Summary:
"I thought you were friends!" Izuku threw back his head and laughed.
Engrained in Izuku's mind from years of repeated proof, you'd think he'd expect this by now. A story about bullying. About past teachers who have failed. And about how Aizawa messing up means a whole lot and nothing at all.
1. Midoriya Against the Teachers
Izuku was tired. Not just exhausted, not just running low on energy, but tired. Not the low you reach after expending all your faculties, not the place you drop to after every muscle feels the strain of over exertion.
Bone. Dead. Tired.
Because of him . Because of his whole life. Bakugou fucking Katsuki.
Izuku tapped his pencil against the side of his leg while the boy he once called friend screamed in his face. No one seemed keen on stepping between them, even Aizawa was pointedly not looking their way.
Why? Why wouldn't he just step in? Why did no one ever help?
Unless... he's right. Maybe they agree with everything he's saying.
"Hey! Are you ignoring me you fucking weasel!?" The pencil in his hand snapped; one end remaining in his hand while the other flew past Bakugou's head and smacked against the wall.
"Can you shut the fuck up," he growled. At that, suddenly everyone was looking. Bakugou did shut up, his face portraying a look that said Izuku's words hadn't computed.
"The hell did you just say to me you fucking dumbass," Bakugou hissed, taking a step forward. A tiny explosion tipped off his fingertips and suddenly Aizawa was standing, capture tape at the ready.
"Enough. Everyone in your seats," he snapped, although the words were clearly only meant for one student. Midoriya settled neatly at his desk and didn't so much as glance at anyone.
Not Aizawa, who was now staring at him as though Izuku had announced himself a drag queen and done the hula. Not Bakugou, who sat down but pointedly kicked his seat back to jostle his desk.
Not his friends, who tried to catch his attention. Not his classmates who whispered words of concern.
Sunshine child snapped.
I don't think I've ever seen him angry.
What the hell was that?
He actually managed to shut him up.
That wasn't a manly thing to say though.
Oh and Bakugou was being 'manly I take it?
T-that's different!
There words were all meaningless chatter. Inside, Izuku was lost.
"Midoriya, see me after class," Aizawa called. Izuku stiffened in his seat. All chatter ceased, then picked up much louder, but he didn't hear it. All he could hear was that voice echoing inside his skull, right alongside the voice of every past teacher.
'You shoved Bakugou during recess, didn't you Midoriya?'
'We heard you shouted at Bakugou today, brat.'
'Midoriya, you can't keep getting into fights like this. See me after class.'
Izuku slumped back in his chair and ignored the smug all knowing snort from Bakugou. He'd been so careful sense getting into UA, had never raised his voice at Kachan or pushed back. Teachers loved him, they would never tolerate back talk from someone like him.
Problem child then and problem child now, he thought to himself chillingly, risking a glance at the front of the room. He didn't dare look at his teacher, just checked the wall and fixed his eyes back on his desk immediately afterwards.
Aizawa was a teacher just like the rest, and Bakugo was still a god among them all. Izuku closed his eyes.
He really was tired.
The moment class ended he got up from his seat and followed Aizawa out of the room. Behind him, the classroom exploded with noise that he desperately wanted to listen to and yet was grateful to be away from.
"Follow me, we'll talk in the lounge," Aizawa said, glaring at the door. Privacy to chew him out thoroughly. Maybe he'll just expell you right off the bat.
If he's lucky it'll be detention, this is Aizawa after all.
The lounge was void of anyone else. Izuku wasn't sure if he were glad for that or not. No witnesses, no interruptions, no back up. Just like primary, just like always.
Midoriya against the world, against the teacher's. Against this tall man who sat down and gestured for Izuku to do the same.
"I don't appreciate fighting in my classroom," he started.
"Bakugou always shouts, I have no control over him." It was true. This time was no different.
"I don't like cussing either. You disrupted the whole class." Was he... was he really...? Confusion faded to rage. Rage faded to sadness. All at once the tiredness was back, and this time he spoke before he could get it under control.
"You mean when he called me a dumbass? Or when he said I should, and I quote, 'fucking drop out, since I'm good for absolutely nothing?' Sorry, I hadn't really we were drawing the line at me telling him to be quiet." It was the first time in his whole life he ever talked back. And it was to the scariest teacher in existence. Red eyes turned sharp, his quirk disappearing even though he wasn't using it. They faded to black fast and he was grateful for it.
The irritation stuck around, though.
"Bakugou's vocabulary has room for it. I'm not certain he even knows which words express feelings. You, on the other hand, should know better. You could have handled that much better." Double standards. Right, he'd almost forgotten about those in his time at UA. "Just don't engage with him."
"So just because he doesn't want to see a therapist he can get away with verbally abusing me on a daily basis but I'm not allowed to defend myself? Got it, was that all you wanted?" He moved to get up but found his arms strapped to his sides in layers of binding cloth.
Well, now he's done it.
"I don't know what's going on with you today, but watch it. And if Bakugou is bothering you there is no reason to defend yourself, just tell a teacher. Tell me. Trust the adults to handle it." Trust? Trust?! After he watched and did nothing today? Despite being bound up tight, he rocked forward in his chair to look Aizawa in the eyes.
"Quite frankly I know you don't want to step in, nor do I think you would. We both know you heard what he was saying to me in there, and you did nothing," he stated, guilt gnawing at his insides for daring to speak in such a disrespectful way.
"Its good for him to get it out of his system on someone who can take it. He's much calmer throughout the day afterwards. Hadn't you realized," Aizawa asked.
'On someone who can take it.' What a beautiful way of putting it. Izuku could take it. He was strong, Kachan couldn't hurt him anymore. Better him than someone else.
Kirishima would be so upset if his precious Bakubro shouted at him like that.
"With all due respect, can we just skip all this and get to the part where you tell me never to let it happen again or suspend me or even expel me," he snapped, struggling to try and free his arms at the very least.
"I'm not... you aren't in trouble. I just wanted to talk and make sure-"
"Make sure I don't snap at golden boy again, I got it," he hissed. "I won't let it happen again. Sir."
There was a moment where he was sure his teacher would say something, mouth open and everything, but then he released Izuku and he wasted no time bowing apologetically and fleeing the room.
Rather than go back to class, he went to the bathroom. He was late anyways, Present Mic couldn't be more disappointed.
But then he was actually in the bathroom. Alone, upset, and tired. Izuku sat down in the stall and pulled his feet up onto the toilet. Just for a few minutes, he needed to rest.
U~U
2. Midoriya Losing all Trust
He felt sick. A bad day turned into a bad week. Bakugou was downright sinister during class, worse when paired with or against Izuku. To say All Might was confused was an understatement, as usually they made some progress. Whereas most would recognize the need for space, his teachers assumed they had to force it.
More time together, spar together, why don't you two make dinner together, hey Izuku share your notes with him, ect ect ect. It made him sick.
So sick. Didn't they see? Didn't they get it? Bakugou wasn't his friend. They would never be friends. Izuku didn't want to be his friend.
Or, maybe, they didn't see that. Maybe they didn't want to.. Well fine, he'd make them see.
"Young Midoriya, sparring with young Bakugou-"
"Actually, I've sparred with him four times today already and beat him three out of four. I'd rather spar with someone else now and learn something new." It wasn't said bitingly or even angrily. He remained as cheery as ever. So then why was everyone suddenly looking at him like he'd requested to be bound in masking tape and tossed into an active volcano?
"Well," All Might started, a distressed look on his face. Fortunately for him he didn't get to finish that thought because the resident explodo boy jumped in.
"You think you're better than me?! LET'S GO AGAIN, I'LL FUCKING DESTROY YOU DEKU!" How unoriginal, he found himself thinking.
"No thanks. Literally anyone else want to trade with me? Kirishima, you're his friend you don't mind, right?" Kirishima froze, glancing around nervously.
"Well, you're his friend, too Midobro! One more time isn't bad, right?" Kami above, no thanks. Did no one know what a hint was anymore.
"Really, no. All Might?" Their foundational heroics teacher faltered and then pulled himself together.
"Well then, I suppose you two can switch. See me after class, young Midoriya." Every muscle in his body locked up. It took being shoved away by Bakugou to set him back on his path towards his new sparring partner, As- ahem- Tsu.
'See me after class.' All Might wouldn't... be like that. Would we? Behind him Bakugou cackled, and even though he was pale and sweaty and suddenly so so sick, Izuku found the strength to make it through the class. Almost everyone was dragging their feet except for Kirishima who was actively trying to pull Bakugou away.
A confrontation like that had left him bitter and angry and very much in the mood to hit something. Well, in the mood to hit Izuku. Actually, that was one of his only moods.
"Hold on! I'd like to talk to you, too, Bakugou!" Everyone spun to look at the blonde, who frowned deeply. "Go on, everyone give us some privacy please."
Why would he want to talk to Bakugou? Izuku was thrown for a loop, completely wrong footed, so out of his depth that he barely registered standing before his hero and listening to him ask if everything was okay.
"Everything would be fine if Deku wasn't a fucking coward!" Oh, that drew him back to the present.
"How is it cowardly? Are you admitting that you purposefully try to scare me?" All Might gasped.
"If you can't take it-"
"I can't take you. I mean you are such an asshole to me for absolutely no reason!"
"You're such a crybaby! You don't see shitty hair freaking out half this much." Right, because obviously their treatment was on the same level.
"Boys! Surely you can find a way to work this out peacefully and return to being friends," All Might insisted.
"I'm not his friend," he said sharply. "I'm not his friend, I'm not his rival, we are nothing. Just ignore me, because that's what I plan on doing to you," he said as calmly as he could, turning to face Bakugou towards the end. His words did not inspire calmness.
"What!? I thought you two were friends since babies!" Izuku froze at several classmates popping up in the gym, having clearly eavesdropped. Then, when Jirou's words registered, he threw his head back and laughed.
"Friends!" More laughing, this time he grasped his side tightly when a twinge went through it. "You thou- you thought we were friends! That's- that's- oh man! Why on earth did you think that!?"
"Dude, don't be like," Kirishima said quietly. He was the picture of uncomfortable. Even Bakugou looked shocked.
"Be like what? I'm sorry, it's just- wow, you know? I mean you do realize he called me a fucking coward like less than a minute ago, right?" Finally pulling himself together, he wiped real tears off his face. "I'm not his friend. We will never be friends after all that he's done to me."
And with that, he left. Whatever All Might wanted to say could wait until after his classmates learned the meaning of privacy.
And if the feeling of sickness returned the moment he was out the door, well no one had to know he threw up in the bushes.
U~U
3. Midoriya Alone in His Head
It was over the weekend and Izuku felt restless. Restlessness always led to messing up, in his experience. He'd wind himself up to the point of snapping, and in his not so limited experience snapping usually left him broken. Literally.
So he went to the gym. He figured he could run some laps, work on his stamina, and exhaust himself past the point of this anxious build up of energy. If he could tire himself out to the point of falling asleep easily, that'd be great too. Anything to soothe his rampant dreamless nights.
It was a stellar idea. For one, most of the class was in the dorms. For two, the gym was empty. The first twenty minutes were blissful noiseless exercise that made his muscles buzz.
"Deku!" Then he showed up.
"Kachan- ah- what are you doing here," he squeaked, whirling to find Bakugou stomping towards him.
"Get lost. I'm training with Kirishima today." Izuku looked around the wide spacious gym, the empty machines and frowned.
"Go ahead. I'm just gonna keep jogging," he said with as bright a smile he could muster. He turned to continue his laps around Gym Charlie's perimeter, but a hand caught his arm and he winced at the instant burn.
"Go do it somewhere else," Bakugou pressed, looking downright feral. "I don't want to see your shitty face."
"Then don't look," Izuku snapped, jerking his arm free. Once more he tried to jog off, but was hit by a force in the back of his head that propelled him forward. Toppled over, he rolled to try and shout at this absolute ass only to be met with heat. It wasn't a major explosion, just an attempt to burn off the excess sweat likely, but it hurt. His eyes burned, his face burned, breathing hurt. The weight on him that he hadn't even felt was gone now, but he stayed down, curling onto his side and whimpering.
Recovery Girl was going to yell at him. All he wanted was to get a decent night's sleep, not get near blinded.
"I said get lost!" When denied something, Bakugou was quite resourceful in finding a way to get it. Shitty Deku doesn't want to leave the gym? Burn his face so that he's forced to run and get help. Except, Izuku was done being forced. He was done having his chances and options and choices ripped away.
With considerable strain, he willed himself to his knees, rolled back onto his feet, and turned away from Bakugou. Away from the exit. He took a shaky step, shook himself, and then started into a slow jog around the room. It wasn't easy, by any means; his eyesight seemed clouded and every breath hurt even when through his mouth instead of his nose.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing!? SCRAM!" No, he wanted to shout back, but just kept running. They didn't want him to engage? He wouldn't engage. They didn't want him to defend himself? He wouldn't raise a finger.
They didn't want him to help. He wouldn't go to them for help.
Not immediately at least. He made it one more lap before Kirishima showed up. The boy took one look at him and screamed.
"Will you shut up," Bakugou snapped from halfway across the gym.
"What happened to your face!? That looks bad, dude, like really bad! Come on, I'll take you to Recovery Girl," Kirishima said, grabbing Izuku's arm.
"Hey! We're training, remember?" Bakugou started towards them but then stopped. Izuku couldn't tell but it looked like Kirishima was glaring at him.
"We'll train when I get back. I don't think Midoriya can even see right now." Had he ever heard the redhead sound so... tense?
"It's fine," he muttered, breaking away. "I know the way to her office, I could get there in my sleep if I needed to."
He has no intention of going to her. Not yet, anyways.
"Nah man, I wouldn't be very heroic if I let you go alone. What even happened, you look awful." Bakugou snorted and it was the last he heard from him as they went out the exit.
"Oh, um, Bakugou blasted me in the face with his quirk? It really looks that bad? Honestly I thought he just singed my eyebrows." Kami, if Bakugou burnt his eyebrows off all bets are off. He'd Detroit Smash him into the sun.
"Bakubro did WHAT?" Suddenly Izuku was being led much faster by a marching Kirishima. He had no clue where they were going, but he recognized a man on a mission when he saw one. Or, vaguely saw one. Saw the vague outline of one.
One thing he knew is that they were not going to see Recovery Girl. His feet had stomped and dragged and been carried that way enough times to know which way led to the nurse, and which ways did not.
Kirishima stopped him and knocked loudly on a door. The familiar tired grumbling on the other side made his insides cold.
"I'm going to Recovery Girl," he stated, turning away. Kirishima wrapped an arm around him and hardened it. Smart, considered he immediately tried elbowing him to get away.
"What," Aizawa growled as he opened the door. There was a small huff- a gasp maybe- from the man. Not loud enough to calm him or distract him from his escape plans. He was not going to ask for help, he was not going to play a game designed for him to lose.
"Bakugou attacked Midoriya. He can't see." Something closed around his shoulder and he was faced with a tall shadow. Oh, that was Aizawa's chest. He looked up and thanks to the stark contrast of pale skin and dark hair could make out more of his teacher's features than Kirishima's.
"What did he do to you," his teacher whispered, and the horror in those words caught him off guard.
"Just a friendly little disagreement," he spat. "Really helped him take the edge off, I'm sure he'll be more chill now."
The choked up grunt that followed was full of pain. On any other day, for any other occasion, he'd feel bad for the slight dig. However, he wasn't going to sit here and accept any more excuses for Bakugou's behavior.
"Kirishima, you can go now." A hand, much bigger than Kirishima's, came down on his back and he flinched.
"What about-?"
"Go. I'll take Midoriya to the nurse's office." His tone did not allow for argument or delay, and Izuku registered the sound and sight of the redhead retreating. Which left him all alone with an insanely pissed off man. Restless and terrified, he chanced another look up. "Fucking problem child..."
That tone was too similar to his own on days when he'd just had it, hit the end of his rope. Sensei was so tired of him.
"I'm good, you don't have to take me anywhere," he quickly stated, trying to move away from the hand guiding his back. It fisted in his shirt and he slumped forward, defeated.
"You'll be lucky if you aren't scarred horribly." Well... ouch.
"It wouldn't be the first scar he's given me, it's not like it matters." Honestly it probably wouldn't be in the top five worst scars from him. His shoulder, back, and chest were the worst.
" Not the first - WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ?!" Izuku recoiled but was held in place by Aizawa's hold on his shirt. "Someone hurts you, you tell me! Understand? You tell me!"
It was too much like middle school. Hands bunched in his jacket, shaking him violently. Shouting, so much shouting.
"S- sto-s-s-" Realizing what he was trying to say, he let go for a moment. Izuku took a shuddering breath that didn't feel great on his burnt lips.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled like that. Come on, those burns need to be cleaned and treated." Though he made his voice more gentle, it did nothing to comfort him. If anything, Izuku was only more on guard. Talking down, being so kind and considerate, just wasn't in this man's nature when it came to students. So either he was planning another logical ruse, or he was just being plain manipulative.
"It's okay, teachers yell all the time. Besides, I cause a lot of problems. I'm fine on my own, really," he insisted, willing Aizawa to understand, to leave him alone. Carefully, as slow as possible, he backed away. "I'll just go by myself."
"Can't let you do that." The end of the capture weapon wrapped around him and he gave one futile jerk before being restrained. "I'm stepping in, kid. I'm stepping in and putting a stop to his behavior towards you."
That- well, that wasn't what he expected.
"And you and I are going to have a chat." Izuku promptly choked on spit and air and sadness.
U-U
4. The Teachers Against Izuku's World
No lasting damage to his eyes. Honestly that's all he could really be thankful for. While he would have a minor scar along the side of his face, he wouldn't be visually impared.
Small mercies, he supposed. Why then, did he feel so tense?
"How many times has he hurt you with his quirk," Aizawa asked him. This would be the fourth time he's asked since Recovery told him the good news.
"This year, or in general," he shot back, chest so tight he felt he might burst. Each time he asked Izuku had either outright lied or brushed him off. Just because he thought Bakugou had gone overboard today doesn't mean he's going to suddenly inact over ten years worth of vengeance for a student he didn't even like.
"Let's go with this year," his teacher growled. Recovery Girl tapped his leg with her cane and he stepped back and let her pass.
"Do you want the times people were present for or just the ones no one bothered to ask about." It was stupid, arguing with the man. Aizawa was his teacher, a hero, and a man he respected and looked up to. Even if he was incredibly angry with everything at the moment.
"Both." So dull. Not once had he'd risen to the bait. Honestly the only thing keeping him sane at the moment was the promise of something interesting about to happen.
Recovery Girl exited the office and he watched the door close. At Aizawa's small grunt his attention pulled back.
"Around fourteen times." Each marked and cataloged in the scars of his skin, carefully set on display for eternity both inside and out of his soul.
"Fourteen," Aizawa breathed. "The worst?"
He didn't sound like he wanted the answer. Izuku could lie again. Downplay the seriousness of the scars and the words and the never ending scorn.
"I can see you trying to come up with a lie. I want the truth." Has he become so transparent? Was he ever that good at lying or did the teachers just accept his excuses and send him on his way?
Had they taught him to lie in the first place…?
Waving the thought away before he could reflect on it, he met his teacher's gaze head on. "The worst was breaking my nose with an explosion powered punch." To be fair, that one was bad. Bakugou didn't usually break stuff.
"I said the truth," he snapped. Well, it was worth a try. Izuku frowned and pulled his shirt aside to show his shoulder. The scar from middle school was still there, hidden under a worse scar; this one red and shiny and new.
Bakugou always did like reaffirming old wounds.
" Oh ," Aizawa choked out, and his fingers went to hover over it. Izuku leaned away, not at all keen at fingers brushing over too hot skin. It wasn't fast enough to be a flinch and he was far too calculated for it to be an accident. Aizawa pulled away immediately.
"Can I just ask-" he stopped himself and Izuku frowned. It was unusual for the stoic man to be uncertain.
"Yes." So long as he didn't ask something dangerous.
"How long?" Well, everyone already knew the answer to that one, so he saw no harm in answering.
"Since we were four. The first time he used his quirk on me wasn't until our last day of elementary, though." Whatever hope the man had wilted in seconds.
"How many people know?" That one was difficult. Everyone except for anyone, it felt like. His past teachers knew and his old classmates had to. Surely his mother knew even if she had never said anything.
All Might knew, too.
"No one in our class," he settled on. It was vague enough, if a bit false. Iida would never stand for quirks being used outside of a safe facilitated lesson, and Uraraka didn't like Bakugou in the first place. But they all saw the way he was treated.
Just because they'd never stepped in when it was words Kachan beat him over the head with didn't mean they'd idly let him act villainous. Or, he hoped anyway.
"Who does know," Aizawa reiterated.
"Mnnn. Just some people from our old school I guess. And everyone who's seen it firsthand here during All Might's class." The majority of his attacks came right after or just before their paired lessons.
" All Might knows ?! For how long?" Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say.
"It's not like he's technically broken the rules! Except maybe once or twice like that first time with the fake bombs… but that was different! He was angry, just like today." Angry angry angry. That bitter hate will eat you up inside, Kachan, he thought privately to himself with a frown.
"You don't consider permanently scarring a classmate 'against the rules,' or attacking after the fight has been called off?" Well, when you say it with a condescending tone like that…
"No one stopped him. If it isn't against the rules, why would everyone let him do it and tell me to go along with it?" You. You told me to go along with it, he doesn't say, but it's a close thing that had him snapping his mouth shut so hard his teeth clatter together.
"With the bickering! You can't think…" Aizawa studies him a bit. "Do you think I'd ever sanction acts of extreme aggression?"
Didn't you?
"You said it made him better." His tone isn't quite accusatory, but clearly that's how Aizawa takes it.
"Just the shouting and cursing! The same things you said you were used to." Well, one of them clearly doesn't mind pointing fingers.
"I would rather be burned daily, hourly even, than be forced through another one of his stupid derogatory spiels about how I'm a lesser human than he is. That I'm not even on the same level as the dirt he walks on?"
"Kid-"
"Every single day! Do you know what that's like? To be told by someone who was your best friend that you should die just because your quirk is- is- is taking too long to show up? That because you're quirkless you don't deserve kindness? Or friendship? To be told to just -" No! Panting, Izuku covers his mouth and face just in time to see the shocked expression on Aizawa's face and keep that small piece of information to himself.
It takes him a minute to calm down and he's given total silence to do so. Granted, Aizawa's always quiet, even when surprised by a screaming, shaking student.
The tension in his chest increases all the while.
"I'm sorry." The words take him by surprise. "I… made a mistake. An error in my judgement of both you and Bakugou." What the understatement of the century, and this is coming from a boy who's met All Might and heard all of the number one hero's 'I'm just a bit weak today, my boy,' and 'I'm not great at teaching.'
An error in judgement can't begin to cover it.
"You saw a guy with a strong quirk treating someone with no control of their quirk like trash and you let it happen. You willed it to, all because if it was me, then at least everyone else was safe. Why is it always me getting hurt to keep them safe?" He did not mean that in regard to his many, many, run-ins with villains, but a second later he realized that's how it sounded. Aizawa's dry red eyes widened. "Not that I regret any of that! I'd do it all over again if I had to, to keep them all safe…"
Despite the tension, his teacher let out a quiet snort at that.
"You would sooner face Shigaraki than Bakugou." At his silence, Aizawa froze. "Kid?"
He shrugged.
"Midoriya ," he snapped, and there was real fear in his eyes.
"Shigaraki has never once hurt me the same way Bakugou has. Plus, I'm allowed to punch a villain if they come after me." Not Bakugou. No fighting back. Don't talk back. Let him do whatever he wants, Izuku. Not today, not anymore.
"... what?"
Bending. Bending impossibly tight. The pressure in his chest needs somewhere to go but he's trapped in a compressed space. Any more of this and he feels he'll just combust on the spot.
Was it rage? No, too calm to be rage. Fear? He didn't feel particularly scared, though. It must have been both.
"You mean to tell me that Bakugou burned you, has multiple times, and you don't even fight back?" Don't say it like that, as if you expected better! I tried to stop it and almost got in trouble! Outside, he was a statue. Inside, Izuku was angry and scared and indignant.
"I asked him to stop, in class. See how well that went?" When you pulled me away, he wanted to hiss. When you told me not to engage with him.
"I'm not talking about your little spats, there is a much bigger issue here! Bakugou has been violently assaulting you!" The final blow, as it were, was just enough to hit that pressure in his chest..
And it. Finally. Snaps.
"Can't you see the problem with that," he screamed, letting out all the built up pressure in his heart. "I don't care that he burnt me, I don't care that he hits me! Everyone hits me at some point! That doesn't even hurt anymore, what hurts is when everyone listens while he repeatedly tells me I mean nothing to anyone, to them, and no one tells him he is wrong ! He tells me that they don't care about me and that I have no place among them, and no one even tries to deny it!"
No one. They all just silently stand there! They all agree-
" No. Midoriya, look at me." His eyes stayed resolutely on the floor, on the spot they fell to mid rant. " Midoriya!"
Jerking upright, his eyes met dark ones and in them he found so much pain. "They do not agree with him."
Had he heard that part?
"Nobody says he's wrong. No one. I'm useless, they all think so." Or maybe he's not useless, but creepy. Or too much. They're all tired of him.
"Don't put words in their mouths." Why shouldn't he, when it's them who have put thoughts in his head?
"I'm not! That's their own job, and everyone failed. They didn't say anything, sensei! You didn't stop him from hurting me! YOU WANTED HIM TO HURT ME!" And with that, the last of his pain should have been expelled. Some part of him does feel lighter, but there's still something...
His teacher, on the other hand, looked much worse off.
"I thought you were friends!" Izuku threw his head back and laughed.
"Everyone does! What gave it away? Was it the way he calls me Deku? Was it the way he laughs every time I get in trouble? Or was it the way he told me to jump from the roof a building?" Oh. That's what it was. Finally, he can breathe again.
"No," Aizawa choked. "Don't you dare joke about something like this, if you-"
"I don't expect you to believe me," he snapped. "I mean, he's gonna be the perfect hero, right? That's what everyone always said in middle school.
"There's no way he pushed you, Izuku, he's gonna be a hero. Man up, Deku, a hero like Bakugou needs to practice his quirk somehow. Don't be such a baby, Midoriya, I'm trying to heal other students. Detention, Midoriya! How dare you stop Bakugou from mutilating you." The list goes on. It goes on so long that there are notebooks hidden away between his sheet and mattress full of things that bounce around his head because of them.
"His files-" Aizawa stops, and shock and disgust fade to anger. "His school records are falsified. By your old teachers."
"Are they? Not surprising." Instantly he is exhausted. If not for it being just the two of them he'd think Recovery Girl had only just healed him.
It doesn't help that there seems to be a new fire lit in his teacher's eyes.
"Everything we thought about you two is wrong. Well, we knew his past records didn't hold up well with his current attitude, but he had been the victim of a villain attack…"
"Yeah, the one I saved him from. Did the news care that a second child was involved? Nope. I literally went through the exact same thing he did and everyone just… forgot. Even my mom spent two hours on the phone with Auntie asking if he was okay." Nothing was ever fair .
"Okay. Okay… I need to talk to Bakugou." Disappointed settled in his bones and his teacher must have noticed by his face. "Don't worry, that isn't even close to the extent of his punishment. For today or for the rest." The rest. Aizawa looks downright murderous when he says the rest .
"It's not all on him," he offered gently. "Like I said, everyone is the same. They all agree."
"I don't," he spat. "I don't agree and I think of they knew the extent of how he hurt you neither would they."
"It shouldn't matter how much it hurts. Nobody deserves to talked to the way Bakugou talks to me." Again, there is pain in Aizawa's eyes.
"You really were more hurt by his words than those scars? Plenty of people talk smack, kid, that won't change." Izuku's heart drops.
"I know." Choosing to ignore anything else he has to say, Izuku lays back on the bed and hides under his arms.
"I'm sorry we didn't ever stop him," Aizawa told him softly, just before he left. It still stung, but maybe not in a bad way.
"Sorry doesn't feel like enough anymore," he whispered to the empty room.