"You sure this is a good idea, ribbit?"
"Come on, Asui. What could happen?"
Even though his voice was brave, Kaminari's hand still hesitated before reaching the door handle.
The elevator dinged, he let out a squeak, and teetered back as though he had been shocked.
"Oh hey!" It was All-Might. Kaminari visibly relaxed. "What're you kids doing out here?"
"Um nothing…" Tsuyu covered a little too quickly. They definitely weren't trying to get into Aizawa's apartment to see what it looked like because the entire class pressured them into it. Absolutely not.
All-Might just chuckled, and they couldn't tell if he suspected what they were up to or not.
"Is he here? I need to grab something from him."
"No, he went with Bakugo and Todoroki to training." Which is why Kaminari had suggested doing it today.
"I'm sorry sir-"
Kaminari glared daggers at Asui in a don't rat us out way, but she ignored him. Always the goodie-two-shoes.
"Aizawa-sensei didn't do the room contest with us. We just wanted to see-"
"You wanted to see what his apartment looked like?" Toshinori frowned. To their surprise, he stepped forward and opened the door for them. "It's nothing special. He probably would have just let you in if you'd asked nicely."
Two thoughts entered their heads as they stepped foot into the apartment- the fact that it was not what they expected, and the fact that All-Might had been up here without them realizing it. The latter they would surely gossip about later.
They had expected messy. For some reason, Aizawa just seemed like the cluttered type. When they entered, though, they found it lived in, but extremely tidy. It was a small apartment by any standard. The kitchen and living room were shared, and through an open door they saw a small bedroom. It was well-lit too, but they could see black out curtains on the bedroom windows.
The dishes were drying orderly on a rack next to the sink, the bed was made. A desk in his room had a few pens strewn about, but was otherwise clean. A dark wooden bookshelf was laden with titles they had both heard of, but neither read.
"See, perfectly normal." All-Might gestured around. "Now where's that form-"
He disappeared into the bedroom and plucked a form off of Aizawa's desk, then pulled out his phone so he could shoot him a text.
"Alright, we should probably get out of here." Toshinori turned to find the pair at the bookshelf, "Don't touch anything!"
But it was too late. Kaminari had pulled off a picture frame and he held it.
"Who's this?"
"Wait," Tsuyu peered forward over his shoulder, "is that-?"
"Oh, it's Mic." All-Might had appeared over Kaminari's other shoulder.
They recognized Aizawa (it wasn't like he'd changed all that much) and Present Mic (mostly by his hairstyle) but the third boy was a mystery. Mic had his arms around both of their shoulders. Although straight-faced in the photo, it was probably the only time Aizawa looked like he did want to be there. He looked...happy.
"Didn't peg him for the sentimental type." The boy commented before replacing the photo.
"Hmm-" Toshinori paused a moment, glaring at the frame. What're the odds he'd notice?
A smirk appeared on his thin face.
He left Kaminari's side and ran back into the bedroom. A drawer in the desk opened, then he reappeared, holding another frame.
"As far as I know, this is the only other photo he has."
A week before the summer-training-camp-from-hell, Ashido had insisted that the group re-do their class outing. It resulted in an impromptu family dinner at a restaurant in town. She had asked All-Might if he wanted to come, but he was off doing hero duties. Aizawa had been unreachable (in reality, he was just taking a very long nap). At some point during the event, Momo had taken a photo of all of them. Even Bakugo, who'd been dragged out by Kirishima, lingered in the back with a scowl. The photo had been emailed to Aizawa (although Asui figured Ashido was just doing it to be nice).
That photo was what All-Might presented them. It was in just a simple frame, but it was there.
His phone chirped in his pocket. "Oh, they're headed back. We should get out of here."
Kaminari and Tsuyu passed each other a look as All-Might took the photo and returned it to the drawer. They would have to tell the others about this….Ashido would be ecstatic.
He ushered them out of the room, and the kids followed him downstairs to see him off. Almost as soon as he was gone, they were practically jumped on by every member of Class 1-A.
When Aizawa returned, he found the kids already at dinner. Bakugo and Todoroki hurried to the table to eat, leaving him to trek upstairs alone.
He wasn't a neat freak by any means, but he kept his space tidy enough to know when something was amiss. As soon as he entered, he felt it….like someone else had been in here.
Toshinori had been in here to grab a form, he knew that. Upon inspecting his bookshelf, he noticed a picture was out of place slightly. He could see the original placement in the dust, which he made a mental note to clean out that weekend. Then he turned, and found what made him so unsettled.
His desk drawer was open...maybe by a half inch.
Toshinori knew about the photo, but why would he pull it out?...unless…
"Dammit-"
His kids had been in there.