Title: a lesson in protection
A/N: For the Problem Child zine! I couldn't resist adding Eri in, her relationship with Aizawa and Deku is adorable.
Summary: It was times like these, when Aizawa was patching up one of Izuku's injuries, that Izuku remembered just how much more he had to learn before he could call himself a hero. It was a good thing his teacher was here to correct his mistakes.
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Izuku had questions. He always had questions, if he were honest—whether he was in class, on patrol, or even just bumping into a professional hero by accident, he wanted to pepper them with queries until he understood literally everything. There was just so much he didn't know. Every answer just gave him twenty more questions.
It wasn't any different now. Standing in the middle of Aizawa's living room, Izuku couldn't stop the gears in his brain from turning. It was Aizawa's, Eraserhead's home, after all! A real pro superhero's home! He might never get this chance again and he had to make the most of it.
Unfortunately, that meant his very first question was a very unimpressive "Can I borrow paper?"
Aizawa paused as he kneeled at the front door, a hand on Eri's waist, the other on her foot. Looking over his shoulder, he raised a brow. "Huh?"
"Paper," Izuku repeated, feeling a little silly. He rubbed his neck sheepishly, his ears burning a bright, embarrassed red. "I didn't bring my notebook today—I really shouldn't leave home without it, I know, but I didn't think I'd need it for a grocery run. Next time, I'll make sure to take it with me. I won't leave home without it—actually, I might have to when I go on patrol. My costume doesn't have pockets yet."
Eri's eyes widened as she listened and if it weren't for Aizawa's steady hand, she'd have fallen backwards.
His teacher, for his part, just gave Izuku a flat stare. "Don't touch anything," Aizawa muttered, before turning back to Eri. Pulling off her shoe, he swapped hand positions and tapped her other leg.
Maybe it was too much to expect paper. Did adults even keep paper? His mom didn't really use any; mostly notepads for the grocery list and that was it.
"What about a pen?" he asked. Izuku had practiced writing really tiny on his skin for times like these.
Aizawa didn't even look back this time.
Well, that was just fine. Izuku prided himself for his memorization and fortunately the entirely living room was sparsely furnished. Beyond the basic tv-couch-table set, it was oddly empty, not even a picture frame on the walls. Maybe his teacher just liked things simple.
Or maybe it was a money thing. Izuku bit his cheek. His mother sometimes talked about being in the red, maybe his teacher was? That could explain his clothes, which were really simple, just black slacks with a long-sleeved brown shirt. Their class had made a betting pool on what their teachers' casual clothes were, and Mina, Minato, and Kaminari owed people money when he got back to school.
"I don't know what you're thinking but stop." Done, Aizawa stood up and gestured at a door further back. "We'll take care of your leg in the bathroom."
"My leg." Izuku blinked for a second before looking down. It had been a warm spring day, the kind where he could get away with wearing shorts. The kind of day where Aizawa, feeling generous, had offered to let him come with them for one of Eri's field trips to the city, this time to the local park.
None of them had expected a gang of small-time robbers to cut through as they fled a botched heist. Luckily, the scuffle only took a few minutes before Aizawa shut it down. Unfortunately, Izuku had scraped his leg in the mess while protecting Eri. By now, the blood had dried on his leg.
Eri made a beeline for him, her tiny hand tugging on his shirt's hem as she looked up at him with watery eyes. "Are you okay?" Her lip trembled when she glanced at his leg. "It looks bad."
Izuku shook his head, gently assuring her as he squeezed her hand. "It doesn't even hurt anymore."
Which wasn't a lie. The fact that he was at Aizawa's apartment had erased any feeling other than excitement.
"Didn't I say to go to the bathroom?" Aizawa asked gruffly, though his hands were gentle as he tugged Izuku further into the small apartment. Izuku had just enough time to peek at the open doors as they passed, taking in a kitchen and a spare bedroom before entering a small, cozy bathroom.
Letting go of him, Aizawa opened the cupboard beneath the sink, rifling through it until he pulled out a small red first-aid kit. "Alright, hop onto the sink."
Izuku blinked. "The sink?"
"Yeah." Aizawa tapped on the counter impatiently. He rolled up his sleeves. "I don't have all day."
There was something fairly nostalgic as he pulled himself up. Aizawa sat on the toilet opposite to him, resting the first aid kit on the tub cover as he opened it and pulled out some disinfectant. His mother had done the same when he was younger; playing with Bakugou and the others had left him with all sorts of scrapes and it'd been an almost automatic thing when he came home.
The spray stung and Izuku flinched.
"Oh, so you felt that," Aizawa muttered, pulling out a small cloth, scraping it against his skin as he wiped the injury clean.
Eri poked her head in nervously. "It hurts?"
"Just a little," Izuku admitted honestly—cleaning wounds always stung no matter how much he braced himself. "But it's fine now!" He gave her a thumbs up and she weakly returned the gesture.
"Good, it looks shallow," Aizawa muttered, pulling out the long, white gauze strips from the box. "Recovery Girl won't have to fix it."
Izuku shuddered, thinking of her big, sloppy kisses and the tiring drain after. "That's…good."
Aizawa's lips quirked—was that a smile? Almost a smile?—but before Izuku could do more than notice it, his expression was neutral once more. Wrapping the long bandage around his leg, Aizawa glanced at Eri. "You know where your glass is?"
Eri nodded. "On the rack."
"Good. Get your stool and fill the glass with water." Aizawa's expression barely changed, but Izuku sensed fondness. "Take your time."
"R-right!" Eri straightened up, nodding quickly, looking as determined as a warrior heading into battle.
"Oh, I don't need—" Izuku quickly blurted out but it was too late. She spun around and ran down the hall, her little feet thumping on the tiled floor as she ran to the kitchen. "—water."
"Izuku." And if Aizawa had been fond before, he sounded stern now. "What happened?"
"Huh?" Izuku blinked, not sure why the mood was so tense all of a sudden. Had he done something wrong? Maybe he'd gawked at the apartment too long? How long could a person stare before it became gawking?
"At the park." Aizawa tugged the bandage tight and wound it around his leg. "When the robber unleashed his spikes, you protected Eri."
"Yes." He racked his brain, trying to figure out what else he should have done. Clearly this was a lecture; he should have realized it before. Aizawa only acted like this when he was trying to teach something.
Aizawa looked up at him, dark eyes unreadable. "And?"
"And…" Izuku bit his cheek, running over the events in his mind. Aizawa had tackled the first robber and bound the second one. Another pro-hero had captured the third. The fourth had a quirk that unleashed spikes and he'd unleashed them in Eri's direction.
Izuku hadn't thought before pulling her out of the way, his body responding automatically. A spike had grazed his leg. After setting Eri down, he'd drop-kicked their attacker.
All in all, the whole incident had taken minutes.
Maybe that was minutes too long. Aizawa and the other hero had taken down three of them in seconds, after all. "I should have attacked the robber before he could attack us?" he guessed.
Aizawa gave him a flat look. He tightened the bandage and reached into the kit for a pin. "Try again."
"Uh…I should have…" Unlike with his other teachers, it was almost impossible to guess what answers Aizawa wanted. Ever since the first day they'd stumbled into his class, he never gave anything away, whether it was his lie about expelling them or the answer to what their class should hold for the cultural festival. "Guessed the attack and moved faster?"
"What do you want to do as a hero?" Aizawa asked, pinning the bandage in place.
"I want to protect everyone's smiles," Izuku replied, his skin flushing as he said the words. There was something embarrassing about saying it aloud, though fortunately Aizawa didn't laugh.
Aizawa pressed. "And did you protect their smiles today?"
"Eri wasn't hurt." Izuku froze, glancing at the door. "She isn't, right?"
Before he could leap off the counter, Aizawa tapped his leg. "She's not."
"Oh. Good." Izuku sighed with relief.
"But you aren't just protecting them, you're protecting their smiles." Aizawa kept his gaze steady as he explained. "Was Eri smiling?"
Izuku's eyes widened. The entire time he'd hobbled back to Aizawa's apartment, she'd pressed close to his side, her expression anxious. He hung his head. "No."
"You can't just protect others. You have to protect yourself too." Aizawa closed the kit with a small click. Getting up, he squeezed Izuku's shoulders. "That means helping without getting hurt."
He frowned. "But sometimes—"
"Sometimes you don't have a choice," Aizawa cut off. "And you will get hurt. But was today one of those days?"
Izuku flinched, unable to deny the point. If he had been faster or more prepared, he probably wouldn't have hurt his leg at all. "No…" He mumbled.
"Reckless heroes are dead heroes." Aizawa pulled open the cupboard and tossed the kit in. "Keep that in mind."
He nodded. Part of him really wished for paper, so he could write it all down exactly as his teacher had said it. "I'll be more careful next time. Thanks."
A soft pitter-patter of feet and they both looked at the door to find Eri slowly, carefully walking in. Both of her hands were wrapped around a plastic cup, water spilling over the rim with every step. Her entire focus was on the cup as she walked. "H-here."
"Good. I was thirsty." Aizawa took the glass and gulped it down.
"It wasn't for me?" Izuku stared, his jaw dropping.
Aizawa raised a brow. "Who said it was?"