"You shouldn't be so careless, you know! You really scared everybody today!"
Standing outside of Recovery Girl's office, Aizawa leaned against the wall with a tired frown as Uraraka's voice filtered out from the door left slightly ajar. In response, Midoriya had the audacity to try to weakly laugh it off, only to immediately dissolve into coughing.
Then again, perhaps Aizawa should have pulled the kid aside sooner, when he'd first noticed his flushed cheeks and wobbly gait. Unfortunately, the underground hero had falsely assumed that as a hero-in-training for some several months of hell, he might have learned to take care of himself when his body said that enough is enough.
Thinking back, the thought that he'd ever believed such a thing was embarrassing.
"Don't drink so fast." Uraraka chastised. "You'll choke and start coughing again."
"I'm fine." Midoriya forced out, voice quiet and tight as he fought back another fit. "I'll be fine, Uraraka, really."
Aizawa wasn't even looking at them and he could feel Uraraka's scowl from here. Frankly, he didn't blame her, because if the kid wasn't so sick, he'd cocoon him in his capture weapon, drag him to heights alliance, and body slam the brat into his bed himself.
He'd thought similarly when the kid had meandered into class with glassy eyes and sweat on his brow, nearly tripping over his own feet as he reached his desk. The look Bakugou had given him as he'd approached was withering, like his existence personally offended him (more than usual), but he became oddly quiet as classes began, even as he fumed.
Within the next class or two, it became apparent to anyone with eyes that Midoriya was feeling under the weather, stumbling over his own sentences and participating much less in class. As time went on, whenever Aizawa would move from his napping spot behind his desk, he would be met with Bakugou's expectant glare and worried glances from Uraraka and Asui. Iida ended up being the first to confront the boy, but Midoriya brushed him off with a scratchy chuckle and a lopsided smile. Next period, Midoriya's head was pressed against his desk, where a thin sheen of ice could be seen if one looked close enough.
Fast-forward to lunchtime and the moment the freckled teen was on his feet, he was falling, out like a light before anyone could blink. Between Bakugou instantaneously spinning around and grabbing his wrist, Sero wrapping a line of tape around his torso, and Mineta diving under him to cushion his head, the kid was lucky enough to escape injury.
What he was not lucky enough to escape was Recovery Girl's wrath, as Aizawa had been able to hear her lecturing all the way from her office to the teacher's lounge.
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Aizawa sighed heavily. "Damn problem children."
A moment went by, and with a click of his tongue, Aizawa pushed off the wall and slipped into the room. There was an empty bowl in Uraraka's lap, sat on the edge of the bed as she fussed over a cold compress and smoothed it out over Midoriya's flushed face. Despite his half-lidded eyes, he tried his hardest to look aware, as if he was in his best shape and everyone was just over-exaggerating.
Aizawa really was an idiot for leaving it be.
"Sensei!" Uraraka exclaimed in surprise, her expression caught between happiness and embarrassment. "What are you doing here? Aren't heroics classes gonna start soon?"
Aizawa watched her for a long moment, ignoring the headache threatening to pound him into the ground from just looking at the freckled teen in the bed. "They are. You should be getting ready."
Uraraka glanced back at Midoriya in subdued panic. "But- I mean- What about-?"
"I'll be watching him." Aizawa sighed. "I've already asked Present Mic and Cementoss to work with All Might during your heroics class today in my stead."
Uraraka's eyes shone with immediate relief, and Aizawa found himself drowning in such overwhelming trust that she was on her feet with a nod before he could argue any further. "Okay, sensei! Thank you!" With a quick whisper of something in Midoriya's ear, she was out the door, already being scolded by Iida for running a moment later.
In the quiet that followed, Aizawa could only stare after her, exhaustion screaming in his aching shoulders and head pounding as if All Might had just New Hampshire smashed him in the back of the head. Taking a moment for some calming breaths, the underground hero made his way over to the greenette's bedside.
By how flushed Midoriya's face was, his fever had risen. Recovery Girl had called it a bad case of the flu, one that could have become significantly worse if he'd gone much longer without admitting to anyone (or himself, for that matter) that he was sick and needed to rest.
That was one thing that Aizawa had figured out the problem children had in common: They don't know when to quit.
"You know you might have just spread your illness to your classmates, right?" Aizawa drawled tactlessly.
Midoriya only moaned, curling into his side and tucking his face under the covers. With a huff, Aizawa got to his feet, pulling the curtains over the window to block out the blazing sun. It was a shame that it was such a beautiful day out that day.
"You really are a problem child." Aizawa groaned, plopping back into his spot. "I should have expelled you that first day."
Eying the mess of green curls poking out from the sheets, he tentatively reached out. His hair was soft, he realized as he carded his fingers through the ill boy's locks, though he supposed he logically already knew that.
"Se-sei?" Bleary green eyes stared up at him, glazed and dim and so fully relaxed. He really did look like a child in that moment, one that didn't push away help at every turn and kept turning to adults as a last resort.
There were so many things that Aizawa wanted to say. To stop being so reckless, to stop being a thorn in his side, to trust at least a couple adults in his life, to let his teacher rest knowing that he was being responsible and safe.
To take care of himself.
"Sleep, kid." was all he said.
And he did.