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Shouta jolts awake and glares at his phone that continues to blare loudly. He is suddenly aware of the empty space next to him and notices a note in the place of Hizashi’s warm body. For a moment he thinks Hizashi’s been kidnapped and sits up alert, half reaching out for his capture weapon. But relaxes as soon as he spots the other man’s loopy handwriting on the paper.
He picks up his phone and a frown sets in on his face as he tries to figure out why the hell Nedzu is waking him up in the middle of the night. It was a well established fact that no one was to ever disturb Shouta when he was sleeping. A barely-awake-pissed-off Shouta’s wrath was something the teachers and students alike had learnt to avoid unless it was an absolute emergency.
“Aizawa-kun” Nedzu says immediately as soon as Shouta picks the call. “I need you to head to my office. The other teachers have already gathered there. It would be best if you could make yourself presentable to head out.”
Nedzu’s tone is flat which worries Shouta to no extent. As an underground hero, he relies on the information he finds out. He likes to be thorough and prepared as possible in order to have the element of surprise. And the fact that Nedzu offers him no information whatsoever sends alarm bells ringing in his head.
Shouta gets off the bed, reaching for his usual black clothes “Nedzu- ” he starts off only to get cut off.
“It’s a possible code black.” and with that the line goes dead.
It stops Shouta in his tracks, arms falling limply to the side. A code black was assigned to the worst possible situation UA could face - the loss of a student’s life due to a villain attack .
The panic that courses through him is enough to get him moving haphazardly. He dresses in a rush, throwing on his goggles and capture weapon as he heads to Nedzu’s office.
All the kids were in the dorms, every student accounted for except for class 1-A. Aizawa almost stops walking when he realizes that only his kids are missing, away from the school, out of Aizawa’s reach.
His kids.
He sees bits of memories flashing before him - Asui’s terrified eyes from USJ, Lida’s arms wrapped in bandages from Hosu, Jiro’s and Hakegure’s unconscious forms from the training camp and Midoriya’s broken bones in every given situation.
That’s all it takes for Shouta to burst into a sprint. He tries to rationalize what Nedzu told him. It’s only a possible code black - possible, possible, possible . They’re only fifteen, barely sixteen and yet they carry the world on their shoulders, faced too many villains, seen too much blood and death and Shouta isn’t there to protect them, again .
He hopes, selfishly, he hopes that it wasn’t his students for once. That it was something on campus, that they could deal with immediately. Please not his kids. Please, not again.
He stops in front of Nedzu’s office, nearly out of breath. When he steps into the room, the soft murmuring stops and the room falls silent. The teachers stare at him with concern, sympathy and some try to hide their emotions, masking their expressions into a poker face. But Shouta had seen enough of their expressions and he feels his stomach drop. So it was his class after all . He leans against the wall and closes his eyes, trying to even his breathing and collect his emotions.
He feels a person come and stand beside him, he already knows who it is.
“Hizashi” he greets quietly, eyes still closed.
A warm object is pressed into his hands, he opens his eyes to see a cup of steaming coffee. “Thank you.” Shouta murmurs.
“You didn’t read my note.” Hizashi responds, voice just as quiet.
Shouta blinks at him, eyes widening “I- I forgot.”
A strained smile appears on the other man’s face “Yeah, that - that makes sense. I didn’t think - It isn’t important anyway .” Hizashi pauses awkwardly and then “Shouta, they'll be okay. This is 1-A we’re talking about, they’re super tough.”
“I know.” Shouta responds because he does believe in his class, more than any class he’s taught so far, but the uneasiness that has crept up on him, does not reassure him.
“How many villains?” Shouta asks, leaning away from the wall as he turns and faces his husband and then Shouta takes in Hizashi’s face and his hero costume.
“You were the last one Nedzu called up, knowing how you’d react, so the rest of us had a bit of a head start.” Hizashi answers instead and then he looks away, lips pressed tightly.
Shouta’s gut recoils, he knows that expression. “Hizashi.” he hisses, gripping his husband by his shoulders.
“Shouta don’t.” Nemuri calls out as she walks towards the both of them.
He ignores her. “On a scale of my-students-accidentally-dropped-Mineta-out-of-a-window to the Kamino ward incident, how bad is it?”
Hizashi refuses to even look at Shouta and then, quietly like that of a whisper carried by the wind, he says “Not as bad as Kamino?”
Shouta grits his teeth “Hizashi I swear to god - ”
“Look we’re not exactly sure, Hawks and Nedzu will brief you better.” Hizashi raises his hands up in surrender.
“Hawks?” Shouta asks, voice low, eyes imperceptibly wide.
“Did I say Hawks? That’s not what I meant.” Hizashi laughs sheepishly, panic flashing in his eyes. But Shouta is already stepping away from him, a chill running down his spine.
Hawks was dealing with the cases of stolen quirks. Shouta’s blood runs cold and he looks at Hizashi, struggling to keep it together. “The villains that Hawks has been hunting down are the ones attacking my class.”
“I’m afraid so Eraser.” he hears a voice behind him and he turns to face Hawks wearing a grim expression.
“We don’t have much time.” Nedzu says from Hawk’ shoulder “Just as Hawks made this discovery, we received a drone from class 1-A requesting for back up.”
It takes everything for Shouta to keep a neutral expression. His students who never called for help or back up because they believed they could deal with anything by themselves, especially after they had earned their provisional licenses had done the one thing Shouta had taught them when encountering villains. Under normal circumstances, Shouta would be more than relieved that they had listened to him for once, but the uneasiness in his stomach grew into a pit, filling his lungs. Just how much trouble were these kids in? Would he be burying one of them today?
******
Shouta’s worry only grows tenfold when the Hero Commission sends in troops and troops of soldiers along with the pro-heroes to aid in the rescue. As a pro-hero, that word was something Shouta never thought he'd associate with his own students. For the millionth time that day he wondered how bad the situation was that it required so many reinforcements.
His fingers impatiently drum against the handrest of his seat and he can feel Hizashi’s worried gaze on him.
“I’m fine.” he breathes out just as Hizashi opens his mouth to speak and then watches as his husband abruptly closes his mouth.
Shouta counts five seconds before Hizashi turns to him again “Shou stop it.”
“I’m not doing anything.” Shouta rolls his eyes.
“Sunshine,” Hizashi murmurs softly “You’re so restless that you’ve been tapping both your fingers and feet. Not that anyone minds, but you need to calm down a little.”
Shouta stares at his legs and realizes that Hizashi’s right, he stops tapping his leg, but the drumming stays. “I just need a minute.” he tells Hizashi.
“Shou they’re your kids, of course you’re worried, but they’ll be okay and we have to be strong right now because - ”
“ I know .” Shouta cuts him off, because Oboro’s smile haunts his dreams and he cannot afford to lose someone again, especially one of his kids.
He closes his eyes, leaning against the window of the plane, his mind drifting to the conversation he had with Nedzu.
“Aizawa I know you’re feeling a lot now.” Nedzu says gently as he pulls Shouta aside “What I’m about to say will not make you feel any better, but it’s better to expect the worst than go in unprepared.”
“Just spit it out already.” Shouta bites.
Nedzu lets out a long sigh and then “This is now considered a rescue mission.” he pauses to let the words sink in.
Shouta doesn’t even so much as blink, it doesn’t even surprise him. But the dread in his gut intensifies and he thinks he might be sick. He somehow manages to grunt in acknowledgement.
“The worst case scenario we assume is that all twenty are severely injured and the villains still remain on the island.” There’s a pause, but Shouta simply raises an eyebrow that says ‘why are you lying to me?’ as he recalls the possible code black Nedzu had previously informed him of.
Nedzu continues, ignoring Shouta questioning look “Our plan of action is based on that scenario. Our priority is to get all the students to safety and off the island and then evacuate the citizens as well.” Nedzu scans Shouta’s face once and then continues “We’ll leave the battle against the villains to heroes like Endeavour, Best Jeanist, Hawks etc. You can first help your students and then if time permits, join the fight.”
Shouta nods, but doesn’t comment otherwise, because it was clear to the both of them that Shouta would not be leaving his students’ side after recent events that had occurred in his absence.
“There’s something else you should know.” Nedzu treads cautiously and Shouta immediately stiffens. That’s the exact tone Nedzu takes when he’s about to deliver bad news to Shouta and he doesn’t know how Shouta will react.
“Yaoyorozu Momo was the one who made and sent the drone. She mentioned that they do have a plan to keep the villains away from the citizens, so they aren’t walking in completely blind.”
“But?” Shouta prompts, gritting his teeth.
“The one who came up with the plan…” Nedzu trails off, letting Shouta piece it together. As Shouta’s dark orbs meet the rat’s own sympathetic ones, realization strikes him as clear as lightning and he thinks of murdering the entire Hero Commission.
“Midoriya.” Shouta responds, eerily calm, definitely calmer than he feels and he watches Nedzu’s eyes widen imperceptibly “Aizawa, she didn’t directly state anything in the message, it was just an implication I picked up on. I thought it was best to - ”
“If anything has happened to any of my students,” Shouta cuts off Nedzu, his voice deadly “The world wouldn’t be enough to take on my wrath.” Shouta walks away from Nedzu and the other teachers, leaving them in silence.
He’s pulled out of his thoughts as a gentle hand taps his shoulder and Hizashi quietly says “We’re here Eraser.”
The moment they land, the heroes seamlessly begin to work together, moving quickly to aid the students and citizens. Shouta controls his impulse to run ahead and find his kids. They come across Yaoyorozu and Aoyama first, soldiers supporting both of them and Shouta feels relief rush through him as he finds them responsive and functioning, apart from a few minor injuries.
“Sensei.” Yaoyorozu looks like she’s about to cry with equal relief and Shouta permits himself to place a hand on her shoulder gently and tell her that the heroes will take it from here. “You did well.” he says gruffly and turns away before she starts crying. He’ll talk to all of them individually, once he ensures that everyone is safe.
Hawks calls in saying he’s found Tokoyami and Ashido. Ashido is injured, but it isn’t too severe and Tokoyami hasn’t sustained any injuries.
Shouta mentally tallies up the number in his mind. He passes by Iida, Asui and Kirishima, battered and exhausted. But Kirishima grins shooting him a thumbs up, Iida smiles and Asui nods and Shouta nods back to them, more relief flooding his chest.
Seven kids so far, thirteen more.
The other hero group reports in and says that the villains have already been defeated. There were supposed to be four of them, but only three have been found and secured so far, they’re still searching for the leader of the group.
For a moment, Shouta stands stunned, the other heroes with him wear expressions of awe and Dragoon turns to him “What the hell do you teach those kids Eraser?” Pride encases his heart and he decides to indulge those kids when they get back to UA, they deserve that much.
“You’ve got a good class.” Vlad admits begrudgingly and it brightens Shouta’s mood considerably.
Just then, he spots Sero and Kaminari pass by the group supported by soldiers. “Sensei you’re here.” Kaminari calls out, smiling with victory and Shouta smiles back “Good job.” he acknowledges. He watches as they both beam and then Sero says “Uraraka and Mineta should be right behind us, they need help.”
Nine down, eleven more.
Shouta nods and then they split ways. In a few minutes, just like Sero had mentioned, they come across Uraraka and Mineta who lay down on the ground exhausted, two heroes move forward to pick them up and after Shouta makes sure that they’re fine, he moves on.
Eleven down, nine more.
Shouta doesn’t get very far before he crosses path with a soldier who maneuvers Shoji in a medical chair usually used for paralyzed patients. Before Shouta can say anything, the soldier speaks “He isn’t in any immediate danger, no paralysis, maybe a few broken bones and sprains but the kid can’t stand, let alone walk.”
Shoji smiles feebly “Sensei, I’ll be okay, it’s nothing Recovery Girl can’t handle, you should check on the others.”
Shouta nods, gaze lingering on his student who’s bruised and worn, he feels embarrassed that his student is reassuring him while it should be the other way around, but he shakes himself out of it and forges on.
Ojiro and Jirou follow behind Shoji, with soldiers supporting them by the waist and shoulder. Ojiro stretches out a clenched fist to express that he’s alright while Jirou grins brightly at Shouta. For the most part, they’re all exhausted and are in dire need of food and rest, but they’re okay. They’re okay . Shouta repeats it like a mantra to ground himself.
Six more kids.
Endeavour calls in saying that he’s found Todoroki and Shouta leaves it at that, ignoring the loud ‘Shoutooo’ that follows, he can imagine the boy’s unimpressed look and Shouta’s lips twitch.
Five more.
He reaches the top of the hill where there’s a cave containing all the citizens. He helps Vlad and Dragoon move the large rock covering the entrance, praying that everyone inside is safe. The boulder moves to the side and a minute later, Shouta is met with loud cheers from the citizens and he rushes in as he sees the relieved expressions from Koda and Sato. Hagakure throws herself against Shouta, hugging him tightly and he hugs her back, he lets Koda wrap his arms around him as well. Lastly, Sato buries his face into Shouta’s arm from the side as he whispers “ Thank you sensei .” and Shouta realizes how scared these three must have been. Locked in the dark as the last line of defense to protect all the island’s inhabitants while they had no idea what was happening on the outside. The realization that Sato thanks him for coming to get them out hits him like a train and he moves a hand and places it on Sato’s head “It’s going to be alright.” he murmurs softly.
“Sensei,” Hagakure whispers and Shouta hums in response “I-is everyone okay? Are they alright?”
“We heard a lot of noises and there was so much shaking and we didn’t know what was going on.” Sato adds.
Koda simply nods, but Shouta sees the mixture of fear and worry in his eyes.
“Everyone’s okay.” Shouta reassures them.
“Even Midoriya?” Hagakure asks.
Shouta stills and then it’s all static because he counts all the heads and two more students stand unaccounted for - Midoriya and Bakugou. Panic engulfs Shouta in waves. If anyone was going to be at the front of the battle, it would be both of them and if the villains hadn’t reached the cave at all, then the fight had ended with Bakugou and Midoriya.
He pulls back hurriedly and crouches to face the three of them “Where were Bakugou and Midoriya positioned?” he asks, urgently.
“It’s on the other side, as far away from the cave as possible.” Hagakure says, slightly distressed now.
“I’ll come back, I promise, but I’ve got to check - ”
“Sensei, we’re fine.” Sato smiles.
‘Go’ Koda signs.
“Save them.” Hagakure pleads and then Shouta is running.
He’s probably only been running for a few minutes, but to Shouta he feels like it’s been hours. He’s terrified . The last time he’d felt this way was when Oboro ran into -
He shakes his head, gritting his teeth as he glides over rocks and grass. He had to focus on the present. He prays that they’re okay.
‘I’ll even forgive Midoriya for all his broken bones, just let him be alive Kami.’
He reaches the clearing and sees a huge crater in its place. The dread and anxiety is back in full force now as Shouta runs. He hears a voice in the back of his head and strangely sounds like Nedzu ‘Midoriya-kun made the plan Shouta, it means that he and Bakugou are the last line of defense and the battle would never reach the cave.’ the voice lowers into a whisper ‘ It means, Midoriya-kun would die to save the people on this island, to save Bakugou, to save all of his classmates.’
Shouta slides down the side of the crater, capture weapon clutched in his hand as he furiously works to shut out the voice. And then he sees three figures a few meters from him. At first he sees Bakugou laid out and the only indication he’s alive is the slow rise and fall of his chest, barely moving, but Shouta sees it and he sees Yagi’s coat folded and laid out as a pillow behind his head. He allows himself to momentarily bask in relief. But it vanishes immediately when he turns to face the other two figures and his heart rockets. Yagi’s on the ground, cradling Midoriya’s body between his arms, tears staining his cheeks.
Shouta feels the bile rising up his throat and he thinks he’s definitely going to be sick as his stomach violently lurches. He drags himself towards Yagi, any emotion he had left draining away from him and then he falls to his knees in front of them both. Midoriya looks like hell, blood covering his face, trickling from his head, arms broken beyond repair, hero costume shredded, yet he looks so peaceful. Too young, too young, too young and it's all Shouta's fault.
“Ai-Aizawa?” Yagi’s voice is barely a startled whisper.
Shouta doesn’t respond, empty obsidian orbs staring at the corpse of his student, his kid . And then Yagi suddenly jolts, a sharp inhale echoes around them and then Yagi places a hand against Shouta’s arm.
“Shouta,” Yagi calls out gently, “Young Midoriya isn’t dead, he’s okay. I only thought we’d lost him.”
Shouta looks up so fast, he nearly snaps his neck and Yagi smiles softly, nodding encouragingly as he lowers Midoriya into Shouta’s lap and then places Shouta’s hand against his problem child’s heart. And Shouta hears the steady beat of it underneath his palm - thump thump thump .
He feels wetness against his cheeks and becomes acutely aware of the fact that he’s crying, but he can’t stop himself as he chokes on sobs. He doesn’t know for how long he sits there, Midoriya’s body in his arms, a hand on his heart, lips pressed against the kid’s forehead and capture weapon discarded to the side as Shouta tries to steady his own breathing.
At some point however, Hizashi approaches Shouta and afterwards stays with him as they load Midoriya onto a stretcher and to the building where the entire class is being treated.
After a full examination by the medics as well as Recovery Girl, Shouta is informed that Midoriya will heal up just fine. He has a concussion, six broken ribs, two fractured arms and a sprain in his left ankle, not accounting for all the minor bruises and scratches all over his body and face.
“Most of them will leave scars and there’s nothing we can do about it.” the doctor tells him and Shouta nods in understanding, ignoring the way his heart clenches. Too young, too young to be carrying such battle scars.
Recovery Girl tells him that she cannot heal him now or for the next three days at least because he has no energy for healing, body reserves completely depleted and Shouta's so tired because he doesn't know how to make Midoriya understand his self-sacrificing nature. Shouta knows as heroes, they have to make hard choices, knows that they are trained to take risks at the cost of their own lives and what Shouta thought as a teacher was selfish. He had no right to even imply these thoughts to his students, but if he didn't at least try, then he wouldn't be able to live with himself.
Please live for me, Shouta wants to beg. He has to find a way to make problem child of all people understand his life's worth.
“Plenty of rest and food is what he needs Shouta.” Shuzenji tells him strictly and then she sighs, a small smile gracing her face as she presses Shouta’s hand comfortingly, knowingly “He’s going to be just fine Shouta, this isn’t your fault and you did everything you could.”
Shouta nods numbly and faintly hears her talk with Hizashi but doesn’t register the conversation. He sits by Midoriya, holding his hand, eyes never straying from the green haired boy. Shouta’s scared that if he takes his eyes off, even for a second, the problem child will run off somewhere else and this time, Shouta will lose him .
“Shou you need to rest your eyes for a bit, you haven’t slept for a good thirty hours at least.”
He doesn’t offer a response.
“Sunshine,” Hizashi coaxes him gently “At least go see your other students. I know you’re terrified to lose the little listener, but there are nineteen other kids waiting for you Shouta.” there’s a pause before he sees Hizashi kneel down in front of him “Shou, he’s safe now, it’s okay now.” Hizashi rubs his fingers tenderly against Shouta’s cheeks, worry in his eyes.
Shouta slowly exhales, his eyes stay on Midoriya but his voice comes out quietly “You’ll stay here and watch him?”
“Of course.” Hizashi replies instantly.
“No, you’ll watch him, you won’t be on your phone.” Shouta stresses.
“I won’t do anything else Shou, I swear.” Hizashi promises with a smile.
“Okay.” Shouta breathes out “I’ll be back in an hour tops.”
“Take your time, I won’t leave him out of my sight.”
“Call me if anything changes.” Shouta adds as he picks up his capture weapon.
“Shouta get out of here.” Hizashi says pointedly.
Shouta grumbles a little more before he leaves. He’s surprised even though he shouldn’t be, when he finds the other nineteen students sitting together. Even Bakugou is there, sitting with Kirishima and Kaminari with a light scowl.
When they spot him, a chorus of ‘Sensei ’ rings through the room before Shouta glares and shuts them up.
“This is still a hospital, please remember that.” Shouta sighs.
“Sorry sensei.” Yaoyorozu apologizes on behalf of the class.
“How are you all doing?” he makes sure to look at each and every one of them.
“Sensei, the important question is how is Midoriya doing?” Kirishima asks and the rest of the class follow in quiet murmurs.
Shouta sighs again “He’s alright, he’ll make a full recovery, no need to worry about him so much.”
“Can we visit him?” Uraraka pipes up.
“After he’s woken up and the medics have given the clear.” Shouta answers tiredly. “Now, back to all of you.” he redirects the question again.
******
When Shouta arrives back to Midoriya and Hizashi, he finds the kid awake while Hizashi talks to him animatedly. He walks in and green orbs are drawn to him immediately.
“Problem child.” Shouta greets.
“Sensei.” Midoriya greets back sheepishly and then glances at Hizashi who shoots him a thumbs up.
Shouta takes Hizashi’s place on the chair again “I’m going to excuse you, just this once, because there was no one to ask for help and you kids did the best you could.”
Midoriya stares at him, eyes widening and then nods, swallowing hard.
“But,” Shouta says, “I need you to understand that what you did, you can’t keep doing it again and again kid.”
“Doing what sensei?” Midoriya asks him quietly, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
“Why did you think I’d be mad at you?” Shouta counters.
Midoriya’s jaw falls open and Shouta rolls his eyes “I saw.” he explains, gesturing between Midoriya and Hizashi.
“Um, well...The first thing I asked after I woke up was how everyone in class was doing and then Yamada sensei said I should take it easy because apparently I almost died...and um then um well….” Midoriya awkwardly trailed off, voice growing more quiet with every passing second. Shouta suspected if Midoriya’s hands weren’t broken, he would have gestured something to finish the explanation.
“And then?” Shouta asks, waiting patiently.
“You - you cried.” Midoriya’s voice cracks and he looks away. Shouta sees the shame and guilt eating away at his student and he moves forward.
Shouta places a hand on Midoriya’s head and gently threads his fingers through his hair “Izuku, look at me kiddo.”
Midoriya peers up at him, tears already half forming.
“I’m not mad at you.” Shouta says slowly, emphasizing his words and he waits until Midoriya acknowledges his statement with a nod.
“I’m not disappointed in you.” another nod
“You’re not in trouble.” another nod.
“I was scared.” Shouta watches as Midoriya’s lip trembles, a few tears slipping down his cheeks and then he bows his head “I‘m sorry sensei.” he mumbles out.
“Because your life is important to me.” Midoriya looks up at him, eyes pinched and mouth set in a frown. Shouta continues without waiting for a response anymore.
“Because before you’re a hero, you’re my kid.”
“Because you kids are my entire world.”
“Because I can’t lose you.”
“Because I wouldn’t know how to live without my problem child.”
“Because I love you Izuku.”
Shouta watches as Midoriya bursts into tears, loud sobs reverberating around them, body shaking. Shouta wraps his arms carefully around the kid to not further aggravate his injuries and presses his lips against Midoriya’s temple. He closes his eyes and inhales “I’ve got you now kiddo, you’re safe.”
He feels Midoriya press his face tighter against Shouta’s chest and hears muffled cries of repeated apologies, before Shouta gently lifts the kid’s face and wipes his tears away “Shhh stop apologizing, you don’t have anything to apologize for, because I know it was needed this time and I am proud of you.”
Midoriya sniffles, a watery smile making its way to his face “You-you’re pr-proud of me?”
“I always have been and I always will be.” Shouta says, like it's the easiest thing in the world. And it is, because it’s the truth, plain and simple.
Midoriya recognizes this too as his smile widens and he whispers “Thank you.”
“Although I do expect a paper on ‘How heroes must strike a balance between their work and self sacrifice and recklessness.’ as punishment.” Shouta adds cooly. Hopefully this would be a start.
Midoriya sighs, but his smile remains “Obviously I wasn’t getting out of this unscathed.”
“If it was up to Shouta, little listener, you and the entire class would be bubble wrapped and locked in UA, never allowed out of his sight again.” Hizashi chuckles from behind them.
Midoriya laughs until he sees Shouta’s face and horror etches across his own.
“Yamada sensei we have to run, Aizawa sensei is totally seriously contemplating it. ”
And as the rest of the class floods in to see Midoriya (because when have they ever listened to their teacher) Shouta does wistfully wish that the kids would never leave his sight again. Damn villain magnets .