Because there are now officially FOUR Aizawa's (Izuku and Hitoshi included) in this chapter. Aizawa will be known as Shouta for this chapter and anymore with his mother involved.
Also a fair warning here. There's a reason why Aizawa keeps his mother at arms length. She's not awful and she does love Aizawa and the boys, but she's toxic. I'm kind of basing her off of my own grandmother who I adore and love but at times can be mean and toxic and the same with my father.
Aoi Aizawa arrived at the hospital within two hours of Hizashi's warning. Which was impressive because she lived three hours away.
She was just as Shouta remembered. Her black hair tied up into a tight knotted bun on the back of her head. Out of the bun her hair was very similar to Shouta's own. Wavy and hard to control unless put up to keep out of the face. The difference here is that Aizawa didn't mind it when his hair was down, but his mother couldn't stand it.
She, like him, preferred color to wear was black. Black goes with everything and was just a logical choice all around. Today, she wore her black and white checkered top, black skirt, and black heels.
Yeah, Aizawa was a lot like his mother in more than a few ways, which was why they tended to buttheads. That old saying 'you are your own worst enemy.' holds some truth.
"Shouta." His mother breathed out once she saw him sitting there in his hospital bed in his full body cast.
"Life-giver." He grunted in response; much to his mother's annoyance. His mother rolled her eyes before looking over at the other bed adjacent to Shouta.
"Er…I see you haven't stopped those boys from doing that." Aoi muttered towards Hitoshi and Izuku who were both asleep directly under the covers. A sign that they don't want to be disturbed by the world. Something they did as children and still do today. "It's… Shou. It's inappropriate at their age."
"If you came here to judge my parenting and my boys then you can leave." Aizawa would point towards the door, but the cast stopped him from doing just that.
His mother sighed. "Still so sensitive." She took a seat next to Shouta's bed. " And still completely in love with those two boys since the day you fostered them."
"Illogical. I was trying to keep them at a distance when I fostered them."
"Please. It's illogical to say you didn't care for them when you were first starting." Aoi rolled her eyes before letting out a short laugh. "I knew the moment I saw you reading a book on how to care for curly hair for Izuku that you were going to adopt them. I still remember your face while reading the book. It was the cutest thing! You had your nose all scrunched up like it was the most confusing thing that you've ever read!"
Shouta was glad for the cast as it was doing a wonderful job at hiding his blush.
His mother then reached over and gently patted his arm that was hidden by the cast. "How are you feeling?" Aoi changed the subject and Shouta sighed.
"I'm in pain, but it gets a little more manageable with each day. Especially when Recovery Girl comes in to help. I should be out of the body cast by tonight. I'll still be bandaged but at least I'll be mobile."
"Well, that's good and all, but I'll still be hanging around for the whole week to make sure you don't over do it! And I'll help with the boys."
"Please don't."
"Ah, too late. Already decided."
Aizawa was going to kill Hizashi once he was out of this cast.
"Mother, I don't need a babysitter, the boys can take care of me-"
"Between school, homework, and their own mental stability after this is all said and done? I think not. They can hardly take care of themselves as is."
"Mother."
"It's true and you know it. Look, I love those boys. I do, but they don't have the best mental stability-"
"Mother, they're right there."
"And they're asleep. Now-" Aoi got up from her seat and sat on the edge of his bed before lowering her voice. "Since you can't escape, you're going to listen to me for once, Shouta."
'Oh boy. Here we go again.' Aizawa could only think and was now wishing he could get up and leave. "I know you think you can do everything on your own. You can't. Especially not now. Shouta you're going to need help and those boys-" She pointed to the bed. "-Are going to be so focused on each other that they won't be able to help you. Scold me all you want, deny it all you want. But you know I'm right. Hitoshi is the worst of the two and we've both seen how he gets when he accidently regresses and you can bet your ass he's regressing right now."
"M-" He couldn't even speak as she cut him off.
"Now, I know, normally you'd rush in to help Hitoshi, but guess what? You can't. Not like this." She gestured at all of Shouta.
"Well, as long as we're being honest. You're not exactly the best at comfort, mother."
Aoi gave one lone dry laugh. "Well, we're just going to have to see about that. Aren't we?" She said in challenge. "Because guess what? No matter how much a fit you pitch, I'm not leaving until the week is over." She leaned down so her golden colored eyes were staring into his onyx colored eyes.
'A goddamned menace, this woman.'
Then she stood up and turned towards the boys and both of them had paused.
Izuku was up. He was just sitting up staring at them. His eyes were wide as confusion was etched across his face. 'Shit! How much of that did he hear?' Aizawa didn't even hear Izuku move and judging by his mother's reaction, she hadn't either.
Izuku blinked tightly. He blinked like when he opened his eyes again he was going to be elsewhere. When he realized that 'yes, this is where I am.' his confusion seemed to grow. He reached up and started to scratch his head.
"Let me handle this-" Aoi hissed before standing.
"Mother-"
"Why…" Izuku whispered. "...What?" He perked once he noticed his father. Then he said the words that will probably forever be the bane of Shouta Aizawa's existence. Izuku's breath shuttered in fear. "Dad!? What happened to you!?"
Click.
Izuku wanted to blink at the bright penlight currently being shined directly into his eyeball, but the doctor was holding his eye open, stopping him from doing so.
Click.
The penlight clicked off. And the doctor pried Izuku's other eye open. This allowed Izuku to shut his previous eye and spots danced around his vision.
Click.
The penlight clicked right back on and Izuku flinched.
"Well, good news. There's no immediate sign of brain damage." The doctor clicked his penlight off as he pulled away from Izuku who blinked vigorously. "It looks like it's just a case of acute amnesia."
"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of." Shouta sighed.
"It's not illogical, you know." Aoi jumped in quickly. "The attack was traumatic and he might have hit his head on the ground."
"It wouldn't be as bad or even as concerning if it wasn't Izuku having memory problems."
"Ouch. Dad." Izuku lamely joked from his bed as the doctor pulled away.
"Still, regardless, it's mentioned in his file that amnesia happens often. I'd like to get him in for an MRI scan. Just to make sure there aren't any tumors or anything else possibly affecting his health." The doctor then stood up, he then paused and looked down at Hitoshi, who was still asleep by Izuku's side. He said nothing about Hitoshi before walking for the door. "I'll be back." He called over his shoulder.
"You really don't remember the attack?" Aoi asked once the doctor was gone.
"Mother." Aizawa hissed.
"Why would I make it up?" Izuku instantly challenged without really thinking about it.
"I didn't say you made it up." Aoi huffed in her defense as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"No but you're implying it." This made Aoi flush a little and Izuku just looked at her in confusion before he lightly threw his hands up. "Why would I make it up? What do I gain from that?"
Aoi didn't respond but she didn't need to. Izuku knew exactly what she was thinking. 'Attention.' which in itself was ironic because Izuku hated attention.
Izuku sighed before wiggling under his covers a bit. "So…" He finally decided to say. "What happened?"
"What do you remember?" Aizawa asked right back.
Izuku put his hand on his head as he thought about it. His head was starting to pound just trying to fill in the blanks. "Bus ride." He groaned. "Todoroki sat with us because Aoyama had a belly ache…Bakugo was yelling. Tsu nearly caught on that we know you." Izuku recounted before groaning a bit in pain.
There was a flash of memory behind his shut eyes. A boat. Water-
Him shoving a rod through someone's eye socket and the sickening pop it made once it was fully inserted-
Izuku tried to hide his pain. Tried. But his head truly felt like it was about to explode from the pressure alone. "Villains. I think-I don't know." He shook his head as he answered. God, he hoped it was a villain he stabbed through the eye.
"Well, that's good, but don't strain yourself trying to remember, okay? For all we know this could just be regular traumatic amnesia like mother said." Shouta quickly told Izuku. "Once I'm up and running like normal we'll book another appointment with Dr. Watasumi."
Izuku didn't even fight it like he normally would. He didn't even groan in protest. Instead he just nodded. "Okay." He agreed without a fight. "I don't… I don't want to keep forgetting things." he whispered to himself rather than to his father or grandmother at this point. Then, he sat up more fully.
"So. This attack. What happened?"
After Izuku's MRI scan came back all clear, and after Recovery Girl kissed Shouta allowing him to heal enough so he was out of the full body cast. He was still bandaged and his arms and legs were in casts, but he was allowed to 'move' around again. Meaning he could stand and walk or rather waddle around. His movement was limited, but it was better than before.
They were all shoved into a car ready to go back home.
Hitoshi had woken up for a short while, but immediately fell back asleep once in the car with his head in Izuku's lap. Shouta had also fallen asleep in the front seat thanks to Recovery Girl's quirk, while Aoi drove them.
"Izuku?" Aoi suddenly chirped from the driver seat.
"Yes, Grandma?"
"You know you can push Hitoshi's head off of you. You're not a pillow, dear."
Izuku felt his mouth twist in a small grimace. He had a feeling he knew where this was going to go with his grandmother. "It's okay, Grandma. I really don't mind when Hichan rests his head on me."
Aoi inhaled sharply through her nose at this. "I get that you don't mind, sweetheart, but what will others think?" She asked in a rather patronizing tone towards Izuku while she smiled a sickly sweet smile at him all the same.
"Well…" Izuku blinked a little. "There aren't others in this car and I don't care what they think." He shrugged at her. Aoi frowned at this as she sighed out yet again.
"It's just… it's weird."
"Okay.. but you're aware that we went over something traumatic, right? You're aware that the Man with Axe hands was there, right? My brother needs comfort and love now more than ever right now. I don't remember what happened, so I don't need as much comfort, but Hichan does."
Aoi just let it drop after that with a soft "Yeah, whatever." in a dismissive voice. Izuku knew he hit a nerve, but it's like he said. He doesn't care. He can't really bring himself to care.
The rest of the ride was silent and Izuku ran his fingers through Hitoshi's fluffy hair. Eventually they made it back to the house in pure silence. Izuku woke Hitoshi as Aoi was helping Shouta out of the car.
"Mmm. Sleepy." Hitoshi groaned as he slowly stood up out of the car. He stretched his arms above his head before letting out another groan.
"C'mon, Hichan-" Izuku took his brother's hand and started to pull him towards the front door. "I'll get you to bed. You look exhausted."
"I am." He yawned as he sluggishly started to walk towards the door.
"C'mon boys, let's not take all day." Aoi grunted impatiently as she and Shouta came up from behind them.
"Mother…" Aizawa sighed sleepily as his eyes started to droop.
Izuku and Hitoshi both walked with a little more umph in their step. Izuku was the one to unlock the door and the moment he unlocked it he was attacked-
By screaming, crying, wailing cats.
"Hey kitties!" Izuku smiled as he lightly nudged them out of the way of the door to allow everyone to walk through.
Tora rubbed himself frantically against Izuku's legs, and Izuku couldn't stop himself from bending down to pick Tora up and hold him. Tora started to purr once he was being held like a baby. 'He feels lighter than I remember.' Izuku thought for a moment.
"Whew…that's ripe." Aoi made a repulsed face as she scrunched her face up. "Shoo!" She gave Chobi a light nudge with her foot. "I see you still have these cats."
"Of course. I love them." Shouta responded rather logically.
"I swear you're just doing this because I never let you have cats as a child. It's not my fault your stepfather was allergic, you know?"
Shouta snorted as Aoi helped lower him down to the couch. "It was hardly an allergy. I doubt it was an allergy at all, but I'm not ready for that argument again. Just lay me down so I can get some sleep, please."
"C'mon, Hichan." Izuku shut the front door and started to lead his brother towards his bedroom. "Let me help you."
"Oh, uh, yeah. No worries, just make sure you put him in his room. Izuku." Aoi spoke again in that familiar sickly sweet tone that was already grating on Izuku's nerves. And it wasn't just him either.
"Mother." Shouta huffed. "Could you please get me some water?"
"Of course, Shouta." His mother nodded towards Aizawa before focusing back on the boys for a moment, before turning and walking towards the kitchen.
"I'm going to lay Hichan down and I'll clean out the litter boxes." Izuku whispered to his father.
"Thank you, I'm sure Nem already fed the cats, but make sure they have food regardless. Oh, and please wash the litter boxes and put new litter in. I don't want to hear the old lady complain for the week she's here."
"No problem."
"I appreciate it." Aizawa sighed as he got comfortable on the couch.
Izuku went to put Hitoshi into his own room, but Hitoshi swerved and went directly for Izuku's. "I don't care what that hag says." He huffed in annoyance as they both walked into Izuku's room.
"Does your spite have no bounds?"
"It does not."
Izuku shut his door and Hitoshi sat down on the edge of Izuku's bed. His head hung as he shut his eyes. Izuku got down on his knees to untie Hitoshi's shoes. "I know you're exhausted. You were practically awake for twenty-four hours and only got four hours of sleep." He commented as he gently removed Hitoshi's boot before going for the second boot. "But I'm refusing to let you sleep in your hero costume any longer." Izuku then removed the other boot and placed it next to its twin.
He then went to his dresser and pulled out a tank top and sleeping shorts before throwing them directly at Hitoshi's face. Because Hitoshi's eyes were closed he jumped when the clothes were thrown at him. "Get changed and lay down. I'm going to go and clean the litter boxes."
Izuku turned to leave, but Hitoshi grabbed him, wrapping his arms tightly around Izuku's back and pulling his brother into him. "I'm glad you're okay." Hitoshi's voice was muffled against Izuku's back. "I was scared."
"I know you were, but we're fine now. So, please, just lay down and get some sleep." Izuku requested and Hitoshi mumbled again.
"You know I love you, right?" His grip tightened.
'That attack really messed him up.' Izuku thought.
"Of course, I love you too, Hichan. Now, get changed and get some sleep, please."
Finally, Hitoshi let Izuku go before falling back on the bed. "Mkay." He mumbled and Izuku left after that hoping that his brother would get changed.
Izuku then went to work on his chores. First, he fed the cats. Given them all kibble in their own bowls, which made them all fairly happy. While the cats were happily eating, Izuku moved on to the first litter box. There were two litter boxes in the house. One in the bathroom and one at the end of the hallway outside of Izuku's door. He went for the hallway first.
Izuku grabbed the litter box and went back to the kitchen with it. He dumped the litter into the trashcan and made sure to use the scooper to scrape any stubborn feces off. Once it was completely clean he went outside with the box, a rag, and dawn dish soap.
He was in the middle of scrubbing the litter box out with the hose when Aoi came out of the sliding door. "Hello, dear." She smiled as she sat in a nearby lawn chair.
"Hello," Izuku greeted her as he put the hose down and went back to scrubbing.
"Can we talk?"
"Aren't we already?"
Aoi crossed her arms over her chest. "Please don't get smart with me."
"I'm sorry." He apologized. "What do you need, Grandma?"
Aoi uncrossed her arms and she frowned a little. "I'm going to be real with you, Izuku. Shouta is probably going to be going to work tomorrow. He's as stubborn as a mule and I don't think I can stop him from doing so. I just want you to please keep an eye on him while he's there."
"Oh yeah, of course! No problem, Grandma. I'll absolutely keep an eye on dad."
Aoi sighed out. "Thank you… how are you feeling anyways?"
Izuku could only shrug. "Fine, I guess. Like I said before I don't remember anything that happened. Well…I am scared. I hate the fact that I've lost another memory and… I don't want to lose anymore." Izuku rinsed out the suds in the litter box.
"Well, there's something else I want to talk to you about."
Izuku shook the soaking wet litter box to get any extra water droplets out. "Yes?"
"I know you love your brother. That's fine, you can love your brother, but you have to see how inappropriate your relationship has gotten. It was fine when you guys were kids, when you were five-"
"-Grandma-"
"-Don't. Interrupt me. Let me speak." Aoi quickly hissed and Izuku shut his mouth. "As I was saying. You two are almost adults, you're training to be heroes. Don't you think it's time you two stopped sleeping in each other's bed?"
"No. If I need comfort, I know Hitoshi is across the hall and if Hitoshi needs comfort he knows I'm across the hall. We need each other, more so for Hitoshi. You are aware how many nightmares he gets right? and It'll probably double thanks to the USJ attack. He's going to need me now more than ever. And I'm sorry if It'll upset you, Grandma, but I'm going to be there for him, everytime." With those final words, Izuku stopped shaking the litter box and marched back inside.
From there he filled the box with fresh crystal litter and set it back in the hallway.
Then he repeated the process with the second litter box. Only this time when he went to wash the box out in the yard, his grandmother was gone. He found her later when he was putting the freshly littered box inside of the bathroom. She was setting herself up in the living room. Ready to call it a night on the loveseat while Shouta slept on the couch. "I trust you can make dinner for you and your brother tonight?" She had asked once he passed her buy.
"Of course, Grandma. I can make dinner for you as well if you'd like." Izuku gave her a little smile.
"No thanks."
And that was the end of their conversation for the rest of the night.
"-Dude! You're okay!" Kaminari had been the very first of Class 1-A to greet Izuku the moment he walked through the door. Kaminari rushed to Izuku and wrapped him into a tight hug. "I was so worried when I heard that you had a seizure!"
"I'm sorry- what?!" Izuku hated the fact that he was missing a big chunk of his memory and it really didn't help some of the looks he was receiving from some of his other classmates. It was a mixture of pity, but some had… concerned looks. Not like they were concerned about him, more rather that they were concerned about being in the same classroom as he was. Or that they were afraid. and he had no idea why.
Izuku may not have had an idea why they were afraid of him, but it seemed Hitoshi did. Because that was when Hitoshi marched right up to the podium with a renewed sense of vigor. "Listen up." He called to the class.
"I may not be your vice president anymore and that's fine. You don't even have to listen to me if you don't want to. But I am going to make one thing very clear for all of you. The USJ attack was traumatic, yes, you all saw and heard things that arguably…I wished you never had." Hitoshi scratched at the side of his neck. "But know this here and now, because I can see it in your eyes. All of you. My brother and I have nothing to do with those villains that attacked the school."
There was a silence for a moment as his words sank in. "But one of them called Izuku-" It was Tsu that spoke up only to be immediately shot down by Bakugo of all people.
"-Look, I hate to admit it, Frog, but I believe them. I watched as fucking Deku shoved a rod through that Nomu's eye and nearly threw hands with that Shitty leader of theirs." Bakugo put his feet up on his desk.
'So I did shove a rod through a villain's eye!' Izuku felt his eyes go wide.
"That's true." Todoroki hummed from his seat. "He fought the villains every step of the way and he never backed down-"
"-Well…I hate to be a buzzkill but, we're all still forgetting about that weird timelapse we all experienced. But maybe Tora I can explain it?" Kirishima said suddenly.
"Timelapse?" Aoyama inquired with wide eyes as he turned to look at Kirishima.
"Yeah, it was the strangest thing. One minute we're trying to stop this dude from cutting Tora H's head off then next thing we know we're all just standing there and Tora I is on the ground having a seizure!"
"..." Izuku felt his brow just furrow as he backed away from Kaminari before turning to Hitoshi. "I actually had a seizure!?" He demanded to know and Hitoshi sighed as he stepped from the podium.
"I thought dad told you-"
"You don't remember!?" Bakugo inquired with a bark in his voice making Izuku jump.
Izuku grabbed onto his arm. "I have to be honest with you all. I have no memory of the USJ attack, unfortunately. I think if I had a seizure I must have hit my head on the ground..." Izuku muttered.
Instantly whispers broke out amongst his peers.
Izuku felt like he was back in middle school again as the whispers were about him undoubtedly. He heard the words "What a coincidence." quite a bit as he took his seat.
'... They think I'm part of the villains now…' He thought rather sadly. Izuku wanted nothing more than to bang his head against a wall to force his memories back to the surface. So he could at least explain what they wanted him too. But he couldn't and that made him look suspicious.
He reached back to Hitoshi's desk. Hitoshi took his hand and gently rubbed his thumb over the back of Izuku's hand. A comforting gesture and one Izuku appreciated. 'At least I'll always have Hichan.'
The door to their room opened. Most of the class were in awe to see Mr. Aizawa hobble his way into the classroom, but not Izuku, and not Hitoshi. "Welcome back." Mr. Aizawa grunted in greeting to the class. Everyone, say for the obvious, in the class was too stunned to speak back to him as he made his way to the podium. Once he was in the center of the room, he spoke again:
"I'm glad to see you all well and are in good shape. Because you're going to need to be. Because It's time we start talking about the Sports Festival."
Alright guys, so I'm not SUPER happy with this chapter. I've rewritten this chapter at least four maybe five times that involved Izuku being questioned by Toshinori and Tsukauchi about his amnesia, it was also going to show a whole bunch of other things but no matter how hard I tried I legit could not get it to come out right. But regardless, it's done and now it's on to something I've been both dreading and loving.
Leading up to the sports festival. Don't worry it will not take as long as it did for USJ. I'm talking maybe one more chapter and then it's on to the Sports festival! Which will involve a lot more planning from me because… there will be changes.
Please leave a review as your feedback is important to me!
