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Shouta was going to beat the ever loving shit out of Yagi. He wasn’t a violent man by nature, he was undeniably not a pacifist, but he rarely resorted to physical violence without at least trying the multitude of tricks up his sleeve, namely his intimidation techniques. He was however a very protective man. Especially of his class, and even more so of his problem child. So, Shouta was going to fucking destroy All Might. What the hell had the man been thinking?
~~~ a few hours earlier ~~~
When Shouta had visited the library to collect a box of textbooks for his class several hours before school started, he hadn't expected to find his problem child curled up in a dark corner, dead to the world asleep with a blanket wrapped tightly around him, and a shirt that was distinctly not the uniform shirt visible on the shoulders that peaked out over the edge of the blanket. No one should be at school at this hour, hell, if it weren't for how late his patrol had run last night, Shouta himself wouldn't be, but it had just been easier to come here, sort out what he needed to do before class and then crash on the couch in the staff lounge.
So why the hell was Midoriya here so early? It wasn’t like the kid had been here getting some last minute studying and homework done. If that had been the case, Shouta would have given him a gentle lecture about getting enough sleep and left it be, but no. No, it wasn’t that simple, because Midoriya was simply sleeping in the corner of the library like it was a normal thing to do. There were more red flags here than Shouta could have ever expected, and it was more than enough for him to squat down next to the kid and gently wake him.
"Huh?" Midoriya mumbled, voice slurred slightly from sleep. Softening impossibly more, Shouta leaned back on his haunches, letting the kid wake up properly before he asked any questions.
Midoriay, after several seconds of sluggish blinking, had immediately panicked at being caught, but after numerous comforting attempts to convince him he wasn't in trouble, the kid finally started to settle again. That was, of course, only until Shouta asked why the kid was sleeping here at all. It wasn’t so much panic, like the last breakdown had been, but instead simple pain. It made Shouta ache to understand more yet also dread the next words that came out of Midoriya's mouth. Still, he had to hear it regardless.
"My... my ma said I shouldn't come back home again... I... I needed somewhere to stay and U.A. has bathrooms and showers and it was just... easier... If- If I can't anymore, that's okay! I can, I can get out of your way, I'm sorry."
"Hey, hey now kid, you're okay, I'm not mad, I just want to know what's going on, okay? Breathe first, then you can tell me the whole story, sound good?"
Midoriya stared wide-eyed at him for a long three seconds before shaking his head frantically. It took an abnormal amount of effort to keep his expression neutral at that, not because he was mad at the kid, no, he hadn't been lying about not being mad, but he was deeply concerned and he really didn't like where this might be going.
"I- I can't- I can't- the full story it's- I can't, I'm not allowed- It's- It's confidential, I can't."
The wording of that had Shouta hesitating. The first part of that had seemed like the average domestic abuse survivor's response, feeling the need to hide it after being told for many years they had to, Shouta knew that, had heard it too many times before, but not once had he heard a kid refer to their abuse as 'confidential', and it was fucking terrifying.
"You're okay kid, I'm a pro, remember? And even if I'm not high ranking in the spotlight ranks, I'm high enough in the underground ranks to have clearance for anything you need to tell me, okay?" The word left a slightly sour taste in his mouth, it wasn't what he wanted to say, not really, but he needed to know what was happening, and the kid needed to believe he could tell him. Shouta could do a whole speech about how he was Midoriya's teacher and therefore had every right to know, but his gut told him that wouldn't get through to the kid. Being a hero with near unlimited access to confidential information given his penchant for working far too many deep cases at once would be his best bet at convincing him. Midoriya, always the contradiction to all the best laid plans, just shook his head, tears starting to well up as he scrubbed at them desperately.
"I- I can't- I asked! I wanted to tell you, I asked if I could, but I can't, no one knows, no one can know! They said- They said if you know you will be in danger and I can't- They said I can't tell you, I wanna tell you sensei, I trust you, I do! I just- I can't."
Once again Shouta found himself actually needing to think about forcing his face to stay neutral and calm. What the fuck was going on? Who had convinced this kid he wasn’t allowed to say anything to him of all people? What was this even about!?
"Kid," Shouta murmured, all the gentleness he hid slipping into his voice, "Who told you that you can't tell me?"
Who outranked him enough to force the boy to stay quiet?
"All Might, and- and Gran Torino, and Sir Nighteye," Midoriya mumbled, his voice barely audible and his eyes downcast, clearly avoiding Shouta's searching gaze. For the third time that morning, Shouta found himself holding back a hiss of annoyed concern. All Might, All Might’s old sidekick, and All Might's mentor- yes Shouta had worked that out when the mysterious pro had requested to take Midoriya on for an internship, taking even closer note when of all the many people who requested him, Midoriya chose the nearly unknown ex-retired pro. Okay. Okay, so for some unknown reason, Midoriya had a secret he wanted to tell Shouta, but All Might and the people closest to the man were the only ones who knew. What the fuck?
"I have a higher clearance ranking than Gran Torino, and one equaling Nighteye. You can tell me."
"No! No, I can't, I asked, they said no, it's not- it's not a clearance based thing it's- it's different!"
Shouta could feel the dread coiling up in his gut, hating this so fucking much. What had happened to his kid under his watch? What had All Might done- because it had to relate to that idiot somehow. Shouta wanted so desperately to believe it wasn’t something bad, wanted to believe the fucking symbol of peace, as much as Shouta disliked him, wouldn't do something to hurt a kid. He wanted to believe it so damn much, but Shouta was not an optimist, he was a realist. He knew, logically, just how lacking his understanding was. He knew there was a secret Midoriya wanted to talk about but couldn’t, knew it was something outside of the HSPC clearance files based on the bizarrely specific people chosen to have clearance, knew that it related to All Might because of those people chosen, and knew that Midoriya's mother had kicked him out because of it. So, as much as Shouta despised it, there was one conclusion that seemed far more likely than any other.
"Kid, does All Might spend time with you, one on one, that you can't talk about?" Shouta asked tentatively, not quite willing to ask the obvious question straight up and brutally. Based on the way Midoriya's head whipped up and he stared in surprised affirmation, Shouta knew there was no getting out of it, "I know you said you can't talk about it, but as your teacher, I need you to answer this next question honestly, can you do that for me kid?"
Hesitantly, Midoriya nodded, although the way he looked down again told Shouta that he may not be willing to answer the question. Still, Shouta had to try.
"Has All Might ever... hurt you, or touched you in a way that made you uncomfortable, or forced you to do anything you didn't want to?"
Midoroya's eyes flew wide in surprise, shaking his head frantically, the denials spilling out of his mouth with such great earnestness that Shouta found himself leaning back, just a little, and letting out a silent relieved sigh. Okay. Okay. That... that was good.
"Okay, thank you kid, you're doing great. Now, I know you said you can't tell me the full story, and as much as I can insist that you are allowed to regardless of what anyone else has said, I need to know the basics at the very least, so can you tell me what's going on, if it's not... that."
Shouta threw in the last few words purely in an attempt to convince Midoriya of the gravity of the situation that had caused him to worry the worst had happened. It felt more than a little underhanded, but this was important enough to warrant such methods.
"I- I was quirkless, for a long time, I didn't- they thought I would never have a quirk, but I kinda got one but it developed really late and All Might has been teaching me how to control it and I can't- I couldn’t tell my ma how I got it and she just... she got really mad and she thought I'd been lying my whole life, like I'd been seeking attention by being quirkless and she told me how it ruined her life, how I ruined her life, 'cause, like, no one wants to promote the mother of a less evolved kid because she must be less evolved too and how everyone pitied her but didn't help and it was all my fault and then all of a sudden none of it was true and I had a quirk and she just- I hurt her so bad, she couldn’t stand to see me, so- so she told me to leave, and I just... UA seemed like the safest place to stay, I don't know- I'm sorry, I didn't- I know it's technically trespassing and stuff and I'm sorry I was just- I was so scared and I couldn’t-"
"Hey, easy now kid, you're okay, you're not in trouble, remember?" Shouta interrupted gently before the kid could lose himself too far into the spiral. This was... this was bad. Okay. This was really fucking bad, and Shouta was just about ready to murder Midoriya's mother, but he still had no clue what All Might had to do with it, and why it was all so confidential. No, no that wasn’t quite true. He knew logically. He knew the way the kid skirted around how he worded stuff, clearly not wanting to lie but also not wanting- or not being able- to tell the full truth. So, the problem was that he hadn't had a quirk, and then he got one out of nowhere and All Might started training him. So why did All Might of all people train the kid? Why did Midoriya get a quirk out of nowhere?
The only answer Shouta could come up with was that in some form or another, the boogeyman of the underground was involved. All For One. For whatever reason, despite All For One mainly being someone dealt with by the underground heroes, All Might was never far from the conversation any time All For One was mentioned. And, most important to this specific conversation, All For One had the ability to gift others quirks. Everything pointed towards the idea that Midoriya had somehow gotten a quirk from the crime lord and then was being mentored by All Might to deal with it. Everything except the personalities of the two involved.
Midoriya, first and foremost, was heroic. That came in far too many forms, but the two that seemed most relevant here were his hatred of cheating or taking the easy route in any form, and his refusal to do anything that wasn’t heroic, even if the anything he was supposed to do was sit back and let the heroes do their work. So, it made zero sense that the kid would seek out a crime lord in order to get the easy way into being a hero.
Then there was All Might. Shouta wasn’t stupid, and he certainly wasn’t blind. He was far too aware of All Might's- and many other heroes' for that matter- inability to see anything except in black and white. All Might saw someone colluding with villains for any reason and that made that person a villain. Hell, the man didn't even like undercover ops because he thought the heroes who did that weren't sufficiently good people. It was absolute fucking bullshit, and one of the reasons Shouta really didn't like the man, but the idea that he would work with anyone who had gotten a quirk from All For One? No. That couldn’t be it. So what was it? There was something Shouta was missing. One key detail that would make everything else slot into place, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure it out.
"Are you gonna send me home?" Izuku asked meekly, tugging anxiously on the blanket that now sat over his knees, still huddled close to him.
"No," Shouta sighed softly, "No, I'm not going to send you back there, but I also can't let you keep sleeping here in the library."
He watched as Izuku's eyes widened in fear and quickly moved to comfort the boy, if only a little, "We have dorms on campus for international students and others who need to stay here. U.A. has the ability to take temporary guardianship over students until they graduate. If you had come to me, we could have sorted this out from the start."
Shouta didn't mean for the last words to be a reprimand, they were supposed to just remind the kid that coming to Shouta with problems was okay and that Shouta could help with a lot of said problems, but he saw the way the kid winced, and he regretted the words.
"You're not in trouble," Shouta repeated for what felt like the millionth time, "I'm not mad, I'm just concerned, I want you to be and feel safe, you can't do that if you don't feel comfortable coming to me when you need help. I am here for you, kid, I promise."
Once more, Midoriya's eyes were darting around the library, looking anywhere except at Shouta, but the man didn't mind, simply relaxing even more into a slightly more comfortable position, watching over the kid in silence, letting the boy, who clearly wanted to speak, form the words he was struggling with.
"I wanna tell you Sensei," Midoriya whispered eventually, and Shouta thought that perhaps if it weren't for the complete silence of the empty library at four in the morning, he wouldn't have been able to make out the words. As it was, he still struggled.
"You can tell me, kid, I know confidentiality is important, but you are just a kid and you deserve to be able to talk to a trusted adult, and if it involves you and your quirk at all, it's something I need to know in order to be the teacher you need me to be."
"But... but it's dangerous to know."
"Midoriya. First and foremost, if it's dangerous to know, then it's not something that should have been put on your shoulders at all. You are just a kid. Secondly, I know my way around dangerous information. I won't go flaunting my knowledge. I'm an underground hero, kid. I work many, many cases in which the knowledge I gain from them is dangerous. I don't care about the risks, but I do care that you are safe and comfortable. So, please kid, tell me what's going on," By the end of that spiel, Shouta was practically pleading, desperate to get the kid to understand how serious he was about this.
Midoriya stared at him for a long LONG time, clearly weighing it up in his head and coming to absolutely no conclusions.
"But... but they said not to tell you?" Midoriya whispered and Shouta could hear the cracks forming in the boy's resolve. He could sense just how much the kid wanted to tell him, and fuck Shouta wished he didn't have to do this to the kid, wished he didn't need to force the kid to tell him this, but damn if he wasn’t far too worried to let the kid avoid it.
"Midoriya, kid, as a teacher, I have a right and obligation to know about things that affect my students. I need to know so I can do my job properly, so I need you to tell me."
He hated this, hated pulling the teacher card, just as much as he had hated pulling the hero card. Still, he was too fucking terrified of whatever was going on to not use every card in his deck. It worked too, he saw the kid's resolve snap and crumble, saw the tears that built up, saw the way he hunched forward, saw the hand that reached out towards him in a desperate cry for comfort, and Shouta, as much as he did not particularly like touch based comfort, still pulled Midoriya into his chest, holding him gently as the kid cried, not minding in the slightest when Midoriya gripped into his jumpsuit with pure desperation.
"It's not my quirk, sensei, it's not- it's not mine," The words spilled from Midoriya's lips so fast they were almost unintelligible, but Shouta understood. That much he had kind of figured, he just didn't understand how.
"Okay, okay, I'm gonna need you to explain this to me, okay kid?" Shouta encouraged gently, his hand moving to rub comforting circles along the kid's back.
"It's- It's All Might's quirk, he... he gave it to me, his quirk can be transferred- I- I am quirkless- I'm quirkless but he gave me a quirk so i could be a hero- But now my ma thinks I'm a liar and All Might won't let me tell her and she can't- I can't- 'Zawa I'm scared."
The last three words, whispered impossibly softer than the other already insanely quiet ones, broke Shouta’s heart. This kid had grown up with all the hell that came with being quirkless, then all of a sudden was given a quirk and now his mother had... had kicked him out? For what? For 'lying' about being quirkless? Why the fuck would anyone do that? It wasn’t something that got fucking sympathy, it was something that caused abuse and pain and hurt, so much fucking hurt. This kid...
Wait. All Might said Midoriya couldn’t tell his mother, was that... did he know?
"Hey, kid, I need you to look at me for a second okay?" Shouta asked, tone firm and insistent, pulling the kid away enough to make eye contact, "Did All Might know how your mother treated you? Did he know she was going to throw you out?"
Midoriya looked away, but at the soft but firm squeeze of his arm that Shouta gave him, he forced his eyes back onto his teacher, and finally, slowly the kid nodded. Fuck.
"He didn't- He didn't know ma kicked me out he just... I tried to tell him, I wanted to be able to explain it to ma, but he said- He said it was too dangerous, she's just a civilian, I can't- I can't put her at risk. I don't care, I'd rather be homeless than risk her, I just- I thought maybe we could have come up with some explanation or something but All Might- All Might said it had to stay secret. Completely secret. No one can know. I shouldn't- I wasn’t supposed to tell you, but- but you're not a civilian, you can protect yourself- right?"
"Yeah, kid, I can protect myself, and I can protect you too, okay? You should never have been put in this situation, and All Might certainly shouldn't have ignored your concerns about your mother. At the very least he should have told me you were worried about it. Dealing with these things is part of my job."
"But- but you're not- you're not supposed to know- you can't- wait- you can't let him know that I told you, please Sensei, I don't- I can't lose his trust- what- what if he takes it away from me!? What if he takes it back!? I can't- I can't go back to being quirkless Sensei, please! Please, I need to be a hero, please, I can't lose this, I can't, I can't, I can't!"
"Hey, hey there kid, shh, you're okay, you aren't going to lose anything. I swear," Shouta promised, hating the way the kid was so fucking terrified. Fucking hell Yagi, how could you fuck this up so damn bad!?
"Please, please, I need to be a hero sensei, I can't... I need to be a hero. There's nothing else for me, nothing else, I can't- I can't lose this quirk, I need to be a hero."
Shit. Okay, so the kid not only was scared of losing his quirk- could All Might actually take it back? That was a horrifying thought, how much fucking power did this asshole hold over his kid? Was being the number one hero not enough of a power dynamic? Then there was the fact that Midoriya thought losing his quirk meant he couldn’t be a hero, which... which of course he thought that. Everyone thought that in this stupid fucking society.
"Kid, you aren't going to lose anything, I won't let that happen, and even if you do, even if you didn't have a quirk, you would still be a hero, you can still be a hero. It won't come to that though. I won't let him take it from you."
"I- what?" Izuku gasped, staring at Shouta, eyes wide and desperate, "I- I could- I could have been a hero? Without this quirk?"
Shouta nodded, pulling the kid in close as he did so, wrapping his arms around the violently shaking form, "Yeah, kid. Yeah, you could be a quirkless hero."
The tears came quick, fast and hard, sobs wracking Midoriya's body as he trembled in Shouta's arms. Fucking hell, this kid had gone through so damn much.
Midoriya did not stop crying, more and more words falling from his lips as he explained everything, still tucked away in that tiny corner of the library. It took hours and thousands of revelations before the boy's shaking finally calmed and his breaths evened out, his whole body going slack against Shouta. He needed the sleep after every part of his heart that he had just poured out, so Shouta didn't rouse him, he simply manoeuvred so he could access his phone and check the time.
7:30. Okay, okay, so they had been here for over 3 hours. Okay. Classes would start in half an hour. That was fine. Shouta could deal with that. He moved onto his messages, opening up his most recent contact and typing out a quick message.
SHOUTA MY LOVE <3333333:
zashi i need you to come to the library right now.
Hizashi💛:
R u ok!?!?!?
I'm on my way right now!!!
SHOUTA MY LOVE <3333333:
i need you to be quiet
midoriya told me a lot of stuff and broke down and is now asleep, don't wake him.
Hizashi💛:
Got it!!!
Shouta relaxed somewhat at the knowledge that Hizashi would be here soon. When he got here, Shouta would explain all of it, then he would let the other man watch over Izuku while Shouta hunted down some people. With a sigh, Shouta had to admit he wasn’t going to make it to class in time for homeroom, and he moved to message a different contact.
Eraser:
stuff came up, i need you to watch my class for me in home room & make sure none of them worry
im fine, and midoriya is with me, so dont let them worry about him either
Snipe:
You got it man. Lemme know if you need any extra time, my free period is right after homeroom and i know yall are doin ethics then, so i can cover that too
Eraser:
i dont know how long i will be, if you can stay until i get there that would be really helpful
Snipe:
Easy!
Eraser:
thank you, i owe you one
With that sorted, Shouta moved to another contact.
Eraserhead:
stuff came up, mic is helping me deal with it, can you cover his homeroom today? class 1C
Cementos:
Easy enough, I have them right afterwards regardless.
Eraserhead:
thank you
Shouta was about to open up his messages with the rat he called his boss when Hizashi appeared, frazzled but silent. Once again, Shouta manoeuvred slightly, this time to free his hands for sign language without risking waking the kid. When Midoriya didn't stir, Shouta signed a very shortened version of the story, hitting the main points. Midoriya had been sleeping in the library after getting kicked out by his mother, and that All Might had the ability to pass on his quirk, and had given it to Midoriya and banned the kid from telling anyone at all. Shouta watched the way Hizashi's face clouded with fury, and, knowing Midoriya wouldn't be safer with anyone else, he gestured the man over.
"I'm going to go get the rest of the story, but I can't take Midoriya with me, so I need you to be here with him in case he wakes up. Cementos has your homeroom covered, I will be back as soon as I can," Shouta signed, and only once Midoriya was clearly still asleep, now in Hizashi's far more natural hold, did he stand up. Without another word, signed or otherwise, Shouta spun on his heel and stormed towards the door.
Shouta was going to beat the ever loving shit out of Yagi. He wasn’t a violent man by nature, he was undeniably not a pacifist, but he rarely resorted to physical violence without at least trying the multitude of tricks up his sleeve, namely his intimidation techniques. He was however a very protective man. Especially of his class, and even more so of his problem child. So, Shouta was going to fucking destroy All Might. What the hell had the man been thinking?
He had given Midoriya what was clearly a destructive quirk, he had lied to every single one of his teachers about it, which caused them to be unable to give the kid the more specific help he needed, he hadn't done anything to protect the kid from an obviously fucked home life, and through all of that he still allowed Midoriya to think that if he wasn't perfect everything would be stripped away from him? Whether that was what would happen or not- and fuck was it not horrifying that Shouta couldn’t say which it would be- letting the kid live in that kind of fear was beyond fucked up.
Shouta slammed the door to the teachers lounge open, eyes locking on Yagi, he stormed forward and, without a second thought, slammed a fist into the asshole's face. He moved back just enough to raise his fist again only for his arm to be grabbed before he could punch the man. He tried to shake the grip off, but with the way his entire mind had locked onto Yagi and his need to fucking make the man regret everything, he didn't have the capacity to look to see who was stopping him.
Faintly he heard hisses of concern and he was able to make out a few words. "Toga... Get... Nedzu... Go... lockdown."
"I'm not fucking Toga, I'm still me, I just have to teach this fucking asshole a lesson. Yagi, you fucking bitch, how dare you hurt one of my kids!?"
Shouta felt the grip on his arm slacken in what was probably shock and he took advantage of that fact to throw his fist forwards again, and a third time, this time locking with Yagi's jaw and temple. When his arm was grabbed again, he twisted, using his left arm instead to punch Yagi again, square in the nose.
"What on earth are you talking about young Aizawa?"
"He's fucking HOMELESS! Because you told him he couldn’t tell his own damn mother anything! You let him get kicked out, you let him get hurt, you fucking monster, I could have protected him if you hadn't had your head so far up your own damn ass to tell me fucking anything!"
"He told you!?" Yagi sounded angry, and fuck if that didn't just make Shouta all the more furious.
"Yeah! He fucking told me how you've been holding his quirk over his head, ready to snap it away at any damn moment! You let him believe any little fuck up, any admittance to any of the shit you did to him would mean he lost everything!"
"It was confidential, and he needs to be realistic!"
"OH, LIKE HOW HE NEEDED TO BE REALISTIC ABOUT THE IMPOSSIBILITIES OF HIS DREAM!? BECAUSE YOU HAD TO TELL HIM HE WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO BE A HERO WHEN THAT WAS ALL HE EVER WANTED, WHILE HE WAS ON A FUCKING ROOFTOP!? YOU ARE SO FUCKING LUCKY THAT KID IS STILL ALIVE BECAUSE HE ALMOST JUMPED. HE ALMOST JUMPED BECAUSE OF YOU AND THEN WHAT ASSHOLE?"
The hands gripping his arms slackened, but Shouta wasn’t done. He wasn’t done. He was furious and deadly and he really didn't give two shits about who was here to hear this. Fuck Yagi. Fuck Yagi and his stupid fucking confidentiality bullshit. No. Shouta was not fucking done.
"Because of you, the world almost lost Midoriya Izuku. Because of you, we might STILL lose him! This is all your fucking fault because you fucking stripped him of his dreams, then brought them back but only if he did everything you said. Fucking abusive, manipulative, and disgusting behaviour Yagi. And then you had the nerve to isolate him, to let him get hurt over and over again, to not care when he begged for help, when he pleaded for you to at least convince his mother not to fucking kick him out! When he told you he was going to SLEEP IN THE FUCKING LIBRARY!? What the fuck is wrong with you, Yagi!? HUH!?"
"He needs to learn resilience."
The hands holding him back dropped entirely at the asshole's words and Shouta lunged forward, pinning the man to the ground and punching him in the face several times. All Might tried to puff up into his larger form but Shouta just flared his quirk, knowing full well that All Might never bothered to learn how to fight without his quirk. He was helpless, and Shouta was more than happy to take advantage of that fact, enjoying the near sickening thuds and cracks as each of his fists landed, his nails scratching into the man's face.
It was only when he pulled his knife out of his belt, moving on pure furious instinct that he was dragged off the man once more. He tried to fight back, to just get it over with and fucking destroy the asshole who had let his kid suffer like this, who didn't even seem fucking apologetic, but there were too many arms. A small army of ectoplasm clones pulled him away. At least no one gave enough of a fuck to check on All Might. Shouta prayed the man was dead. Anything to get that fucker's shadow to stop looking over Midoriya.
With that prayer in mind, he spat out several incoherent snarls in the man's direction before dropping the knife, turning in the grips of the arms and storming away. They let him do so. He stopped at the door.
"If that asshole comes anywhere near any of my kids again, you will not be able to protect him from me," Shouta snarled, slamming the door shut behind him and stalking through the hallways and into a patiently waiting Nedzu's office.
"I want the names of every asshole who knew what was happening to Midoriya," Shouta growled the moment he stepped inside the office space, "I want All Might fired, and I want you to deal with Recovery Girl because as much as we need her, she refused to heal a kid, and that is not fucking okay. I want Midoriya Inko taken to jail for neglect and child endangerment. Then I want Midoriya Izuku to be under guardianship. Is that understood?"
"Crystal clear Aizawa-san. I shall arrange all of that for you. Here is your list of those who know about One For All. I must admit I am one of them, however I was told that you were to be made aware of the situation. Still, you and Midoriya-san both have my deepest apologies."
It wasn't good enough, but Shouta gritted his teeth and nodded anyway, taking the offered piece of paper.
All Might
Midoriya Izuku
Nedzu
Gran Torino
Sir Nighteye
Recovery Girl
Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi
Shouta growled at the last name. He had known of all the others, but for Detective Tsukauchi to be a part of this list? Shouta had fucking trusted the man. Did he know about how All Might had treated Midoriya?
His phone was ringing before the thought to do so had properly crossed his mind. Almost immediately the detective picked up.
"Eraser? Aren't you at U.A. right now?"
"Tsukuachi, did you fucking know?"
"What?" Tsukuachi asked, confusion audible in his voice.
"Did you know that All Might hasn't let Midoriya tell a single person? Did you know he told Midoriya to be 'realistic' and give up on his dreams only to suddenly have a 'solution' stray forced Midoriya to rely on him? Did you know that he was practically grooming Midoriya?"
"What?" This time the detective's voice was near shrill with what sounded like pure horror and Shouta let his body sag in relief. He hadn't known. He hadn't known. If he had known he would have protected Midoriya. "Eraser, I'm coming to U.A. right now, you are going to tell me everything because clearly People have been hiding the truth from me and you know how much I hate that."
Shouta grunted his agreement before hanging up the phone and turning to Nedzu.
"You are going to tell Tsukuachi everything, I am going to check on my problem child, and why I get back to the staff lounge, Yagi better be well and truely gone, or I will make sure he never fucking returns. Understood?"
"Of course Aizawa-san. Please extend my apologies to Midoriya as well."
Shouta just gritted his teeth, nodded sharply, spun on his heels and left. Nedzu was so damn smart and Shouta hated that the rat had somehow missed it all even with all the information presented to him. Although, Shouta supposed that the rat had never been great at picking up on human interactions and norms. And he had never talked to Midoriya directly. Shouta was pissed at his boss, but he wasn’t quite pissed enough to throw a punch. Yagi however? Yagi, he still wanted dead.
Instead of seeking out that fight, Shouta just cut quickly through the halls, appreciating the way the students getting ready for class practically split in half to make way from him. He must look deadly. He felt deadly. He really didn't care.
It was only once he was in the library, eyes settling on the still sleeping kid did Shouta finally take a breath. Then another. Then a third. Then, and only then, did he sign to his husband.
“He’s our kid now. Yes?”
Hizashi immediately nodded, and based on the pure aura of protectiveness, Shouta knew the man understood. Midoriya would not be going back to his mother, nor would he be going to foster care. Shouta and Hizashi would take him, and they would keep All Might the fuck away from their kid, and if the man ever tried to take Midoriya’s quirk away, Shouta would not hesitate to finish the job he had started. He doubted that any of the staff would stop him after they knew what had happened, and he was not going to leave them in the dark. He really didn't give two shits about All Might’s secret, and if anyone could be trusted, it was the U.A. staff.
“Shou, come here,” Hizashi murmured, his voice impossibly quiet, and Shouta did as he was told, crumpling to the ground, leaning into his husband and pulling his kid into his arms. He doubted he would ever willingly let go, but for now he would simply focus on breathing.