here, I'll carry your bag and walk you back down to your room." Shouta offered.

Shouta picked up Hitoshi's backpack but noticed Hitoshi paused and wouldn't make eye contact.

"Do you not want to go back to your room?" Shouta asked.

"I, I don't want to be alone right now." Hitoshi mumbled.

"That's okay, you want to lay down on the couch in my apartment?"

"I don't want to be inconvenient."

"It's not inconvenient, I can't sleep anyway, I'll just be grading papers. Come on."

Shouta walked towards his apartment with Hitoshi in tow.

They got inside and Hitoshi stood awkwardly inside the door.

"Hito, you're my son, sit down please." Shouta insisted.

Hitoshi carefully toed off his shoes, and sat on the edge of the couch, looking almost like he was trying to hover.

"Hitoshi, you're gonna give me an ulcer, please sit like a normal person." Shouta begged.

Hitoshi reluctantly sat further back on the couch, trying to relax his shoulders.

"Wait here a minute." Shouta ordered.

"Why? Where are you going?" Hitoshi asked panicked.

"Relax, I'm just going to grab a pair of your pyjamas from your room, you can't sleep in your uniform." Shouta explained.

"I can sleep here?" Hitoshi questioned.

"Any time, even if I'm not here."

Shouta went down and grabbed a pair of pyjamas for Hitoshi, he also called Hizashi to let him know he had found their son. When he returned he found Hitoshi much more relaxed, with Shouta's cat sat in his lap.

"Ah, I see you've met Snowball."

"Snowball? It's a completely black cat." Hitoshi puzzled.

"Eri named him, you can ask her sometime why." Shouta explained. "She is your little sister after all."

"Oh." Hitoshi exclaimed quietly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just, never thought about it until now. I have a little sister." Hitoshi chuckled.

"You do, and two dads."

"Oh yeah, didn't think of that either." Hitoshi chuckled again, slightly louder.

"Have you not thought about the whole adoption thing before?" Shouta questioned.

"Yeah but I guess it just didn't sink in yet, I was just so relieved to be away from my parents I didn't have time to think of anything else." Hitoshi elaborated.

"Well, we don't have to be family to you if you don't want us to be, the most important part of the adoption was getting you out of that situation. Neither myself or Hizashi will take it negatively if you decide you only want us to be your teachers."

"No, it's fine, I like the idea, it just might take some time to get used to that's all."

"It'll take time for all of us to get used to, and both of us will be there if you ever need us."

"You and Snowball you mean?" Hitoshi grinned.

"I thought you were more like me than Hizashi, I might need medication if I'm going to have two of you cracking jokes." Shouta chuckled. "Here, get changed." Shouta threw Hitoshi's pyjamas on the couch next to him.

"But there's a cat on my lap." Hitoshi explained.

"Snowball." Shouta called sternly and Snowball immediately jumped down from Hitoshi's lap and sauntered off.

"That's impressive." Hitoshi remarked.

"After being a high school teacher, cats are easy."

Hitoshi got up and got changed into his pyjamas, which was really just a long sleeve shirt and lounge pants but still.

When he returned from the bathroom Shouta had set up a faux bed on the couch, there was a sheet tucked into the couch covering most of it, a couple of pillows, and a large blanket.

"You really didn't have to go through all this trouble." Hitoshi assured.

"I didn't, if it was trouble it wouldn't have taken less time than it took you to get changed." Shouta patted the couch, inviting Hitoshi to lie down.

"I don't know if I can sleep." Hitoshi said as he sat.

"I know, so here's this." Shouta offered him a small white pill.

"What's this?"

"Melatonin, it's a hormone that your brain is supposed to produce to help you sleep, that's a drug of it distilled for people like us who don't produce it at normal levels." Shouta explained.

"Don't I have to see Recovery Girl for meds?"

"I'm your father, I think it's fine."

Hitoshi took the pill with a glass of water Shouta also produced and laid down.

Shouta threw the blanket over him.

"How long does it take to kick in?" Hitoshi asked.

"It's fast acting, only a milligram but it should help you get to sleep soon." Shouta explained. "This could also work. Snowball!" Shouta called again and Snowball came trotting out from somewhere in the small apartment and jumped up on the couch, curling up on Hitoshi's lap.

"That's amazing." Hitoshi remarked.

"I'll teach you some day."

Shouta went over to his desk and sat down, going back to the papers he left what felt like ages ago.

"You know, maybe some day soon we can take one of our days off and go visit Eri. She lives in the teacher's dorms with Hizashi."

"Why don't you live together?" Hitoshi asked.

"We did for awhile, before the dorms. But once they were implemented the homeroom teachers were assigned to the same buildings as their class."

"That's kinda sad, isn't it?"

"It's not that bad, we work in the same building and live close, we actually see more of each other now than we did when we lived together." Shouta explained.

"That does sound nice though, the day with Eri I mean."

"I'm glad. Now get some sleep, and don't worry about waking up for class, you can afford to take a day off." Shouta ordered.

"Okay." There was a long pause before Hitoshi spoke again. "Thanks, Dad."

Shouta smiled, something rare for him, but less so these days.

Chapter Text

Shouta was woken up by the sound of loud music coming through the walls.

His bloodshot eyes flew open and he growled as he sat up. Checking his alarm clock revealed it was almost three in the morning.

Looking like he was going to murder somebody he reluctantly got out of bed, put on his slippers and stormed out of his apartment to find out the source of the music.

Even Hizashi wasn't loud enough or obnoxious enough to blast music in the middle of the night.

As he made his way down the stairs it was clear that none of the boys were the culprit.

Shouta made his way up to the girls side of the dorm and upon reaching the third floor it was made clear who was behind the music.

Jiro.

He knocked on her door but received no response.

He knocked harder, practically banging on the door, but no response.

He imagined that the volume of the music was drowning out his knocking. But part of him worried that it wasn't because of the music.

He was going to use his master keycard but remembered that it was in apartment still.

With a sigh and a groan that were almost as loud as the music he went back to down to the common room, took the elevator back up to his apartment, grabbed his keycard, went back down, and then back up the stairs on the girls side, once again reaching Jiro's door.

He knocked once again to give a final chance before he opened the door.

Shouta slowly opened the door, the overhead light was off but from the LED light strips Jiro had along the walls and the little bit of light pouring into the room from the hallway he could see Jiro curled up near the speakers she had set up.

The girl had her legs pulled in and her chin tucked into her knees, she was wearing a pair of headphones.

Shouta stood there in the doorway for a moment, unsure of how to proceed.

Jiro must have noticed him standing there because she turned her head towards the door. "S-sensei?" She mouthed but Shouta wasn't sure if she actually said any words, he wouldn't have been able to hear them anyway.

Shouta tapped his ear to signal that neither of them would be able to hear each other. She seemed to realize and turned the speakers down.

Shouta gestured vaguely in front of him, asking permission to enter. Jiro nodded and he approached her slowly.

He sat down next to her in silence for a moment before she took off her headphones.

"I-im sorry Sensei." Jiro sniffled and Shouta realized she had been crying quietly.

"I figure you'd have a pretty good reason for trying to deafen the whole building in the middle of the night."

"I can't stop hearing." Jiro mumbled.

"What do you mean, you're not trying to deafen yourself are you?" Shouta questioned.

"No, I was just trying to drown out all the other sounds."

"The dorm is dead quiet without the music Jiro."

"But I can hear all the little noises, I can hear people snoring, I can hear water in the pipes, the wind outside, it all sounds like it's right in the room with me." Jiro wailed.

"So you figured one loud sound you could control was better than a bunch of noises you couldn't." Shouta confirmed.

"Yeah."

"Do you not own a pair of noise cancelling headphones?"

"They broke, I haven't had a chance to get a new pair yet."

"You could've asked Yayorozu to make a new pair for you right? You two are dating after all."

"I didn't want to bother her." Jiro poked her fingers together awkwardly.

"I'm sure everybody has been bothered at this point." Shouta joked.

Jiro groaned at the thought that she annoyed her entire class.

Shouta pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Yayorozu.

You: Yayorozu, are you awake? Jiro needs a pair of noise cancelling headphones ASAP.

Yayorozu: Of course Sensei! I'll be right down.

"She's awake, she'll be down in a moment." Shouta informed.

"What!? No she's gonna be so mad at me!" Jiro sobbed.

"Jiro, after everything you've been through, both as a class and a couple, do you really think she'll be anything but compassionate to your situation?" Shouta consoled her.

Suddenly a knock came from the door and Jiro recoiled.

Yayorozu was standing in the doorway in her Pyjamas, her hair up in a loose bun. She was holding what looked to be an industrial pair of headphones in her hands. "Hi Kyoka, Sensei."

Jiro turned away slightly.

"I think Jiro is having some auditory processing issues, she can't seem to block out smaller noises so they all seem extra loud." Shouta explained.

"Ah, that explains the music then." Yayorozu put the pieces together as she walked into the room and over to Jiro.

"Hey Kyo, can you look at me?" Yayorozu asked softly.

Jiro looked up at her girlfriend, eyes puffy from crying. "I'm sorry Momo." She sniffled.

"It's okay sweetheart, I'm sorry that you're having a hard time. I wish you had told me." Yayorozu comforted her.

"Here, I made you these, they should help." Yayorozu carefully took Jiro's other headphones off and placed the other ones on her head, slowly and gently tucking her earphone jack into the headphones.

She then placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and brought her into a hug.

"You know if I left now and went back to bed, I'd have no way of knowing whether or not Yayorozu went back to her room." Shouta said out loud to nobody in particular.

"Thank you Sensei." Jiro laughed through her sniffling.

"Don't need to thank me, I didn't do anything." Shouta grinned and left the room, closing the door gently behind him.

He went back up to his apartment and fell onto his bed with a thud.

"These kids, my god." Shouta sighed.

Chapter Text

The next night that Shouta was woken up from his slumber wasn't by anything auditory, but rather by something visual.

When he opened his eyes the light above his bed and his bedside lamp were both flickering.

Shouta rubbed his eyes and sighed, knowing exactly who was behind this disturbance. Only one person in the 2-A dorm could be responsible for lights flickering en masse like this.

Kaminari.

The question was why.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep without solving the problem. (not to mention the other students ability to sleep) He put his slippers on and headed out into the hallway, remembering to take his master keycard this time.

The lights in the hall were also flickering, meaning the electrical disturbance was likely affecting the whole building.

Shouta made his way down the stairs towards Kaminari's room but he found the door ajar, peeking in revealed the lightbulb on the ceiling had been fried and glass laid on the floor below it.

There were no signs of the electric boy in his room so Shouta decided to check the ground floor next.

The flickering got more intense as he descended the stairs towards the common room.

As he reached the ground floor the elevator door by the stairs was opening and closing randomly, and the lights inside flickered wildly.

Reaching the common room proper, Shouta could hear the subtle sound of crying.

Rounding the corner he could see Kaminari huddled in a corner between the tv and the couch, knees tucked into his chest and a pokemon blanket covering him like a hooded cloak.

The tv next to the boy was flickering between channels rapidly.

"Kaminari?" Shouta called out.

The boy looked up in shock at the sudden noise and all the lights went out instantly.
The only light left in the room was from the tv, which was now just displaying static.

"Mr. Aizawa?" Kaminari sniffled as he tried to make out the figure in the dark.

"Yeah it's me. You okay?" Shouta asked as he carefully approached the boy.

"I-i've got too much electricity inside me, I can't focus or think or sleep or anything." Kaminari squawked out.

"You're overstimulated from all the electricity running through you yeah?"

Kaminari nodded rapidly.

"Wait here a minute." Shouta ordered and quickly walked off.

He went to a supply closet that was locked to the students and opened it with his keycard. He grabbed a box and took it with him back to where Kaminari was.

Placing the box down on the couch next to the boy he opened it and pulled out what almost looked like a large reusable water bottle.

"These are battery packs I had the support course make recently, I had the idea last year but forgot because of everything else going on." Shouta began to explain. "They're empty, and you can use them to drain your electricity into when you've got too much charge like you do now."

"Really? How do they work?" Kaminari asked.

"You put your mouth on this part here, I told them about how you charge phones so they based it off that."

"Try one." Shouta offered one of the packs to Kaminari, who took it eagerly.

The boy tentatively put the tip of the battery pack into his mouth, a small light appearing on the side of the pack indicating it was being filled.

"That light on the side will change when it's done charging, don't overload them if you can help it."

"So, considering I know you have ADHD and what your brain gets like when you're overstimulated I have a few questions." Shouta explained as he sat on the couch facing Kaminari.

The boy nodded as he continued to drain his electricity.

"So, first and foremost did you take your medications?" Shouta began his questioning.

Kaminari shrugged with his shoulders.

"You don't remember?" Shouta clarified.

Kaminari nodded in response.

"Do you remember eating? Doing your night time routine? Anything like that?"

The boy shook his head.

Shouta sighed and sat back on the couch. "Would Hitoshi know?"

The battery pack beeped indicating it was fully charged and Kaminari took it out of his mouth to respond. "Probably, he usually reminds me to do that stuff."

Shouta handed the boy another battery pack as he could still see little jolts of electricity dancing across Kaminari's skin.

"Alright, I'll text him."

"No! I don't want to bother him with this." Kaminari blurted out.

"If I know Hitoshi he's awake, and not because of the entire building's lights flickering." Shouta joked.

Kaminari continued draining his electricity and in just a few short minutes Hitoshi had come down from his room and joined his adoptive father and his boyfriend in the common room.

"What's up?" He asked as he approached.

"Kaminari had too much electricity and got overstimulated. Thought you'd know if he did any of the things he's supposed to like taking meds and eating."

"Far as I know he hasn't, his pills are in my room so he doesn't accidentally take a double dose. And he usually eats with the rest of us if he does at all." Hitoshi explained.

"You okay Den?" Hitoshi asked as he walked over to his boyfriend, kneeling down in front of him.

"I'm okay I guess." Kaminari shrugged.

"Why don't I go get your meds from my room, and make you something light to eat?" Hitoshi suggested as he wiped some of the leftover tears from Kaminari's cheek.

Kaminari nodded.

Hitoshi got up to leave when Kaminari grabbed the leg of his pants.

"I gotta go if I'm gonna get your meds Lightning Bug." Hitoshi smiled.

"I can get them Hitoshi, you sit with him." Shouta offered.

"Thanks Dad." Hitoshi said as he took a seat next to Kaminari on the floor.

Kaminari leaned into his boyfriend and started to cozy up to him immediately.

Shouta smiled to himself as he got up and went off on his errand.

He went up to Hitoshi's room and got Kaminari's pills, they were in a Pikachu pencil case Kaminari likely gave to Hitoshi.

He returned downstairs, grabbing a bottle of water from the kitchen before approaching the boys.

Hitoshi was now tucked under the same blanket as Kaminari, Kaminari still draining electricity into a third battery pack while Hitoshi held him.

"Here, make sure he takes them." Shouta instructed as he threw the pills and water to Hitoshi. "I'm gonna make him something to eat, you want anything Hito?"

"No I ate earlier, but Denki has a little section of one of the cabinets labelled, it has some of his safe foods stocked." Hitoshi explained carefully.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot, thanks for reminding me kid." Shouta thanked as he walked back to the kitchen.

Kaminari was in an unlucky group of people to be blessed with both ADHD and Autism, affectionately dubbed AuDHD by many.

One of the many results of that being that Kaminari was a picky eater, if the texture or taste of something was off even a little he couldn't eat it. It wasn't a choice and was a pain in its own right, not knowing if you'll be able to eat something or not when you go out to restaurants or travel.

Shouta opened cabinets in the kitchen until he found a corner of one of them marked with yellow and black tape, it made it look like an area cordoned off by police but he knew it was meant to mark Kaminari's part of the cabinet.

The safe foods contained fairly easy things both to make and eat, a specific brand of crackers, instant ramen, sour candies, among other things.

Shouta grabbed a package of instant ramen and put a small pot on the stove to boil.

Once he finished making the ramen he put it in a bowl and brought it back out to the common room.

By then Kaminari had finished his third battery pack and appeared to have calmed down significantly. He also appeared to be getting tired, as his eyes were half-lidded as he snuggled with his boyfriend.

"Here, eat and then get to bed, I don't want to catch you asleep down here." Shouta instructed.

"Yes Aizawa-Sensei." Kaminari agreed sleepily.

"Hito, you'll make sure he gets to bed?" Shouta asked.

"Definitely."

"Good, I'm going back to bed." Shouta said his goodbye and began the walk back up to his room before he remembered that the lightbulb in Kaminari's room was broken and there was still glass on the floor.

He grabbed a broom and dustpan from a closet in the hall and swept up the glass, struggling to make sure he got it all in the dark.

Just as he finished sweeping and discarding the broken glass Hitoshi appeared in the doorway, carrying a sleeping Kaminari like a child.

"Uh, hey Dad, what's going on?" Hitoshi puzzled.

"When I went to check on Kaminari earlier his door was open and the lightbulb had shattered, I was just cleaning it up." Shouta explained. "Take him to your room for now, I'm not sure I got all the glass and the bulb needs to be replaced."

"You sure about that?" Hitoshi quirked an eyebrow at his adoptive father's suggestion, like it was an obvious trap.

"If anybody asks me I'll say I didn't see you after curfew." Shouta grinned at his son as he closed the door to Kaminari's room.

"Cool, night Dad." Hitoshi grinned back as he walked off towards his room.

Shouta put the broom and dustpan away, finally making his way back up to his apartment.

Snowball greeted him after returning.

"Hey Snowball. Ugh, these kids give me headaches sometimes. Even if it is because of flashing lights." Shouta complained to his cat, who listened intently despite being unaware of what the words meant.

Shouta took something for his headache and crashed onto his bed with a sigh.

He was asleep in under a minute.

Chapter Text

If Shouta didn't know better, he'd think his students were doing this on purpose.

The newest thing to wake him from his slumber was a loud explosion. Which to anybody else would be cause for great alarm, but given that he's taught Bakugo for well over a year, explosions became a regular part of his life.

Begrudgingly he got out of bed, putting on his slippers, putting some eyedrops in his eye before leaving his apartment to investigate the late night explosions.

Shouta made his way down to Bakugo's room, only to find the door left open. A brief look inside showed nobody in the room.

Just then another smaller explosion came from above, sounding like it was near the top floor.

"How did he pass me?" Shouta wondered, thinking that Bakugo was likely going to the roof, and probably got there before Shouta left his apartment.

At the same time as the explosion, Shouta's alarm on his phone went off, alerting him to somebody's presence on the roof.

With a sigh he made his way up several floors to the roof entrance, he found the door blown open, the lock destroyed by an explosion.

Reaching the rooftop he saw the silhouette of Bakugo standing at the roof's edge, looking out of breath.

"Bakugo?" Shouta called out.

At this distance it seemed Bakugo couldn't hear him so Shouta walked closer, slow in his approach.

Bakugo stayed staring off the side of the building, seeming completely unaware of another person on the roof with him.

Shouta got closer, leaving only a few feet between them.

"Bakugo?" Shouta called out again.

Bakugo seemingly heard him this time, turning quick, putting one of his palms out to create an explosion.

In what felt like slow motion, Shouta activated his quirk at the last moment, erasing Bakugo's quirk and cancelling any explosion he tried to create.

Bakugo quickly realized it was his teacher he had tried to blow up once he was fully turned around.

"Shit, sorry Aizawa." Bakugo shouted, out of breath, eyes looking wild and he was sweating profusely.

Shouta sighed, knowing that Bakugo didn't have his hearing aids in, likely why he couldn't hear him call his name until he got close.

Shouta pointed to his own ears, asking a question without words.

"Oh, shit no I guess I left them in my room." Bakugo shouted again.

Shouta sighed again before switching to sign language to communicate.

"What are you doing up Bakugo? And why are you on the roof?" Shouta signed. It was a good thing Shouta already had experience with sign language from knowing Hizashi for so many years, who had gone almost completely deaf in his mid 20s, needing hearing aids to hear anything at all.

"I had, I had a nightmare, I think." Bakugo signed back slowly, his sign language still new as he only started to lose his hearing after the war.

"That explains the explosions." Shouta mumbled to himself.

"Come on, let's go get your hearing aids and have a talk." Shouta signed.

Shouta motioned for Bakugo to follow him but he didn't move.

"I uh, I don't wanna leave here right now. The fresh air helps." Bakugo shouted, unaware of his own volume still.

It was in the fall, the night time air was starting to get cold, yet Bakugo still looked like he was nearly overheating.

After weighing his options for a moment Shouta nodded and went back down to Bakugo's room on his own, not before giving Bakugo a stern look as a sign to stay there.

Returning with Bakugo's hearing aids he handed them to the boy who put them in and turned them on.

Bakugo sat down with a sigh near the edge of the roof and Shouta sat down next to him.

"So, wanna tell me why you decided to blow the lock off the roof door?" Shouta asked.

"I needed fresh air, it was either that or the front door, figured this one would let less things get in." Bakugo explained his choice in doors to explode.

"You also have a balcony in your room you know."

"Shit, yeah, kinda forgot about that in the moment." Bakugo looked embarrassed, a rare look for him.

"Is what it is, a door is pretty minor compared to most of the things your class breaks." Shouta scoffed lightheartedly.

"You mean me and Deku right?" Bakugo chuckled.

"Well I do call you two Problem Children for a reason." Shouta joked back.

They sat there in silence for a couple of minutes, taking in the quiet serenity of the campus at night.

"So, you want to talk about it?" Shouta asked.

There was a long pause before Bakugo spoke. "It was that bastard Shigaraki, I was watching him fight Deku, I wanted to go and help him but I couldn't move, I was just sitting there helpless." Bakugo started to explain, his breathing picking up again. "Then he managed to get that crusty-ass hand of his on Deku, and he started to decay. He took one last look at me with tears in his eyes, and then he was gone."

Bakugo wasn't the first student to have nightmares about the war, and about Shigaraki especially. Even though he was gone, the impact he had on these kids would last a very long time.

"He's gone now Bakugo, he can't hurt anybody anymore." Shouta reassured.

"Don't you think I know that!?" Bakugo shouted, on purpose this time. "I hate that I can't get that bastard out of my head, how am I gonna be the number one hero if I can't even forget about some dead villain?" Bakugo teared up slightly.

"You're not the only one in the class, and probably even the world, who's been having nightmares about Shigaraki." Shouta explained. "I've been woken up a few times by your classmates, crying because of the fear that man instilled in everybody."

"I should be stronger than this though! I've always been stronger." Bakugo sniffled, tears flowing freely now.

"You know even I've had nightmares about the war?" Shouta revealed and Bakugo looked shocked at his words. "Yup, even nightmares eerily similar to the one you had tonight. It's not a sign of weakness to be vulnerable, to admit you need help or that you're struggling."

Bakugo sat and continued wiping away his tears as they formed.

"If you let this kind of stuff get to you, and you bottle it up and keep it to yourself, it's only going to fester and become a bigger problem you'll have to deal with later." Shouta tried to phrase it in a way Bakugo would relate to. "No hero made it where they are on their own, it's not weakness to need help."

"I've known heroes who never dealt with their trauma when they were young, and it came back when they least expected it when they got older, some retired, some got help, and some, well, you don't want to end up like them."

"How do I deal with it then?" Bakugo asked as he wiped his nose.

"Talking about it is a start, you can come to me any time. I can also set you up to see Hound Dog for counseling." Shouta explained.

"Fine. If I can't ignore this shit then I may as well hit it with everything I've got. I'll see Hound Dog." Bakugo declared with renewed determination.

"Good, I'll call him in the morning and he'll reach out to see what works with your schedule." Shouta smiled. "And remember, your classmates are going through the same things, don't be afraid to talk to them either, knowing you're not alone can make a world of difference."

"Well if they're gonna get over it too then those losers are gonna need all the help they can get." Bakugo joked, regaining some of his tough-guy persona.

"For now though, it's late as hell, so back to bed. And if you end up having another nightmare just come to me first, I could've let you onto the roof." Shouta patted Bakugo on the shoulder as they stood up and walked back downstairs.

Shouta escorted Bakugo back to his room, saying goodnight as he grabbed a roll of duct tape to close the roof door over temporarily until it could be fixed.

He then returned to his apartment, Snowball waking from his cat tree with a "Mrrp!"

"If I wasn't already sleep deprived before becoming a teacher Snowball, I would've been after teaching this class." Shouta joked to his cat.

Shouta didn't even make it back to the bedroom, instead passing out on the couch.

Chapter Text

Shouta had closed his eyes for less than five minutes before he was woken up.

This time it was a knock on his door however, which striked him as strange given how he had been woken up at night lately.

Maybe it was his fault for being up past two in the morning, but he knew no matter what time he went to sleep his students were bound to wake him.

Shouta got out of bed, rubbed his eyes and yawned, then shuffled to the door to answer it.

As he shuffled the question of who could be at the door popped into his mind. It was a light knock so it likely wasn't one of the more energetic students.

It was so light in fact it wouldn't have woken most people, but Shouta wasn't a heavy sleeper.

Opening the door revealed his answer, it was Midoriya.

"Midoriya?" Shouta puzzled.

"Um, hi, Mr. Aizawa." Midoriya responded sheepishly.

Further examination of the boy's face showed that he was crying, even though he was avoiding eye contact it was obvious.

Another downward gaze revealed that the green haired boy had a long sleeved sweater on, and the sleeves were covered in blood.

"Midoriya what happened!?" Shouta asked with alarm.

"Umm." Midoriya kept avoiding eye contact and sniffling.

"Doesn't matter, come in, I'll get my first aid kit." Shouta stepped out of the way and ushered the boy in, closing the door behind him.

With a gentle hand on Midoriya's shoulder, Shouta led him over to the bathroom and patted the counter for him to sit on.

Midoriya sat, still avoiding words and eye contact.

Shouta pulled his first aid kit out of it's spot and returned to Midoriya.

"Midoriya, I'm going to need you to take your sweater off if I'm gonna see what needs help." Shouta explained.

He waited patiently for the boy to react, and Midoriya slowly started to take off his hoodie, wincing when the blood soaked sleeve that was sticking to his arms had to be pulled to move.

Once the hoodie was fully off Shouta could see the source of the blood.

Midoriya had cuts along his arm, not from training or an accident, he could tell these were made on purpose. Some cuts were smaller but a few were larger and deeper.

"I-I-I cut too deep accidentally, and it was bleeding alot and I got scared and I didn't know what to do so I threw on that hoodie and came to see you." Midoriya hurried out his first real sentence since knocking on Shouta's door in a single choked breath.

"It's okay Midoriya, I'm proud of you for coming to see me, it was the right thing to do." Shouta reassured as he pulled out some supplies from the first aid kit to clean Midoriya's wounds.

"I have to clean these so they don't get infected okay?" Shouta explained carefully and Midoriya nodded with another sniffle. "This is gonna sting but compared to what you've been through it's nothing."

Shouta began to clean Midoriya's arms with an antiseptic wipe, the boy wincing every so often.

"Thankfully I don't think any of these need stitches, but some of them may scar, they should blend in with your other scars though." Shouta explained.

Once he was done wiping down the wounds he dressed them with gauze and put the first aid kit away.

Midoriya looked like he didn't know what to do with himself, staring down at his bandaged arms.

"Come on, we'll sit on the couch and talk." Shouta suggested and Midoriya reluctantly followed after him.

Midoriya sat awkwardly, Shouta thought it reminded him of the first time Hitoshi was in his apartment.

"Here, this should help you relax." Shouta whistled and Snowball came running from the bedroom and jumped up into Midoriya's lap.

"I didn't know you could train cats." Midoriya exclaimed, shocked at the new ball of fur in his lap.

"It's easier than training high school students." Shouta chuckled and Midoriya did as well.

They sat in silence for a few moments, Midoriya clearly relaxing because of the cat.

"Midoriya, we do need to talk about why you're cutting yourself." Shouta explained carefully.

Midoriya froze for a second before sighing, realizing there was no getting around the difficult conversation.

"I started cutting towards the beginning of the school year, I was noticing how difficult a time everyone was having adjusting, so many of my friends are in therapy, some have permanent injuries, so many nightmares." Midoriya began to explain. "I just started to feel guilty, maybe if I had done something different, been stronger, I could have spared them some pain. I can't even do anything now for them. Cutting was an outlet for that feeling, like it was a punishment."

"Midoriya none of what happened during the war is your fault, everybody knew the risks when they got involved, it's what we've signed up for as heroes. And you're not responsible for other people's suffering."

"And yes, everyone is struggling, but it's gotten so much better since the school year started, sure, there will be scars both physical and emotional for years to come, but we secured peace because of everyone's actions, none moreso than yours."

"So maybe some of your actions caused some suffering, but your actions have also given so much room for people's happiness."

Midoriya had started to tear up again.

"I know you're already seeing Hound Dog, have you told him about this?" Shouta asked.

"No."

"I think you should. He can provide coping mechanisms for when you feel like cutting." Shouta suggested. "And I think you should tell one of your friends, I won't force the issue, but I think having someone you trust and are close to knowing will help ease some of the burden."

"What if they think I'm weird or broken?" Midoriya sniffled.

"They won't, you know these people, they aren't like that. Plus everyone is having difficulties right now, they'll understand."

After sitting for another short while Midoriya had stopped crying fully and was sitting petting Snowball.

"So, do you think you'll be okay to go back to your room?" Shouta asked.

"I don't know if I can be alone right now." Midoriya admitted.

"You can sleep here on the couch if you want." Shouta offered.

"I don't know if I'd feel comfortable with that, no offense I just don't think I'd be able to relax."

"None taken I understand. Do you want to wake someone?"

"No, I don't want to be anymore of a bother than I already am."

"Then I'll wake someone, who?"

Midoriya stayed silent.

"Bakugo it is." Shouta stood up and started to walk towards the door.

"Wait! Kacchan won't want to be woken up!" Midoriya scrambled to follow Shouta.

"Well he woke me up a few weeks back so we'll call it payback. Neither of you have class tomorrow he'll be fine." Shouta opened the door to his apartment and ushered Midoriya out.

"Wait, what about my hoodie?" Midoriya questioned.

"I'll wash it, don't worry about it."

Shouta and Midoriya made their way down to Bakugo's room and Shouta knocked on the door.

Some loud grumbling was heard from behind the door before footsteps could be heard approaching it, and then the door was open.

Bakugo stood there, appearing out of breath and sweating.

"Bakugo? What's wrong?" Shouta asked.

"Nightmares again, I only woke up a few minutes ago. Why are you here Aizawa?" Bakugo questioned.

Shouta moved to reveal Midoriya standing sheepishly behind him, gently rubbing his bandaged arms.

"Deku? What's going on?" Bakugo looked concerned.

"Um, I didn't want to be alone, so Mr. Aizawa suggested we wake you." Midoriya blushed.

"Well good thing I'm awake then, you can hang with me for awhile." Bakugo moved out of the doorframe to invite Midoriya inside.

"Remember what we talked about Midoriya." Shouta reminded.

"I will Mr. Aizawa, thank you." Midoriya smiled and he and Bakugo went into Bakugo's room and closed the door behind them.

Shouta let out a large sigh, and shuffled back up to his apartment.

He greeted Snowball as he came in, and before going back to bed he threw Midoriya's hoodie in the washer and turned it on.

Shouta didn't even make it back to his bed, instead flopping onto the couch.

Snowball leapt onto the couch with him, curling up on his back and began purring.

"I'm telling you Snowball, these kids are going to be the death of me."