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“Okay, Aizawa’s back, no more small talk. Let’s get into it,” Kohaku joked.
“I can do small talk, I’m not completely inept,” Aizawa scoffed.
“I know, I know, we’re just teasing. I have been anxious about this meeting, though, I want to help that kid as much as I can… after everything,” she admitted.
“You may have helped him more than anyone, Shinso-san. No one knew the ‘real’ him for– what, twelve years? I’m pretty sure you guys were the first to even try to know him. That’s a saving grace that I don’t think he would have survived without. At least from what I know of his situation, do you disagree?” Yamada spoke up and then deferred to their partner.
“No, I don’t. I can’t say for certain, but I don’t think he’s ever let anyone in like he let you two in. Obviously, he had some sort of facade with you, but it wasn’t quite as drastic as he had with others,” Aizawa agreed.
That was a bittersweet reassurance. She furrowed her brow and looked down at her now lukewarm coffee. It hurt to think about how isolated Midoriya had been, but she was glad that they were there for him in whatever capacity they had been. That was the eternal constant with Midoriya, she wished she could have done more.
“Have you gotten him into counseling yet?” she changed the subject.
“No, not yet. There’s been so many delays, but I’m putting my foot down. He’s been putting off making a decision. We just narrowed down the list quite a bit recently, but I’m going to make him choose before the week's through, or I’m going to choose for him,” Yamada answered, shame evident in his tone.
“That sounds fair. He’s not going to like it, but I would do the same thing. It’s for his own good. Things slip away from us, I’m sure you’ve all been busy with finals. Now that that’s through, there’s nothing in the way– Well, not nothing, but significantly less, I’m sure,” she assuaged.
She wasn’t here to shame them; this was an insane situation to be thrust into, and they were doing their best.
“Has he been lashing out?” she asked, changing the subject slightly.
“Far less than would be reasonable, considering,” Aizawa answered.
“Oh, that’s good, actually. I was worried that he wouldn’t. It doesn’t feel good for anyone, I’m sure, but he’s got to get those emotions out somehow, and I doubt he’s going to be sitting down for a chat before things bubble over.”
“Yeah, he had a big blow-up the day he ended up at your house, and I was actually proud of him in a weird way. He’s been grinning and bearing everything, and he finally put his foot down. I just wish we could have listened. I think it worked out for the best, though, he’s opened up a little bit more since then,” Yamada explained.
“Yeah, Toshi told me that he talked to his friends at lunch the next day. He explained the bare bones of the situation– that his parents were out of the picture, and he was with a foster family now.”
“He did?” Aizawa asked, a little incredulous.
“Yeah! Isn’t that great? He must have had some sort of breakthrough. I’m proud of him.”
“That’s amazing! Oh, I’m so glad; they’re good kids,” Yamada replied with an ear-to-ear smile.
Even Aizawa had a subtle upturn to his lips; he might as well be beaming.
“Just make sure you two never punish him when he lashes out like that– unless it’s really out of hand, of course. Never react right away, take a minute to think about it first, and then calmly reprimand if you feel you need to. Matching anger is never going to help. Your reaction to whatever happened that night probably had a big part to play in whatever breakthrough he made,” she praised their actions and reinstated what they seemed to already know.
The two of them shared a glance at that, one she didn’t have enough context to read properly. She could tell they were unconvinced, though. They both had twin pangs of guilt, but if she was reading them correctly, Aizawa’s was much more potent than Yamada’s.
“I’m missing something,” she observed.
“There’s not a ton we can tell you, the day was just a disaster from start to finish,” Yamada explained with a frown.
It seemed that Yamada emoted enough to make up for Aizawa’s deficit. She didn’t even need her quirk to know what they were feeling. It was kind of funny– opposites attract, she supposed.
“We had a meeting with someone who had information that we had not previously known about Izuku. He didn’t want to tell us, but we had to know for his safety. He was upset about that and stormed out. Then I lost my temper with the person we were meeting with and said things I shouldn’t have. It was a breach of Izuku’s privacy. I’m glad he wasn’t there for that… I really lost it,” Aizawa admitted.
“Toshi was saying that he was worried that he was in some sort of legal trouble,” she mentioned in a hushed tone.
“That’s not something we can discuss,” Aizawa shut down that line of questioning swiftly.
Unfortunately, the denial was a confirmation in and of itself. What had he gotten himself into?
“Yeah… That’s… Okay. Well, anyways, you were saying?” she pressed onward.
“I lost my temper, but everyone is on the same page now. I don’t think there are any more secrets, though with Izuku, I don’t think I can be surprised anymore. I apologized, he apologized, everyone apologized, and we’re moving forward,” Aizawa finished his statement.
“Well, that sounds good. I really do think that helped him. Even doing things wrong, as long as it’s done honestly, can help. In a weird way, flying off the handle can prove how much you care. I’m not saying you should do it again, but it sounds like it worked out for the best this time,” she observed.
“She’s not wrong, Sho. You gotta quit beating yourself up about it,” Yamada tried to soothe.
“Yeah, yeah,” Aizawa dismissed, but didn’t disagree.
“How’s home life been, besides the catastrophes?” she asked.
“He doesn’t come out of his room much. I think he’s scared to take up space, but he’s better than he used to be. He didn’t even shower at home the first few weeks; he always did it at school, but I had a talk with him. I got him a haircut and told him to use the shampoo and conditioner I got him, and now he luxuriates for no more than fifteen minutes– I swear he goes in there with a timer or something. He comes out for that, meals, and chores, but besides that, he’s a hermit,” Yamada answered.
“Do you invite him out?”
“Occasionally, but I’m scared he’s just going to agree because that’s what he thinks we want. He made pancakes with Sho once,” they replied.
“Aw, that’s nice. I think you should invite him out more and tell him what you just told me. Say, ‘Hey, do you wanna do X, Y, or Z with us? And don’t just say yes because you think that’s what you’re supposed to do. Do you actually want to?’ Honesty is usually the best policy, especially for overthinkers. He seems to respond best to me when I give him something to do. Maybe you could start doing chores together if you don’t already.”
“Hm, that’s a good idea. I’ve been trying to get a read on his music taste too, we could jam out and clean,” Yamada agreed.
Aizawa nodded in approval.
The lull in their conversation was cut off by both of their phones going off simultaneously. Their relaxed postures went ramrod straight, and a permeating anxiety radiated off of both of them. She didn’t even get the chance to ask what was going on before they both stood up from their seats so quickly that the chairs skidded backward a few feet.
“Izuku, emergency, stay here,” Yamada barked out an explanation over his shoulder.
Aizawa was already legging it out of the cafe, and Yamada wasn’t far to follow.
What? Hitoshi was with him! What the hell did they mean stay here? She took off after them as quickly as she could, but a sedentary life of book handling did not do much for her cardio. Upper body strength? Sure, some of those things were heavy, but running? Nope, she hadn’t done that in years, not since she was running after Toshi as a little kid.
She lost track of them quickly, but she knew where they were headed. The mall was a few blocks away, and she didn’t stop for anything, not even the car that nearly hit her. It was at a crosswalk anyways, they should have been paying attention, so she didn’t feel bad.
She got to the mall quicker than she would have thought herself capable, but she didn’t know where to go from there. Thankfully, a loud announcement to evacuate the ‘active crime scene’ was enough of a hint to follow. She went against the throng of people and stumbled upon a near-empty courtyard where she could see Aizawa tending to a wound on Midoriya’s neck and Yamada ushering crowds away. She could see Hitoshi and his friends off to the side, thankfully looking no worse for wear.
She came to a stop and rested her hands on her knees in a vain attempt to catch her breath before she spoke.
“What… the hell… was that?” she asked no one in particular through heaving breaths.
***
Izuku pulled away from Eraser to see what was going on, and sure enough, Shinso-san was standing a few yards back with her hands on her knees and panting like she just ran a mile.
“Shinso-san! I told you to stay–” Mic tried to speak, but Shinso-san cut him off with a glare and a wave of the hand that said ‘shut your mouth.’
Why were they together? God, they were talking about him, weren’t they? Can’t a guy fail at having a normal day with his friends and get held hostage by a domestic terrorist in peace? Why were they having secret meetings?
“Toshi– okay?” she asked curtly as she walked toward the group.
“Yeah, mom, I’m fine,” Hitoshi answered awkwardly.
She gestured to the rest of the group, silently asking the same question of everyone else.
“We are all okay, Shinnso-san!” Iida replied.
She gave a thumbs up to Iida and then pointed at Izuku and raised an eyebrow.
“I’m… uh, I think I’m f-fine?” he rasped out unconvincingly.
His messed-up vocal cords were not helping sell that response.
“You’re fine, it looks like it's just some scratches and bruising,” Eraser answered for him.
She then turned to Eraser with a glare that demanded an explanation.
Eraser looked from her to Mic, then to the rest of the group before he spoke.
“Mic, take the kids, tell the officers what’s going on, and get a head count on the rest of the students,” he instructed.
Mic looked at Izuku for a moment, clearly hesitant to leave, but it was the most logical course of action, so he relented.
“Everyone but Shinso and Midoriya, follow me. Iida, text the class group chat and tell them to meet at the north entrance,” Mic ushered them all away.
“Give me a moment, I need to make a phone call. Keep this on your neck,” Eraser dismissed himself as well, though he didn’t go far, just out of earshot.
Izuku held the gauze to his throat as instructed. He was probably calling Tsukauchi.
“Izuku, what the hell happened? You were gone for like 15 minutes max,” Hitoshi asked.
“Don’t make him talk, Toshi,” Shinso-san reprimanded.
“It’s f-fine, I can t-talk, jus’ hurts a ‘lil. I don’ know how much I should tell anyone yet– gotta wait for ‘raser. He’s prolly callin’ the ‘tective,” he answered anyway.
“Okay, that’s enough talking for you then… You sound awful. Yes or no questions only… if anything at all,” Shinso-san put her foot down through still labored breathing.
“Did you get jumped?” Hitoshi asked immediately.
He just shrugged in response. He kind of got jumped, though not in the traditional sense.
“Toshi, stop, he’s coming back now… just wait a minute.”
“‘tective Tsuka?” he asked once Eraser rejoined them.
“Yes,” he confirmed.
“Tsukauchi? The one working the USJ case?” Hitoshi asked.
Eraser’s eyes passed over all three of them hesitantly before he spoke.
“Yes.”
“What the hell is going on, Aizawa?” Shinso-san demanded again.
Was she actually angry? He’s never seen her angry before.
“I can’t tell you anything, it’s confidential, and I don’t know what they are going to want released to the public yet. Izuku has an alarm he can set off on his phone. He was attacked, he set it off, and we responded. That’s all I can say,” Eraser replied in a calculated tone.
Police officers were starting to tape off a perimeter, and one was headed straight for the four of them.
“They’re probably going to escort you out. You can join Mic at the north entrance, or you can go home since Shinso has already been accounted for,” he added after spotting the officer approaching.
Shinso-san took a moment to close her eyes and take a slow, deep breath amid the still uneven panting she was doing since running here. Oh, yeah, she was angry. He spared a glance over to Hitoshi, who looked almost as unnerved by the display as he was. Which, of course, only unnerved him more.
“You will keep me updated,” she spoke to Eraser like a threat before walking over to meet the officer herself.
Hitoshi looked at both of them with a worried expression before wordlessly leaving to join her.
“The paramedics just showed up,” Eraser warned him rather than addressing what had just happened.
The proceeding bureaucracy was almost enough to bore him to death. Thankfully, one of the medics had a healing quirk, and they were able to fix him up enough to speak without too much difficulty. There was still a gnarly bruise forming around his throat, and the four ragged nail scratches remained.
It took nearly three full hours before he was seated in the precinct with Mic, Eraser, All Might, and Tsukauchi. He gave a thorough report, leaving out any sort of premonitions or any mention that he had brought up All For One, because that was not something that should be on the record. As far as the record knew, he had no clue who All For One was.
“Alright, thank you, Midoriya, that was very thorough. You did good work, is there anything else?” Tsukauchi asked.
He gave the detective a look before he spoke.
“No,” he said, a clear lie that he knew Tsukauchi would understand.
Recognition crossed over his face, and he nodded before responding.
“Alright, that concludes the statement,” he said before pressing the stop button on his recorder.
“I don’t think I was targeted because of One For All, he would have just taken me if he knew. Also, I don’t know how helpful it is at this point, but whatever. He got progressively angrier, so I thought if he was stupid enough to do any of this in a calm state of mind, I might be able to get some information out of him. I asked him what All For One wanted, and he said ‘Who knows’ So, that’s confirmation that All For One is behind this if nothing else. That and he doesn’t have as tight of a hold on Shigaraki as we might have thought,” he explained, wasting no time.
“That was reckless,” Eraser immediately reprimanded.
“It was strategic. He was already furious and off his rocker; nothing I said was going to change that,” he shot back on instinct.
It felt weird to be… whoever this was in front of everyone without a mask on.
All Might was rubbing at his temples, and Tsukauchi was eyeing him warily. How long had those two known each other? Was Tsukauchi part of the first operation against All For One?
“It can be both strategic and reckless, however, that’s a conversation for a different time. Anything else, Izuku?” Mic steered them back on course.
“Yeah… I… I don’t know how, um…” he trailed off awkwardly, not really sure how to broach the topic, he decided directly would be easiest, “Before I left the group I had this headache, a really sharp zapping kind and I f-felt like, um, I dunno like I was having a mini split second panic attack. It kept happening on and off, and it happened in Hosu too, right before everything started, and then again right before the nomu grabbed me. I don’t know if… I mean, three times is more than a coincidence, right?” he asked, looking awkwardly up at All Might on the other side of the table.
He had his brow furrowed, and he didn’t answer for a moment.
“Like a premonition?” Mic asked.
He nodded.
“Are you asking if that’s One For All?” All Might spoke up.
“Y-yeah, I m-mean, I don’t know what else…” he trailed off awkwardly.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that, but everyone wields the power differently, so I can’t discount the theory,” All Might replied.
“Did it happen at the USJ?” Aizawa asked.
“Well, no… I guess not,” he conceded.
“So, it could be something, could be nothing. Instinct isn’t something to ignore though, whether it be natural or not. Does it ever happen during training?” Mic asked.
“No, it’s only ever happened with actual threats,” he answered.
“Hmm, well, then it’s not something we can test. I personally hope we never uncover this mystery,” Mic replied with a tight smile.
“Track record isn’t looking great for that,” Eraser interjected.
“Sho,” Mic chastised.
Eraser just gestured broadly, and Izuku couldn’t find it in him to disagree.
“Which brings up my next point: how are we going to prevent this going forward? Obviously, the alert system isn’t enough,” Eraser moved right along.
“I had it under control,” he argued.
“They’re getting bolder, it was broad daylight in a busy mall. What happens next time when they bring backup, and you can’t handle it?” Eraser shot back
“So you admit that I had it under control,” he pointed out.
To his surprise, All Might let out a laugh that seemed to have caught him off guard as much as it had Izuku. Eraser glared at him, and he promptly quieted himself.
“Sorry, it’s just you two– Never mind me, continue,” All Might said with a fond smile on his face.
“All Might, can we add you to the alert system we have set up? You can get there faster than either of us can,” Mic asked.
“Yes, of course. Please do,” All Might responded readily.
Izuku kind of tuned out the conversation at that point. He knew he should listen, but it was uncomfortable to hear them talk about him like he needed protecting. He couldn’t even say they were wrong, which was the part that bugged him the most. They were right, he may have had today under control, but there were too many what-if scenarios in which he would not come out on top. Now that he had One For All, he was too valuable to stay unguarded. He knew it was for the best, but it made him feel like a child.
Their conversation seemed to be going in circles anyway. We could do this, but then that would be too constrictive , or bla bla bla. He wasn’t going anywhere anyway. As much trouble as he seemed to find himself in, he didn’t revel in making a scene. He didn’t want to cause problems for them, so he’d just stay home. It’s not like he went out much as it was.
“Izuku, thoughts?” Eraser’s voice pulled his attention back.
“I’m more worried about Shinso-san at this point,” he deflected.
Mic and Eraser shared a tense look, and he knew he wasn’t the only one worried.
“Shinso-san?” Tsukauchi asked.
“Yeah, we were out for coffee with her when the alert went off. We went running, and I told her to stay put, but obviously she didn’t; her son was with Izuku, and she knew that,” Mic explained.
“She didn’t see anything and she doesn’t know anything, neither do any of the students, as far as I know, but she has questions and she’s not happy,” Eraser finished the statement.
“You don’t mess with a mama bear’s cubs,” Tsukauchi cringed.
“Yeah, I know that– we were a little preoccupied,” Eraser bit back.
“I assume there’s nothing more we can tell her. What are we planning to release to the public, if anything?” Mic asked.
“I don’t think we’re going to give a statement unless asked. In which case, we’ll just say it was a mugging. We don’t want to risk sensationalizing 1A any more than they already are,” All Might answered.
“Well, good luck with that, buddy,” Tsukauchi prodded, giving Eraser a patronizing pat on the back.
Eraser just ignored him and ran a hand through his hair. He looked tired, more so than usual, which was saying a lot.
“Alright, are we done here? The day’s been long enough. I think you’re gonna be an indoor cat until we figure out a better safety plan, kiddo. Sorry.”
“‘s fine. Wasn’t going to go anywhere anyway,” he dismissed, glad to be out of this conversation sooner rather than later.
The adults shared a concerned look at his response, but he was too tired to try and analyze the meaning behind it. He just wanted to go home.
Unfortunately, they didn’t get back until eight pm, and he had been out since two. That would have been fine if four and a half of those six hours hadn’t been spent in bureaucratic hell. He had been told under no uncertain terms that he was not permitted to breathe a word of this to anyone, and that was more than fine by him. The people who needed to know about it knew, and the people who just wanted him to ‘talk it out’ had a convenient NDA in the way.
Knock knock
“Kid, do you have a second? We need to talk,” Eraser called from the other side of the door.
Well… most people did at least. He suppressed the urge to scream into his pillow and/or throw himself out the window. His voice was still a little sore, and he didn’t feel like speaking loudly enough to be heard through the door, so he just got up and opened it; there was no avoiding this.
“Yeah, what did you need?” he asked, though he already knew.
“C’mon, Zashi’s out picking up dinner, he’s about to come back with it. Take a seat,” Eraser instructed as he bypassed the dining table for the kitchen.
Izuku did what he was told because what else was he supposed to do?
“Are you alright?” Eraser asked bluntly.
Izuku mouthed the words to himself mockingly at the same time that Eraser spoke them. Yeah, he saw this coming. Thankfully, his back was turned to the man so he was none the wiser to the disrespect. He did his best to expel the snark from his tone before he spoke.
“Yeah, I’m–”
“Don’t bullshit me,” Eraser interrupted, “You’ve been playing Ivy. Have you stopped to process anything yet?”
Welp… that was… not wrong. Yeah… He kind of hit the nail on the head there.
“Do you want me to not be alright then? I can work on that, I suppose. Do you want waterworks or catatonia, because I can do both,” he offered snidely over his shoulder, still not bothering to face him like a normal person would.
He heard Eraser sigh heavily from the kitchen before he came back holding three glasses of water. He set the single one in his right hand down before using the newly freed hand to extract the two precariously balanced glasses in his left. Izuku just watched as his careful hands didn’t spill a drop.
“I want you to feel safe enough to let your guard down,” Eraser corrected his sarcasm with sickening honesty.
He didn’t know what to say to that, so he didn’t say anything.
“Look, Zashi doesn’t want to be the bad guy, so I will. Narrow that list down tonight, we’re scheduling you an appointment tomorrow once offices open with whoever you choose or, failing that, whoever we choose. This has gone on long enough,” Eraser announced into the silence.
Izuku didn’t have it in him to suppress the glare he sent Eraser’s way, but the man seemed unaffected. He knew they were just doing this to help, but it made him feel like a freakish test subject and a helpless child all at once: trapped and at the complete mercy of forces beyond his control. His jaw was clenched, his breaths were forced, and the silence was becoming as thick and muggy as the summer heat.
The aggressive quiet was interrupted by the front door opening and Mic cheerily announcing that he was back with dinner. Izuku was fuming and decided he’d already fucked up thier day enough, so he got up, walked to his room, and calmly shut the door. They could force his food through the door, or he wouldn’t eat, he honestly didn’t care which.