Chapter Text
Aizawa stood outside of Midoriya's door holding a box of cookies, alone. He was dressed in a plain tee and sweatpants and it felt odd, he had only let a few of his students over all the years see him out of uniform, and Midoriya was about to be one of them.
He closed his eyes and raised his fist, he gently knocked on the door.
"Come in." Midoriya said, his voice muffled by the door.
Aizawa opened the door, and closed it behind him.
Midoriya was staring at him.
"Good morning problem child, it's nice to see you awake."
"Sensei," Midoriya greeted him, "It's nice to see you too."
There was a bit of silence as Aizawa took a seat in a leather chair next to Midoriya's bed.
"You know, there were a lot of things about you that didn't make sense." Aizawa said, "I tried to figure out how someone with such a strong quirk could be as timid as you, or why you were so nervous around Bakugou."
Aizawa looked at Midoriya. "But then it all made sense when I found out you got your quirk the day of the entrance exam."
Midoriya's face went a bit pink, and he looked down at his lap. "You know about One For All."
"I do."
Midoriya fiddled a bit with the blanket, "Am I in trouble?" Aizawa raised a brow, and Midoriya elaborated. "For not telling you about it?"
"No, I can understand why you didn't tell me. All Might told you not to tell anyone right?"
Midoriya paused for a moment, but then he nodded.
"Thought so. Your mum slapped some sense into yesterday when she found out about your quirk."
Midoriya let out a noise, and went from pink to red within seconds.
"You told my mum about One For All!?"
Midoriya's voice cracked, and his eyes looked as if they would poop out with a good tap.
Aizawa became very aware that Midoriya was a teenager.
He felt old.
"No, I bullied All Might into telling your mum. He should have told her about One For All before he gave it to you."
Midoriya looked at his lap, then at Aizawa, then at his lap again.
"She's going to let you keep the quirk," Aizawa rested his elbows on his knees and his chin on his knuckles, "but before I give it back to you, your mum, All Might, and I are going to have a nice long talk with you."
Midoriya looked half relieved, and half horrified.
"So… I'll get the quirk back..?" He asked.
"Of course, it's your quirk isn't it?"
Midoriya didn't answer.
Aizawa didn't push.
Instead he sat the bag on the edge of the bed next to Midoriya's leg.
"I got some cookies, want some?" It was a very abrupt conversation change, but Midoriya looked happy for it.
Midoriya looked at the bag, and smiled just a bit. "What kind did you get?"
Aizawa opened the bag and sat the box of cookies on top of it. "Chocolate, peanut butter, oatmeal, raisins, you know, the basics."
Midoriya hesitantly reached for the peanut butter cookies.
They ate in silence.
"Midoriya, can I ask you something?"
Midoriya nodded.
"When you got hurt, you said something that didn't sit right with me," Aizawa watched as Midoriya tensed and looked at his hands, "You said that I was a good sensei because I have never hit you."
He slouched in his chair to appear smaller, and he made sure to speak gently as he asked, "When you were still quirkless, did your teachers hit you?"
Midoriya's hands were shaking just a bit, and the tips of his ears were tinged pink.
"Well… um…" Midoriya shifted a bit, and brought his knees up to his chest. "They… They never hit hard enough to hurt so it doesn't really matter. I shouldn't have told you anything I was just being whiny."
Aizawa would have to take this Nedzu, he himself stood no chance against Aldera, but Nedzu could and would happily tear it down.
Hound Dog should also have a word with Midoriya, a therapist would do him good.
"Midoriya, it doesn't matter if it didn't hurt or not. They should have never touched you. No teacher should ever hit their students."
"How else were they supposed to—"
"Midoriya." Aizawa tried to stay gentle, but he also made sure to be firm. "What they did was wrong. There is never a good reason to hurt someone, especially a child."
"But it didn't hurt! I promise it didn't hurt, and they didn't even really hit me! It was more or tap— or— or a…"
Midoriya stumbled until he gave up, then wiped away the tears running down his cheeks, and hid his face behind his knees.
"Midoriya." It was softer than before, calmer and less firm. "They hit you hard enough to hurt, didn't they?"
Midoriya stayed still for just a moment, but then he spoke in murmer.
"They would hit the back of my head or twist my ears, or just slap my mouth if I got too loud."
"Is that all they would do?"
Midoriya pulled the blanket from the foot of the bed, and wore it around his head and shoulders like a cloak.
"... I don't want to talk about it."
Aizawa decided that made Midoriya tell him enough, and that he could rest of it later.
"Okay, but just so know," Aizawa didn't smile, but his tone was warm, "I'm happy that you're my student."
Midoriya didn't look like he believed him.
But that was okay, because Aizawa would say it again tomorrow.
And the day after that.
And he would say it again and again until Midoriya believed it.
And each and every time, he would mean it.