Guys help I skipped work today

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Toshinori's heart hurt.

Well, his heart always felt heavy due to his condition, but it throbbed when Young Midoriya didn't meet his eyes. He sat down next to Aizawa, thanking Mrs. Midoriya as she placed tea down in front of them. The woman looked better than she had at UA, though the bags under her eyes were still present. Midoriya seemed to find his hands very interesting as they sat in his lap.

Mrs. Midoriya sat next to her son, attempting to give the two of them a pleasant smile. But Toshinori knew a false smile when he saw one. "It's not everyday that I have two pro heroes in my house," she commented lightly. "What brings the two of you here."

Toshinori allowed Aizawa to take initiative. If he was being honest, it probably wasn't a good idea to cross the man right now. "Thank you for having us, Mrs. Midoriya," he said politely. "We're here to discuss a few things. Due to the number of villain attacks this year, the school is asking the parents' permission to allow the students to live in dorms on campus."

Young Midoriya bit his lip. Mrs. Midoriya watched the two of them with keen green eyes. She took a slow, agonizing sip of her tea before leveling the two teachers with a mild glare.

"While attending UA, my son has been held hostage and kidnapped by villain's strong enough to take out All Might," she said, the epitome of calmness. Her eyes seemed to want to drill a hole in Toshinori's head. "On two separate occasions, no less. Why on Earth should I keep Izuku in UA, let alone allow him to live there?"

Toshinori had faced the Demon King of the Underworld twice and lived to tell the tale, yet he was in no way prepared for Inko Midoriya's cold fury.

Thankfully, Aizawa didn't seem as shaken as him. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I understand your concern Mrs. Midoriya," he told her gently. Gentler than Toshinori had ever heard him. "There is no excuse for your son's kidnapping at the training camps. We failed to keep him safe."

Midoriya made a strangled sound in the back of his throat. "Mr. Aizawa-" he spoke up for the first time. His mother put a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he fell silent.

"Rest assured, we are sweeping the school for security breaches," Aizawa continued. "An incident like this will not happen again." He said it with so much conviction, even Toshinori believed it. Losing a student- two if one wanted to be technical- must have really gotten to him.

"Mom, it wasn't their fault!" insisted Midoriya. "I went after the League after they took Kacchan-"

"And if UA had properly dealt with Katsuki, he would have followed instruction," his mother cut in. She stared directly at Aizawa when she said this. "The students were told not to engage, am I correct?"

Aizawa met her gaze unflinchingly. "Yes," he answered.

Mrs. Midoriya gave an unimpressed hum. "And Katsuki was made aware that he was the target?"

"Yes."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "And yet, he thought he was above the rules," she stated. She cocked her head to the side. "It seems to me that there's a correlation here. Mr. Aizawa, I've heard that you have a habit of expelling your students on the first day of school every year."

Aizawa's eyebrow twitched, a crack in his facade. Toshinori swallowed, remembering what he'd read about Aizawa all those months ago. How had Mrs. Midoriya found that out?

Suddenly, Toshinori vaguely recalled Young Midoriya telling him his mother was a lawyer.

"Because you feel that they aren't up to your standards, you feel the need to expel them," Mrs. Midoriya noted. "Granted, you usually reenroll them, but push them off onto a different teacher." She stared at the underground hero with piercing eyes. "Is this true?"

Something skin to guilt flashed across Aizawa's face. "Yes."

Mrs. Midoriya's face darkened. "So instead of putting the work in to teach your students, you simply get rid of them because you don't want to deal with them?" she hissed.

Young Midoriya looked mortified. "Mom," he complained, sending an apologetic look towards his homeroom teacher.

His mother ignored him. "As you may or may not be aware, I am good friends with Katsuki's mother," she told the teachers. "Mitsuki told me that you paid her a visit as well. She said that you found that Katsuki bullied Izuku at Aldera and continued to do so into UA. Apparently, you observed Bakugou's behavior these last few months, yet did nothing to correct it. Was this because he was easy to teach? Because he was such a prodigy that he didn't need to be taught?"

Aizawa's jaw clenched and for once, he had no answer.

Toshinori realized all too late that control of the conversation had been shifting into Inko's hands. Everything she had hit them with was correct and Aizawa couldn't refute it. Nor could he make a reasonable case against it.

"Mrs. Midoriya!" he exclaimed, a little louder than he needed to. The glare she had been giving Aizawa turned on him and he swallowed thickly before clearing his throat. "If I may, we've all made a grievous mistake when it comes to Bakugou. Our interpretation of the boys' relationship was that of rivals, not the bullying that it truly is."

Something that Toshinori was still kicking himself for. There was nothing he regretted more than failing to protect his boy. He should have been paying more attention, he should have put a stop to Bakugou's outrageous behavior. If he had, maybe Young Midoriya wouldn't have been taken in the first place.

He took a deep breath. "Our severe lack of judgement is to blame," he conceded. "You're right, we should have stopped Bakugou's behavior. We should have been watching the two of them more closely. We failed to keep your son safe."

Toshinori's gaze found his protege. "And I'm truly sorry that I failed you."

Of course, Young Midoriya was already tearing up. Toshinori gave him a soft smile.

Aizawa seemed to have found his composure. "As am I," he agreed, also looking at Midoriya. "Kid, it isn't a mystery as to why you never told me you were a late bloomer. I haven't done anything to earn your trust. I've let you down since your very first day."

The boy flushed. "Mr. Aizawa-" he protested.

Aizawa raised up a hand. "Please, let me finish. As All Might said, my judgement was askew. I made incorrect assumptions about both you and Bakugou and did you both a disservice. I swear, that ends today." He bowed his head. "Please, forgive me."

Young Midoriya stared at his homeroom teacher with wide eyes. "I, um, it's fine?" he stuttered. "I, er, thought you were a good teacher... Kind of the best I've had?" He winced, sending an apologetic look towards his mentor. "Sorry, All Might."

Toshinori laughed. "It's quite alright, my boy." Though, the implication that his other teachers had been that horrible made his heart even heavier.

Mrs. Midoriya's gaze had finally softened and she seemed to morph back into the kind woman Young Midoriya had always described. "I understand that Izuku will get hurt," she said softly. "I don't like it, but he's wanted to go to UA since he was four. He's wanted to become a hero his entire life, to smile when people are scared or confused or upset." Her hand brushed over her son's cheek as she looked at him. "If this is what you want, Izuku, I won't stop you. And I know you'll be a great hero."

And cue the waterworks.

Young Midoriya embraced his mother, crying into her neck. "Thanks, Mom," he sobbed. Toshinori beamed at the heartwarming sight, more than a little relieved Mrs. Midoriya's ire had alleviated.

But she schooled her featured. They weren't as sharp as before, but they were just as no-nonsense. "Now, onto what the school plans to do about Katsuki."

Aizawa cleared his throat. "Bakugou's past behavior, as well as his behavior in UA are being analyzed," he told her. "UA has a no bullying policy, one I should have adhered to more strictly. There will be two separate meetings, one with you and your son and one with Bakugou. This meeting will consist of Principal Nezu, Detective Tsukauchi, and I. From both the boys' statements, we will proceed decide what the punishment will be based on the severity of Bakugou's actions."

Mrs. Midoriya seemed satisfied. But Young Midoriya was shaking his head. "I don't want Kacchan to get in trouble!" he insisted. There was a frantic look in his eyes.

Aizawa gave him a dull look. "What if he had tormented Uraraka?" he questioned. Toshinori was impressed; it looked like he was learning how to get through to Young Midoriya. "Or Iida? Wouldn't you want them to feel safe?"

Young Midoriya froze. "I-I mean, of course," he answered. "But I wouldn't want them to do anything they didn't want to."

"No one is making you do anything, my boy," said Toshinori as gently as he could. "If you don't want to give a statement, you won't have to. However, your mother can speak on your behalf if she'd like to."

"And believe me, I will," said Mrs. Midoriya, vengeance in her eyes. Hell, he wouldn't want to be Bakugou right now. Inko Midoriya was out for blood. "Izuku, what he did wasn't alright and he needs to face the consequences for it."

Young Midoriya looked down.

"Kid," said Aizawa. "You don't owe him anything. Your upbringing has taught you that he deserves the everything he wants and he doesn't. You were told you were beneath him and you aren't. If the roles were reversed, would he be here, defending your honor? Would he care if you were expelled?"

Silence. Then, "No. He, uh, he'd probably be happy if I wasn't at UA anymore."

Guilt stabbed at Toshinori. How could they have ignored this? "Principal Nezu will email you," he said to Mrs. Midoriya. "The meeting is set for right before the doctor said Young Midoriya could return to school."

Inko nodded. "Alright," she agreed.

He and Aizawa stood. "Thank you for having us, Mrs. Midoriya," the younger man said graciously.

"All Might!" called Midoriya. Toshinori turned to face him and he looked sheepish. "I'm sorry, for All For One. It's my fault that you have to retire."

"My boy," gasped Toshinori. "Why would you even think that?" Young Midoriya sniffed, but didn't answer. The blond man sighed. "We'll talk about this later."

Young Midoriya nodded, but still looked upset. "Okay."

This kid was going to give him an ulcer.

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Idk if this is canon or not, but a lot of fics portray Inko as a lawyer so I'm going with it. It works well for this scene anyway (headcanon that in this fic the parents of the students Aizawa expelled sought legal action, but nothing came of it because HPSC gives Nezu free reign or something along those lines; no suicides because from what I read he does reenroll the kids under a different teacher so it isn't like their dreams are crushed).

I hope people can see Aizawa as redeemable this chapter, I really don't dislike him. Also Midoriya saying he's the best teacher he has doesn't mean that Aizawa's necessarily a good teacher. But compared to Aldera, he does learn a lot more under Aizawa and is treated better.

Anyway, I hope you liked it and please review!