Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Aizawa Shouta didn’t exactly regret going to Hosu. He stood by his choice to attempt some form of supervision regarding Iida. But shit had gone downhill with him there anyway and now he had to deal with the aftermath directly, as opposed to remotely from UA, and it was exhausting. 

First off, Iida had gone off the rails and attempted to hunt down Stain. That was not exactly surprising per say, but it was certainly not convenient to deal with, even setting aside the horror and fear that Shouta had to hide from his students. The very idea of one of them dying while under his care, even despite the internships technically placing them under a different hero’s vigilance, was something that made him go cold. He was furious at Iida, yes, but more than that he was just so goddamn relieved that it hadn’t ended in a death. There would very much still be consequences, though. He had half a mind to expel the boy, if it weren’t for the horrible conditions he had been through since the year barely started. Not to mention the public relations side of things; Shouta had already expelled two students this year, and while normally that wouldn’t deter him, with the League of Villains out and about, he was more cautious. It was just a messy situation all around. So Iida would just be punished, not expelled. 

Secondly, his other students. Shouta had a sneaking suspicion that Uraraka had absolutely not gotten permission to use her quirk or fight the fucking Hero Killer, but Gunhead insisted that he gave her the allowance to assist victims and get people out of the way of the danger. The other hero argued that she stepped into the fight in an admittedly foolish attempt to save Iida, still under the blanket permission to protect, then fought back in self-defense. Shouta, while severely doubting that it occurred in that exact way, could at least appreciate her attempt to call for backup with that distress signal. Though it was not majorly wise to send it to all of her contacts, she was likely working on a time crunch and didn’t have an official hero panic button, and as such could be excused. What Shouta could not excuse and did not appreciate was his interns running off to follow that distress signal alone. He had been busy accompanying the other heroes in containing the noumu and pulling away any still unevacuated citizens, having ordered his students to stay back and assist paramedics. Clearly, they had not listened. 

At the very least they had alerted a hero being treated nearby that there had been an urgent distress call from a friend of theirs nearby, asking for heroes to be sent there when it was possible before running off. Shouta was somewhat thankful that Shinsou and Todoroki were at least smart enough to do that, because Uraraka’s message would not have beaten out the chaos going on around all of the noumu. Those two were a large reason the heroes got there sooner rather than later.

Though, Shouta knew that there was definitely more to whatever went on then he knew as of now. He had been one of the first heroes to arrive at Uraraka's location, his quirk having no use against the multiple noumu after his assistance with the initial panic when they first appeared. He still could have continued in the fight, sure, but Endeavor was going for each of the noumu’s heads with a vengeance and the other heroes were moving things along quite nicely. So he stepped off to focus more on serving first aid and helping with the civilian wrangling. Then he noticed that his interns were nowhere to be seen. That was when he had the first inkling that something was wrong, and his suspicions were confirmed not a moment later. A hero with a broken arm was going around and telling every unoccupied hero that two kids claiming to be interns were asking for assistance at an SOS call. From there, Shouta and a few others had run off to the street address that the hero gave them. 

The alley was deep in the labyrinth of streets that this city was, but thanks to Shouta taking to the roofs he was able to spot the alley that very clearly had a large amount of ice in it and alert his colleagues. When he dropped in next to his students, the person perched on the top of the ice jolted and immediately ran. Shouta’s instinct had been to follow them, but his students were already swarming him and tugging him over to the other two people in the alley, Native and Iida. From there the other heroes had arrived and everyone was shuttled to the hospital. Stain especially had to be rushed there, having multiple broken ribs. 

That night the students were treated and allowed to get some sleep. Shouta, on the other hand, had no such rest. He was stuck filling out his report, then being shoved into a meeting, then forced to endure a ten-minute hug from Hizashi before the hero had to run off back to his own duties. Okay, that last part wasn’t too bad, but it was still time keeping him from passing out in his sleeping bag. He finally did manage to get two hours of sleep, curled up on a spare couch. He refused to take up a hospital bed that someone more injured could be using, that was illogical. His few burns had already been treated, after all.

When the sun rose the next day, his four reckless students were healed. Surprisingly, only Iida and Uraraka were actually injured. Uraraka was suffering from some pretty severe quirk overuse and the general scratches and scuffs that came from a fight, along with some non-quirk-related exhaustion that had been staved off by adrenaline alone, but was miraculously not stabbed. Iida wasn't as lucky. He had a major stab wound in his shoulder, and multiple other various cuts and bruises.

That morning, Detective Tsukauchi arrived at the hospital to sit down with each of them and got their accounts of last night’s events. And afterwards, with a cup of blessed coffee in hand, he went over each report with Shouta at the police station. After the detective finished his summarizing, Shouta placed his own coffee down on the table with a resounding thump.

“So,” Shouta paused momentarily to pick up and skim through the copies that Tsukauchi had given him, then looked up to meet the man’s eyes. “Uravity technically could argue that she was acting under Gunhead’s permissions.”

Tsukauchi nodded. “And that makes it that much more difficult to spin. If we tell the full truth about what happened, it could cause more distrust in heroes, which is especially not ideal considering the likelihood of Stain being associated with the League of Villains.”

“The media would also likely focus far too much on her, painting a target on her back.” 

Tsukauchi winced at the idea, returning his gaze to the file in his hands.

“And then there’s that other person…” Tsukauchi flipped another page. “Onryou. The students’ description of Onryou is all consistent, but we have yet to get anything from Stain due to his injuries requiring him to be under sedation. Still, an unknown isn’t good to have in whatever statement we give the public.”

“And if we wait to give a statement, the public gets antsy. But if we give one now, it would be flaky and cobbled at best.” Shouta sighed, placing the file back on the table and crossing his arms. “This is why I went underground. All of this publicity bullshit is exhausting.”

Tsukauchi chuckled wryly. “Yeah, I need to talk this through with the PR team. I just figured you’d want to know, considering that these are your students.”

“Thanks for that. They’ve already been through far too much,” Shouta said sincerely, giving Tsukauchi a rare smile.

The detective only huffed humbly. “Just doing what I can.”

From there, Shouta left the police station to head back over to the hospital. After all, now that the kids were all healed and rested, it was time for two things: for Shouta to see them with his own eyes to convince his brain to stop being in worried overdrive, and for them be thoroughly scolded by their teacher. As Shouta approached the hospital room his students were all in, he slowed his steps and strained his ears a little to catch what they were saying so he could time his entrance right. He didn’t exactly want to eavesdrop, but he also knew that this hospital had pretty thin walls and he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make a dramatic entrance.

As for why all of them were in one room, the answer was simple: trauma bonding. Shinsou and Todoroki hadn’t needed any treatment, but they had refused to leave Uraraka and Iida as soon as they were finished with their initial aid. And those latter two had wanted to stick together, being best friends, so while they hadn’t slept or been treated in the same place, Urarka had managed to worm her way into the boys’ room to hang out as soon as things were more calm. Even though Shouta was sure that the four had been just two pairs of friends with no real connections to the other pair before, they seemed to want to be near each other much more viciously, now. 

Uraraka’s voice faded into Shouta’s perceptible range as he came closer to the door. “…just, I’ve been focusing on my physical strength and technique, but after that fight… I need more stamina and especially more tactics on top of everything else. I was just so outclassed,” she said, sounding unreasonably upset by her perceived weakness against two very skilled villains. Shouta would need to somehow fit in a pep talk (damn, he hated those) into his scolding. Great. Reflection and self-critique was one thing, but he couldn’t let his students fall into the trap of excessively beating themselves up; it was bad for their mental health and was, of course, illogical. 

“Uraraka, if there is someone who was outclassed, it was I,” Iida said, still firm like usual but a noticeable amount softer. And more self-deprecating. Shouta needed to give two pep-talks, then. Aside from the extra scolding that Iida was going to get for scaring the fuck out of his teacher for going after a serial killer. “I was bested by Stain in an instant, and was next to no help for the rest of the fight. I was the one who went after him, as well.”

“We should have arrived sooner.” Todoroki was blunt and deadpan as ever while Shinsou make a sound of agreement, and fucking hell were all of Shouta’s students going to need a pep talk? Todoroki and Shinsou were a large reason the heroes had arrived when they did, and who knows what could have happened otherwise? They had been stupid to go in the first place! Ugh, Shouta really was going to need to talk …feelings… with them. 

Before the kids could continue to beat themselves up, Shouta knocked on the door twice then pushed it open when he received an affirmative call from Iida. As soon as he stepped into the room, he could tell that this was going to be a… difficult conversation. His students looked at him like kicked puppies, prepared to be scolded and suitably ashamed. Or, on Todoroki’s end, defiant. He didn’t look one bit sorry.

“If not for your special circumstances, I’d expel all of you,” Shouta started, brutally blunt as soon as the door shut behind him. “You all rushed into a fight with a far more experienced opponent, one willing to kill. You ran away from your supervisors, defying orders, and you all were almost killed as a result. You all did some incredibly stupid things.”

Iida looked utterly miserable and like he completely understood the gravity of the situation. Uraraka appeared to be scolded, but unrepentant. She and Iida were best friends, so Shouta was not surprised to see that she didn’t regret jumping in if it was to save him. Shinsou was nervous and abashed, likely worried that this would affect his placement in the hero course. Todoroki seemed like he was gearing up for an outburst in favor of his classmates and friend.

With a deep sigh, Shouta continued before Todoroki could start an actual argument. “But, I realize that the situation was not simple.”

The kids all straightened up at Shouta’s veer in tone.

“Iida, your brother’s injury, while not any excuse for your actions, did end his career as a hero, a hero you idolized. While you should have spoken to a friend or an adult, I understand your state of mind was not sound. Uraraka, you haven’t yet been given a panic button, so you did what you could with that SOS. You should not have jumped in, of course, but you were emotionally compromised and not fully trained. Shinsou and Todoroki, you two should not have disobeyed my direct orders. In fact, you two are the ones I’m most disappointed in after Iida. You disobeyed direct orders. I cannot stress how dangerous that is in a professional heroic setting. You two could have been killed. But, at the very least, you alerted a hero to the situation directly.

“So yes, you all did things you shouldn’t have. I am not excusing you for your mistakes, or stating that I fully agree with any one of your idiotic actions last night. You all messed up, and will have detention for at least four to six weeks. But, most of all, you’re young. You’re students; I don’t expect you to handle every situation perfectly, just for you to do your absolute best. If I didn’t think you were cut out to learn how to be heroes, I would have expelled you on the first day.”

As Shouta spoke, his students all seemed to slack in surprise. To his horror, Uraraka and Iida were teary-eyed. But Todoroki appeared placated, and Shinsou seemed less like his cat just died. So mission accomplished, Shouta supposed. After quickly informing his students how they were all going to be visited by the police later to sort out further details with their internships and the official story, Shouta fled the room before things could get any more emotional while he was still within twenty meters of the place.

He was just glad none of them tried to hug him.

The story that the public received went like this:

During the noumu attack on Hosu, a hero student came across the Hero Killer attacking the hero called Native. The hero student called for help, and the heroes came and arrested Stain. The heroes that teamed up to achieve this included The Fly, Gunhead, and other underground heroes whose names were omitted as according to the Underground Heroes Safety Act.

Shouto felt that the story was annoyingly fake. 

While he and the others hadn’t been given more information about anything or anyone, they had been informed that Stain was alive and in custody, while Onryou was still being hunted. It was also now confirmed, thanks to Stain, that Onryou was a part of the League of Villains. Aizawa-sensei told them that normally students wouldn’t be given such information, but due to their association with the League, it was best for them to know that Onryou was much more enemy than friend than they had originally thought, so they wouldn’t be too foolish to trust him later down the line. 

Shouto felt that there was more to it than that.

But he, seeing no need to stir the pot for no reason, didn’t say anything. Not until later, when he was on call with the others the night before their return to UA. He, Shinsou, and Uraraka had been allowed to go back to their internships, while Iida had been confined to the hospital then sent home for the rest of the week. Uraraka had gotten out the day after Shouto and Shinsou, giving her two more days of interning, and them three. Uraraka was given two weeks of detention, Shouto and Shinsou had four, and Iida had six.

For the rest of their internships, Shouto and Shinsou had been shifted from half field experience and half training to especially brutal full-time training. It was difficult and strenuous, but on the positive side of things, Shouto had gotten significantly better at controlling his fire. Shinsou said that it felt like every muscle on his body decided to just die. Shouto agreed. 

Even with the physical strain, it had been some of the most fulfilling training Shouto had ever experienced. Aizawa-sensei had seemed to know exactly when too far was too far, even when Shouto himself had no idea. Endeavor had always been about pushing past Shouto’s limit and berated him when he fell short. Aizawa-sensei had corrected him with gruff advice and sharp takedowns, but he was never as harsh, or as cruel, as Endeavor had been. Shouto decided he quite liked it. He was even a bit sad to leave the man’s home when the time came. 

Speaking of which, Aizawa-sensei’s apartment. It was a normal place, somewhat large according to Shinsou, and surprisingly warm. From the mismatched but well-loved furniture to the multiple cat trees, the very furnishing was so much more homely than Shouto would have expected from his teacher. The two cats were nice. Bombshell the tuxedo cat was a bit mischievous, but the ginger Cockatoo was a, “walking disaster,” as Aizawa-sensei put it. There weren’t too many photos around, but there were suspiciously empty places and hooks on the walls where Shouto expected that they had been. In fact, Shouto suspected that his teacher lived with someone else that had just stayed somewhere else for the week. Aside from the number of items that would only be truly practical to have if there were two people living in the place, Shouto also firmly believed that, left to his own devices, his teacher would barely, if at all, decorate. The man was definitely not one to bother with fake plants, that was for sure. 

Even Shinsou had agreed with Shouto on that one. Sadly, Shinsou doubled down that he was not the other occupant, and that he was not related to Aizawa-sensei. Shouto thought that Shinsou at least thought that he was being honest, but he was certain that there was shared blood there. Perhaps Shinsou had been a teen pregnancy, and neither Aizawa-sensei or the other parent could take care of him. Regardless, it was more probable that Aizawa-sensei’s current roommate was a romantic partner. Shinsou and Shouto had shared the guest bedroom, which was the only room with a bed besides Aizawa-sensei’s room. They hadn’t been allowed to see that room, obviously, so it was completely possible that there was room for someone else there. 

Still, setting aside his theories, Shouto was sad to go. He would miss the apartment, as well as the company. Aizawa-sensei, Shinsou, and the cats had been a delight to live with. 

“I’m happy to hear your internship was productive, Uraraka!” Shouto tuned back into the conversation the others had been having over the phone. They were discussing their internships, all slightly avoiding what had happened with Stain for Iida’s sake, if anything. 

Instead of replying like expected, Uraraka was silent for a moment. When she spoke again, she was serious. “I… I’m sorry to bring this up, but… what did you all think? Of what Onryou said?”

Ah. 

What about the heroes that hurt us?

That was… a matter that Shouto had thought about. The first night after Shouto and Shinsou returned to Aizawa-sensei’s apartment, they had spoken about it. As two people with complicated emotions on the matter, they had both had a lot to say and think about when it came to Onryou’s last argument. It had been largely agreement. But, still raw about the topic, they had shifted into theorizing on Aizawa-sensei yet again. (By theorizing, Shouto meant that he explained his theories and reasons to Shinsou, who refused every single one.)

At the silence that met her question, Uraraka continued nervously. “Even before Shinsou and Todoroki showed up, he said a lot of things that just… got me thinking. He… he talked about hating All Might, but like… He said that, no matter what All Might did, that he’d get off scot-free. That the, uh, hero-worship ‘will be our downfall.’ I don't think that All Might would do anything bad, but… He wasn’t really… wrong, was he?”

She rushed to elaborate, self-consciously rising to her own defense despite the lack of opposition. “Again, I don’t think that All Might or any of the heroes would do anything super wrong! But, there’s more than just good people and at least one hero has probably done something bad. And like… do you really think that they’d be punished fairly? It’s just, I don’t know. I don’t…” She trailed off.

“No, you’re right,” Shinsou said. “If a hero hurt someone, it would probably sooner be covered up than pursued.”

Iida’s rule-abiding franticness was palpable, even through a phone call. Shouto just knew his arms were chopping wildly. “I can understand admiring Stain’s convictions, but this is disrespectful to speak about in such length!”

“Iida,” Uraraka tried, “we’re just discussing.”

“It is still improper to imply that heroes would do something as horrible as covering up, let alone commiting crimes! Those are the kinds of excuses that enabled Stain’s killing!” 

“But they are doing that,” Shinsou said sharply.

“We will not be supporting Stain! There is a fine difference between admiring his convictions and letting them lead us astray!” Iida’s voice began to go shrill.

Shinsou almost seemed to growl. “It’s not just ‘Stain’s ideology!’ Some of us have been hurt by heroes, we’re not saying we want them dead! Just that Onryou had a point. ”

“And that point is moot! Heroes who have truly committed crimes would be and are pursued by the law, let alone how the number of heroes making such blunders are miniscule. And regardless of occasional flaws, they still save hundreds of lives! My brother was no such criminal, and Stain still ended his career; conviction aside, his philosophy is overstated and, at worst, downright false!”

“But Iida, we’re talking about Onryou…” Uraraka said hesitantly.

“ Blunders? ” Shinsou sounded absolutely furious, accidentally cutting into Uraraka’s interjection. Shouto could tell he was about to spit out something acidic that he’d surely regret saying. He also felt a cold anger of his own rise at Iida’s arguments. 

“There are plenty of heroes that have committed severe crimes and been shielded due to their status.” Shouto’s voice was icy, and the rising argument froze in an instant. “Despite Onryou’s loyalties and radical ideas, he was right about that. Heroes are… far too powerful. The one thing that he got wrong was that the worship will be our downfall.” 

He hesitated, but ultimately continued. “It’s destroying us from the inside already.”

The others’ silence spoke volumes. Feeling strangely like he needed to show them, to prove to his classmates that there was far more to hero society than they had been led to believe, Shouto went against his typically better judgment. He brushed off Shinsou trying to tell him that he didn’t need to tell them anything, and told them everything.