Shouta couldn't remember a time where he'd ever been as mad as he was then standing before the Hero Council, pleading for the safety of his students, of children.
Words were nearly beyond him as he stood there in shocked silence listening to supposed heroes discussing the idea of using his children as bait.
It was just as absurd as it was infuriating.
The men and women in front of him were putting the very population they swore to protect directly in harm's way for nothing other than convenience. They couldn't afford to send another pro back into the field just yet.
"You can't be serious," Shouta breathed. His voice was dark and barely above a whisper, but he knew they heard him.
A woman that he couldn't even bother to remember the name of turned her attention to him, staring down her nose from the dais.
"Of course we're serious, Eraserhead. Why wouldn't we be?"
She'd asked the question like the answer wasn't the most depraved and foul thing he'd ever heard. "Because they're children," he snapped, blood boiling under his skin.
There was scoff from a gentleman that looked like he could practically be one foot in the grave, and not for the first time was Shouta struck with the realization that the members of the Hero Council were so old and out of touch with reality that they had no business making the decisions they were authorized to make.
Like sending children into what was essentially an active warzone.
"Don't be foolish, Eraserhead. Those kids of yours aren't just mere children. They're powerhouses,
nearly graduated, and they've been through this before."
There were murmurs of agreement, and Shouta tried not to flinch at the memory of Shigaraki and all that they lost.
They had still been children then.
Shouta stiffened his spine, and slammed his hands down on the desk in front of him, taking a moment to relish in the way they jolted back from him like they had remembered who it was that stood before them.
"I'm not sure when you've all forgotten this, but 'nearly graduated' does not equate to being fully licensed pros. Regardless of the battles they have fought, they are still kids. They have no business facing World Eater, not when the pros are struggling with him."
Shouta would have been an idiot to not be tracking the movements of Japan's newest large-scale threat.
A man that called himself World Eater had a siphoning quirk allowing him to draw power from the people around him. He'd watched as even heroes like Miriko, Mt. Lady, and Mirio struggled to escape in time, and the council wanted to send students in their wake to finish the job.
Despite how strong his students had become, the idea would have been laughable had they not been serious in proposing it.
He watched as a few of the council members muttered amongst themselves, too low for him to pick up on their words, and he resisted the urge to grind his teeth.
"You mean to tell me that Deku isn't one of the strongest heroes we've seen to date?" One spoke up, garnering agreements around them.
"Hero-in-training," Shouta ground out. "Semantics," they said, waving him off. Shouta felt like he was going to explode.
"Semantics that, if I recall correctly, this very same council decided upon when you all allowed us to train teenagers to be Pro Heroes." He took a steadying breath, knowing he needed to keep his head level if he wanted to be taken seriously at all. "What I am hearing right now is that you would be willing to actively break your own rules to send a child into a fight that they are not authorized to take part in. Is that correct?"
"It seems to me that we can just create an addendum to the rules given the extenuating circumstances. It would not be the first time we've done so," the same woman from before responded, her tone as sharp as her stare.
He should have known that would have been the answer.
"I can't imagine you don't realize how corrupt that way of thinking is. What is the point of rules if you can just go back and change them at whim?"
She laughed, and the sound made his skin itch.
"That's the perks of being the one called to make the rules, Eraserhead. It means that I can add to them and take away when the need arises. I see nothing wrong in sending in young heroes to help with a crisis. That is what they're training for, isn't it? Besides, I'm sure that's something you understand being a teacher and all. You should be used to bending the rules to suit your needs."
Shouta had just about reached his limit, and he was seconds away from snapping.
"The fact that you would assume that I would create a set of rules and standards that I expect my students to abide by only to twist and warp them when I feel like it is abhorrent and insulting. My students know that when I say something, I mean it. I'm not going to go back on my word just because it doesn't benefit me at the moment, but that is beside the point. The part I am struggling to understand is why you insist on speaking like you know that they're still in training when you're planning to send them out into the field like they aren't?"
"I seem to recall that we outrank you here, Aizawa. If we want them to go in, then that's what will happen."
His anger was starting to shift to desperation. Those kids had been through so much and still come out on the other side, and all he wanted was that their last year be finished in leisure. It was the least of what they deserved, another year of peace before they were thrown out into the world with only their selves to lean on.
He had seen each and every one of his students grow into fine young adults, knowing with full confidence that they would be the greatest batch of heroes to ever leave UA, and it made his chest ache realizing that the people that were there to prevent these situations were not only abandoning them, but forcing them into it.
"And that is why I am here pleading with you all to reconsider. They have given enough for now. Please just let them be young just a while longer."
He was getting through to a few of them judging by the wavering and guilty glances, but it wasn't enough.
"I propose a compromise," a man from the back said, and Shouta felt the first bit of hope he'd had since stepping up to argue their summons.
"We won't send the entire group in, just Deku. He's gone far beyond to prove what he's capable of,
and he's always been willing to help during times like these. He and the other pros can defeat World Eater together."
Shouta nearly choked on the first full breath he'd managed to take in. "What?" he asked.
"You heard me, Eraser. Send Deku in. Leave the rest of the class to do whatever it is that students do these days."
Midoriya was well known for throwing himself into situations he had no business being in because he felt like he could help, and even as a UA student, he had become a household name.
He knew that it wouldn't be long before someone took advantage of his giving nature, but he had foolishly hoped that it would be just a while longer before he learned just how cruel the world could be to people like him.
It was there that another chilling thought occurred to him.
"It would be ridiculous to assume that Deku would be fighting alone. My students would follow each other into hell if it meant that they would get through it together."
"Then that would be entirely their decision," the woman huffed, rolling her eyes. Right. Just what they wanted anyway.
Shouta wasn't finished though, the words tumbling out of his mouth as his frustration rose. There was a much bigger issue at hand.
"I need you all to very clearly understand that if you send Deku in, Dynamight would be close behind him, and the villain will do anything to get to Dynamight."
"He doesn't care about Dynamight. All he wants is power."
Shouta clenched his fists at his sides. They weren't getting it.
"They will care about Dynamight quite a bit. Once they learn that the way to get to Deku is through Dynamight, they will stop at nothing to put him out of the fight. You said that all World Eater wants is power, and you also said that it's well known how strong Deku is. They'll think that Deku will be so consumed by his emotions that he will be vulnerable, but what everyone seems to forget is that Deku near single-handedly defeated Shigaraki because of how he nearly killed Dynamight. Deku will not be vulnerable."
Shouta met each and every one of their eyes.
The memory of that day he'd learned just how close his top two students were rang clearly in his mind.
Standing in from of the two battered teenagers, Shouta couldn't decide whether he was livid or terrified.
Midoriya at least had the decency to look guilty, and Shouta decided he would deal with that particular brand of recklessness later.
It was Bakugou and the unreadable look in his eyes that Shouta focused his attention on.
"You are an incredible tactician, Bakugou, far smart enough to know when to step into a fight and when it's best to stay behind, but for some reason, the minute Midoriya gets involved, you lose all sense of reason. You have got to stop blinding following him into combat before it gets either one of you killed."
Bakugou met his glare unflinchingly, and Shouta didn't miss the way his jaw clenched, how he shifted closer to Midoriya, almost putting himself in front of the other student.
Only the years of experience kept Shouta's face neutral. "No."
"Kacchan!" Midoriya hissed, grabbing Bakugou's elbow.
The blonde didn't jerk out of his grip like he would for anyone else that had tried to grab him like that, and if Shouta didn't know any better, Bakugou leaned into the touch.
"No?" Shouta pressed, intrigued.
He'd learned over the years that Bakugou never did anything without reason. The boy was brimming with passion and determination that was only matched by Midoriya. He was headstrong and stubborn, yes, but never without reason.
"When will the rest of you learn that I will follow Deku anywhere he goes? There is not a place on this earth that I would not follow him to. If he fights, I fight. If he loses, I lose. If he dies, then goddamnit so do I."
That time it was Shouta who jerked back in surprise.
He glanced over Bakugou's shoulder to catch Midoriya's reaction, to see if he had really heard that right.
There were green eyes brimming with tears but not surprise. They had discussed it before.
"Respectfully, sir, I am always going to follow him regardless of how much of a bad idea I think it may be. There have been a lot of things that I have fucked up over the years, but that is something I will never fuck up again."
Bakugou's hands were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white. "I'd follow him too, sir," Midoriya cut in before Aizawa could say anything.
There was grim determination that settled over Midoriya's face, a kind that Shouta had seen before.
He knew what it meant.
"He will be unhinged and unstoppable if something like that happens again, and there is not a damn thing in this world that will stop him. The bond he and Dynamight have transcends anything I have ever seen. I'm not sure I believe in fate, but those two were, in some way, made for each other, and if by some way Dynamight gets hurt, and he finds out that you all were the cause, then I pray for your safety because I do not doubt for a second that after he finishes with World Eater that he will come for you."
For the first time that he responded to the summons, complete silence met him because they truly had no idea.
Those two would go to extreme length to protect each other, and Shouta knew exactly how thin the line between hero and villain was.
He was just worried that the council did not.
There was another few second of tense silence before the woman spoke again, clearing her throat first as if she were having the force the words from her mouth.
"Then I suppose we better hope that doesn't happen then."
Shouta met her eyes with an unyielding stare.
"So be it, but if something goes wrong, know that it is on your own conscience, not mine."
He wasn't so sure he believed in God either, but as he turned on his heel to leave the room, he prayed to anything that bothered to listen that they could make it through just one more fight.