A knock wakes Shouta up from where he's asleep on the couch, cats curled up and around him. It's a quiet, hesitant thing, but in the silence of his apartment, it's the loudest sound ever.
Grumbling to himself, he carefully sits up, dislodging Bastard and Cheese Puff from where the little shits are asleep on his chest and earning twin noises of complaint. Bucket makes a disgruntled noise when Shouta pulls away, taking his heat with him.
There's the soft sound of mumbling that can be heard through his door, though it's incomprehensible, but he knows the brand of mumbling from one of his students and his grouchiness at his sleep being interrupted is immediately replaced with worry. Shouta glances at his phone to get the time and his eyes widen and the pit of worry grows deeper.
Why is Midoriya at his door at 4:30 in the morning?
Shouta opens the door gently, not wanting to startle the boy on the other side. And what he sees can't be worse than what he's seen while on patrols, but this is his student, his kid, and it makes his stomach churn.
Midoriya's dressed in a turtleneck and thin jacket that can't be doing him much justice in the cold winter weather. His hair is a mess ー even more so than it usually is ー and he doesn't have shoes.
"Midoriya?" The kid flinches minutely at the use of his last name and Shouta softens his eyes and tone. "Kid? Why are you here so early?"
He lets all his worry drip from his voice, hoping that it will get across to the boy standing in front of him.
"I'm sorry, I should have called, would have called, but I lost my phone and I don't have any money for a payphone. I just, it's cold and I didn't know where else to go, but you said we could come over if we're ever in troubleー" And that breaks Shouta's heart, because who would hurt his student? "ーand I'm sorry if I disturbed you or anything, I'll justー"
"Miー Kiddo, kid, breathe. Can you copy my breathing for me?" Shouta interrupts, kneeling down and holding his hands out, palms up. It's an offering, and a promise all at once.
Izuku takes the offer, not in the right cognitive space to look deeper for the promise of protectsavehelp , and lays one hand on his teacher's, the other wrapping around injured ribs that feel bruised, but could be so much worse given his high pain tolerance.
When Izuku gets his breathing under control, he finally dares to look his teacher in the eyes. They're so soft and warm and Izuku thinks he made the right choice, hopes he made the right choice, otherwise the pain of being betrayed by his teacher, his hero will hurt more than what his mom did.
"Can- can I come in? Please?" Izuku asks, voice hoarse and scratchy.
"Of course kiddo. Are you injured anywhere?" Shouta asks, opening the door wider and letting the kid inside.
Izuku shakes his head in denial, but winces when the movement pulls at the bruises on his neck. He knows the man in front of him definitely saw the wince, so he doesn't bother trying to lie.
"Uh, yeah. I have some bruises on my neck and I think my ribs are bruised. I think that's it. I don't know...maybe a few cuts from a knife?" He reports, the end sounding more like a question.
"Alright, do you want to do this out here or in the bathroom?" Shouta asks, watching as the kid slips on an extra pair of slippers Shouta keeps around for instances like these.
"Do what?" Izuku asks, genuine confusion in the way he asks. It hurts to hear, because the kid should know, and he doesn't and Shouta doesn't know how else to feel about it except angry at the people who have wronged his kid.
"Dress your wounds, make sure nothing's too bad." Shouta says, softly, patiently.
"Out here...please." Izuku says, head down.
"Alright, make yourself at home on the couch. I'll be back with my first aid kit." Shouta says, walking with Izuku down the hall before splitting off to get to the bathroom.
The hero has questions and theories on what could have happened, and the first one is: did Inko Midoriya do this? There's others that float around in his head, but they all lead back to Inko Midoriya.
Some of the kids went home for the break and Izuku was one of them. So obviously Shouta would come to the conclusion that Inko Midoriya harmed her son. But knowing the kid, it could have been a villain. Unlikely, in this weather, but not impossible. And if it was a villain, why wasn't he called? He knows for a fact that he's the emergency contact for all of his students should their parents be unavailable, and if Inko Midoriya was severely injured, or killed, he should have been called. And if he wasn't called, then...well, Shouta really hopes it's not what he thinks.
"Alright Kiddo, do you think you can take off your shirt, or do you need help?" Shouta asks. The teen stills, shoulders hunching up to his ears and hands clenching whatever fabric they can.
"Can't." The boy mutters, almost too quiet to be heard.
"Why not? Does it hurt to move?" Shouta asks.
"Binder." The word trails off into a whisper and Shouta has to strain to hear it.
And the word clears up the picture with a horrifying amount of sense. Transphobia is still a problem and Shouta hates seeing his student having to experience it. Especially from a family member. Someone who's supposed to love and protect him unconditionally.
"Do you mind if I call you Izuku, Kid? Or would you prefer something else?" The kid brightens up at that.
"Izuku please." And how can he say no to that sunshine bright smile? How can anyone ever say no to the bright, hopeful smile the boy ( Izuku will preen and smile even brighter when Shouta first calls him his son, but that's not now. No, right now, Izuku's allowing himself to open up to an adult. An adult who's his teacher no less. ) in front of him adorns.
"Alright Izuku. Pronouns?" Shouta asks.
"He/him! And sometimes they/them, but usually he/him." Izuku says, shining brighter than the stars in the night sky. It's then that Shouta decides that he'll do anything he can to protect this smile.
"Alright Izuku. Thank you." Shouta says. "I can call Recovery Girl over if you're not comfortable with me dressing your wounds that need you to take your binder off, but I do need you to take it off. You can put a big t-shirt on for a while, but it's good to let yourself breathe."
Izuku pauses and Shouta lets the boy think. Shouta knows what it's like to have unaccepting parents, but he didn't have anyone to turn to. But Izuku has him and he'll make damn sure that Izuku knows he's loved and deserves that love.
"Yes please." Izuku answers.
"Okay. I'll go get the shirt I wear when I still feel dysphoric. It's recently been cleaned." Shouta says. And if that little tidbit was purposely said so the kid can relax even more, then that's only for Shouta to know.
Izuku loves the shirt. It's big and soft and comfortable . Mom wouldn't let him get oversized shirts stating that it was "unlady-like" and "weird". Mom never liked that Izuku wanted to be referred to as a boy, but she let him change his name on school documents, so he should be grateful. She didn't have to do that. She could have let him go into highschool with his deadname, but she didn't. He should learn to be more grateful. She's just trying to protect him.
Her. You're a girl. You'll always be a girl.
Boy. I'm a boy.
Liar. You're just lying for attention.
No I'm not.
Yes you are. You're a quirkless, attention seeking, bitch.
I'm...I'm not doing it for attention.
Yes you are. Mom said you were, and mom never lies.
But...I'm a boy...
You don't sound like you believe it.
"ーdo. Izuku. Bud. I need you to breathe for me. Come on, yeah like that. Good job." His teacher's voice breaks through his thoughts. Was he hyperventilating? That's not good. He shouldn't be bothering his teacher with his issues. He shouldn't even be here . He should be at home, apologizing to his mom. She loves him. She does. She promises that she does after every time she punishes him for letting others call him boy. Mom loves him. If she didn't, Izuku doesn't know what he'd do.
"Zawa?" Izuku croaks out, throat closing up on him and tears falling from his eyes. His tongue feels heavy with lead and there's vines of ivy winding around his lungs.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm here." Aizawa-sensei says, voice soft and...worried? Maybe. "I called Shuuzenji. She should be here any minute. If you're not ready to see her, that's okay."
Izuku shakes his head, ignoring the way it makes his throat burn and his brain rattle in his skull. He can see Recovery Girl. He just wants to get it over.
Recovery Girl arrives not too long later with a knock on the door. Izuku tenses slightly, but forces himself to relax. It's just Recovery Girl. She's seen him without a binder before. Right now shouldn't be too different.
"Hello Dearie." Recovery Girl greets softly.
Izuku nods his head back in greeting.
"Do you want to do this out here or do you want to go to a more private room?" Recovery Girl asks.
Izuku taps his fingers on his knee twice. She'll know. She's the one who made the system for them when he first went non-verbal while under her care in the infirmary.
"Alright. Shouta, we'll be taking the guest bedroom." The heroine states, helping Izuku up and to the aforementioned room.
"Okay. Just heal him up Shuuzenji." Aizawa-sensei says.
"That is my job." Recovery Girl retorts.
And if Izuku's soft giggling at their bantering happens to warm their hearts, then that's only for them to know. Chiyo follows Izuku to the guest room with a soft smile on her face.
Shouta situates himself on the couch and begins grading the papers he didn't end up finishing before patrol to get him mind off of the worry that he's currently feeling for his favorite Problem Child. Funnily enough, the paper waiting to be graded next is the teenager's in the next room.
He assigned the paper on Monday and Shouta has been getting through them at a relatively slow pace since he got them back on Thursday. Sure he has all break to finish grading, but he'd rather get it out of the way now.
And so he does. He manages to get through half of the ungraded pile of papers before Shuuzenji's walking out of the guestroom, Problem Child in tow, neither looking good, but not looking any worse for wear. Izuku does gently lower himself onto the love seat and start nodding off though.
"He's okay. He should be a little tired because I had to use my quirk on him for his cracked ribs. I wrapped the knife wounds and you'll have to make sure you clean them at least once a day and be careful when he's showering. He's not allowed to wear his binder until his ribs and the cuts on his torso are fully healed. I'll come back on Wednesday to check how he's holding up. For now just make sure he doesn't move around too much and keep an eye on his neck.
"If it becomes painful for him to talk or breathe, call me. I'll leave you to it for now." Shuuzenji says, bowing and sending one last worried glance towards Izuku before showing herself out.
Shouta sets down his pen and walks over to where Izuku's sitting, sleeping almost peacefully. He says almost because he can see the furrow in the kid's brows and the way he keeps letting out quiet, almost silent, whines. Shouta runs a hand through curls, teasing out any knots that his fingers catch on, hoping it will be enough to help Izuku calm down. The action manages to allow the furrow in the kid's brow to lessen, but there's still soft whines coming from the teenager, and Shouta doesn't like it. His kid student is in pain and Shouta can't do anything but be there physically.
"Izuku, Kiddo, I need you to wake up for me." Shouta says, voice soft and low. "It's just a bad dream Kiddo. You're alright. You're safe. I promise."
It's the repeated litanies of soft words and promises that finally gets Izuku to wake up. And it's those continued soft words and promises that have Izuku crying into Shouta's shoulder at almost six in the morning, spilling everything that happened.
( Izuku's far from okay, and he won't be 100% okay for a while, but Shouta's here for him. Shouta won't let Izuku go through what he did alone. There'll be days, weeks even, where Izuku won't feel good enough for his Dad, or friends, but they'll all show him that he's worth their love and that he's worth so much more.
No, Izuku's not okay right now, but he will be and that's enough for Shouta and Izuku. It has to be. )