Aizawa Shouta had a feeling that this new school year was going to bring him nothing but trouble.

Not only did he have to deal with All Might being a teacher of all things, he also had to deal with an apparent doppelganger running around that looked just like him.

The idea sounded impossible—improbable—not to mention highly suspicious.

Shouta has never been a very trusting person, but he was certain about one thing. He trusts Hizashi wholeheartedly. If there really was a near-exact clone of him causing problems, they would all have to tread carefully.

Actually, it was probably more than one clone, if he thought about the odd encounter he'd had the other day. Honestly, how anyone could mistake him as being their father was beyond logic.

He, Aizawa Shouta, was not father material.

According to the school roster, the purple haired teen was one Shinsou Hitoshi—a first year Gen-Ed student. There was no sign of the dark gray capture weapon in the records, but the student looked nearly identical to the boy Shouta had encountered the other day that he could recognize him.

Ironically, the teen did sort of look like him. If he squinted, perhaps. Mostly in the 'desperately needs a nap' department. But still, why would a kid like that call him 'dad'?

He digresses, but he would try to keep an eye on the kid. Just in case.

Back to his previous point on this school year being a headache—Shouta could already tell that his class was full of problem children. They were loud, immature, illogical. That was to be expected, considering they were still just teenagers. Though he did have to admit, they had some potential. He hadn't even had to expel anyone... yet.

Shouta had already looked over the results of their first class with Yagi yesterday—something he hadn't been made aware of. And honestly? He's not impressed.

In fact, he's downright livid.

How was it that on the first day of classes, two of his students had already been seriously injured while under the watch of a teacher? Not that he would consider Yagi a very good teacher, especially not after what he had seen.

He's mostly just angry that he hadn't been there to put a stop to it before the situation had a chance to get so dangerous. These were only first year students, damnit! They should not have been fighting each other on day one.

At least he'd already had a chance to call Yagi out on his idiotic decision—and talk to Nedzu about making sure this sort of thing didn't happen again.

But the fact Bakugou had been allowed to decimate the building with his volatile quirk in an attempt to seriously injure his classmate was not okay. Midoriya had broken his damn arm blocking that attack, not to mention been badly burned.

But it didn't end there. Almost immediately after the smoke had cleared, Midoriya used his unbroken arm to punch Bakugou.

Fortunately, he didn't used his illogically destructive quirk, so Midoriya hadn't broken any more bones. Bakugou's nose, however, was not so lucky. By that point the match was thankfully over, and Yagi had collected the two students to be patched up by Recovery Girl.

Needless to say, the match should not have been allowed to get to such a point in the first place.

Though, Shouta did have to admit that seeing Midoriya punch a stunned Bakugou square in the face right after that had been rather entertaining.

...Okay, he was getting off topic.

Regardless, Shouta hasn't known these particular students for very long—only a couple days now—but he's still able to notice that something was different today.

He uses his skills from being an underground hero to subtly scan over the room, though to anyone who didn't know him, he just looked bored. He's able to zero in on two students in particular whose body language was notably different from yesterday's.

Midoriya Izuku and Mineta Minoru.

So far, nothing Shouta had seen from Midoriya made any logical sense, and what he sees now just adds another puzzle piece that doesn't fit with any of the others.

Despite his clear anxiety about having just been voted class president, he also seemed to be... inspecting Bakugou? No, that wasn't right. The look showed some sort of confusion, but was clearly analytic in nature.

...Like he was trying to figure out a puzzle that didn't make sense.

Just like Shouta was.

He's not exactly sure what to make of that.

Right behind Midoriya, and rather inexplicably in Shouta's opinion, Mineta looked downright terrified. The boy was twitching like he wanted to look behind him, but every time his head began to turn, he would suddenly jerk back to looking very intently at his desk.

Yaoyorozu seemed to have noticed the change in behavior as well, and was glancing at Mineta with vague concern and... apprehension?

Something must have happened between yesterday and today to account for their changes in behavior, but Shouta isn't sure what that could be yet.

He sincerely hopes it had nothing to do with the doppelganger situation.

There's already potentially two of them—being Shinsou and himself—running around to his knowledge, and he really didn't want to deal with any others. He already has twenty hellions to look after this year. Shinsou didn't currently count, since he wasn't in class 1-A, and thus not his problem.

And in Shouta's opinion, just one of him was one too many, so the second Shouta that might be running around was really not appreciated.

The lunch bell rings, jolting Shouta out of his thoughts.

He watches through half-lidded eyes as his students pack up and file out of the room, talking amongst themselves. A few spare him glances as they go, one in particular being Midoriya. Shouta merely raises an eyebrow, which sends the boy skittering off to catch up to his friends.

If any of them had something to talk about regarding class—or anything else really—then they'd stay behind.

It was still pretty early in the school year though, so he didn't expect any of them to really trust him enough to confide in him quite yet. Things like that took time, and he hadn't earned that trust yet. He tried to make himself available to his students in whatever capacity they needed him in, though he could definitely stand to wait for them to come to him about things like relationships.

Being asked for relationship advice was always embarrassing in Shouta's opinion, though he never let on that he was effected by such questions—that would only make whichever student had asked the question less likely to trust him.

There were also the other cases, where a very embarrassed student would come to him asking for help with... more sensitive problems.

These were teenagers, after all.

Needless to say, he had one of the pouches on his toolbelt filled to the brim with things like pads, tampons, and condoms. Nemuri had ensured the brands he picked out were 'the good shit'. Not like Shouta had much experience with the first two, but he still made sure to pay extra for 'the ultra-thin ones, with wings, Shou!' and 'not the ones with cardboard applicators, and make sure to get multiple sizes!'

It was still rather mortifying having to keep his voice straight, and look a student in the eye as he handed over a condom and told them to 'practice safe sex, or else.'

The joys of being a teacher.

He waits for a few minutes after all the students are gone in case any came back to bother him.

But today, none of them do.

Once he's deemed enough time has passed, he unzips himself from his sleeping bag and stretches with a yawn. Guess he should get to the staff room so he could eat too. It may only be the start of the semester, but he still had lesson plans to go over as well.

And so he folds up his sleeping bag, spares one last glance over the empty room, and heads out.

He passes several students on their way to the cafeteria, but pays them no mind.

Shouta does take a moment to glance out the window as he walks down the hall, before pausing in his stride to look again.

The–vultures–media from this morning were still crowded around the front gates.

How annoying.

He's just about to look away and get back to more important things when something else catches his attention. A sudden flurry of activity which ends with one of the people on the ground, and a second jumping on top of them. Shouta squints, trying to see the distant figures better.

The scene is too far away for him to make out any distinguishing details, but he's pretty sure the one that got knocked down is now being tied up by the figure in all black.

What an illogical decision... attacking someone in broad daylight right in front of UA. Not to mention the fact they're surrounded on all sides by rolling cameras.

The hero part of Shouta wants to go down there and break up what's happening, especially considering he can see the now tied-up person being picked up and taken away. It sends a momentary rush of urgency through him. But unfortunately he's too far away to be able to logically intervene, and by the time he'd be able to get down there the figure in black would already be long gone.

Frustratingly, there's nothing he can do.

But with all the cameras recording the event, as well as Nedzu's own cameras on the gates, it's unlikely the kidnapper would get away with their crime. He can only hope they're caught before whoever they just took is badly hurt... or killed.

His stomach growls, reminding him that he still hadn't eaten lunch.

The hallways is empty now, so there's nothing stopping him from heading straight to the staff room.

He's taken by surprise when Nemuri throws an arm around his shoulders the second he walks through the door "Shouchan~ congrats on the takedown!" she croons excitedly, much too loud when she's right next to his ear.

...Wait, what?

Just as abruptly, Hizashi was hanging off his other side. "Yeah! That was a solid punch, yo!" he crows, also much too loud.

Shouta has no idea what they're talking about.

He opens his mouth to say so, only to be interrupted by Hizashi as he's guided—note, physically dragged—further into the room.

"You shoulda brought me with you, man! I wanna show those media bastards who's boss too, just like 'POW', ya' catch my drift?" Hizashi pumps his fist to accentuate the 'pow', as though he were punching an invisible person.

"You've got some real balls taking that guy out right in front of the paparazzi~" Nemuri says right after Hizashi's finished talking, once again interfering with Shouta trying to ask them what the hell is going on. She finally lets go of him to spin away, and plants her hands on her hips as she stares him down. "What'd you do with the poor sap anyways? You got up here pretty fast..."

How the hell is he even supposed to respond to any of this?

Brows furrowing in confusion, Shouta begrudgingly—to anyone who didn't know him, at least—lets Hizashi continue to hang off his shoulder. "What the fuck are you two going on about?" he mutters.

The fact that he really doesn't know what they're talking about and wasn't joking around must show on his face, since Nemuri and Hizashi frown and exchange glances.

Shouta rears back when Nemuri suddenly shoves her phone in his face. He scowls a little, eyes squinted at the bright screen and not able to make out much since it's so damn close. Taking a step back, he shoots a small glare at Nemuri, before looking at the screen properly.

It was a news article, and a video.

A video of him.

But it wasn't him, Shouta knows it wasn't him because he's right here.

'I'm not sure what you saw, but it wasn't me.'

...Well, shit.

The video wasn't the best quality, but it clearly showed the front gates of UA, having apparently been recorded live no more than fifteen minutes ago.

The reporter is talking as normal, accusing UA of hiding All Might from the public, and how they had a right to be able to see and speak with him. What a joke. But then, he watches with an odd sense of déjà vu as there's a flurry of activity just off-screen.

Much to his shock, he's already seen this exact scene play out on his walk here. He hadn't thought much of it at the time since he wasn't able to make out much, but now with the new perspective he can see much more. The camera pans to show the figure in black crouched over another wearing a hoodie.

An uncomfortable, squirming feeling overtakes Shouta as the figure turns and he recognizes his own face, albeit the other's being rather dirty, and that scar... that expression.

Cold dread sits heavy in his gut.

First his doppelganger had run into Hizashi on his way to work, and now he had shown up just outside the front gates?

It couldn't be just a coincidence.

And what about the person his doppelganger had attacked? What was the purpose of kidnapping a civilian in broad daylight, especially when there were so many witnesses.

"Hey!" One reporter shouts, shoving their microphone in the other Shouta's face before he has a chance to get away. He looks about as unamused with that as Shouta had been when the same thing happened to him.

"You're that scruffy guy from earlier, why are you attacking an innocent civilian?!"

...Okay.

Shouta knows they look nearly identical, but he takes offense to being called 'that scruffy guy'. There's also the fact now everyone thinks he's the idiot who just got caught committing a crime.

That might be a problem.

He can only watch as the other him ties up the unconscious person and carries them away despite the reporters protests. Some of them try to chase after the man, shouting their questions, but to no avail.

The video ends.

"Your doppelganger struck again!" Hizashi exclaims then, shaking Shouta a little with one arm. "And I was right–I did see another you!" His voice was still too loud to be right next to Shouta's ear, but quiet enough to not be overheard by everyone and their mother.

Not that he'd doubted his husband, but it was different seeing the evidence with his own eyes.

Grunting in response to being shaken, Shouta finally shrugs Hizashi's arm off and sighs. "Unfortunately..." he mutters, dragging a tired hand down his face.

Nemuri had pocketed her phone by now, and was looking between the two of them with narrowed eyes. "Is someone going to explain why there's two Shou's, or am I just supposed to come up with the answer myself?" she asks sardonically, one hand still perched on her hip.

Shouta doesn't want to know whatever outlandish answer Nemuri was currently capable of coming up with, thank you very much.

"We're not sure yet," he says before Nemuri has a chance to speak again. She looks disappointed by his answer, and he just shrugs. "All we know is that Mic encountered him yesterday, and now this."

"Wait–so you were serious about running into Shou before school? I thought you were just fucking around," Nemuri turns to Hizashi with raised eyebrows, causing him to sputter in offense.

Hizashi throws his hands in the air, which Shouta easily dodges. "Why would I fuck around about something like that?"

"Oh, I don't know, Mr. late to school because you 'saw Shouta' and just had to chase after him, but really it was because you just 'weren't feeling the vibes' for school that day," Nemuri deadpans, taking a step forward with a raised eyebrow to stare Hizashi down.

"Okay, first of all," Hizashi holds up a finger, cheeks tinged pink as he leans forward to mirror Nemuri. "I haven't done that since I was a teenager, so get your facts straight, yo! Second of all-" He holds up a second finger. "-I know what I saw, and what I saw was Shouta!"

Shouta steps between them with a sigh. "Break it up, you two," he mutters, and ignores the way they pout at him. "What matters is that there is another me out there causing problems, so we need to stay vigilant, and not fight among ourselves."

"We're not fighting, we're just having a friendly discussion~" Nemuri winks at both him and Hizashi, but she does take a step back. Her expression turns serious then. "But for real, what are we going to do about this?"

"Nothing we really can do, not right now, at least," Shouta says with a shrug. He finally plops down at his desk to retrieve his bento. Hopefully he could have a chance to actually eat now, and maybe look over some stuff, before they all had to get back to class. He takes a bite and swallows before continuing. "...It'll likely be brought up at the staff meeting Nedzu set up for afterschool."

Nedzu had suggested it after Shouta and Hizashi went to speak with him yesterday, so that was sure to be interesting.

Yes, this school year was most certainly going to be nothing but trouble.