Aizawa sat in his living room long after Midoriya Izuku had left. Midoriya knew how to make an impression, he would give him that. There was no better way of grabbing his attention than proving to him that his privacy wasn't as absolute as he liked to think. From a quick glance through the notebooks he asked Midoriya to leave behind, he could tell that the kid had a talent for observation. The drawings, while not the most artistic, were clear. And his analysis of their quirks? Midoriya could have only seen glimpses of fights in person or short, repeated clips that aired on the news, but his explanations of their quirks were concise and, as far as Aizawa could tell, accurate. If that skill was developed… Even if he didn't make it as a pro hero himself, he could be of a lot of help.

There had never been a quirkless student accepted into Yuuei before. Not in the Gen Ed course, and definitely not in the hero course. But that didn't mean there never could be. Could Midoriya be the first? Aizawa didn't know, but he couldn't write him off yet. He had had a good point about Aizawa's own quirk, after all. Blocking people's ability to use their quirks really only put Aizawa and his opponent on an even playing field. Without their quirk, people had to rely on whatever other training they may have had. But that only worked with people whose quirks didn't manifest in some kind of physical change. Most people didn't put much effort into learning how to fight without their quirks, and that put Aizawa at a clear advantage. But quirks that developed as extra arms, horns, things like that? Aizawa could admit that he did essentially fight quirkless, for all the good his quirk did him.

And Midoriya had figured that out. Midoriya had watched the very few videos that existed of Aizawa fighting, put together how he used his quirk, realized how Aizawa could help him, and somehow tracked him down to his apartment-an apartment that only the staff at Yuuei knew he had. Not zero potential indeed. Aizawa needed to speak to Midoriya's mother and soon. He had been right about the boy's age. Just starting his second year of middle school. That meant he had two years to get Midoriya where he needed to be if he was serious about being a hero. For such an unorthodox method of fighting the kid needed to be at Yuuei where Aizawa could continue to keep an eye on him, where the teachers were skilled enough to give him his best chance. But none of that mattered if Midoriya's mother didn't give her okay. Aizawa wasn't about to go and train a kid, someone who wasn't even technically his student, without their guardian's okay. Parents who sent their kids to Yuuei knew the risks that came along with being a hero, knew somewhat what they were getting themselves and their children into. Aizawa would afford Midoriya Inko the same respect. If she said yes, Aizawa would take on his little headache of a student. It might even be worth it in the end. Marlo mewed his agreement, ducking his chin under Aizawa's as the hero pulled out his phone and texted Midoriya his request.

He couldn't believe it. During the weeks it had taken him to track Aizawa Shouta down, Izuku had refused to allow himself to hope. Yes, it would be amazing if the hero agreed to train him, but how likely was that to happen? He had been told for years that he couldn't be a hero because he lacked a quirk. Been laughed at and ridicule every single time he talked about his dream. Nothing was different this time, and knowing that nothing would probably come from it, Izuku had still spent every free moment figuring out where the elusive pro hero lived. Even if Aizawa slammed the door in his face, Izuku needed to prove to himself that he could do it. That all the time he had put into gathering information on heroes and their quirks hadn't gone to waste. And then the impossible had happened. Aizawa agreed to help him.

As long as he got his mother's permission first.

Izuku didn't know which conversation he had been more nervous about. He would almost rather face Eraserhead's glare again than tell his mother what he had been up to. But he felt that that was almost the point. He had agreed to do what Aizawa said, and Aizawa wanted to meet his mother. If Izuku couldn't fulfill this simple request, how could Aizawa trust him in the future? So he had gathered his courage, sat his mom down, and told her what he had done. She had cried at first, both proud of him for continuing to chase his dream and angry at him for doing something like that without talking to her about it. Once she had stopped crying, Inko had pulled him into a tight hug and didn't let go. Ultimately she had agreed to meet with Aizawa though, and that was how Izuku found himself sitting next to his mother, Aizawa sitting across from them in the small living room of their apartment.

Izuku fidgeted in his seat as Aizawa stared at him. Was he expecting Izuku to speak first? What was he even supposed to say in this situation? Yes, this is the hero I basically stalked for over a month so I could find out where he lived? Introductions had happened as soon as the pro hero arrived, Izuku hovering nervously as his mother had taken in Aizawa's grungy looking clothes, his long hair in disarray, the scarf wrapped multiple times around his neck, before she had smiled widely and thanked him for coming with a small bow. At Inko's suggestion they had then moved to the living room where they could sit and talk more comfortably, but they had been sitting for almost five minutes without a single word. Both Izuku and his mother were nervous people by nature, but she didn't seem bothered by the silence like she normally would, taking the opportunity to look over the man who had agreed to train her son, leaving only Izuku to sit uncomfortably as the silence wore on.

"I'll cut straight to it." Aizawa said, his expression giving nothing away. "Your son has potential, even without a quirk. But I won't train him unless you give your approval."

"Y-You think he can be a hero?" Inko asked, wringing her hands. "You aren't just saying this because he asked?" Izuku wanted to protest, but he held back. His mother wasn't trying to hurt him. He knew that. She worried that he would get himself in over his head, that it would be too dangerous. He didn't blame her for being concerned. Her lack of faith, like always, still hurt though.

"Like I told him, I don't make it a habit of dragging kids into situations they can't handle. He has potential. As for whether he can be a hero? That's up to him. And things outside of his control." Aizawa answered honestly. "He has a talent for observation. Picking apart the quirks of others to know their weaknesses. If he can get into Yuuei, that's his best shot at making this work."

Inko's face turned serious. "And you can help him get in?"

"I won't pull any strings at the school, if that's what you're asking. But I can make sure he's prepared for the exam. Trained for the kind of situations he would face if he got accepted." Then he turned to Izuku. "I don't believe in lying to my students. This is going to be the hardest thing you have ever done. No one without a quirk has been accepted to Yuuei before. You would be the first. A lot of people are going to make assumptions about you. Judge you. Can you handle that?"

Could he handle being judged for being quirkless. Izuku would have laughed if he knew how Aizawa would react. "I'm already judged for that, Aizawa-sensei. I don't let it define me anymore."

Something shifted in Aizawa's eyes that Izuku couldn't read before it was gone, his face expressionless once again. "Here are the terms. I have a gym I train at in my time off. We will meet there twice a week to start. You will tell no one where it's located. In addition to those face to face sessions I will give you a training menu to follow. You will not deviate from this menu, is that understood?" He waited for Izuku to nod before he continued. "I will make sure it's at the appropriate difficulty. I also want a weekly update on your grades and schoolwork. If your grades drop, we're done." Inko sat up straighter at that condition, looking at Aizawa approvingly. "You seem to me like someone with an obsessive nature, but all this training won't do you any good if you can't pass the Yuuei entrance exam. Your schoolwork is important too, so don't ignore it. You fail to follow my instructions or give me reason to think you aren't taking this seriously, and we're done. Does that sound reasonable to you, Midoriya-san?"

"It sounds great to me."

"Thank you, Aizawa-san. I won't let you down!"

Aizawa took in the determined look in Izuku's face, the eagerness in his voice. "You better not." He said, not unkindly. "I don't waste my time."

It took a moment for the complement to register, but when it did Izuku's smile grew even wider.

People were often shocked to discover that Aizawa actually enjoyed teaching for the same reasons they found it difficult to understand his relationship with Hizashi. Aizawa appreciated his privacy, his solitude. He had a dry sense of humor that tended to go misunderstood, and he generally seemed disinterested in the politics of the pro hero community. But Aizawa loved teaching. He felt that it wasn't even too much of an exaggeration to say that he was good at it. Maybe that was why he was so frustrated with himself over what to do about Midoriya Izuku.

Midoriya Inko had agreed to let Aizawa train her son, and so Aizawa wouldn't hold back. He couldn't. Not if he wanted Midoriya to be ready for the entrance exam in time. An entrance exam that would require him to fight giant robots without a quirk. This was exactly why Aizawa had tried to tell them the exam needed to change. Sure, it was a fine way to test the strengths of students whose quirks manifested in some physical way, but for those that whose quirks didn't? There was almost no way they could pass that test without prior knowledge and training. Training that Yuuei itself was supposed to provide. If the entrance exam existed as it did today when he had attended Yuuei, he wouldn't have been accepted into the hero course. How many potential heroes were turned away because of an ill designed test? Aizawa would continue to advocate for changing it, but he had been outnumbered in that argument so far. There was no guarantee it would change before Midoriya took the test in two years. He would have to fight those robots on his own, and given his age and the fact that he wasn't a Yuuei student, Aizawa's normal methods weren't available. He would have to improvise, find some other way to push his student to his limits. And who knew, he might not even be working with Midoriya anymore by the time that exam rolled around.

Aizawa's phone vibrated in his pocket, the sensors alerting him that someone had crossed onto the property of the warehouse he used as his gym. A few minutes later the door slid open, the grating sound of metal on metal echoing in the open space.

"Aizawa-sensei?" Now that Midoriya had gotten Aizawa to agree, it seemed that he had remembered he was supposed to be intimidated by the hero. Aizawa could see him shaking from across the room.

"Over here, Midoriya," Aizawa sighed. While he couldn't say that such a reaction from his students was uncommon, he had thought that given the way Midoriya had shown up at his apartment, had invited him over to speak to his mother, that they would be able to skip this part.

Midoriya made his way to where Aizawa stood in front of a series of padded mats laid out on the floor, a stiffness in his movements that didn't bode well for their training session. "IamsogladyoumessagedmeaboutmeetinghereyesterdaybecauseIhadstartedtogetconcernedthatyouhadchangedyourmindand-" His words ran together as he spoke, his voice barely louder than a mumble.

"Was there an actual sentence in there somewhere?"

"I-" Midoriya stopped and then, with what looked like a conscious effort to speak clearly, said again. "I'm so glad you messaged me about meeting today. I was worried you had changed your mind."

"I'll work with you until you show me there's no point. Continue to give your best efforts, and that shouldn't be a problem." Midoriya nodded so quickly, Aizawa thought he might hurt himself and gestured for him to join him on the mats. "Now calm down. We don't have a lot of time, and you aren't going to learn anything if you are so worked up you can't even walk normally.

Once again, it took Midoriya a moment to settle himself, but he took a deep breath, that determined look returning to his eyes, and moved to stand across from Aizawa. "Before we do anything," Aizawa said slowly, "I need to know what kind of experience you have. I've been through your notes. You've clearly improved in you analysis as time has passed, but there are still a lot we can work on in that regards."

Midoriya's answering nod was more controlled this time. Now that the lesson had started his restless energy seemed to have shifted from nervous to excited. Aizawa would have to remember that for their future lessons.

"How much experience do you have in actual fighting?" They would start at square one anyway, but Aizawa needed to know how many bad habits he was going to have to spend time breaking. He tugged at the scarf wrapped around his neck absentmindedly. Something else to think about as well.

"Ummm. Not a lot?" For someone who seemed to understand the value of information, Midoriya wasn't giving him much to work with.

"Kid. Do you know how to take a punch?"

"...I've been punched a lot. Is that the same thing?" The innocence and seriousness of that question. What had Aizawa gotten himself into.

"No. No, that's not the same thing. Why?" From what he could tell Midoriya wasn't the type to pick a fight. If something had happened he wasn't the one to instigate it. Aizawa had a feeling he knew, unfortunately, but he wanted to see if Midoriya would tell him. When the boy shrugged in response, Aizawa dropped it. He would do something about that if it continued to be a problem, but for now he would have to trust Midoriya to let him know if it continued to be a problem.

Izuku was just coming to terms with the fact that training with Aizawa was going to mean a lot of silent pauses when the hero launched himself at him. Flinching back, Izuku almost lost his balance and flailed to stay upright, but the hit never came. When he opened his eyes, Aizawa's hand was a few inches from his face.

"Flinching like that is a natural reaction for a reason." Aizawa said when Izuku turned his attention back on the hero's face. "It's generally a helpful response when something is flying at your face, but for seeing what's going on? Focusing on what you need to do next? Not so much. That's what we're going to work on first. Now, four times around this room is a mile. Run six miles. Then we'll get started."

Izuku had died, or at least, what he felt now was how he imagined dying felt like. His mother had taken one look at him when he got back to the apartment after his first training session with Aizawa and told him to go take a bath while she finished his dinner. All Izuku wanted to do though was sleep, but Aizawa's instructions included a strict order not to skip meals. He knew it was going to be difficult. He had heard the rumors about Aizawa from some of his Yuuei students while he was tracking down the hero's apartment. There's a difference in hearing about what a tough teacher he is though, and actually living it. The rumors didn't do him justice. After running six miles, Izuku already felt like he was going to collapse, but Aizawa was just getting started. He had Izuku go through all of the normal P.E fitness tests, Aizawa taking careful notes of his results the whole time. Then they had moved back to the mats where he then walked Izuku the correct way to throw a punch. Once Izuku had that down Aizawa had told him to try to hit him, and that was where the real training began. Everything hurt, and Izuku knew he would be sore in the morning when he got up to run before classes.

He had done it though, and Aizawa had scheduled their next session, meaning Izuku couldn't have disappointed him too badly. For the first time, Izuku felt like he actually had a chance. He could be a hero, quirkless or not. And it was all thanks to Aizawa Shouta.

AN: Shorter chapter, but things are still getting set up. Next chapter will be much longer and should be out by Friday. Leave a comment and let me know what you thought!