Guys! I'm back! I am so sorry for the few weeks wait, I hit writer's block at a point in this chapter, so I didn't write for a couple weeks. But then I forced myself to get past that point, and pounded the rest out in a couple days. So, yay me!

Umm, I guess I should mention there is a panic attack in here. I think. I'm not really sure what a panic attack is, besides what I've read from MHA fics, but, just thought I should let you all know anyways?

Enjoy!

Izuku had always been alone, except for his mother. Well, that's not true. Before he was diagnosed as quirkless, he had Kacchan, and Kacchan's parents, and a few other friends. After his diagnosis though, Kacchan became a bully, along with every other kid he could have possibly called a friend, and he didn't see Kacchan's parents as much, since the two boys weren't friendly anymore.

It didn't matter all that much to him, since he still had his mom. He trusted her, when she said that she'd always be there for him, and that was all he needed. Sure, it would have been nice to have some friends, or to have another adult he could trust and rely on, since his dad had left when he was little. But it was fine. Izuku had his mom.

Until...he didn't. She left him, and while he knew it wasn't her fault, that she hadn't meant to leave him, and break her promise, he still felt betrayed deep down, and he felt alone. No—he was alone.

His mother was gone, and with her, the last adult he trusted. He didn't have any trust left, no one he could rely on. It was gone, like her.

He remembered the moment where everything came crashing down, when he saw his mother, lying still in her bed, and everything after that was foggy, until a nurse at the hospital was kneeling down in front of him, hands on his shoulders, and telling him that he was alone. His mom was gone, and he was taken to an orphanage.

He had briefly hoped there that he could trust the adults there, since he knew right away that the kids wouldn't like him, but that hope, too, was dashed. He had stood in front of the head mistress of the orphanage, tears rolling down his cheeks, and a fresh bandage on his arm, as she blamed him for getting into trouble again, then walked away. Just like every. Single. Adult. Before. Except his mom, but she was gone. Not coming back. Left him.

He felt something else in him break then, but he was already so broken inside, and had almost always been chipped and cracked, that he didn't think one more break would make that much of a difference.

And then he met All Might, and he had the smallest sliver of hope that maybe he could trust him, even if he would never see him again, after he saved him from the sludge villain. He would maybe have another adult who he could trust, at least in his mind. But...that shattered too, when All Might told him he couldn't be a hero without a quirk.

And even though, after that, All Might had said that he could have his quirk, and become a hero, that trust that Izuku wished for still wasn't there. He didn't know why, but he couldn't fully trust All Might. Yes, he could trust him with his life, but not with himself. He couldn't trust All Might to support him without a quirk, to be there for him in any aspect of his life, to just be an adult for a hurting child. So there was still no trust in Izuku, that space on his heart was blocked off, surrounded by a cracked outer shell, and he didn't know if there was anyone that could open it.

But now...he had Mr. Aizawa. Or at least, he thought he did. He had kind of forgotten what it was like to trust someone, but he could feel something for Mr. Aizawa that he didn't for anyone else. It was like, warmth, and a feeling of safety, and comfort. He felt like...he could be himself, and not get judged, or hurt. It was...nice.

But now...that man who made him feel all that, wasn't here. Izuku was alone again, when he had though Mr. Aizawa should be there. Why wasn't he there?

Through the haze of his mind, and the sound of his erratic, shallow breaths—too fast, not here, it's hot, can't trust—he barely registered the thumps that slowly got closer to him. If he had been able to focus more, he might have recognized them as footsteps, and realized that Mr. Aizawa was coming back. But he didn't, so instead, he just reacted as he always did when he was panicking, and heard something he didn't recognize. He curled up even further into a ball, hugging his knees, elbows tucked up to his chest, and hands trying to cover his ears as well as keep his legs in place.

After a bit, he didn't know whether it was hours or seconds or minutes, he heard something else, it sounded nice, kinda deep, and smooth. It sounded like Mr. Aizawa, but no, he left, can't be here, left you, you're not loveable, not him, and just knowing that it wasn't Mr. Aizawa, whom Izuku really wanted, made the boy cry all the harder, and his breaths come even faster. At this rate, he registered somewhere in the back of his mind, he wasn't sure whether what he was doing could even be considered breathing. It didn't feel like it, with the way his lungs felt pressured, like something was weighing down on them, like he just kept breathing air that went into his lungs and disappeared, without giving him the precious oxygen he needed.

His breaths stuttered at the feel of a hand on his back, rubbing large circles into his skin, and pressing just hard enough to be grounding, but not hard enough to make him panic even more. That was nice. After a few moments, he even registered that the pattern was being rubbed in a certain timing, slow and steady, and he started trying to match his breaths to it. It didn't work at first, and more tears leaked out of his eyes, but he kept trying, and eventually he thought his breaths had slowed down some.

He could still hear the voice, but as his breathing calmed, he could make put some fuzzy words. "I...ku...ddo...Ca...m...eathe...slow...own...at's it...oing good...iddo...with me?...ight here...there you go, good job, just breathe slowly, kiddo, that's it, I'm right here, just breathe."

Izuku hiccupped, and whimpered, but he could see Mr. Aizawa in front of him when he opened his eyes. His teacher's face had a soft and calm expression on it, but Izuku could also see the same worry in his eyes that had been there before. It was nice, but it just made Izuku shake harder, this time with tears.

Mr. Aizawa was sitting beside Izuku on the edge of the bed, one hand still on the boy's back, rubbing the circular breathing pattern into it, and the other hovered by the man's side, fingers almost seeming to be twitching.

"Thought you l-left," Izuku mumbled out, inching closer to the man as he breathed in a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry, Izuku, I didn't mean to make you think that. I was just out making some breakfast, and getting some cooler water." He gestured to the side, and Izuku glanced over briefly, seeing a bowl filled with water in it, before he looked back up to his teacher.

"Sorry, 'm sorry, didn't m-mean to...to over-overreact," Izuku sobbed out, crawling slowly into the man's lap, and pressing up against his chest. He didn't know if he would get pushed off, if Mr. Aizawa didn't want him there, but he wanted to be held, and he didn't think Mr. Aizawa would, but you never know, and beside, who would want a fifteen year old crawling into their lap after crying cause they were left alone for two minutes, that's just pathetic.

With those thoughts running through his mind, Izuku whimpered softly, then started shifting back off the hero's lap, but was stopped by strong arms tightening around him.

"You're not pathetic, Izuku," Mr. Aizawa started with, tightening his grip even more for a second, in what was almost a hug. Izuku realized that he had said all that out loud, stupid mumbling, but those thoughts were halted by his teacher continuing. "And you don't have to apologize, cause you didn't overreact. You were alone, and you got scared. That's only natural, especially when you're sick. And I don't mind you sitting on my lap, okay? If that's what you want, then you can do it. I just want you to feel comfortable, okay, Problem Child?"

Izuku choked on his tears when he went to respond, so only nodded his head frantically in reply, then clutched at Mr. Aizawa's shirt. After a few minutes, when he had gotten his breathing and tears under control, Izuku let out one last shuddering breath, then sat up and slid off Mr. Aizawa's lap, rubbing his eyes free of the dried tears.

"You want some breakfast, kiddo?" Mr. Aizawa asked, looking at him calmly, though Izuku thought he could see a soft expression in his eyes. Instead of acknowledging that though, he just shook his head, twisting his face in discomfort.

Truthfully, he didn't feel that bad, his stomach felt mostly settled, but he remembered the feeling of throwing up, and how awful and embarrassing it was, and he really didn't want to chance it.

"Izuku, you need to eat something. And I want you to take some more medicine for your fever, but you can't do that on an empty stomach," Aizawa explained gently and calmly, not getting upset at how babyish Izuku was being. "How about I just make you a slice of toast with some jam on it, sound good?"

Swallowing once, and realizing how good that actually sounded, Izuku nodded his head quickly, then winced at the pain it brought. He was still sick, right, and his headache seemed worse this morning, especially since he just woke up.

"I'll go make you a toast, you can use the bathroom if you want, alright?" Mr. Aizawa asked, and to which Izuku just hummed in reply.

The hero patted Izuku's knee gently, then slid off the bed and walked out, leaving Izuku to get ready. The greenette inched himself off the bed and padded out of the room and into the bathroom.

A few minutes later he walked out of the bathroom, teeth brushed and hair combed—well, as combed as it could get—to the smell of toast. His stomach grumbled as he walked into the kitchen, and saw Mr. Aizawa standing at the counter, spreading some jam on a slice of toast.

Mr. Aizawa turned as Izuku paused in the doorway, with the plate of toast and jam in his hand. "Just on time," he said, "though there's no rush, you can eat it whenever. And if you can't eat it all, that's fine."

"Kay, Izuku said, appreciating the lack of pressure. Before he could take more than two steps towards the table, Mr. Aizawa continued.

"Do you wanna eat that on the couch, Kiddo? We can watch a movie if you want." He was still holding the plate loosely in his hand, and waited as Izuku thought for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing, before nodding.

"Alright then," his teacher stepped forward, slowly nudging Izuku's shoulder when he got to him, turning him back around and walking till they were in the living room.

Mr. Aizawa made sure Izuku was settled on the couch, getting him a pillow and a blanket, before he handed him his breakfast. Then, he sat down himself on the other side of the couch, grabbed the remote from amongst the stacks of papers on the coffee table, and turned on the TV.

As Izuku started taking small bites of his toast and jam, after thanking Mr. Aizawa of course, the hero started flipping through movies on one of the networks, and eventually stopped on "My Neighbor Totoro", a Studio Ghibli movie, which got a not of approval from Izuku.

They both relaxed as the movie played. Part way through, Izuku finished his food, so he placed his plate down on the table, and rearranged himself on the couch so he was laying down on his side over two thirds of it, feet and legs curled up against the armrest, and head about a foot away from Mr. Aizawa's thigh.

When the movie was over, the end credits playing, Izuku looked to the side to see Mr. Aizawa, and had to blink and readjust his vision when he ended up looking at the wrong thing. He had craned his head to the correct angle for seeing Mr. Aizawa's face, he was sure of it. But now he was looking at the man's other shoulder...what happened?

Izuku slowly craned his neck back until he realized what had happened, and when he did realize, his face heated up in an obvious blush. Somehow, during the movie, he had scooted over on the couch until his head was directly against Mr. Aizawa's thigh.

Quickly looking away, Izuku tried to scoot back over to the other side of the couch, but the pillow he had been laying on just rolled under his head, until he had to sit up anyway to rearrange it, at which point he just stayed sitting.

When he glanced to the side again with just his eyes, he saw Mr. Aizawa smirking at him. Izuku was shocked, since he never really saw Mr. Aizawa laugh, but he was also slightly upset that his teacher was laughing at him. But maybe he does laugh, and we just don't see it cause he hides it in his capture weapon? He doesn't have it on him now, and I can see it, but it's possible he's just more comfortable and able to laugh at home?

He was broken out of his musings by Mr. Aizawa's voice. "It's fine, Kiddo, I don't mind how close you get. Like I said before, whatever makes you comfortable."

Izuku licked his lips nervously, then nodded, and leaned his head back into the couch, trying to relax. His head hurt.

"You finished your toast, good job. Can you take some medicine to lower your fever for me, now?" Mr. Aizawa asked.

"Yah," Izuku replied, trying to focus on the medicine part, and ignore how the simple words of praise, for something as simple as eating a piece of toast, made him glow with pride and joy. Why did Mr. Aizawa always have this much affect on him?

The couch creaked as Mr. Aizawa stood up, and Izuku looked up at the sound. Then he watched as Mr. Aizawa walked around the couch, coming towards Izuku and slowly, purposefully, reaching out with a hand to ruffle Izuku's hair. It felt nice, and Izuku would deny that he leaned into it and smiled, but he would do so again in a heartbeat.

Mr. Aizawa came back a few moments later, a rattling pill bottle and a glass of water in hand, and sat back down on the couch. He shook a couple pills out onto his hand, then reached it over to Izuku.

As the greenette accepted the pills and popped them into his mouth, Mr. Aizawa said, "Izuku, I want to talk to you about something important. Do you feel up to it?" As he finished, he handed over the glass of water to his student, watching Izuku seriously as the boy started at him wide-eyed, before taking the glass and swallowing the pills.

"I—I guess so...I f-feel up to it, I just...I don't know—sure, I—I guess?" He stuttered out, rubbing his fingers along the side of the glass, making marks in the condensation built up along the sides.

Izuku was nervous, he didn't know what Mr. Aizawa wanted to talk about, but he said it was important, so it must be something serious, and, wait, was Izuku ready for this? He said he was, guess he can't turn back now.

He was broken out of his thoughts by Aizawa starting. "It's about you going back to the orphanage, Izuku."

Izuku's thoughts halted, his mind trying to process the words, but he just...couldn't. Was...was he kicking Izuku out? He probably got tired of him being so sick and helpless, and weak and pathetic, even though he said Izuku wasn't pathetic, but Izuku knows he was. He always has been.

"I don't want you going back there." Wait, what? "It's not good for you, Izuku, that orphanage isn't a good place, and I don't know how bad they are specifically, but it can't be good. Do you feel happy there, or even safe?"

Izuku was so shocked by this turn around, he couldn't even think of lying, so just shook his head. He didn't, he wasn't safe, and he definitely wasn't happy! When his brain finally processed that Mr. Aizawa wasn't kicking him out—not yet, anyway—he became aware of his shoulders shaking, and his breaths stuttering.

As he sniffled, hunching his shoulders up to hopefully stop the shaking, he saw Mr. Aizawa reach a hand out slowly towards him, and when Izuku didn't object, Mr. Aizawa took Izuku's hand in his own, bigger, calloused one. It was warm, Izuku thought.

"Are you okay to keep going, Izuku?" Mr. Aizawa asked, a concerned frown on his face. The man wasn't trying to hide it at all. His thumb ran gently over Izuku's knuckles, calm and steady, and oh so warm. It made Izuku shiver at the contrast between that, and the touch he received from basically everyone else.

He nodded his head frantically, wanting to know where this conversation would go. Mr. Aizawa looked hesitant, but he continued anyway.

"You deserve to be safe, and happy, Kiddo. You deserve a home, and a family. And I l..." Izuku looked up at his teacher, shocked. He doesn't think he had ever seen Mr. Aizawa hesitate like that before. Mr. Aizawa used the hand not holding Izuku's to reach out to the coffee table and grab a large envelope that was sitting there. Izuku had seen it earlier, but had disregarded it as something relating to Mr. Aizawa's teaching or hero work.

"These are adoption papers, Izuku. Nezu has apparently had them drawn up almost since the start of the year. Everything is checked out, and filled in, and even mostly signed. All it needs is my signature, and you could be legally mine soon, maybe even within the week, if Nezu has anything to do about it. I haven't signed it, but, Izuku, I need you to know, I will sign them, if that's what you want. I want to adopt you, but I don't want to take the decision out of your hands. If you're not comfortable with this, we can arrange something else. But, kiddo, please, please don't go back to that place." He ended his speech, gaze set on the greenette, who was looking back up at him hesitantly, tears pooling in his eyes.

Izuku's fingers twitched, and Mr. Aizawa squeezed his hand in response. He didn't deserve this. Really, he didn't. He was just a quirkless, orphan, Deku. And now he had a quirk, had changed the name "Deku" to mean something more positive, and Mr. Aizawa, a man he loved and looked up to like a father, wanted to adopt him? It was just...too much.

"And, Izuku, it doesn't have to change anything, if I adopt you. It can just be a legal matter on paper, and nothing will change between us, you can just stay at the school during breaks, without ever having to go back to the orphanage. Or you can come stay with me when you're not at the dorms, or really anything you want. Okay? I'm willing to be whatever you want me to be. I can be your teacher, your father, your dad, even. Whatever you want."

Izuku couldn't hold back his crying anymore. His shoulders jerked, his breaths hitched, his face ducked down to try to hide the tears and snot rolling down his face. It didn't work.

His hands were shaking, both the one holding the glass, and the one enveloped in Mr. Aizawa's own. The hero reached out and took the glass, still half full of water, with streaked through condensation on it, from Izuku's hands and set it on the coffee table. Izuku's now free hand then clutched at his pant leg, while the other one gripped Mr. Aizawa's hand back, and he jerked forward with another sob.

"Kiddo—" Mr. Aizawa started, reaching out towards Izuku with a worried look in his eyes,yet again—and really, Izuku didn't deserve for him to be this worried about him, for him to care. But before he could say any more, Izuku was diving into his side, face pressed up against the man's shoulder, and hands clutching at his shirt.

"Please!" Izuku managed to say, brokenly, "please sign them! I don't want to go back, I want to stay with you! Please, Dad! Don't make me go, don't leave me alone!" This was the first time that he noticed himself slipping up, and calling his teacher "Dad". His eyes widened, tears still flowing from them, and he tried to pull away. He was stopped, however, from a pressure on his shoulder, pulling him back.

Mr. Aizawa had reached out his hand around Izuku, gripping him gently around his shoulder, holding him close so he couldn't back away. After a moment, Izuku just sighed and sunk even more into his teacher's side.

Izuku sobbed a few more times, but after he had calmed down, he pulled away again, and this time Mr. Aizawa let him. As he wiped his eyes free of the tears, Izuku let out a shuddering breath, then looked up at his teacher, and smiled.

It wasn't one of his usual smiles, so bright they almost hurt the eyes, but most of those were fake anyway. No, this smile was small, but soft, and sincere, and it made Mr. Aizawa smile back, hand coming up to ruffle Izuku's hair gently.

"I'm glad, Izuku, really. I can't remember the last time I was this happy, so thank you," Mr. Aizawa said sincerely, his eyes holding so much emotion, so much love, that Izuku felt he could burst.

"You're thanking...me?" Izuku asked quietly, shifting his gaze down to the couch. He had let go of Mr. Aizawa's hand when he went to hug him, but he kind of missed it's warmth now. "I should be thanking you. You... you've done so much for me, and now you're saying you...you want to...to adopt me?"

"I do, because you're an amazing boy, Izuku, and you'll be an amazing hero, and you deserve a family, and a home. And I love you." He gripped Izuku's hand and squeezed once more as he said that last part, and Izuku couldn't even just be satisfied with him holding Izuku's hand again, because he was too focused on the last words that were said. "I love you". Did he...mean that?

"I do, I mean it Izuku. I care about all my students, of course, but I can't help but love you. You're kind, and sincere, and helpful, and cheerful even though you've been through so much. But I'm sorry it took you getting sick, and me finding out about...well, everything, for me to realize. But please, let me make it up to you, let me make you my son. That'd make me happier than anything."

Izuku felt more tears welling up, surprisingly, or maybe not, and he leaned forward until his forehead was pressed against Mr. Aizawa's shoulders. His voice was kind of muffled when he spoke, but his Dad could still hear the one word he said. "'Kay."

A few minutes later, Izuku just turned his head from where it was still leaning against the hero's shoulder, and looked at the envelope still sitting on the man's knee. He squirmed a bit in his seat until he was resting more easily against Aizawa's side, and reached out a hang to tap the envelope gently.

"C-can...can you sign them now?" He asked.

"Yah, I can sign them now, Izuku," Mr. Aizawa replied, with a smile easily heard in his voice, "but first, how are you feeling?" He lifted a hand up to slide under Izuku's bangs, and rest on his forehead.

"Fine," Izuku replied, leaning into the touch slightly, "better than yesterday."

"Well that's definitely good, and you do feel a bit cooler. But tell me how you really feel."

"Heh..." Izuku laughed, not surprised that he couldn't fool Mr. Aizawa. And he was starting to learn that he didn't really want to fool him. He had finally found an adult he could trust, and so he didn't want to hide anything. "My head hurts, a lot, and I'm tired. Don't feel so sick anymore, though."

"That's good to hear," Mr. Aizawa said, only then drawing his hand back. "you should be almost completely better in a couple days, then. It hit hard, but hopefully that means it will go through quickly."

Izuku just hummed in response, and tapped the envelope again. He didn't know why he did that, since normally he wouldn't have dared to be so demanding and pushy, but...he knew that he could trust Mr. Aizawa. His dad. So he did.

Huffing out a snorting laugh, Mr. Aizawa picked up the envelope and slid the papers out, then leaned forward to grab a pen from the coffee table. Izuku straightened up while he did that, but then went straight back to leaning against his side.

Over the next while, Izuku lazily, but attentively, watched over his dad's shoulder as the man read everything, or at least skimmed until he understood, and signed where he needed them to.

About fifteen minutes in, though, Izuku was fast asleep, face pressed up against Mr. Aizawa's shoulder, mouth slightly open, and body relaxed.

He wasn't aware when, half an hour after that, Mr. Aizawa put the papers down finally, and maneuvered Izuku's body until it was laying down on the couch, the forgotten pillow under his head, and blanket over his lap.

Mr. Aizawa stretched his back, texted the principal, and waited for one of UA's robots to come pick up the package of signed documents. Then he went back into his living room, ran his hand through his son's—almost officially—hair, and went to do some more of his work while sitting in the armchair. And if he occasionally glanced up at the still sleeping Izuku, and smiled softly, well, Izuku wasn't aware of that either.

And that's that! I honestly thought this was a shorter chapter, when I was considering where to finish it, but...it's not. But I think I'm almost done this fanfiiction! Maybe just one or two more chapters, then an epilogue. Yay!

The part in the beginning, where Izuku is flashing back to the points in his life where he realized he can't trust anyone, is the result of a comment by "UzumakiKido", who requested in a review for flashbacks of moments where Izuku's trust got shattered. So thank you, UzumakiKido, because I had a lot of fun writing that, and definitely did not almost make myself cry sometimes.

And yes, I had just recently watched "My Neighbor Totoro" for the first time before writing this, so...that's why it's the movie they watched, lol.

I hope you enjoyed!