Chapter Text
Despite holding the number one spot for more years than most heroes were even in the game, All Might had always been something of a mystery.
He was loud and in-your-face, always willing to sign an autograph or snap a selfie with a fan. He never turned down an interview, though he expertly dodged too-intimate questions with the skill of a public relations professional.
All Might never spoke about his hobbies, his friends or family, his actual self. There was a very clear and mostly respected separation of his personal life and his hero work.
Which really wasn’t that unusual, all things said and done. Heroes were public figures, but they were also mostly normal people at the end of the day.
What set All Might apart from everyone else in this regard was that no one had ever seen his daemon.
Well, probably someone had. He’d been a child at some point and anyone who’d attended UA after All Might had heard rumors of his daemon. One that continued to shift far longer than others, not settling until he was almost an adult.
But whatever form it’d settled on was by and large unknown.
The internet was a hotbed of theories and rumors, with guesses ranging from a powerful, sleek lioness which remained hidden in the shadows of his glory to a shrewd, intelligent hawk watching from up above.
The avian theory seemed most likely, in Aizawa’s opinion. Generally, birds could maintain the greatest distance from their human counterpart. It made sense that All Might managed to fight in both up-close brawls and long-range battles without ever revealing his daemon if it were a bird.
Not that Aizawa spent much time speculating.
It was a curious fact of All Might’s existence, but like everything else about the world’s symbol of peace, it didn’t hold much import in Aizawa’s daily life.
Until, of course, All Might became a teacher at UA.
The revelation of his identity, his injury, his true form – all of it seemed to pale in comparison to the figure of the sand colored jackrabbit at his heels.
All Might’s real name was Toshinori Yagi and his daemon’s name was Hinata.
Thin and reedy, she seemed to disappear into the shadows within the blink of an eye. Aizawa never saw her when All Might was around, but as Yagi, he occasionally carried her over his shoulder, her strong, powerful hind legs dangling across his chest.
She was as quiet as All Might was boisterous, and if they ever spoke Aizawa never heard it. No one else tried to talk to her, she never gave anyone the opportunity.
Ume, Aizawa’s raccoon daemon, reported back that Hinata was skittish and shy with the other daemons, giving curt nonverbal responses only if pressed.
“I don’t think she’s used to having so much attention on her,” Ume told him once as they both watched her zigzag through a crowded hallway, darting between student’s feet with practiced ease before jumping up to be caught in Yagi’s large hand.
Sometimes Aizawa caught the tips of her ears sticking out of Yagi’s loose suit jacket, body carefully hidden inside the inner pocket.
One thing that stood out to him though was how close they seemed to be.
Physical separation from one’s daemon was somewhat different for each person, but most commonly ranged anywhere from thirty to forty feet. Some people, heroes most often, trained themselves and their daemons for larger distances of separation. This had long been the theory of All Might’s daemon.
Months of working with him had disproven that. Yagi and Hinata were rarely more than ten feet apart, and if they were, both appeared vigilant and wary of their surroundings and each other.
Aizawa wasn’t necessarily quick to part ways with his own daemon, but he often utilized Ume’s small stature and dexterous paws to investigate spaces he couldn’t get into. The burn of unease when she entered a room without him wasn’t so strong that they couldn’t power through it for the sake of a mission.
More than once, he almost asked Yagi. Sitting next to him in the teacher’s lounge, Ume at his feet while Hinata sat on top of the desk, ears upright and alert as always, Aizawa could feel the question on the tip of his tongue.
Some small shred of propriety always held him back though.
“You know, I could always ask her,” Ume offered one day, after Yagi and Hinata had left the room. “It’s clearly bothering you.”
She stepped out from under the desk, holding her paws up expectantly. Aizawa looked at her with faux exasperation before reaching out to grasp her under the arms and lift her onto the desk. She was more than capable of climbing up herself, but they both enjoyed the spread of warmth inside when they touched each other.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, that’s how much it’s not bothering me.”
Ume scoffed, and the subject was dropped.
Eventually the question of All Might’s disappearing daemon was answered, unsurprisingly, around the time that his career as a hero ended and his true form was discovered publicly.
Though most people seemed willing to respect his very obvious desire for privacy, it was hard for the average person not to approach him when given the chance. Walking down the street when they visited the children’s parents, Aizawa had seen it on their faces. There. Right there was All Might.
It didn’t matter what he looked like now or what he could no longer do, he was still the greatest hero to ever have lived.
So of course, excited children and less-than-scrupulous reporters converged on him anytime he left UA grounds.
It was one such pushy adult who spilled the story.
Out on a jog, Yagi had paused in the park when approached by a nervous, young fan for an autograph. A blogger passing by happened to catch sight and, with the confidence only someone desperate to be YouTube famous could manage, pulled him into an impromptu interview.
The video circulated on the internet enough to make the news, which was where Aizawa caught it. Sitting on a couch in the teacher’s dorm common room, he looked up from his grading at the sound of Yagi’s stoic voice.
“I appreciate the kind words, again, thank you.”
Hinata sat in his hand, held close to his chest. Her sharp hazel eyes were looking directly at the camera. They held every bit of shrewdness of their human counterpart’s.
Next to him, Ume gasped.
“Oh my god, Sho!” Her paws pressed at his side, pulling on his capture weapon.
“I’m seeing it.”
“Seeing what?” Yamada appeared out of nowhere, like he often did, claiming a seat on the arm of the couch. His hair was down, in direct opposition of his cockatoo daemon, which sat firmly on his shoulder. Wakana’s crest feathers stood at attention, her head turned slightly to watch Hinata on tv.
“Some video of All Might that’s been going around.”
He tried to sound uninterested, but Yamada had known him for too long.
“There are a lot of videos of All Might going around, man, at any given time. You gotta be more specific.”
Aizawa gestured to the tv, to where Ume had crawled closer to the screen and was watching with rapt attention. Wakana flew over to sit on her head and together they listened.
“Can you tell us a little more about Hinata, All Might, we’re just—the world is so excited to finally learn—”
He must have missed the part where Yagi introduced her. Aizawa highly doubted she had introduced herself, he’d still never even heard her voice.
Indeed, she was no longer looking at the camera, her eyes turned off toward the distance, nose twitching.
“Well, uh—she’s a white-tailed jackrabbit and she’s, hah—not the biggest talker.” He smiled apologetically, reaching up to touch the back of his neck.
“How did you keep her secret all these years? Why did you keep her secret?”
Hinata looked up at Yagi as he looked down and it was obvious something unsaid passed between them. Finally, Yagi shrugged, his smile slightly forced.
“Pocket in my costume!” Right then he sounded like All Might, but it was gone when he spoke again, his voice serious once more. “Daemon’s can be targeted on the battlefield. While you and I would never cross such a line, villains don’t always have such compunction.”
Aizawa’s heart sped up at what Yagi was implying. Just the idea of anyone else touching his daemon turned his stomach. Ume turned to look at him, their eyes catching briefly before she turned back to the screen.
“You’re the only hero that’s kept it so quiet though! Why is that?”
He grinned and Aizawa could tell that it was genuine, wry and slightly self-deprecating – all Toshinori Yagi.
“If it was easier, I’m sure other heroes would do the same. Unfortunately for heroes like Endeavor, it’s kind of hard to put a tiger in your pocket.”
He very pointedly didn’t say what Aizawa knew he meant.
Most hero daemons weren’t prey animals.
“Turn it off,” Aizawa called and without question, Ume reached out to press the power button.
“I wonder if he was telling the truth,” Yamada asked, “about the pocket in his costume.”
“I was,” the man in question said, his deep voice startling them all. Wakana squawked sharply, her feathers rustling as she flew back to a blushing Yamada.
Ume was looking down at her paws, inspecting the sharp claws as if she hadn’t just been pressed to the tv in blatant curiosity.
Yagi hovered in the doorway of the hall that led to the staff apartments. By his feet sat Hinata, her ears held high and attentive. Giant ears, ones that could hear everything.
Aizawa winced, thinking of all the times he and Ume had speculated about Yagi, and the chances they’d been overheard.
“Sorry man, that story is all over the news lately. Gotta be annoying.”
Yagi nodded at Yamada’s words, stepping into the kitchen area of the staff living space. He pulled a mug from the cabinet, paying no mind to Hinata who bounced from a chair to the counter silently.
Aizawa watched as he started the kettle, the way his head bent closer to Hinata while he rooted through the drawer of tea, presumably to listen to whatever she might be saying. He was startled by the touch of Ume’s paw at his thigh as she clambered into his lap.
“You’re staring,” she said low enough for his ears only. He hoped.
Ignoring the way his daemon had called him out, Aizawa turned back to his stack of essays.
“It’s fine,” Yagi finally replied, taking a seat on the overstuffed chair near them. “People are curious, sometimes it’s just easier to answer their questions.”
“So like…where’d you keep the pocket?”
Aizawa tuned them out, falling into his grading with single minded determination to see it finished. Ume sat quietly in his lap, occasionally commenting on something particularly stupid within the student’s assignments, her paws combing through her fluffy tail for tangles.
“So…” Ume led, later the night as Aizawa was brushing his teeth for bed.
“So?” He returned around a mouthful of toothpaste, face bemused.
“Now you know everything.”
Aizawa spit into the sink, ignoring the way Ume hissed when some splashed up onto her fur.
“What do I know?”
Ume turned the tap back on, wetting her paws before swiping at the white toothpaste speckled in her grey fur.
“Now you know why no one ever saw All Might’s daemon! She was in a pocket under his cape the whole time.”
Aizawa rolled his eyes, rinsing his mouth and splashing more water at Ume. She gasped, hissing again, before hopping down to the floor and trotting into the bedroom.
“Look, you can pretend you’re too cool to care with Hizashi and Wakana, but don’t try to pull that crap with me.”
He stepped out of his slippers and got into bed, turning off the lamp on his nightstand as he pulled the duvet up around his head.
Ume moved into her customary spot at the top of his pillow, soft body pressed to his head. Agile paws pulled at his hair, untangling knots with care.
“Fine, now I know. So what?”
“Mystery solved,” she tugged at a particularly stubborn knot. “Unless of course, there was a reason beyond curiosity that you wanted to know so bad.”
“Ume…”
The pulling stopped, and Aizawa felt the way she tucked her paws under her chin, settling against the top of his head.
“Like I said Sho—you can lie to everyone else, but not me.”
Didn’t mean he was going to stop trying.
+
The thing was, Aizawa didn’t understand why he even cared. He didn’t need to know everything about Yagi and his jackrabbit daemon. They weren’t villains. They weren’t even really friends.
He probably could have set it aside. Ume was right, his curiosity had been satisfied – mostly. Even though there were still questions that nagged at him, he stuffed them down far enough that even she didn’t bring it up again. And while he probably wouldn’t have ignored any intel that floated his way through the school gossip grapevine, but he certainly wasn’t going to go looking for it.
Whatever his weird little desire to know more about Yagi was, Aizawa planned to ignore it and ignore it hard.
He might even have been successful too, if it hadn’t been for a meeting with the police involved in the League of Villains case.
The precinct room was crowded with police officers, and their respective daemons. As was common among civil servants, most of the daemons in the room were dogs of some kind, ranging in size and shape.
Detective Tsukauchi stood out in absolutely no way except for the fact that upon seeing Yagi enter the room, his Jack Russel terrier darted forward, stubby tail shaking in enthusiasm. Aizawa watched in astonishment as Hinata hopped from Yagi’s shoulder and met her in the middle.
Neither man seemed to notice, too caught up in greetings, but Aizawa couldn’t look away from the way Hinata and the Jack Russel were whispering to each other, the dog licking at her ears now and then excitedly.
“Well…” Ume was tucked into his capture weapon, tangled up against his chest like an infant in a baby bjorn. He was fairly certain she could feel the way his heartbeat had picked up at the sight before them. “What do you think that means?”
“That All Might actually has friends. What else could it mean?”
Ume snickered, reaching out to pull at a strand of his hair that had fallen into her face.
“I don’t mean that,” she gestured towards the two pairs of obviously old, obviously close friends. “I meant your reaction. Your heart’s racing like a bunny! Thumping like a—” Her voice broke on more giggles. “Like a jackrab—”
The rest of her sentence was buried in the folds of Aizawa’s weapon as he pulled it tight around them both. A police officer to their left looked over with vague concern but Aizawa waved her off, smiling in a way he knew many people found unsettling.
“Keep talking and I’ll mount your stuffed body over the fireplace.”
He loosened the straps and Ume huffed, still stifling laughter as they walked out of the room and away from Yagi and Tsukauchi. “Aww Sho, it’s been so long since you’ve had a crush on someone. I was beginning to think we were destined to die alone.”
“Dear god Ume, could you please lower your voice—and I don’t have a crush—"
“No one is listening to me,” she pointed out, “and even if they were no one would know it was on Ya—”
He covered her entire face with his hands this time, ignoring the way her wet nose smeared against his skin. They walked like that, Aizawa anxious and bristly, Ume amused and perceptive, until they found a cab to take them back to the school.
“I don’t know why you’re freaking out about this,” she started up again once they were in the backseat. “So you like him, big deal!”
“Stop. I absolutely do not want to discuss this.”
He noted the way the cab driver’s eyes drifted to the rearview mirror. His orange cat daemon was splayed across the dashboard in a way that made Aizawa want to point out safety regulations.
He braced himself for more from Ume, she was never one to give up without a fight, but instead the car was silent. He looked down to the seat next to him to see her looking at the floor, her expression unusually forlorn.
“What?”
She looked up in surprise, grabbing her tail in what he knew was a nervous gesture.
“Nothing! I just… I don’t know. Seeing Hinata get so excited to see that dog daemon… I think it made me jealous. I want Hinata to be that excited to see me.”
Aizawa sighed. Ume’s personality could be so different from his own, sometimes it was easy to forget that she was his other half. The physical manifestation of his soul.
Reaching out, he scooped her up, holding up the coils of his weapon while she situated herself into a more comfortable position, finally settling with her back to his chest.
Her chin rested on his arm wrapped around her.
“Maybe I have a crush too.”
Aizawa hummed, pointedly not looking at the eyes of the cab driver in the rearview.
+
“I heard you left before the meeting even got started,” Principal Nezu said the next day in the breakroom.
Nezu was unnerving for a lot of reasons, not least of which were his shrewd, all knowing eyes and cryptic origin story. The most unsettling thing about him though was his nonexistent daemon. Aizawa knew he was quite likely the first, probably only animal to manifest a quirk, but he didn’t know if his lack of a daemon was natural or the result of the experimentation he’d undergone.
As far as he knew, no one at the school was ballsy enough to ask.
“I got a text from one of the students,” he lied. “Slight disaster in the dorms, nothing major.”
“Shoving twenty hormonal teenagers into one building is just begging for disasters,” Kayama interrupted. She dipped between them to grab a mug, unsettling Oyasumi, whose claws dug into her shoulder in a way that had to be painful.
As with most teachers and scholarly professionals, Kayama’s daemon was a bird, a raven whose wings perfectly matched the curtain of pitch black hair she’d sported since they were kids.
“Can you imagine the things we would have gotten up to if we’d had dorms?” She threw a saucy look at Aizawa over the rim of her red glasses.
Oyasumi croaked a laugh. “It would have been fun—too bad we can’t go back.”
“Uh, hard pass on repeating high school,” Ume chimed in from where she sat perched on the counter.
The raven chuckled again, his voice deep and dark, and Aizawa couldn’t help the shiver that ran down his back.
“It was trivial. Nothing to write home about.” This he said to Nezu, in an effort to take the principal’s attention off of him.
Reprieve came in the form of the door opening, Yamada and Yagi’s shared laughter drifting in before them.
Aizawa stepped neatly away from the principle, trying to ignore how the rare sound of Yagi’s genuine laughter made his stomach flip. Ume scrambled off the counter and over to him, holding her arms out to be picked up as he took a seat on the couch.
The room was loud then, the sounds of boisterous conversation mixed with screeching daemons – Wakana trying to draw the soft spoken Oyasumi into conversation – the rattling of dishes as everyone tried to make coffee at once. Other teachers trickled in, Power Loader and his massive secretary bird, Vlad and his tiny vampire finch.
Aizawa settled Ume more firmly into his capture weapon, attempting to ignore the noise of everyone, him especially. His efforts were in vain though, as a tiny weight landed next to them on the cushion, a rapid thumping noise drawing his attention.
Hinata was actually rather tall, for a rabbit, when she stood up on her hind legs. Her foot beat against the cushion again in a steady rhythm.
He and Ume watched in fascination as through the cacophony of the teacher’s morning routines, Yagi poked his head through the crowd and spotted his daemon. His face lit up, a brief flash of blue in dark shadowed eyes.
“There you are.”
Aizawa knew his pulse was racing even before Ume put her paw on his arm comfortingly. He held his breath when Yagi scooped the jackrabbit up, holding her against his chest as he took a seat next to them.
“Mind if I sit?”
Aizawa did mind. He minded quite a bit.
“Nope.”
Ignoring Yagi’s shuffling, Aizawa lifted his cup to his mouth in an effort to keep his hands busy. His coffee was no longer warm, but he still took a deep drink. He was just managing to find an effective zoned out headspace when Ume spoke.
“What are you reading?”
It wasn’t common for daemons to directly address other humans, but it did occur between close friends. Aizawa knew too well how effectively Ume and Yamada could gang up on him to give him shit when given the chance.
Ume tended to be pretty chatty, all things considered. Even so, he and Yagi were not exactly friends, and this was certainly not normal behavior between two co-workers.
Yagi startled slightly at the question and Aizawa felt a burst of heat across his face as he fought the desire to mummify Ume in the weapon around his neck.
Only the uptick of Yagi’s mouth stopped him from apologizing. He looked surprised at Ume’s question, but pleasantly so. He held up the book in his hand.
“Nothing interesting, I’m afraid. Just another one of many teaching guide books.”
“How many books do you need to read before you figure it out?” Aizawa asked genuinely. A tsking noise from Ume clued him in to how dispassionate it had sounded. Years of maintaining his composure in the face of villains and students alike had left him somewhat cold and aloof – if not in true character, at least in presentation.
Yagi shot him a sardonic grin anyway. “Well I think I need all the help I can get, if my performance this past year has shown us anything.”
Aizawa was just about to chastise his self-deprecating tone when another voice, softly alluring, beat him to it.
“Toshi,” Hinata warned.
Aizawa wouldn’t have known the name had come from her if he hadn’t seen the way she turned her twitching nose up at Yagi, ears laid flat against her back in admonishment.
Yagi hummed a sound that was neither agreement nor dissent, instead lifting one long fingered hand to run over her ears and back. He opened the book once more, their conversation apparently over in his mind. A tiny pinch from Ume’s sharp claws kicked Aizawa back into action.
“Reading multiple books won’t help. You’re better off just finding one you like most and sticking with the method. Otherwise you’re getting all kinds of conflicting ideas.”
Blue and hazel eyes stared back at him in astonishment. Even Hinata’s normally impassive face seemed surprised.
“What?” Aizawa could help but ask.
Yagi shook his head, blonde strands of hair flying with the motion. “Nothing, I’m sorry. You just—sometimes I forget you’re actually a teacher.”
He grinned, a rare sight these days, and Hinata tucked her nose against his chest, hazel eyes never leaving Aizawa.
“Just because I’m not a bird doesn’t mean he’s not a teacher.” Aizawa looked down to see Ume grin back at Yagi.
A human gesture on an animal face was sometimes off-putting to others, especially when it bared sharp fangs like hers. Aizawa was no stranger to people finding Ume scary or weird – especially with the way her hand-like paws were sometimes more capable than a human.
He should have known better though, because Yagi was smiling back, softer now.
“You’re right, of course.” He stood up, holding Hinata against his chest tightly, and touched Aizawa’s shoulder in a quick brush. “I’ll consider your advice.”
He watched them both go, and Aizawa looked around to realize that they had been the last two people left in the teacher’s lounge.
“Sho, her voice! Did you hear it? Oh my god, it was so beautiful!”
Aizawa sighed, melting back into the couch.
“Yeah Ume, I heard it.”
+
The thing about daemons was that they were usually an effective gauge of what kind of person a kid would grow into. Flitting from animal to animal on a whim, trying out different forms until they found the one that felt right. This usually occurred after puberty, approximately.
While a lot of people didn’t know what they wanted to be when they grew up until much later, if ever, their daemon was often a good meter.
Birds were common in academics, dogs among those with a strong sense of authority. Artists often had insect daemons and felines were usually a signifier of a capricious nature and frequent career changes.
Sometimes daemons settled in a form that would be most helpful for the job, without the child ever even knowing. Aizawa knew a woman in construction with a chimpanzee that worked right alongside her. He was pretty sure he’d even seen him drawing up blueprints once.
When it came to heroes, their daemons ran the gamut, usually settling on a form that was most helpful with their quirk and fighting style.
One of the best things about teaching high school was that despite the way their hormones indicated they were still well into puberty, their daemons had pretty much all settled. Those that hadn’t almost always did within the first few weeks of the course.
Izuku Midoriya was once again the exception to everything Aizawa had learned as a teacher.
He’d heard about this kind of thing, of course. Not all kids were on the same developmental timeline, and it wasn’t that crazy to see older teenagers with unsettled daemons. It just didn’t happen very often in the hero course.
These kids had direction, they were driven. Anyone who made it into the UA hero course knew what they wanted to do with their lives and they knew how to reach those goals.
All Might had also been an exception.
Aizawa didn’t know what that meant in terms of their oddly close relationship, but he’d never thought to ask.
Right now, it was beginning to look like he might have to.
“Bakugo, if you do not rein your daemon in I am giving this fight to Midorya.”
His explosion died down immediately, his face enraged as he turned to Aizawa. Any other student would have taken his brief distraction as a weakness and gone in for a finishing move, but Midoriya bounced away, taking a moment to catch his breath.
Behind them, Bakugo’s honey badger was going wild trying to tear at the metal debris Midoriya’s daemon was hiding in. Aizawa had never seen a honey badger daemon before and had been surprised to see Bakugo sporting an animal so small and soft looking until he saw them both in action. What she lacked in size, she more than made up for in sheer rage and destructive capability.
Her victim had been a rat when she had scrambled into the wreckage but had shifted into a moth form and taken advantage of her small size to flit out and land in Midoriya’s hair.
“Why’s it my fault his daemon’s always a pathetic fluffy target? If this was a real fight with a villain, Hatsu would be able to go after their daemon!”
This was true. Any daemon worth their hero would press every advantage in an effort to stop a villain. Ume had taken down daemons they’d fought against more times than he could count. Aizawa wouldn’t have called off the match either, if he’d thought for one second that Midoriya’s daemon would defend herself.
Every bit of hesitation and uncertainty that Midoriya possessed was very clearly displayed in his other half. For the life of him, Aizawa couldn’t understand why she tended to take the form of prey animals.
Hero daemons were predators.
Or at least capable of serious self-defense. Yamada’s cockatoo may not have been the most aggressive, but her sharp claws weren’t just for show.
“Midoriya, come over here.”
Even the way he hopped over looked like All Might. Aizawa wondered at the possibility of his daemon settling as a rabbit as well.
“Aizawa-sensei, if this were a real fight I’d press every advantage. Right now, my advantage is that Yusha isn’t settled. She led Hatsuchan in there on purpose!”
“Yeah, I recognize that, but part of this assignment was to keep the property damage to a minimum. While I’m not going to put that badger’s destructive tendencies on you, I have to wonder what’s stopping Yusha from learning to fight back.”
The daemon in question crawled up from Midoriya’s mossy curls to flit onto his shoulder. In a tiny voice she spoke. “Why do I have to fight physically? Isn’t part of being a hero outsmarting your opponent?”
Aizawa reached up to rub at his temple, fighting back what was sure to be a monumental headache.
“Yes, but this is a training routine, and as Midoriya says, you’re unsettled. Take the opportunity to train for multiple types of combat.”
Midoriya nodded, determination written on his face. Aizawa thought he might have heard a tiny scoff but ignored it. He watched them take up their positions once more, Yusha shifting into a massive timber wolf midair, landing on her paws with a growl.
Bakugo’s daemon looked positively thrilled at the sight, scraping her claws into the ground as she waited for the signal.
“Don’t think a bigger daemon is going to win this fight, Deku,” Bakugo began.
Aizawa quickly tuned them out. It was really the only option with those two.
It bothered him though, as he sat in the teacher’s common room later that night. Midoriya’s daemon didn’t seem at all inclined to be a hero. He knew from Recovery Girl that the last time they’d been in the hospital Yusha had spent hours lecturing Midorya on his tendency to throw himself into danger.
She was definitely the voice of reason in their duo.
It reminded him of that time before, in the teacher’s lounge. The only time he’d heard Yagi’s daemon speak. It had only been one word, but it was obvious she’d been scolding him for his disparaging comments at his own expense.
Aizawa wondered if she scolded him like that all the time. Maybe she was the voice of reason in their relationship too.
He looked down to the raccoon on the other side of the room. Ume was sitting on the floor wrapped up in the small fuzzy blanket he usually kept draped over the foot of his bed, a small pile of walnuts and a larger pile of walnut shells on either side of her.
As he watched, she placed a nut between sharp canine teeth and applied just enough pressure to crack the hard shell, pulling it apart carefully to claim her prize.
Her fuzzy stomach was covered in walnut detritus, and if sensing his critical gaze, she looked up.
“What?”
Ume was definitely not the voice of reason between the two of them. If anything, she was more likely to urge him into something reckless and stupid.
Which was fine, really. Sometimes he needed someone to push him into a recklessly stupid situation.
“Do you want one? Why are you looking at me so weird?”
All Might had often been reckless and stupid. It was one of the things that drove Aizawa crazy. Watching the man throw himself into danger, relying on his quirk to keep him safe, setting an example for the children that was how a hero behaved when really it was just how All Might behaved.
Midoriya was exactly the same, just less successfully.
Someone sat down in the overstuffed chair next to him, pulling Aizawa from his musing. His vision refocused to find Ume returned to her mission of making the biggest mess possible.
“Something troubling you?”
Yagi was holding a cup of tea, another book in his hand, not a teaching guide for once.
“What are you reading now?”
Blue eyes flashed in surprise, but Yagi held up the book. It had a polar bear on the cover.
“Fantasy novel, part of a series. Treating myself to an old favorite after making it through all of those manuals.”
“Did you pick one you liked?”
Yagi’s smile was wan, but it was there. “I think so.”
Aizawa nodded, looking over at Ume who was politely pretending not to eavesdrop. A quick glance at Yagi didn’t reveal Hinata to him, but he was sure where ever she was tucked that she was listening too.
“Everything okay?” Yagi asked again, that spark of tenacity that had made him such a successful hero rearing its head.
He should have brushed it off – waved away Yagi’s concern and continued to let the tense detachment that encompassed their every exchange linger. He should have told Yagi he was fine, dusted off his raccoon and headed to his own apartment. But if Aizawa was being honest with himself, which was rare, it was beginning to wear on him. Constantly holding himself apart from Yagi on the off chance that he would recognize Aizawa’s coldness for the self-preservation technique that it was had gotten old.
He was tired.
And a tired Shota Aizawa was a chatty one, unfortunately.
“What’s up with you and Midoriya?”
That was definitely not the question Yagi was expecting, and his eyes got so wide that for a second Aizawa could see the whites around his irises.
“Wha—why, he’s my student, same as yours, I’m not sure—”
Aizawa held up a hand to cut him off. “Right, Midoriya’s your student like Shinso is mine, I get it. I meant beyond that.”
His candidness seemed to surprise Yagi, who paused in spouting what was sure to be more deflection. He tsked, leaning back in the chair, and Hinata poked her head out of his jacket pocket, nose twitching.
Out of the corner of his eye, Aizawa could see Ume perk up, her attention turning towards Yagi. She quickly brushed the crumbs from her coat before holding out a cracked nut.
Aizawa watched in awe as Hinata pulled herself out of Yagi’s coat, tumbling into his lap before bouncing over to Ume, who had pulled the nut out of the shell and placed it carefully on the floor.
Hinata didn’t say anything but she did take the offering, and Aizawa turned back to Yagi, expecting to find him just as shocked only to see him watching their two daemons with a small smile and not much surprise.
“I’m an orphan,” Yagi said, seemingly out of nowhere.
“O-oh?”
Yagi looked at him with a soft smile. “Most people don’t know, I tend to keep things pretty close to the vest.”
Most people don’t know. Yet here he was telling Aizawa. He fought the urge to pull his capture weapon tighter around himself like a shroud.
“I guess I tend to collect people… Once I let someone in I have a hard time letting them go.”
“Like that detective?” Aizawa burted, and immediately regretted. Ume looked at him and he could almost hear her ’smooth Sho.’
Yagi on the other hand was nonplussed. “Yeah, like Naomasa. Did you two meet?”
Aizawa shook his head and tried to look less interested. “No, I’ve just noticed he comes around a lot, is all.”
Blonde hair tipped into a thoughtful face. “I’ve been consulting for him on the League case. He tends to overwork himself. Drives his wife crazy with worry.”
Relieved warmth spread like spilled water through his chest. The detective was married. They were just friends.
He felt himself relax before sitting up just a little bit straighter. When he looked at Yagi, he was looking right back, a hint of a smile around his mouth.
“Midoriya is like that, I guess. That little crybaby kicked and shoved his way into my heart and now he’s stuck there.”
“You two have a lot in common.”
“You mean our quirks?”
“I mean your daemons.”
Wide eyed again, Yagi looked instinctively to Hinata. They were far away enough that if they were talking, Aizawa couldn’t hear them. It didn’t seem like it with the careful way Ume was cracking open walnut shells and offering Hinata the soft nutty insides. Ume tended to talk with her hands – lots of gesturing and puffed up fur.
“You mean that Yusha hasn’t settled on a form yet, I assume?”
“Not just that,” Aizawa sighed. This was not a conversation he’d expected to have anytime soon. Or ever. “Your daemon…Hinata. She not like other hero daemons.”
“Ahh,” Yagi looked at him again. “I think I understand.”
“Midoriya—his daemon is in the habit of taking…smaller forms—”
“Prey forms?”
“Yeah…”
Yagi nodded. “And you’re worried she’ll be an easy target?”
“Something like that.”
“You know…Hinata didn’t want me to be a hero.”
Aizawa felt his eyes go so wide he was surprised his quirk didn’t activate.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed that we don’t separate much.”
He nodded, gesturing for Yagi to continue.
“It’s a lot to do with the orphan thing. Of course, I didn’t know that when I was training to be a hero. I read about it once I was older. Orphans and…other people with abandonment type issues tend to stick unusually close to their daemons.”
Yagi’s hands were gripping the fabric on his pants rhythmically, and Aizawa released a shuddering breath. This conversation was getting a lot deeper than he’d ever expected. He was torn between telling Yagi he didn’t have to explain himself and asking to hear more.
“As much as Hinata didn’t like it, she still understood of course. She’s my other half after all. But she’s always been the objective, logical one. They say the one thing top heroes have in common is their bodies moving before they have a chance to think. For me…that was a little too close to home. Without Hinata’s guidance, I probably would have gotten myself killed. She’s a large part of what made me who I was—made me the symbol of peace.”
He paused, taking a sip of tea that Aizawa was sure was cold by now.
“I met Midoriya about a year before he started here at UA, and at the time I recognized something in him—something that reminded me of myself. And Hinata saw something of herself in Yusha. I don’t think she’ll ever be a typical hero daemon, but I also think that’s one of the reasons Midoriya is going to be so great one day.”
“You love him?” Aizawa asked.
Yagi’s cheeks bloomed a soft pink as he reached up to touch the back of his neck embarrassedly. “I do. Guess he’s the closest thing I ever got to having a kid. You, uh—feel that way about Shinso?”
Aizawa snorted. “Despite my best efforts, yes.”
This time Yagi grinned and Aizawa prayed his own face was still as pale as ever when his heart rate kicked up a notch.
“Midoriya giving you trouble?”
“No more than usual,” he rolled his eyes.
“Well I have some teaching manuals lying around…” He gestured towards the dorms innocently.
“Yagi, did you just make a joke?” He felt the corners of his mouth pulling up.
“Yeah I do that sometimes. I know you’ve been hell bent on avoiding me, but I’m actually rather delightful—”
“And so modest,” Aizawa returned.
They smirked at each other for a second, the air charged with something Aizawa wasn’t sure he wanted to name.
“Thank you for sharing that with me,” he finally replied. “It definitely gives some insight into the Midoriya situation. And I haven’t actively been trying to avoid you, I just haven’t really had much to say to you. Like you said, you play it close to the vest.”
Yagi hummed, nodding a bit. “Well, I find I don’t really mind you asking me for insight. Kind of nice to know you’re not perfect.”
Aizawa’s mouth dropped open. ”Perfect? Me? You’re still joking right?”
“You’re arguably one of the best teachers at UA. ‘Goals’ as the kids say.”
Tossing his hair back, Aizawa sat up straighter. “I am not goals. Do you hear yourself? Goals! From All Might himself.”
“Not quite All Might,” he cut in. “Just Toshinori.”
That had him sinking back down, relaxing against the sofa back.
“Just nothing. I sincerely hope that Toshinori didn’t toss out his teaching books because I am definitely not what to aim for.”
Yagi set his elbow on the arm of his chair and dropped the side of his head into his palm. He hummed. “I think I like that.”
The way his eye flashed blue had Aizawa’s pulse racing again. If this kept up he was going to have to look into medication.
“What?”
“You, using my given name.”
Holy shit. Yagi was flirting with him. There was no other reasonable explanation for the sudden heat in his eyes and the casual tilt of his head.
Any chance of knowing for sure was shattered by the sound of Vlad King and Hound Dog stumbling back into the teacher’s dorms. He hadn’t kept track of the time but judging by the volume of their laughter and the distinct scent of whiskey it was late.
Even so, Aizawa didn’t usually go to bed for another few hours, especially not on a Friday – but this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get out of the previous conversation without embarrassing himself.
“Well, guess it’s time for bed,” Aizawa stood up and tried not to pay much attention to Yagi’s face. Was that disappointment or relief?
“Right, of course. Sleep well Aizawa-kun.”
Aizawa fought a blush at the soft tone. “Ume, let’s go—“
“What!”
“Inui, try not to piss in any corners.”
Hound Dog growled. “That was one time!”
His chihuahua daemon barked.
“Ume!”
“Alright, jeez! I’m trying to clean this up, a little help here?”
Ignoring what was still a pretty big mess of walnut crumbs, Aizawa picked Ume up and tossed her over his shoulder, leaving his blanket behind.
She squawked with indignation, but didn’t fight him, going limp enough to hold out a paw behind him.
“Night, Hinata!”
“Goodnight, Ume.”
Aizawa felt the way she squirmed in his hold at Hinata voice.
They were both so fucked.
The second they’d crossed the threshold to his apartment, Ume twisted in his arms, scratching at his neck in a way she knew was painful. He let go and she dropped to the floor with a thud, sitting back on her hind legs to look up at him.
“Why are you so goddamn crazy!”
“Me? You’re acting rabid!”
“You just hauled me off like a teddy bear in front of Hinata after I finally got her to talk to me!”
Aizawa felt a little bad about that. Ume was a raccoon, but she wasn’t an animal. She had dignity indistinguishable from his own.
“Sorry, Meichan.”
Her fur, which had gotten puffed up in anger, seemed to wilt at the childhood nickname. She rubbed her paws over her eyes, sliding them down over the black marks on her face.
“You gotta stop being so weird around Yagi-san.”
Aizawa felt himself wilt in turn.
“I don’t know why I’m like this.”
“Do you want me to make a list?”
Aizawa shot her a dark look and kicked out playfully. She sidestepped him easily, falling onto all fours to walk towards the bedroom.
“Look, I get you’re not great letting people in, but I’d argue that it might be a little too late on this one, so why fight it?”
He followed her, falling onto the bed gracelessly, fully dressed and still wrapped in his capture weapon. She was right – she usually was when it came to him.
“So…” He waited for Ume to sprawl out next to him. “What’s she like?”
“Oh Shota, she’s so lovely.”
Aizawa huffed a laugh at the sudden breathy quality of her voice.
“She said she wished she could crack nuts open like me. Sho, I woulda cracked a thousand nuts for that bunny.”
“So she’s just shy? Not stuck up or anything?”
“Just shy. I think she’d like to talk to people more, but she’s so used to hiding.”
He hummed thoughtfully. “I think Yagi is the same.”
“Oh? Don’t you mean Toshinori?”
He swatted at her without heat. “I knew you were eavesdropping.”
“Hinata was too! I could see her ears twitch every time Yagi spoke. I think she’s really concerned with keeping an eye on him.”
Aizawa thought about what Yagi had said. About being an orphan, and how it affected his relationship with his daemon.
The entire time All Might had spent as the pillar of strength for the rest of the world, had anyone been looking out for him besides Hinata?
“Someone’s got to.”
“Someone like you?”
“Go to sleep.”
“It’s still early!”
+