Chapter 13

Chapter Text

"Good afternoon, class," All Might said as he entered the room like a normal person.

Thank fuck.

Shota had suggested that Yagi make this "first" hero lesson as different as possible to the one this time last week and the first thing they'd agreed on was that All Might not enter the room "like a hero."

All things considered the lesson went pretty well. Shota was used to empty desks in his classroom—one year he'd expelled the whole class—but All Might's eyes kept drifting to the unused chairs, lingering on Midoriya's more than once.

Thank fuck Shota had put Hitoshi in Iida's old desk, not Midoriya's as originally planned.

"Aizawa," Yagi said when they were both safely back in the teacher's lounge at the end of the day. "I just want to apologize again."

Shota raised an eyebrow because they'd already had this conversation.

"I should have read the notes you gave me long before I stepped into a classroom." He rubbed a hand down his face, his pale skin adding to the general air of exhaustion that surrounded him. "I ignored them because I remembered hating the safety lectures when I was a student here. I guess I haven't really changed all that much, despite how long I've been a professional hero."

It made a weird sort of sense actually. Yagi had been doing the job he'd trained for in high school for decades, but it was the only "grownup" thing he'd done since then. He didn't have a significant other, or children, or—and this was only a guess from a couple weeks of observation—all that many friends. Actual friends. Not people who worked with or for him. In that context, his mentorship with Midoriya was probably the closest relationship he'd ever had.

It was unhealthy, and Shota thanked any deity that might be listening once again for bringing Mic and Hitoshi into his life.

"Were we able to rebook the USJ this week?"

"I spoke to Thirteen earlier this morning. The only time she had free was Friday afternoon. We need to rearrange a couple of things but that shouldn't be a problem."

"Okay," Yagi said. "I'll be there."

~*~

All Might wasn't there.

Chiyo had taken one look at his monthly test results and had insisted on using her quirk on him. It had knocked him on his ass far harder than usual and he'd slept longer and missed the bus.

"Stop fussing," Chiyo said, knocking her cane against the leg of the bed. "Aizawa knows the situation. He said to catch up whenever you're ready." Toshinori was about to leap out of the bed until Chiyo added, "He also said not to let you leave until I am ready to release you."

She grinned at him and it was the most terrifying thing he'd ever seen.

"I'm guessing you're not ready…um yet?"

"You guess correctly," Chiyo said, tapping her cane against the foot he nearly had on the ground.

Toshinori re-evaluated his situation and… decided to do what the scary lady said.

~*~

"Stay back," Aizawa shouted, "those are real villains. Everyone, head for the exit." He quickly assessed the way each student was reacting. Some confusion, a little fear, but mostly calm. Thank fuck. "Kaminari, are you able to contact the school?"

"No, Sensei, something is blocking the signal."

Something was blocking the door as well, but when Thirteen tried to use their quirk a warp gate opened behind them, redirecting the quirk and disintegrating part of their hero costume. Fortunately they were able to cut off the quirk fast enough to avoid severe damage, but with the suit no longer intact they wouldn't be able to use their quirk without endangering every person—friend and foe—in the area.

"Good evening," a misty purple cloud said as he appeared between the students and the exit.

"It's afternoon, moron," Bakugo grouched, falling back on his old personality in response to the threat.

"Who the fuck are you?" Hitoshi asked, obviously trying to activate his quirk.

"We are the league of villains," the misty guy said, apparently unaffected by Hitoshi's quirk, or perhaps just talking and not actually responding to Toshi's question. Fuck Shota hoped it was that latter. "We're here for All Might."

Of course they were, Shota thought sarcastically. He might like Yagi better than he did a week ago, but that didn't mean he wasn't annoyed by the disruptions All Might brought with him.

"All Might's not here," one of the students squeaked.

"He was supposed to be but he's…not," another added.

"That," the mist-man said in the same monotone, "is rather vexing. Perhaps he'll join you when he learns that his students are in danger."

And then Shota's heart nearly stopped when warp gates opened up under his students and they started falling through. He reached for the kids nearest to him, selfishly grateful that one of them was his own son.

~*~

"They need help," Izuku whispered as he and the other vestiges watched the scene unfold, growing more frantic as the students disappeared one by one. "We have to help them."

"Outside," En said urgently. "There was an emergency alarm at the front door."

"So how do we set it off?"

"Blackwhip," Banjo said, nodding quickly as he pushed the quirk toward the ghost version of Midoriya.

~*~

"You're jamming the signals," Hitoshi yelled at the mist man. "How will All Might know we're in danger if we can't get a message to him?"

"Rest as—"

"Bring them all back, carefully. Make sure none of my classmates are hurt."

"You got him?" Shota asked, relieved and shocked in equal measure. Hitoshi nodded, the strain on his face showing how much effort it was taking to hold the villain in his quirk.

Class 1A started appearing, many of them still screaming as they rolled out of the warp gates sideways. If Shota had to guess he'd say several of them had been falling from great heights and the gate dropping them sideways had been an attempt to negate the fatal landing. Shota did not want to think about how many kids he may have lost if Toshi had not been there.

"Dad," Toshi whispered, his voice strained. Shota did a quick head count to make certain all of the students had been returned and then moved toward the mist man.

Now he just needed to figure out how to get quirk suppression cuffs onto a villain made of mist while protecting his students from the hoard of villains heading toward them.

Fuck.