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Aizawa stood in front of his students and closed the ranking chart showing them their rankings in the quirk apprehension test. "Alright, that's it. We're done for the day. Pick up a syllabus in the classroom. Read it over before tomorrow morning," he said before starting to walk off. Before leaving the field for good, he looked at the green-haired student. He sighed before reaching into his pocket, pulling out a note, and walking up to the kid. "Midoriya, take this and go have the old lady fix you up, and then come to the teacher's lounge. We need to talk," he told him, handing the boy the note and then walking off.
"Thank you," Midoriya said as he closed the door to Recovery Girl's office. "I'm so tired," Midoriya muttered to himself as he began walking to the teacher's lounge. After taking a few wrong turns, Midoriya finally found himself in front of the teacher's lounge. "Um... Aizawa-sensei?" Midoriya asked as he knocked on the door.
"Come in, Midoriya," Aizawa told him. Midoriya pushed open the door and gulped. Present Mic, Midnight, Ectoplasm, Cementoss, and Power Loader were all in the room with Aizawa, and they all turned to look at him as he entered the room.
"Sho, I thought you said you hadn't expelled anyone today. Expelling them after the day ends doesn't count as not expelling someone on the first day," Present Mic said.
"I'm not expelling him, you idiot. Midoriya, follow me; I think someplace private would be best for this discussion," Aizawa told him. Midoriya nodded before walking towards Aizawa.
"Hi, little listener," Mic said as Midoriya walked by him.
"Hi, Present Mic," Midoriya whispered. Aizawa and Midoriya walked into Aizawa's private office. It was a small room with a dark brown desk, with a computer sitting on it. There was an office chair behind the desk and two chairs in front of the desk.
"I'm sorry about Mic. He can be a bit much," Aizawa told him as he took a seat behind the desk and pointed to the seat across from him.
"It's okay. He's one of my favorite heroes," Midoriya told him, sitting down.
"You like heroes much?" Aizawa asked.
Midoriya blushed, nodding his head. "Do I make it that obvious?"
"Yes," Aizawa told him.
"S-Sorry," Midoriya said, looking down and starting to file with the bottom of his jacket.
Aizawa looked at the boy curiously, asking, "why are you sorry?"
"Um..." Midoriya said, looking everywhere but Aizawa.
Aizawa sighed, looking at the boy for a couple of seconds before cutting him some slack and asking, "How's your finger?"
"It's good; I'm just a bit t-tired," Midoriya replied. They sat in silence for a minute.
"Your quirk, explain it to me," Aizawa ordered.
"Huh?" Midoriya asked, confused.
"Do I need to repeat myself?"
"Um no, b-but why?"
"Just do it."
"Um, well, it's called Superpower. It's sort of a strength enhancer," Midoriya explained, hoping that Aizawa would accept that and just move on. Midoriya yawned, looking up at Aizawa.
Aizawa ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "My quirk, explain it to me," Aizawa ordered.
"Huh?" Midoriya asked, looking at Aizawa. Aizawa just raised one of his eyebrows, staring back at the boy. "Oh um, well, your quirk is called erasure. You can erase the quirk of anyone you can see; as long as it's an emitter or transformation quirk, it doesn't work on mutations, and the effect of your quirk ends as soon as you blink or look away. It's more to do with the person leaving your field of vision than it does with blinking. Your eyes turn red, and your hair floats when your quirk is in use; that's why you have your goggles, they're able to block people from seeing where you are looking, but your hairs a big give away. I've always been confused why you don't tie it up or cut it. Also, I don't know if this a thing or not, but I've had this theory that you have a secondary levitation quirk. It explains why your hair floats and why your capture weapon floats above your shoulders when you have your quirk activated. It's probably focused around your eyes, just like your erasure quirk, which is why only your hair and capture weapon are affected," Midoriya explained. As Midoriya explained his quirk, Aizawa noticed him begin smiling and moving his hands around, breaking out of his shell the more he talked about erasure. After finishing, Midoriya looked at Aizawa before paling, looking down, and muttering, "Um... s-sorry."
"Why are you sorry this time? You did what I asked," Aizawa said, worried about how fast the boy went back to stuttering.
"Um, yeah. B-but..." Midoriya muttered, looking at Aizawa like he was crazy, "you don't think it's creepy that I know all of that?"
"No," Aizawa said. Midoriya just stared at him in shock. "You just gave me an in-depth description of my quirk, including a theory of yours, yet all I got when I asked about your quirk was a sentence; why is that?" Aizawa asked.
"Um..." Midoriya said, looking back down at the floor.
The two of them sat there in silence, other than the occasional yawn from Midoriya, for a couple of minutes before Aizawa said, "Midoriya, I need an answer."
"Um..." Midoriya said again, still not looking up at Aizawa.
Aizawa gave him another three minutes before sighing and saying, "fine. Let's try a different question. Why can't you control your quirk?"
"I-I'm s-sorry," Midoriya stuttered as his eyes began to water.
"You want to be a hero, yes?" Aizawa asked.
"Yes, it's all I've ever wanted," Midoriya replied, finally looking up at Aizawa.
"Then why haven't you put effort into learning how to control your quirk?" Aizawa asked.
"Are you going to expel me?" Midoriya asked, rubbing at his eyes.
"No," Aizawa told him, offering him a tissue, "I just want to understand what's going on. I want to know why a kid who has wanted to become a hero for his entire life came to a hero school with a quirk that he has no control over and harms him every time it's used."
"I... I..." Midoriya stuttered before falling silent again and letting his head drop.
Aizawa ran his hand through his hair, leaning back in his chair. "Midoriya, are you safe at home?"
"What?" Midoriya asked, looking back at Aizawa.
"You have apologized for everything, you're shaking, you've barely looked me in the eye, and you have no control over your quirk, a quirk that hurts you. It's a parent's job to make sure their child gets the proper quirk counseling they need. And you obviously never got that," Aizawa explained.
"Mom's nice, sh-she's... it's not l-like that," Midoriya said.
"And your dad?"
"Huh?"
"You said mom's nice; you didn't mention your dad."
Midoriya looked down, muttering, "he left when I was four." They sat in silence for a while; Aizawa tried to figure out how to get Midoriya to talk to him, while Midoriya tried to think of a way to explain his quirk without telling Aizawa the truth. "I was a late bloomer," Midoriya finally said.
"I know it's in your file," Aizawa told him.
"No!" Midoriya said. He then realized what he had said and then looked down, muttering, "I'm s-sorry."
"It's okay. No matter what happens during this discussion, you will stay in 1-A. I won't expel you, I promise," Aizawa told him.
Midoriya was quiet for a minute before he blurted out, "I'm quirkless."
"I saw you use a quirk; it broke your finger. You are not quirkless," Aizawa told him.
"But I am!" Midoriya yelled. "S-sorry," he muttered, after realizing he had yelled at his teacher.
"It's okay," Aizawa said.
"I have the double toe joint; I've always had it," Midoriya explained. He looked up and saw his teacher staring at him in confusion. "I... It's not my quirk, All Might gave it to me," he blurted out before he could stop himself.
"What?" Aizawa asked.
"I didn't mean to say that," Midoriya said. "H-he's gonna be s-so mad. I'm not s-supposed... I'm not supposed to tell anyone that. It's supposed t-to st-stay... to stay a s-secret," Midoriya stuttered, beginning to hyperventilate.
Aizawa got out of the seat and crouched down in front of Midoriya. "Midoriya, calm down. Hey, you need to breathe. There you go."
"I'm sorry," Midoriya said.
"You're okay," Aizawa told him, standing up and walking back to his seat. "All Might gave you a quirk?" Aizawa asked, after a minute of silence.
"You can't tell anyone!"
"I won't."
"I'm s-sorry."
"You need to stop apologizing. It's illogical," Aizawa told him. He ran his hands through his hair, sighing. "Okay, so All Might can give people quirks?" he asked.
"Not exactly. My quirk's called One for All. Um... to be honest, I don't actually know much about it. It's a quirk that can be passed on from one person to another. I'm the ninth holder of it," Midoriya replied before yawning.
"How long have you had it for?" Aizawa asked.
"Um..." Midoriya said. Aizawa raised an eyebrow at the boy. "I got it the day of the entrance exam," Midoriya told him, quietly.
"You what?" Aizawa asked.
"I got it the day of the entrance exam," Midoriya repeated.
'You can't kill the symbol of peace,' Aizawa thought to himself. He sighed, looking at Midoriya, saying, "I'm sorry."
"What?" Midoriya asked.
"For what I said to you during the test today, I'm sorry. I thought you were an arrogant child who thought their quirk was so amazing that they didn't have to learn to control it. If I had known that you had just gotten it, I wouldn't have said that," Midoriya explained.
"It's okay."
"It's not."
"What made you change your mind?" Midoriya asked after a minute of silence.
"Huh?"
"You said you thought I was arrogant. What made you change your mind?"
"Your throw. You were able to channel all of that power into a single point, keeping your injuries to a minimum. You were able to come up with a way to use your quirk without damaging yourself as much as before. The more I thought back to that, the more the image I had of you crumbled. That's why I asked to talk to you. I wanted to figure out what was actually going on," Aizawa replied.
"You weren't expecting this, were you?" Midoriya asked.
"Definitely not," Aizawa replied, chuckling, as Midoriya giggled. "You've never seen a quirk counselor, have you?" Aizawa asked after a couple of seconds.
"No," Midoriya replied.
"Well, that'll be the first thing you'll do. Are you free tomorrow after school?" Aizawa asked.
"What?" Midoriya asked.
"Are you busy tomorrow after school?" Aizawa asked again.
"No, I heard that but... um... isn't it going to be weird for a 15-year-old to get quirk counseling? My quirk's supposed to stay a secret, and I'm not the best at keeping secrets, and lying to a person who's trying to help me with my quirk feels wrong," Midoriya said.
"You were planning to lie to me?" Aizawa asked.
"Huh?" Midoriya asked, confused. Aizawa smirked, watching as the boy's finally realized what he meant. "Wait, you're a quirk counselor?" Midoriya asked.
"Yes. Erasure's good for controlling out of control quirks, so I decided to get my quirk counseling license when I got my teaching license. I've never used it before, though," Aizawa replied.
"I've never been to quirk counseling before, so I won't be able to tell if you suck, don't worry," Midoriya said, making Aizawa chuckle. "I'm so sorry," Midoriya said after realizing what he said.
"You don't have to keep apologizing."
"Um, you're not mad?"
"Not mad," Aizawa told him. "We'll also have to set aside time to work on your quirk. All Might is leading the Foundational heroes course for the first two weeks, and I have a free period during then so I could help you try to work on your quirk then. And we could also schedule some time after school to work on it, two to three times a week. Sound good?" Aizawa asked, pulling up his schedule on the computer in front of him.
"Huh?" Midoriya asked, tilting his head to the side.
"I don't want you participating in-hero lessons with your quirk until we can get it under control. So instead of your foundational hero lessons, you'll be working with me one on one to figure this quirk of yours out. And then, if you want to move faster, we can schedule some after school time, about two or three times a week. Does that sound okay with you?" Aizawa repeated.
Midoriya stared at him for a minute. Aizawa stared right back. "Why are you helping me?" Midoriya finally asked after staring at Aizawa for a minute.
"Because you're my student. Helping you is my job."
"So?"
Aizawa looked at Midoriya, confused for a few seconds before he finally realized something. "I think I misunderstood what was happening with you. Were you safe at school?" Aizawa asked.
"Um..." Midoriya said, looking down, "No.
"UA is not like your old school," Aizawa told him.
"I know."
"You know?"
"You stopped him."
"I stopped him?" Aizawa asked, confused. "Bakugo. You and Bakugo went to the same school. He tried to attack you. Midoriya, did Bakugo hurt you?" Aizawa asked, after figuring out what Midoriya meant.
"You can't expel him!" Midoriya told him, jumping out of his seat.
"I certainly can," Aizawa said. He pointed at Midoriya's seat, and Midoriya sat back down. "UA has a strict no-tolerance policy. We do not allow bullying or quirk discrimination here. Bakugo shouldn't be here. I don't know how he is. We have background checks."
"It didn't go on his record. The teachers didn't care. I was just the useless quirkless Deku. They sort of encouraged it."
"Well, that's not going to happen anymore."
"Please don't expel him. It's not entirely his fault. The teachers never told him it was bad. He grew up thinking that it was right. You said helping your students is your job, then help him."
"You're such a problem child," Aizawa muttered. He then froze, thinking of how Midoriya could take that nickname. Trying to explain, he said, "I say that as fondly as I can. I don't mean it as an insult."
"This really isn't your thing, is it?" Midoriya asked, giggling lightly.
Aizawa sighed before pointing at Midoriya, saying, "See, problem child." Midoriya laughed some more. "And yes, my thing is expelling people and scaring them, not comforting them."
"Uh, emotions, how illogical," Midoriya said, trying to imitate Aizawa. Midoriya froze, realizing what he just said. "I'm so sorry."
Aizawa chuckled. "Stop apologizing. I prefer a sassy problem child more than a stuttering problem child," Aizawa told him, making him blush. "If you don't want me calling you that, tell me, and I'll stop."
"It's fine," Midoriya told him. "It's the first nickname I've gotten since I was diagnosed quirkless, other than Deku. I kind of like it."
'You can't murder people,' Aizawa thought. "Alright, let's get back to your quirk. So, did you want to add any after school practices?" Aizawa asked.
"Yes. Three days?" Midoriya asked.
"Okay. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays work with you?" Aizawa asked.
"Yes," midoriya said, smiling softly.
"Alright, we'll start with two hours a day and see from there. Sound good?" Aizawa asked. Midoriya nodded in response. "I'll see if All Might is free to 'help' during any of the days," Aizawa said, groaning.
"You don't like All Might?" Midoriya asked, yawning halfway through the sentence, making Aizawa chuckle at him.
"I don't like most daylight heroes except for the idiots that teach here. But All Might comes out of nowhere to teach, he doesn't even have his teaching license, and he's probably going to bring a media storm with him. We have three years to turn you, kids, into heroes. You don't need the added stress of the circus that calls themselves the media. Or that oaf of a hero, that doesn't know how to teach," Aizawa replied. "Speaking of the oaf, how has he been trying to get you to control One for All, or whatever it's called?" he asked.
"Um, well..." Midoriya said.
"Oaf who doesn't know how to teach," Aizawa muttered, making Midoriya laugh.
"He could control the power instantly, so he really doesn't know how to help me," Midoriya explained.
"Great," Aizawa said, banging his head onto his desk, making Midoriya laugh more. "Well, I guess we'll start figuring this out tomorrow. You should get home. Your mother's probably worried," Aizawa said, standing up. Midoriya stood up, stumbling a bit, and followed Aizawa to the door. "I made you miss your train, didn't I, problem child?" Aizawa asked, stopping right before opening the door.
"I'll be fine," Midoriya said.
Aizawa sighed and stared at him, telling him, "I'll drive you home."
"You don't have to do that," Midoriya said before yawning.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow telling him, "You're exhausted from Recovery Girl's healing, problem child. I'm either walking you home or driving you home. Pick one."
"Driving," Midoriya muttered.
"Good choice. Come on," Aizawa said, opening the door and walking out into the main teacher's lounge. "Zashi, I need the car keys," he said, walking over to Present Mic's desk.
"You're leaving already?" Mic asked.
"I'm just dropping the problem child off. Then I'm coming back," Aizawa explained.
Mic turned to Midoriya, saying, "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?" Midoriya asked, confused.
"Yup, I'm so sorry, little listener. You have to put up with this grump for an entire car ride. It's so terrible," Mic said as he grabbed the car keys from his desk hold them out for Aizawa to take. The rest of the teachers in the room all burst out laughing.
"Ignore the idiot," Aizawa said, grabbing the keys and glaring at Mic. Aizawa and Midoriya walked out of the room.
"Bye, little listener," Mic said as Aizawa closed the door.
"I spoke to Present Mic, twice," Midoriya muttered.
"You said a total of five words to him," Aizawa said, chuckling.
"That's not the point," Midoriya said, glaring at Aizawa.
"He's going to be your English teacher, so you'll be saying a lot more to him," Aizawa told him.
"UA's so cool," Midoriya muttered, smiling.