Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was never a policy or a law to call them by the color that defined them, it was a way to keep a distance.

Shouta Aizawa was a sensitive man.

Most would not describe him as much, instead likely calling him an emotionless husk of a person. But those who knew him best knew that he got attached, and got attached fast.

Case and point, Oboro Shirakumo.

After being transferred into the hero course, him, Oboro and Zashi were close. Hell, they were well on their way to becoming a pack. But after the accident, Shouta barely allowed himself to talk to others, blocking himself away even from his remaining friends. It took him years to come back out of his shell, but by then, he was jaded, enough that he only let his friends in, and no one else. 

Though surprisingly enough, he allowed himself to marry Hizashi, his alpha and created a pack with the betas Nemuri and Tensei.

But that was it, no children, no other relationships.

And while he would curse himself in the future for breaking his unacknowledged promise to himself, he can’t help the love and pride that blossoms in him for his pups.

Shouta Aizawa was the infamous teacher of 1-A. 

He expelled those he thought weren’t ready and called his students by the color associated with them.

The thing was, he was colorblind. 

He could only see yellow and blue, so he had to rely on his husband and friends to accurately describe his students' hair colors, even if they disagreed with his methods. 

Looking at the roster of new students, he and Hizashi set out to work.

Izuku Midoriya-Green  | Tsuyu Asui-Verdant

Katsuki Bakugou-Platinum  | Ochako Uraraka-Chestnut

Tenya Iida:Raven  | Momo Yaoyarozu-Dark

Mina Ashido-Pink  | Ejiro Kirishima-Red

Denki Kaminari-Yellow  | Kyoka Jirou- Purple

Shinso Hitoshi-Lilac   |  Shoto Todoroki- Two-tone

Shoji Mezo-Grey | Koji Koda-Rock

Toru Hagakure-Invis   |  Hanta Sero-Black

Mashiro Ojiro-blond  |   Yuga Aoyama-Yel-blond:

Fumikage Tokoyami-Shadow  | Rikado Sato-Brown

With that completed, he could finally sleep, allowing himself to drift, relaxing before classes start tomorrow.

It took 5 seconds for them to notice him and 8 seconds to be quiet, so much for a promising class. Climbing out of his sleeping bag, he introduced himself.

“Hello, my name is Shouta Aizawa and I am your homeroom teacher. Please put these on and head out to field A.”

And with that, he left the classroom, making his way to the assigned field.

He had to admit that despite his previous assertions, his students impressed him. 

It wasn’t often that the entire class got through the apprehension test.

It also wasn't normal for the class not to mind their nicknames. 

What a weird class.

What great pups. Will be strong heroes.

Shouta never went feral. It didn’t even happen when the 'accident' happened. 

But as he stood there, the smell of scared pups filling his senses, his omega had had enough.

These are pups, his students, HIS STUDENTS HISPUPSHISPUPSHISPUPS.

As he turned around towards the intruders, his eyes dilated as he let out the most vicious snarl he could muster. These villains would remember the day they thought they could hurt  HIS PUPS . He wiped off the scent blockers that he had placed on his neck earlier and let his scent fill the USJ. 

It was sour and bitter and omegan. 

It was a warning. 

He didn’t realize it then, but the smell of their teacher, while making the villains want to piss themselves, made every student in 1-A relax. The scent of him gave them a comforting aura.

He jumped down into the plaza, scarf flying towards every villain it could reach. He made quick work of the  trash  that dared set foot here. Leaving only the leaders, who were standing before the fountain which was planted in the center of the USJ.

The leader’s eyes were wide as if it was his first time seeing an enraged omega. Shouta could smell the fear radiating off the man, the scent filling him with euphoria.

‘Such a stupid man for trying to hurt his class. Foolish man to think he could hurt MY pups.’

His head was tilted to the side, his eyes still dilated, and his face held the most sinister smile as began to speak to the blue-haired man. He was sweating profusely, but it didn't matter. His voice was sickenly sweet, honey-coated words dripping like venom from his mouth.

“Shigaraki Tomura right? You want to kill All Might? Do it on your own time, you overgrown pup. Go play with pups your own size, and stay out of adult problems.” 

Then in a deep, oppressively threatening voice, which reverberated throughout the entire area, he yelled,

“ GET OUT.”

At this point, the warper came back, relaying news that Shouta barely heard.

“Thirteen–commission–students–separated–-fast student—escaped.” 

At the last part, he let out a laugh, one that was filled with relief and glee. His scent still pushed out the bitter smell of coffee and burning books, but the undertone of pride was clearly laced there.

‘ Good job pups.’

Though his laughter was interrupted as the man asked a question, intrigue and confidence built as the question was asked.

“Why are you laughing Eraserhead? Your students have been separated. If anything, you should be concerned.”

Shouta let a wolfish grin take over his face and decided to give the man a response. 

“Pups are smart, resourceful, unlike you. Raven (Iida) was able to get out. He’s going to bring backup. Pups will be safe, you will be gone.”

The man snarled back at Shouta, his ego hurt by the omega’s words. 

“Nomu, incapacitate Eraserhead, I need to kill some kids and break an omega.”

With his heightened senses, Shouta moved out of the way, the nomu Shigaraki called on grabbing at the place he was standing at before. 

The beast was disgusting, its scent was a blend of smells, each distinct yet mixed in a way that was indescribable. Its brain was exposed, and it had a beak protruding from its mouth.

The beast was wrong, so wrong.

The scent made his brain fuzzy, making him unable to dodge in time. The nomu grabbed his arm, and he felt a snap, pain radiating from the beast's grasp. Being still in a feral state, he still had to protect, still had to attack. He grabbed a knife from his belt and pulled his mangled arm from the beast’s hand. 

Putting the knife between his teeth, he used his good arm to manipulate his capture weapon to climb the nomu. For a sane injured Shouta, it would be difficult. But for a feral man on a mission, nothing would stop him from his target. Grappling the thing’s neck with his legs, he took the knife from between his teeth and dug it straight into the thing's motor complex. As he did this, the thing screeched, throwing him off before going completely still. 

His body was like a ragdoll, falling to the ground, but he wasn’t done. 

He couldn’t be done, not when his pups were in danger. Looking over to the villains. He saw Green, Verdant, and Lilac.

  No , Izuku, Tsu, and Hitoshi. 

He saw the man’s hand reach towards Tsu’s face, and he couldn't move, couldn’t take the blow for her. He activated his quirk as the hand made contact, and he heard a bark of a laugh from Shigaraki as the man turned around before the man began to yell.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY NOMU, YOU FUCKING OMEGA?”

Noticing that the attention was  thankfully  now on him, he gave the man another wide smile. 

This one, however, was bloody. 

When he had made contact with the ground, he hit his head, causing blood to trickle down the sides of his face. With the blood and smile, he looked demented, but surprisingly that no longer deterred the neck-scratching man.

A screech made its way out of the blue-haired man as he started running towards Shouta. Accepting his fate as a dead man, or at least a heavily mutilated man, he shut his eyes, finally giving his bloodshot eyes a rest. 

As the footsteps came closer, gunshots rang out, and there was a grunt of pain. Peeling his eyes open, Shouta saw the warper disappear and heard the sounds of his husband's quirk in the distance. His body took this as a queue to cut off his adrenaline, and the face of some of his  PUPS  was the last thing he saw before he floated into darkness.

The first thing he heard when he woke up was the beeping of machines.

The next was his omega screaming at him to check on the pups.

‘Did we protect pups? Are pups ok? Where are the pups?’  if he didn’t calm down soon, he would definitely go feral again. 

‘ WHERE ARE THEY!?!’

He was so in his mind that he didn’t notice the others who came into the room.

“Sho—-Sho—--ta-Shot-a– SHOUTA! Calm down!” his husband begged, “You are going to go feral again!”

But he couldn’t calm down, his kids, where were his kids? He growled at the voice speaking to him, not even recognizing his alpha’s voice. His scent went bitter again, exactly like it was at the USJ and Hizashi doubled over in submission to his husband, absolutely terrified of the omega in front of him. 

“ Where. Are. My. Pups.”

Hizashi understood omegas as he has two omegan mothers. 

You do not fuck with them if they are feral. You will die, and no one will care enough to find the body. If an omega hurts you, especially because you hurt their pups. You deserved it.

But that didn’t make sense, he and Shouta didn’t have pups. 

Shouta never wanted pups. 

So who are these pups he’s talking about? The students?

“Shouta, we don’t have pups. Do you mean the students?” When he said this, he had pushed out his comforting alpha scent, something to counteract the harsh omega scent emanating from the Shouta. As he did so he saw his husband's eyes gain some lucidity. 

A good sign.

“‘Zashi?”

“I’m here Sho.”

“Where are the pups? Did I protect them? Did anyone get hurt?”

Hizashi was looking at him, his eyes soft and a speck of understanding flittered in them.

“Sho, the pups are fine. You are the only one to get hurt besides some minor scrapes and broken fingers. You protected them.”

“I did?” His voice sounded small and fragile.

“You did Sho, you did.”

“Can I see them? I want to see them!”

“Sure, but not right now, ok? You’re still recovering, and they are with their parents. Right now you just sleep, and maybe when you wake up you can see them, ok?”

Feeling the fight leave his body at the promise of seeing the pups, he complied with his husband's wishes and fell asleep.

When he woke up from his slumber, there were so many scents.

Though they didn’t overwhelm him. They made him want to burrow back into the bed and fall asleep.

It was so comforting, like coming home. 

Maybe he could just sit here forever and drown in it. He felt safe, so he let out his scent and allowed a smile to fall onto his face.

 Unlike the bitter smell released from the omega at the USJ, the smell of freshly brewed coffee with a hint of caramel in it and new books filled up every inch of the room.

It was the scent of a very happy omega.

He couldn’t hear the conversations happening around him, but his husband started to talk in a confused hushed whisper.

“He has never let out such a happy scent. Not at our wedding. Not when we talked about starting a pack with a former friend, never. And he’s never smelt so parental.”

There were twenty-four others in the room with Hizashi, watching and waiting for the man on the bed to awaken. Two of which were the betas of their pack, Nemuri, and Tensei. Another two of the group were a doctor and a nurse. They were assigned to watch over the man’s injuries. 

The rest was the entirety of 1-A.

As soon as they heard they could visit, they begged their parents for them to see their teacher, even going as far as threatening to leave without permission. Their parents, seeing how serious each of their children was, caved. They only asked that they get to meet the man who protected their children once he was better. 

And so they were here, waiting for the man to wake up.

. . .

The doctor in the room seemed contemplative, his eyebrows screwing together and his weak beta scent exuding curiosity. He soon began to speak, aiming his question at the omega’s mate.

 “Yamada-san, you said that he has never had such a smell before?”

The blond man sighed in response, wanting answers as much as anyone, “Yep, he has never had such a pure happy, parental scent before.”

The doctor was hesitant, but he decided to proceed with his guess of the situation.

“Yamada-san, I believe your mate has a platonic, parental soulbond with each of the students in this room. While romantic soulbonds stopped occurring hundreds of years ago, platonic bonds have persisted through time. While I can’t confirm without your husband's recollection of the events, it is a potential reason why he got feral and remained feral even after the threat was gone.”

Before the pro could even answer, Green, or Midoriya, spoke up, his voice small, but as he went, it grew steadily in confidence.

“Um, Sirs, I don’t know if this helps but at least for me, Aizawa-sensei’s scent was always nice even when he was fighting. I wouldn’t have even noticed that he went feral if not for his eyes dilating. His scent stayed consistent and always smelled like home? I mean, my mom smells like home also, but he does too. It's confusing.”

Looking around at the other students, Hizashi saw them shaking their heads in agreement. But that makes no sense! When he and the pros walked into the USJ, the overwhelming scent almost made them sick. Hell Yagi with his one lung, couldn’t step inside without coughing up a storm. 

He looked back at the doctor, the man's eyes were wide. So he questioned the man again.

“Is this possible?”

The man shook himself out of his shock and hurriedly replied to the man.

“Well, yes, it is a phenomenon we have seen in both biological and adoptive families, though it normally takes a while and is easier when biologically related. Typically when an omega gives birth, their child’s neuroreceptors in their noses will latch to their mother's scent, indicating them as safe. This means that in the event an omega goes feral, the pup will always deem their dam's scent safe. This can happen in adoptive homes as well, but is less likely and requires much more time, often taking years. And with how fast they latched onto Eraserhead's scent, they are likely platonic soulmates. Two weeks is not enough time for something like this to happen.”

“Actually sir,” Midoriya started again, “USJ was the first time we have ever smelled his scent. He was wearing really efficient blockers at the USJ before he wiped them off. I don’t really know why he did it though, going feral, I mean. None of us have presented yet, so he shouldn’t really be able to smell us, right?”

The doctor was struggling to take in this new information. The connection snapped in a moment? That was impressive. He didn’t have an answer for boy except that, 

“We need to ask the man himself. In all honesty, I have no idea. What happened was completely unprecedented.”

None of them had the heart to wake the man who smelled so happy, so they let him lay there until his body decided to wake.

He has never felt so relaxed in his life.

Opening his eyes didn’t feel like a chore, and for once, he was happy to see what the day held in store. The pups were fine, and the villains were hurt. All in all that felt like a win-win situation for Shouta. 

As he slowly blinked into consciousness, he saw his husband’s hair, which was in its half-up, half-down style he only wore at home. His throat was dry, but he decided to greet his husband, his mouth rising at the edges.

“Hello Zashi, how are ya”

Every sound in the room froze, and then there was his husband, responding in a loud voice. 

At least it wasn’t quirked.

“SHOUTA! You’re awake!”

“Very observant Mic, very observant.”

“Wow, one minute awake, and you're already mean again!”

“If you didn’t make it so easy, then it would happen so often,” he coughed, putting his arm out to stop the man from mother-henning. 

“I’m fine Zashi, just a dry throat.” 

While his omega had been quiet while he slept, it made its presence known again, forcing him to ask a question about the kids. While he had already pushed out his scent, his omega decided it needed to increase to double the potency.

“Zashi, are pups good? Can I see them?”

“Sure Sho, just look over there.” Shouta followed to where the alpha pointed, his eyes widening slightly.

His pups. They were there.

There they stood in their regular clothing, waiting.

He looked at them for a long while before looking down at his bed, annoyed.

‘This bed's not big enough to fit pups, must make a big nest.’

He peaked back up at Hizashi before requesting something from his husband.

“Zashi, get blankets, lots of them.”

Then he turned his gaze to the two strangers in the rooms, intruders.

“Leave.”

His husband squawked at his tone, and his students laughed, though the nurse and doctor remained.

“We can’t leave until we check you over–.”

“Then check me over and get out!”  the last part was snarled out, his scent bittering a bit.

They jump back, fear leaking into their scents at the slightly feral response. Before looking the man over though, they spared a glance at the pups. They seemed unbothered by the scent change, ' so it’s true ,' even glaring at the hospital workers who were taking their sweet time.

They were intruding and they wanted to escape with their hides, so they hurried with their tasks and left the room, leaving the door ever so slightly cracked to let the other pro access the room.  

When Hizashi got back with the pile of blankets from the heat cache the hospital kept in stock, he closed the door and plopped them onto the bed.

Shouta saw the supplies and gathered them up in his arms but not before placing a kiss on his alpha’s cheek. 

'What a good alpha.'

Looking around the room he spotted a couch, and beside it was a big open space. 

Perfect.

He first dropped most of the blankets onto the couch, careful to prevent them from touching the floor. Taking two of the thinnest blankets from the pile, he laid them flat on the floor to provide a barrier from the gross hospital floor. After that was placed, he dumped the blankets on the floor and took the cushions from the couch. He placed them against the wall and then began placing the blankets.

They needed to be perfect.

When he was done, his scent became sweet again but had an undertone of longing.

He wanted his pups.

First, he needed to check on the three closest to Shigaraki. He needed to see if they were fine.

“Izuku, Tsuyu, Hitoshi, here.”

The students looked confused for a minute, only used to hearing their nicknames in front of the man. Though not a minute later, they were walking over to the man. But before they could sit down on their own accord, the man pulled them down, using his wrist glands to cover them in concentrated parental affection. 

The three melted into the affection, becoming puddles of happy pups, exuding a happy scent that only Shouta could smell. 

‘Pups are happy. Pups safe now.’

And so he went, calling each of his pups by their name, and as each of their happy scents added to his nest, it made his omega calm and allowed his more rational side to surface.

Though, for once in his life, his omega and himself wanted the same thing, felt the same thing, needed the same thing.

“Good pups.”

Chapter Text

Months later

As he and Mirio walked down the sidewalk, he couldn’t help but laugh at his third-year classmate’s reaction when he revealed that Aizawa-sensei wasn’t his actual dam.

“But, Kohai, you and everyone in your class reek of the man! Not that he smells bad, but it's a very strong  protective  scent. I was almost scared to introduce you to Sir because of it! He glared at me for a good minute before letting me go get you. I had him my first year, but God, he is a new level of scary now.”

“Mirio-senpai, he effectively claimed us as his pups after he saved us at the USJ, and we accepted him as our second dam easily. I mean, he is our parental soulmate after all!”

“Really! Sir and I are also parent-child soulmates! But that means, wow, Aizawa-sensei has twenty soul kids. Twenty pups. It makes sense then why he is so protective of you guys. I mean, after mine and Sir’s bond snapped into place, he was very overprotective for a while. So yeah! Anyways–” 

Their conversation was interrupted as a small silver-haired child bumped into Izuku, latching onto him.

“Hey, are you ok? What’s your name?” then Izuku saw the bandages wrapped around her arms. And her scent, God her scent was so bitter and rancid. It was like rotten apples, and it was omegan. 

But this girl was so young! His class just started to present, yet this little girl.

His blood ran cold at the thought.

“Hey, I need to call someone ok? Can I-” he quickly cut himself off, as the girl's arms tightened, and he heard footsteps in front of him. Though he also heard a whisper of a name, as if the name was a secret.

“Eri”

As soon as her name left her lips, a louder, masculine voice spoke to the girl and Izuku, causing both of them to shiver.

“Eri, darling, why do you keep running away from me? I am your father, and this behavior is unacceptable. Now, come to father, and away from these strangers, I don’t want them to sully you, dear.”

Izuku couldn’t let her go, not when she was shaking like a leaf. 

“Sorry, sir, but I don’t think that's the best idea. No child should have so many bandages on them. I don’t believe I trust you.”

The man’s eyes narrow, his bird mask still sitting on his face.

“Are you two heroes? What agency do you work for? I would like to file a complaint about an intern taking my daughter away from me, but I’ll settle for a talk. Why don’t you follow me? I know a quaint little cafe not far from here. It’s just through this alleyway. That is if you trust me, or I can take my daughter. Surely that is an easier solution, right?”

And as this bird-man finished, the girl jumped out of his hold, running back to the man. Her face filled with fear, and her scent was still of rotten apples.

“That’s good dear, come along. You must be taught not to run away again!”

And they started to walk away, but not before Izuku heard the man refer to little Eri as  Sludge . 

~~~

Shouta had gotten the call that his pup had run into Chisaki Kai, the yakuza leader of the Eight Precepts of Death. He couldn’t help feeling exasperated at the child, while his omega tutted at his pup’s action.

 ‘ Why is Izuku always getting into life-threatening situations, reckless pup.’

Aizawa agreed with his omega, which was happening now more often than naught, as he walked into Nighteye’s agency.

He got into the elevator using his hero ID and made his way to his pup’s level. Upon reaching the floor, however, his nose was flooded with rotten fruit, and he  needed  to find it, he needed to make sure the person, because yes it was a person, a  child , was  safe .

But, it was covering his kid. Why was it covering his son?  

“Dad? Are you ok? You smell distressed. What’s wrong? I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to run into a Yakuza leader, it just happened! But there was a little girl! And she was so small and smelled like rotten apples! She was an omega, but dad, she was so young! That’s not supposed to be possible! It only happens when, when-” and his kid was crying, and because he was the only pup present,  ‘my other twenty are missing ’ his omega helpfully provided, Shouta took his kid into his arms, rubbing his scent all over the boy, subtlety picking up the other bitter scent covering the boy. 

“It’s ok, Izuku. Everything will be ok. We will find your sister. Everything will be ok.” 

And he let out a loud croon, which echoed throughout the room. His child needed assurance, and he was damn well giving it. 

Though the comfort was not for long, as Nighteye made his way to the lobby, making his appearance known through a cough.

“Eraserhead, To what do I owe the pleasure?” 

It wasn’t a hostile greeting, though it wasn’t hospitable either. 

“Izuku’s my pup, soul kid. Though I guess I need a bit of help now. Need to find another pup.” 

Shouta could feel his eyes turn cold, his scent ever so slightly bittering.

“And Chisaki has her. He has my pup.”

They made their way to a meeting room before Nighteye asked what the other pro meant. 

“What do you mean he has your pup? I didn’t know you had kids,” he questioned, eyes raking over the two curiously. 

“As I said earlier, he’s my soul kid, and I have twenty others, though I just found out about the youngest today about,” and he looked at the clock before resuming, “ten minutes ago.”

“How so, Eraserhead? No other pups are interning here at the moment, and Mirio is older than all yours. Unless-” the alpha man sniffed the air, coming a hair closer to Izuku before reeling back at the now fading smell. 

“Oh, the girl my interns ran into, Eri.”

‘ So that’s my pup's name, it's a good one.’

“Yes, and whatever mission you are planning regarding Chisaki, I want in.”

‘Yes, get pup from the trash man, get her to safety, safety in our arms.’

Nighteye tried to prevent him from going. He really did try.

But Shouta was persistent.

So after their second meeting, he knew that 4 of his pups will be on this mission.

Not optimal, but not the worst. These pups will be good heroes, but they need experience. 

They set out towards the Eight Precept of Deaths armed and ready to rescue a little girl and to take out a yakuza leader, but that was secondary in Shouta’s mind.

‘Pup first, birdman later.’

As they went in, everything went to shit.

Teams were broken up, and everyone was scattered. Shouta got kidnapped and drugged, and he didn’t know where his kids were, plus there were zero words on little Eri. And well, that made his Omega just the right amount feral. But that was good, no, great for Shouta.

See, something most people seem to forget from biology lessons is that, when an omega goes feral, their adrenaline spikes. Because of that adrenaline spike, their bodies' metabolism skyrockets to give them fuel to protect themselves. And what happens when someone's metabolism ups itself? Substances move through the body quicker. That meant that Shouta could finally move his body.

He made quick work of the criminal before rushing out of the room. 

With his now heightened senses, he could smell further. 

Though what he smelled, he did not like. 

Izuku was distressed, and the sour apple smell permeated the air.

He had some pups to save.

As he ran into the room, he saw a gun pointed at  his  pup, and the fiercest snarl ripped itself from Shouta’s mouth as he forced his capture weapon to veer the gun off course. 

And in one universe, Mirio would take the bullet for Eri losing his quirk for years. In another, Izuku would risk his quirk, taking the quirk-suppressing bullet himself. But no, this is not either of those stories. In this timeline, this universe, karma catches up to a man. And Chisaki Kai, quirk Overhaul, the current leader of the largest yakuza group in Japan, was now rendered quirkless. 

And that meant Shouta could have some fun.

After all, everyone knows you shouldn’t mess with an omega’s pup.

He might have gone a bit too far, as he had to have others pull him off the man. Kai’s face was bloody, his eyes were swollen shut, and his nose was broken. He was probably missing a couple of teeth and had potentially broken fingers. But he was fine! 

He didn’t care what happened to little Eri as he took her blood and remade her, so why should Shouta care what happens to Kai?

He even had others comment on his scent, warning that it might scare the girl, though he kept it all bitter still, after all, while Overall shouldn’t try anything, one never knows, especially with a shitty alpha like him. 

As he shrugged those holding him off of him, he walked over to where his pups and Mirio were surrounding Eri. They were quiet and kept their distance, though stayed close to make her feel safe. 

As he approached, her eyes met his before she rushed over to him, jumping into his arms. He caught her easily protectively encasing his arms around her as he spoke quietly into her hair.

“I’m here Eri. I got you pup. I’m going to protect you. All of us will, me, my husband, and my pups, your brothers and sisters. You're my pup now, part of my pack, ok? You won’t hurt anymore. You’ll have a home.”

And the girl just cried, burrowing her head into the neck, smelling at the man’s scent gland.

~~~

Safe, he smells safe. 

He smells like how papa smelled before I used my curse on him. 

Home, home sounds nice, especially if it smells like this.