Chapter Text
“Eraser, come look at this kid.” Shouta lifts his head, following the voice. He sighs, pushing off of his place against the wall.
“What is it, Mic?” Shouta exhales, leaning against the other man's chair.
“That one there, is that who I think it is?” Present Mic asks, pointing at the screen.
Shouta squints at the screen, following the finger pointed at a boy with green hair. Shouta freezes the frame and sends it to a tablet that he takes. His eyes scan over the boy taking in his green hair, deep green eyes, and slightly round freckled face. Shouta finds him familiar, but the determined look in the kid's eye confirms it for Shouta. “Son of a bitch.” He mutters to himself.
“Well?” Mic presses.
“That’s him, alright. Looks just like her.” Shouta sighs, rubbing at his temple.
“Who?” Midnight asks. This catches the attention of a select few other teachers.
“We’ve got another Midoriya.” Present Mic announced.
✒︎✒︎✒︎
“Is that everything, dear?” Inko asks as she finishes putting fresh linens on the bed.
Toru smile’s at the woman, “That’s all, Auntie.” She bites her tongue to keep from reminding the older woman that she doesn’t need to make the bed or do anything for Toru. Toru was home to help care for Inko, not vice versa.
“Did you bring back the whole continent with you, Toru?” Izuku grumbles ––he was the one who offered to carry her things up the stairs–– as he places a box in the corner.
Toru giggles at the fake struggle the teen is putting on. “Only half,” She grins at him. “Oh, that’s actually for you.” She takes notice of the label on the outside of the box.
“For me?” Izuku ponders, lifting the box again. “What is it?”
“You’ll just have to open it and find out. Think of it as congrats on getting into UA and a sorry for not being around for a while.” Toru weakly smiles, throwing an arm around his shoulders.
Izuku’s eyes light up as he darts from the room with the box. Inko and Toru laugh before the older woman begins to cough. “Auntie, sit down. You’ve already done too much.” Toru grabs her aunt by the forearms and sits her on the bed. “Okay, deep breaths. In and out.” Toru begins doing the breathing exercise with Inko until her breathing is under control again.
“Thank you, Toru. I’m not sure what we’d do without you.” Inko smiles.
“It was time for me to come home. I’m happy to be able to help.” Toru replies. “Come, let’s sit you down on the couch so you can watch your show.” She holds her hand out to the woman, who smiles, letting her be helped to her feet.
Once Inko is situated, Toru walks through the apartment to check on Izuku. She knocks on the threshold of his room, “How’s it going, champ?” She asks, leaning her head in.
“This is so cool, Toru!” Izuku exclaims. He’s still digging through the large box of hero merch. “I’ve never even seen these!” He holds up boxes of mini figurines.
“I got them from some of my friends. Some of them are prototypes that ended up not going to mass production. So, you’re a lucky kid.” Toru chuckles, leaning against the door frame.
“You’re kidding!” Izuku’s eyes widen as he looks at the box.
“There’s six years' worth of apologies. Though I’m sure it’s not enough, I’ll do my best to make it up to you.”
“Don’t worry about it, Toru! You still called and sent gifts on my birthday and Christmas. You were busy being a hero, I get it.” Though his bright smile fades slightly, Izuku means every word he’s saying.
Toru’s heart sinks thinking about Izuku’s statement. ‘You were busy being a hero.’ Far from it. If Izuku knew the real reason she’d stayed away from home for so long–– Toru shuddered at the thought.
Toru goes to reply when her phone begins ringing.
Shouta Aizawa
“I better take this.” Izuku waves her off, wholly engrossed in the box of Hero trinkets. She steps across the hall into her room.
“Toru speaking.”
“I need you to check the email I just sent you.”
“Straight to the point, I see.” She rolls her eyes and puts the call on speaker. Opening her email, she loads the one from Shouta.
“That’s him, isn’t it?” Shouta asks.
His words are like a dull buzzing as Toru watches the video clip. Her breathing becomes shallow as she watches the lightning-like power zap around his body. Nearly choked on air, watching his body break with how unprepared his body was—no is.
“Y–Yeah.” She stutters. She needed to make many more phone calls now. She needed answers, and she knew very well she wouldn’t get them from Izuku. “Yeah, that’s Izuku.”
“He’s in my class. Toru, do I need to worry here? I know you’re watching that clip over and over. He won’t make it in the hero course, let alone life if his quirk does that to him every time he uses it.” She can hear the worry in her friend's voice. “Why didn’t you tell me he was taking the exam? Why didn’t he take the recommendation exam? He could have with you being his cousin.”
“I didn’t know he was taking it, Sho. I know UA has always been the goal, even before I got in. You know I haven’t exactly been around the last few years.” Toru sighs, finally closing out the email. Her mind was whirling.
“I know.”
“Sho, just give him a chance, okay? I’ll work with him in his free time. Just don’t expel him out the gate, please?”
“It will all be determined by the assessment test, Toru, you know that. I can’t pick favorites, even if he is your cousin.”
“You can too, and you know it. You never have to expel any of your classes; you do it because you’re an ass.”
“A fine one!” Shouts from Shouta’s end of the call, but Toru knew very well who it was. “Zashi, call her yourself if you want to talk to her. This is business.” Shota grumbles.
“Your fault for having me on speaker.” Toru snickers. “Hi, Zashi. I’ll talk to you tomorrow at dinner.” She addresses the other man.
“He says he can’t wait. Neither can I because you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.” Shouta grumbles.
“Whatever. Listen, I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow. I’ll dig into Izuku a little.”
“Don’t you dare tell him I’m his teacher or about the test.”
“I would never! He has to be threatened just as much as the rest.” Toru laughs. She can hear the faint laughter of the grumpy man. They exchange goodbyes and Toru’s onto stressing over the video of Izuku’s entrance exam.