When he first meets the tiny girl with the too long braids and too red cheeks, he thinks he's found another kid whose dreams he needs to crush. Despite Hizashi's constant need to tease him over "feeding on the souls of the despaired", Aizawa doesn't take any joy in ruining aspiring-heroes hopes for the future; he'd just prefer to be the one to say "no" over watching a villain kill them. Still, looking at this kids watery green eyes and shaking hands, he knows this one is going to hurt.
"You won't become a hero," he tells her, and means it. She'll be crushed, he thinks, if not by a villain than the publicity of being a hero. Every inch of this girl radiates shyness and timidity, and Aizawa doesn't see her making it past her first Sports Festival. He turns around, prepared to leave before the girl can burst into tears and make him feel even worse about rejecting her.
He is instead stopped by this: "Y-you didn't l-let m-me finish speaking!" Aizawa pauses and glances back at the tiny girl, whose fists are clenched at her sides and eyes shining with tears. Aizawa sighs to himself. Great, she's a brat.
"I don't have to," he says. "You aren't hero material." It's better to be blunt and get the message across quickly, Aizawa knows from experience. Drawing it out only gives them false hope.
The girl clenches her jaw and declares, "I th-think I am." She explains her quirk in detail, doing an excellent job promoting her own abilities. Despite her stutter, Aizawa can see her potential. Sure, she is shy, but in the end she still stands up to him, defending herself from an older, stronger individual for a future she wants. The girl is no prime hero candidate, and if he could pick whoever he desired, he certainly would prefer someone with more confidence and physical talent; but this girl is something he can work with. At the very least, she deserves a chance.
"I suppose not. You do have potential," Aizawa says as menacingly as he can. He stalks forward, deciding to press her one more time. If she doesn't give up or bow out here, he will support her - until she proves herself unsuitable, that is. "You want to be a hero? Congratulations, consider yourself part of the program," he continues, intentionally looming over her. He meets her eyes and makes his stare as intense as possible. "My name is Shouta Aizawa, I'll be sponsoring your education."
For a moment, the girl stands there trembling, and Aizawa thinks she's going to surrender. Then, she bows in half, red scarf untangling from around her neck and brushing the floor. "Th-thank you f-for the opportunity, M-Mister Ai-Aizawa." She lifts her head, green eyes burning with determination. "I w-won't disappoint you!"
Aizawa watches the girl stride out of the room with thoughtful eyes. Ichigo Kurosaki, he thinks, will be someone worth watching in the future.
The first few weeks of training are expectedly the hardest for Kurosaki. The tiny girl is pathetically thin, almost to the point of being unhealthy. Aizawa expresses his concerns to Recovery Girl the first week that his new student might be anorexic. In response, the old woman guides him into the cafeteria to watch Kurosaki stuff her face with rice and steak, raining praises down on Lunch Rush for his excellent cooking. Aizawa finds his concerns alleviated, but still keeps a careful eye on Kurosaki's weight. Fortunately, the tiny girl appears to gain pounds quickly over the course of her exposure to the cafeteria. Aizawa is almost suspicious of how thin she'd been at first, wondering if her parents had been even bothering to feed her, but he supposes that the reason she needed a scholarship in the first place (only the truly desperate would apply to a program with an acceptance rate below a one-thousandth of a percent) was money being tight.
Beyond her pathetically low weight, Kurosaki lacks any sort of previous training. The very first day of his improvised start-up program, Aizawa tells Kurosaki to go change, before leading her over to a line of heavy bags set up alongside the track-field. The tiny girl is still wearing her scarf despite the overbearingly hot weather, and her braids are looped over her shoulders casually. Although she wears a gym uniform, Aizawa can't help but think she looks anything but ready for training.
"Well," he says casually, not expecting much. "Show me what you can do." He gestures expectantly at the heavy bags and waits.
Kurosaki stares at him with wide eyes, looking for all the world like a deer caught in the headlights of oncoming traffic. "H-huh?" she questions breathily, bewildered by his request.
Aizawa gazes at her dully. "Go. Punch. The punching bag," he orders, reaching out with his own fist and tapping one of the bags. It sways back and forth beside him, but Aizawa keeps his eyes locked on his new student.
Kurosaki looks at him suspiciously, but tiptoes forward anyways. She casts him one more doubtful look before reaching out with her own little fist and tapping the heavy bag as well. It continues to swing silently back and forth on its chain, and Aizawa blinks slowly.
"That was not a punch," Aizawa informs her slowly. "I told you to punch it."
His student has the gall to stare blankly at him for several seconds before turning around and swinging her fist heavily into the heavy bag. Despite her twig thin arms, the bag's chain audibly clanks from the force of the blow, and Aizawa quickly breaks down how Kurosaki shifted all her weight into the punch. For her size and lack of training, that was an impressive haymaker. Sadly, wild ham-fists weren't what he wants to train. It looked like he was starting from the ground up. Still… "Where'd you learn to throw a punch?" he asks.
Kurosaki laughs shakily, eyes squirreling around nervously. "O-Oh, w-well… where I g-grew up it was a b-bit of a s-safety h-hazard not to know h-how to throw a p-punch… so m-my dad taught m-me how." Aizawa instantly catalogues the suspicious body-language and her unnecessary attention to detail. Kurosaki was a very poor liar, something they'd need to work on if she ever needed to speak to the media in the future.
"Huh," he answers, trying to sound as uninterested as possible. "Alright," he says, turning away from Kurosaki and taking note of how she instantly relaxed her shoulders. Yep, a horrible liar. "Well, it's clear you lack any professional training. Before we get started, I'll teach you the three basic punches and get you started with some rhythms." Aizawa pauses thoughtfully, trying to decide what activities will be the most efficient and helpful for his student. He only has four months to make her program-ready, after all. "We'll do some endurance running next, and then some stretching. After that we'll take a quick lunch break, and I'll introduce you to conditioning." Turning back to Kurosaki, he adds, "Think you're prepared?"
Kurosaki stares at him with wide eyes, and then gulps. She bobs her head anxiously. Aizawa continues to look at her impatiently until she squeaks, "Y-yes?" It's a little less confident than he was hoping for, but Aizawa supposes it'll do. Kurosaki seems to be at least a little weary of what she's getting into, which shows a good intuition.
Aizawa grins widely, and watches his new victim shudder. "Let's get started then," he declares, and sees the sweat drop roll down her cheek.
"M-Mister Aizawa," Kurosaki pants, jogging beside him after her third day of training. She's red-faced and sweating like crazy, and Aizawa feels tempted to order the girl to leave her scarf in the locker-room. In addition to her hair, she risks heat-exhaustion, but Aizawa runs a very strict "let-people-make-their-own-mistakes" policy. A lifetime of growing up around Hizashi and Nemuri has taught him that the best lessons are taught by experience, and Kurosaki will probably adjust her looks after her first fainting spell. The tiny girl stumbles for a moment, rushing to keep pace with him. "M-Mister Aizawa," she repeats. "What's in th-that mug you always c-carry around?"
Aizawa glances down at the girl struggling to keep up with him. He'd raised his pace only slightly from yesterday, and it appeared to be the perfect speed to push Kurosaki to her limits. "Coffee," he answers. "It's a Western drink, popular among the teachers at Yuuei."
Kurosaki looks up at him curiously. "W-why?" she asks.
Aizawa almost answers, because we have to deal with little shits all day, but considering he's yet to hear Kurosaki cuss once, and that she is one of the aforementioned "little shits", decides not to spoil her innocent ears. "We get massive amounts of paperwork every day," he says instead. "It makes our lots in life just a little more tolerable."
"B-but you m-must enjoy teaching a lot, M-Mister Aizawa," Kurosaki protests. "After all, y-you agreed to train m-me d-despite everything!" Then, she grins at him, and shows off every single one of her teeth. Her flushed cheeks rise up and her eyes scrunch shut, and she smiles at him proudly.
"I guess," Aizawa grunts, picking up the pace, because obviously if Kurosaki can still talk they aren't going fast enough. (He tries to ignore the fact she looks at him like he hung the stars. He doesn't deserve the kid's hero-worship; not when he's still preparing to reject her if she isn't prepared for the hero course by the end of the summer.)
Kurosaki keeps up with him for another five minutes; Aizawa hears her footsteps become heavier, her breathing more hard, but writes it off as exhaustion. Suddenly he hears her footsteps stop. A very weak, "M-Mister… Aiza-zawa…" drags itself from Kurosaki's lungs, and he spins around just in time to see the tiny girl collapse like marionette with its strings cut.
It's pure instinct to catch her. Aizawa lifts her up immediately in one arm, the girl light as a feather compared to the heavy weights he's used to throwing around. With his free hand, he checks her forehead. Her cheek feels cool and clammy, but as soon as he slides his hand up to her forehead, the skin burn under his fingertips. As he suspected, it's heat exhaustion.
With a resigned sigh, Aizawa holds the girl against his chest comfortably and runs towards the main building speedily. Kurosaki is not the first - or last - student he's taught that's fainted from overexertion in hot weather, and Recovery Girl has never had a problem treating the problem. As a result, Aizawa is entirely calm as he runs his student to the nurses' office.
As he flies through the halls, Hizashi pokes his head out of his office and watches him blur by. "Where're you running off to, Aizawa?!" the blonde yells, but Aizawa is already gone. He has a student to watch over. (That evening, Aizawa assures Hizashi and Nemuri that he wasn't worried at all. He just knows that heat exhaustion needs to be treated quickly, and acted with the appropriate severity. He kicks Hizashi in the shin to make sure the message gets across, making the blonde spew his sake across the table, angering Nemuri. It's worth it.)
It turns out that Kurosaki is more stubborn than he expected. The next day, the girl shows up to the training field with her knotted so loosely around her neck that it dangles around her chest, jacket unzipped entirely, and her pants are rolled up above her knees. She grins at him happily, clearly very proud of herself. "Recovery Girl said I needed to keep my temperature down," she explains. "So I fixed my uniform!"
Aizawa is fairly convinced Recovery Girl was referring to the girl's scarf, not her gym uniform. Silently, he points her over to the track field, and when Kurosaki runs past him, he facepalms. Someone save him from stubborn, bullheaded teenagers. (He is not at all amused by her determination to wear the scarf. Not in the slightest.)
Kurosaki jogs down the track, black braids streaming along behind her, and Aizawa narrows his eyes. The braids are his next target for adjustment.
During their lunch break at the end of the first week, Nemuri and Hizashi drop in uninvited. The two pro heroes slide into the booth across from Kurosaki and himself, grinning like children who'd successfully stolen the last cookies. "Why hello, Aizawa!" Nemuri starts, pretending to look surprised. Aizawa isn't fooled in the slightest. "Nice to see you around here, you don't normally hang out around campus during the summer."
"Normally you escape the first chance you get," Hizashi adds. "Are you hanging about because of your new shadow?" he shifts his gaze to Kurosaki. "Must be pretty scary to keep you loitering about here."
Kurosaki blushes, shoulders curling in shyly. Aizawa isn't sure if it's because of the attention or Nemuri's costume. "M-Mister Aizawa is t-training me f-for the hero program th-this s-school year," she stutteringly explains, before Aizawa can order her not to tell them anything. "I-I'm a s-scholarship student."
Nemuri coos. "'Mister Aizawa'?" she repeats, leaning in until her breasts press against the table. Kurosaki's face visibly turns redder. "That's adorable."
"Some people believe in showing their elders respect, Nemuri," Aizawa points out dully, heavily inferring that Nemuri is not one of those people. In response, Nemuri chuckles, not insulted in the slightest.
Hizashi ignores the shared insults entirely, focusing on Kurosaki. "The scholarship program, eh? That's impressive!" he congratulates. "Aizawa is actually a childhood friend of mine and Nemuri's - the lady next to me - so if you ever need help, feel free to ask us! My name's Hizashi Yamada, and she's Nemuri Kayama."
Kurosaki bobs her head, cheeks still flushed. "N-nice to meet you, Mister Y-Yamada, M-Miss Kayama. I'm Ichigo K-Kurosaki."
"Ichigo Kurosaki? Sounds like an anime character!" Nemuri says, and Kurosaki giggles nervously. "And please, Ichigo-chan, call me Miss Nemuri," she sticks her tongue out dramatically. "Miss Kayama makes me sound like an old woman, and as you can see," Nemuri stands up from the booth, hands behind her head to show off Midnight's costume's full glory. "I am anything but!"
Aizawa stares at both of his "friends" dully. "You're pushing thirty Nemuri," he says dryly, and ignores the way she gasps dramatically. "You're already out of your prime."
Nemuri slams her hands on the lunch table, outraged. Aizawa finds himself pulled into a drawn-out round of verbal sparring, while Hizashi and Kurosaki laugh in the background. Lunch ends later than it's supposed to, but Aizawa supposes he's glad to know his friends approve of his new student (even if he'll never, ever admit it).
Two weeks into their training, Aizawa decides that Kurosaki has had enough of beating up punching bags. He doesn't think there is much more the girl can learn from attacking an unmoving object, so he shifts their schedule: from now on, stretching will be done in the mornings, and sparring will be scheduled for before lunch. With his new executive decision made, Aizawa is also determined to scale up their stretching - Kurosaki has been having too easy of a time lately with their regular routine.
That morning, when Kurosaki finally arrives on the training field in her gym uniform just as the sun starts to rise, Aizawa stands over two foam mats with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. Kurosaki shuffles over to him, covering her mouth as she yawns. "G-good morning, Mister Aizawa," she greets tiredly, still too sleepy to properly stutter. Aizawa makes a note of this, because if exhaustion interferes with her stutter than it's not natural, and can therefore be fixed.
"Kurosaki," he greets calmly. "I've changed our schedule. From now on, we stretch in the mornings and spar in the afternoons." Kurosaki jolts in surprise, sleepiness vanishing from her face as she looks at him with wide eyes. Aizawa ignores this, instead gesturing to the two mats at his feet. "You've been having an exceptionally easy time with our recent stretches, so I've decided to start you on yoga."
His student stares at him oddly. "Y-yoga?" she repeats incredulously. "Isn't th-that really s-simple though?"
Aizawa sighs at Kurosaki's ignorance. Clearly, she had never properly explored yoga poses. It's okay, he'll instill the fear in her now. "Some poses are simple," he agrees. "But I'll be starting you with advanced yoga instead." Laying his coffee on the ground, Aizawa decides to start with a simple set, stepping onto one of the mats. Lifting one foot off the ground, he grips his ankle with his same-side hand and extends his other arm forward. Leaning onto his toes, he stares at his student expectantly. "Well?" he asks, urging her to move.
With a harried head shake, Kurosaki bumbles forward onto the other mat, hurrying to match his positioning. When she finally manages to hold the pose for thirty seconds, Aizawa switches feet, and smirks when Kurosaki jumps at the sudden motion. When he's satisfied with her performance again, he bends down into a simple toe-touch. He catches the girl eyeing him suspiciously as she copies him; he waits patiently for his student to relax in the familiar stretch, and then shifts onto his knees.
"This is called the King Pigeon Pose," Aizawa prefaces, before folding over backwards so his shins and forearms can both lay flatly on the ground, upper body curving into the air. He leans his forehead back onto the mat comfortably, and listens to Kurosaki's strangled gagging sounds. When she makes no immediate move to copy him, he turns his head and stares at her blankly. "Your turn, Kurosaki," he orders, and then turns away to hide his wide grin and the utter terror in her eyes.
"Left, right, left," Aizawa calls, aiming punches at Kurosaki. The tiny girl is red-faced and gasping for air as she desperately weaves out of the way of his blows just as he shouts them. Their new sparring routine was going surprisingly well, so Aizawa decides he needs to spice it up a bit. "Duck!" he barks, and he catches Kurosaki's green eyes widening just before his leg whips around towards her head. His student drops down in a crouch just in time to avoid the kick, but his foot still manages to clip her shoulder, and she falls to her side. She lands right on top of her too heavy braids, and she immediately chokes out a cry of pain. Aizawa lowers his leg, ending the spar. "Not bad," he says. "Your reflexes have improved, but your actual dodging needs some work."
With a small moan of pain, Kurosaki pushes herself up into a sitting position, rubbing her lower back. She aims a short glare at her own hair, and Aizawa assumes that she'd managed to bruise herself on her own braids. Impressively stupid. He's tempted to make a comment, but Aizawa can already recognize the calculating look behind his student's eyes. Kurosaki would take action without a word from him, which is good - the tiny girl rarely takes initiative on her own, a bad quality for a aspiring hero.
"Get back up," he orders instead, tone clipped like that of a drill sergeant. "We'll run through another two rounds, and then you'll have your lunch break." With a rather sour look on her face, Kurosaki climbs to her feet, and Aizawa takes a boxing stance. Miserably, his student mirrors him, and Aizawa doesn't bother to hide his sadistic smile.
Aizawa leans up against the wall of the women's bathroom, the door open just enough so he can hear what's happening inside. A quick peek confirms his suspicions: Nemuri and Kurosaki are standing in-front of the large, wall-length mirror, while Nemuri teaches Kurosaki how to braid and pin her hair down so it stays beneath her jacket. Kurosaki is observing Nemuri's movements with hopeful, awe-filled eyes. Aizawa isn't entirely sure if he approves of his student's new idol-worship for the 18+ hero, but the gentle curve of Nemuri's lips as she helps Kurosaki pin her braids to her shirt makes Aizawa suspect this relationship might be beneficial for them both.
"Th-thank you s-so much, M-Miss N-Nemuri!" Kurosaki chirps happily, pulling her jacket on over her newly pinned braids. Aizawa finds himself smiling as Nemuri helps Kurosaki zip up her jacket; he quickly leaves the bathroom exit before either female can spot him.
Somehow, Hizashi and Nemuri have convinced him to visit a bar. Aizawa isn't sure how this occurred, since he's normally quite able at avoiding social situations, - especially ones involving drunk people - but he resigns himself to staying once Hizashi starts a tab. Aizawa will just make Hizashi pay for everything, it'll be a fitting punishment.
Sitting on one of the bar stools, stuck between a solidly-smashed Nemuri and a catching up Hizashi, Aizawa sips his Irish coffee and muses on what training he'll put Kurosaki through tomorrow. Her dodging really has improved, and Aizawa thinks she will be ready for the next level of sparring soon. They were just reaching the end of their first month together, and Aizawa was pleasantly surprised by how far they had gotten already. Maybe stepping up conditioning would -
"YO AISHAWA!" Hizashi wails in his ear, slinging a heavy arm over his shoulders. Aizawa barely manages to slam his mug on the counter before the blonde can knock it from his hands. "You're broodin' again! Wassup?!" Hizashi demands, voice slurred from one-too-many alcoholic beverages. Aizawa mentally upgrades him to "solidly-smashed" status as well.
Knowing that Hizashi won't lay off until he gets an answer, Aizawa irritably answers, "I'm planning Kurosaki's training for tomorrow." He tries to bat Hizashi's arm off his shoulders, but the blonde determinedly hangs on. Aizawa surrenders.
"You're really focushed on tha' girl, Aishawa," Hizashi comments, and Aizawa narrows his eyes. He isn't fixated, he's a dedicated teacher, and there was nothing wrong with that- "It'sa good thing, she idolishes you," the blonde pauses to laugh. "She prob'ly thinks you walk on water or shomething!"
Aizawa, who knows better than to argue with drunk idiots, nods in agreement and sips his drink. Nemuri pulls Hizashi into some inane argument, and Aizawa tries to avoid mulling on Hizashi's stupid comment. He already knows about Kurosaki's hero-worship, and he doesn't think he deserves it. Sadly, he can't think of any way to solve the issue without entirely crushing the girl's respect and/or image of him, so Aizawa supposes he'll just have to handle the problem later on.
"M-Mister Aizawa!" Kurosaki whines. "T-Tell Miss N-Nemuri I'm not cute!" His student crosses her arms and puffs out her cheeks, green eyes shining with stubborness. Aizawa wonders how to peacefully break it to the girl that she was, in fact, adorable. Then he realizes how out of character such a comment would be, and sips his coffee to gather his wits. It's too early for this. He prepares a response mentally, but finds himself beaten to the punch when Kurosaki bounces up and down impatiently, face red. "Mister Aizawa, t-tell her! I'm not c-cute! I want t-to be creepy and v-vaguely threatening!"
Aizawa blinks at the oddly specific description. "What?" he questions blankly, confused.
Kurosaki blushes and ducks her head, twiddling her fingers together, and damnit Aizawa thought he'd broken that habit. Without a thought he leans in and swats her fingers apart with his non-coffee-bearing hand, barely catching the end of Kurosaki's mumbled sentence. "... be like.. you…"
Beside him, Nemuri bursts out laughing, head fully thrown back and shoulders shaking. Aizawa glares at her darkly, before turning around and stalking away. He hasn't had enough coffee or sleep to deal with Nemuri's bullshit. He'll never have enough. As he walks away, he doesn't hear Nemuri lean in, laying a hand on Kurosaki's shoulder conspiratorially and whispering, "See, Ichigo-chan, if you want to be more like Aizawa you need to do a few things first…"
(The next morning, Aizawa catches a glimpse of Nemuri teaching Kurosaki how to put on black eyeshadow under her eyes. She looks like she hasn't gotten sleep once in her life, or she suddenly transformed into a panda-bear. Aizawa finds himself tempted to take a picture, but resists and walks off, clutching his coffee in his hand.)
Aizawa uses his forearm to block the kick Kurosaki aims at his side, quickly lashing back with a punch towards the girl's head. Kurosaki weaves under the blow, taking the chance to try and hit his ribs. Aizawa let's the punch land, moving at about half-gear to give Kurosaki a good spar. His student's incredible learning curve has been serving her well, and Aizawa thinks he might want to get her started on quirk-training soon to properly round her out before the school year begins.
Dropping down to the ground, Aizawa moves to sweep Kurosaki's feet out from under her. The girl jumps in time to avoid the blow, but is too slow when he follows the leg sweep with a tackle, pinning her to the ground. The hand-to-hand fight immediately switches into grappling, and Kurosaki struggles to avoid letting either of her arms get caught while escaping his grip. Unfortunately, she has less practice at this, and as Aizawa finishes the spar with a choke, he makes a mental note to make Kurosaki practice grappling more.
"Y-yield!" Kurosaki gasps, tapping his arm, and Aizawa smoothly relinquishes his choke, rolling to his feet. Kurosaki rubs her throat once, climbing to her feet as well. With a cough, she smiles at him weakly. "B-better than before, r-right?" she asks.
Aizawa considers it for a moment, then decides to respond. "You've improved greatly," he says finally. "Keep it up and you'll be prepared for the hero course in two months." Kurosaki grins at him ecstatically for the compliment, and Aizawa is forced to look away from the sheer joy on her face. "Your grappling isn't near as successful, we'll focus on that tomorrow," he continues, and her smile drops. "For now, go take your lunch break. I'm going to go check on something before I join you."
Kurosaki nods, relaxing her shoulders in relief. "A-alright," she agrees easily. "W-want me to ask M-Mister Lunch R-Rush t-to make you some c-coffee?" she inquires, turning towards the cafeteria.
"Yeah," Aizawa confirms, and then pauses, surprised by Kurosaki's show of thoughtfulness. "Thanks," he adds, before heading off for the teacher's lounge. (He isn't really surprised that Kurosaki acting considerate, however he hadn't realized she was paying attention to something so simple as his chosen drink. It was… nice.)
"HEEY LISTENER!" Hizashi yells proudly, arms spread and in full costume. His voice visibly bends back the trees, and from his spot behind the Pro Hero, Aizawa sees Kurosaki wince as she comes shuffling out of the bathroom. He sips his coffee to hide his amusement, ear plugs firmly fit into his ears. "GOOOOOD MORNING!"
Kurosaki grins forcibly, eye twitching in irritation. Aizawa grins. "G-good morning to you t-too, M-Mister H-Hizashi," she greets, clearly resisting the temptation to cover her ears.
"IT'S PRESENT MIC NOW, LISTENER," Hizashi corrects. "I'M IN COSTUME!" Aizawa nods in agreement when Kurosaki looks at him exasperatedly. He had forgotten to mention that policy to her: Heroes, when in costume, were required to be called by their "hero names." It had to do with protecting their identities - not all heroes wanted their civilian lives in view of the public eye.
"R-right then, good m-morning, M-Mister P-Present Mic," Kurosaki corrects, eye still twitching. "U-Uhm, w-why are you h-here?" she asks. It's a good question, Aizawa thinks, hiding his widening grin behind his coffee mug.
Hizashi's sunglasses glint as he points dramatically at Kurosaki. "GUESS WHO'S TRAINING YOU TODAY?" he yells, and Kurosaki shrivels like a withering plant. "ME, YEAAAH!"
Kurosaki looks at Aizawa accusingly, and the silent demand of "what have you done" is so obvious that Aizawa decides to answer, if only to test how horrified Kurosaki's expression can become. "My quirk is simple, I stare at someone and focus. It requires practice to strengthen. Your quirk requires control and limits," Aizawa explains, nodding his head towards Hizashi. "Present Mic is the better suited to teach you."
"YEAAH!" Present Mic echoes in agreement, holding up two peace signs to the sky. "MEDITATION, HERE WE COME!" Kurosaki's face is positively tragic, and Aizawa has to suppress the urge to grin evilly as the other Pro Hero drags his new, unwilling student away.
Having an apprentice was fun. Why hadn't he done this sooner?
The week before school starts, Aizawa comes to Yuuei only to find out that Kurosaki arrived before him. Strolling out onto the training field, hands in his pockets, Aizawa observes the girl's stretching from a distance. Kurosaki is easily folding herself over backwards, thin and muscled arms extended as she slowly lowers herself backwards. Considering that she had barely been able to do five push-ups when they had begun, this display of control is impressive.
"Someone's early," Aizawa says dully, and then smirks when Kurosaki flinches, falling backwards and barely managing to recover to her feet in a roll.
Her eyes light up as soon as she sees him, cheeks flushed from her workout. "G-Good morning, M-Mister Aizawa!" she chirps. "I'm j-just s-super excited 'c-cause school starts in a w-week!" Kurosaki practically buzzes in excitement. "I have t-to work hard to d-deserve my p-place a-as a scholarship s-student!"
Aizawa feels something heavy on his shoulders - maybe its guilt. (He isn't sorry, really, it's just that she looks so happy, he doesn't want break it to her.) "Actually, you've only been a scholarship candidate this entire time," Aizawa reveals bluntly. "I just sent your papers to the agency for approval yesterday. Once they say yes, you'll be an actual scholarship student."
Kurosaki blinks in shock, and then her lips twist. She is instantly heartbroken, and Aizawa watches her transform from elated to devastated in seconds. "S-so you've been lying to me this whole t-time?" she says in defeat. She slumps down sadly. "What if th-they r-reject me? O-or if th-the paperwork d-doesn't get through in t-time?" Her hands shake, and Aizawa identifies the tremble immediately. There's a habit he needs to break, it could cause some serious problems during combat.
Aizawa shoves his hands in his pockets casually. "The reason you've remained a candidate this whole time is because I wanted to make sure that wasn't a possibility," he drawls. "Currently, I've got you more than above the standard for what a hero-in-training should be, and if you keep up your current growth pace, you'll be Pro-Hero standard by the end of the year." Kurosaki lifts her head, staring at him hopefully.
"S-so… you w-want me as your student?" she asks, like a small child clinging to the myth of Santa Claus; all at once, she is far too hopeful and disbelieving.
Aizawa nods. "Once the paperwork inevitably gets approved, you will officially be my apprentice. Congratulations," he finishes dully. Kurosaki slowly, cautiously brightens, before she pauses for a second, face screwing up in confusion.
"B-but, wh-why didn't you t-tell the truth f-from the s-start?" she wonders. Aizawa thinks she makes an excellent point.
"It was a logical ruse," he answers. "I figured that if I told you that you were part of the program, you'd feel more confident." Aizawa doesn't feel the need to point out that he was very much right, either. Kurosaki stares at him long and hard, and Aizawa sighs. "You did good kid," he finishes. "Just… go celebrate or something." He waves his hand dismissively, turning away.
Kurosaki unfreezes, smile spreading back across her face. Mister Aizawa was proud of her! She jumps into the air and executes a perfect backflip, landing with her hands extended towards the sky proudly. "Th-thank you, M-Mister Aizawa!" she cheers. "I w-won't d-disappoint you!"
Aizawa observes Kurosaki running around the track field, flipping and cartwheeling and walking on her hands until any normal person would vomit. The last time he'd heard that promise, he'd watched a skinny twig of a girl transform into a viable hero candidate faster than most considered humanly possible. He couldn't help but wonder how she'd fulfill her promise this time.
(Several months later, Ichigo Kurosaki stands in the middle of a crowded stadium on a podium and accepts a bronze medal with a smile on her face. She is undisturbed by millions of cheering, staring people, and when All Might finally hangs the award around her neck, she immediately turns around and congratulates her friend for beating her. She may not be in first place, but Aizawa has never been prouder of her.)
Mailbox/Explanation
A/N Hey everybody! I know it's been almost three months since I've updated, and I wanted to apologize. I've been down for the count longer than I thought I would (I had my tonsils removed), and I haven't been able to get much writing done... plus, I kinda fell out of practice with my whole "writing routine". Because of that, I wanted to include this special chapter as my apology to you all, and please know that I will be back soon. This shows a bunch of scenes I wanted to fit into the story but never could, along with some special insight into Aizawa's thoughts on Ichigo, and her training that's been happening behind the scenes. Hope you all enjoyed it, and I promise I haven't forgotten about all of you!
ash20312 I actually love this idea! I don't know if I can fit it into my current time-line for the story, but I will definitely make this into a special episode! Thank you so much for the awesome idea!
Zixyms Okay, the fact that you asked for more Ichigo-Aizawa Interactions just as I started writing this is a hilarious coincidence. I hope this helps add a little more to their relationship - although a lot of it is training based, that is the center of their relationship as a teacher and student. You can look forward to more of them outside of training in the future though! (Especially with the dorms.)
18. NekoMimi .27 Thank you so much! Aizawa and Ichigo's relationship is super fun to write about - along with her relationship with the rest of 1-A - and I'm glad that you love her quirk, I put a lot of thought into developing it. Ichigo's backstory is very difficult, more than I ever originally intended actually, but I'm happy you find Ichigo's effort to grow beyond it inspiring, it means a lot to me! The truth will come out eventually, however it may not go as badly as one might expect. Ichigo has friends who are more than willing to pull strings to protect her now. Shouchigo does seem very popular XD I honestly never intended for there to be any ships in this story, so its hilarious to see people develop them without my help at all. Both of them are very awkward, aren't they? I love writing them together, really, they both put themselves in the funniest situations. I think their relationship growing into something more is definitely a possibility; it really just depends on how Ichigo develops as a character! As for the AU... I'm working on it. I have a lot of it finished, actually, I'm just being nitpicky at this point.
Bergholt Stuttley Johnson Ichigo really couldn't have chosen a worse alias, right? Considering her hero name though (I mean, "Hime-Hime"?) I think its been proven she has an awful naming sense XD
Guest Let it never be said that Bakugo or Monoma are mature individuals XD Yep! The world is ending! Pigs have flown, All Might is evil, and winter is coming. I'm glad you appreciate Monoma being the youngest child, I really felt like it explained so much of his behavior. And yeah, Aizawa is a dick and proud XD
Salty Not sure if you ended up reading the special, but I absolutely agree with you: soulmates do not actually exist, and you can have a good relationship with plenty of people as long as you are willing to work for it. That's part of the moral of the special actually - soulmates aren't perfect fits, and to be happy with someone, you need to put in the effort. I'm glad to see you feel that way actually :) I find many people have really immature opinions on how love works, and I find it frustrating. A healthy relationship has a good foundation and takes effort to maintain. Regardless of your opinion on soulmates, I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story!
Niceguymad Thank you! :) Hope you continue to enjoy the story!
GreenDrkness I am back! I will keep on the writes! *determined* And yes, Aizawa is the best XD
castielris Aizawa the Menace returns! *bows dramatically* Thank you, thank you.
Moonacre BunBun Isn't he though? XD
Cassianaswindell123 Wow... you have much to say. First of all, cookie for you, you are the third person to accurately predict Mitsuki's dementia. Koharu is a bit of a bitch, yeah, but I think her actions are also understandable. She feared losing her best and only friend to old age. Not that it justifies her actions, but I think they make sense, at least. XD Yeah, I think the name is why a lot of people drop this story, but I'm not going to change it, hmph! I tried to drop clues in the beginning about her alias, and I'm glad you picked up on them. I'm glad you stuck with the story too! As for how Mitotic Regeneration works, you are absolutely right: Ichigo could teleport if her body were destroyed. In fact, she probably would regardless of her intention, since people shed skin cells constantly. The real issue would be surviving the backlash of such an injury and recovery. I did some research when developing her quirk, and well... over-stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system can cause neurogenic shock, which can lead to bradycardia and a severe drop of BP. In short, Ichigo's heart would stop beating. :( But you are right! There is a thin line she must walk, and if Ichigo can find a way around the pain-barrier, the world is her oyster!
Ririririn Thank you! I hope this chapter further healed your heart. I loved the coffee scene too XD It was nice to write some non-action team-building.
xenocanaan I like to think Ichigo is maturing over the story at a good pace. She wouldn't have been able to recover so easily at the beginning of the story, but after her experience with Izuku at the Sports' Festival, she's trying harder to forgive people and let things go. I will be adding a new chapter to the main storyline soon!