Shouta is having a bad time. Katsuki is having a bad time. And Recovery Girl's apprentice dishes on the condition the duo are in.
"Hey Sho," Hizashi said as he tiredly reached where Shouta was sitting slumped in the chair. Eri was in Hizashi's arms, looking around fearfully, as if she could sense the tension in the room.
Nemuri stood up and approached them with a wide, soothing grin as she held her hands out to Eri. "Heya Eri bear, want to take those new dresses of yours and do some modeling with Auntie Nem?" she asked, not coming too close, leaving room for Eri to decide what she wanted. Nemuri had met the girl a few days ago, and though it took some encouragement, she had pretty quickly softened up to her. Shouta attributed it to the fact Nemuri was (to the surprise of those who only knew of her as Midnight) incredibly good with kids; also, Shouta was pretty sure Nemuri was the first woman Eri had a positive interaction with.
Eri looked at Nemuri for a moment, studying her, before nodding and holding her arms out. Hizashi willingly passed her onto his friend, Nemuri quickly pulling Eri into a comfortable position. Hizashi held out a couple of bags to Nemuri that she quickly grabbed with her offhand and nodded to the two, talking softly to Eri as she began to head down the hallway to her on campus dorm, figuring that'd be easier for her friends to find her once they were done.
Hizashi carefully took a seat next to Shouta, placing a hand on his knee. "You okay, Sho?"
Shouta sighed, placing his head in his hands. Muffled, he replied "No." After a moment, he leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling with a blank stare. "I don't even know why this bothers me so much. I barely know these two, and most of my interactions with them were headache inducing."
"That's what you say about every one of your students," Hizashi replied pointedly.
Shouta rolled his eyes. "Yeah but I've known them for months now. Zero and Specter I've known of for months, but only interacted with a few times."
Hizashi shrugged. "You get attached to strays easily."
"No I don't."
"Say that to every stray cat you've brought home and made me be the bad guy and say we can't keep literally every single one of them," Hizashi deadpanned.
Shouta let out a snort. "Cats and kids are two very different things."
"Maybe so. But you also know I'm right."
Shouta rolled his eyes, but didn't disagree. Hizashi knew him far too well. He rubbed his face. "I just…don't know what to do. If they make it out, I somehow have to convince them to stick around, or else Tsukauchi will be after them. And if I tell them that, they'll just be more determined to escape. And I really, really do not want to have to capture them. A safehouse will be as good as prison for those two, and I'm afraid of how they'll take it. Not to mention I doubt the police would let them stay together. It's more dangerous…but they'd never accept it."
Hizashi wrapped his arm around Shouta's shoulder, pulling him in close and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. Quietly, he murmured, "You'll figure this out. You always do."
"I hope so," Shouta sighed.
It was an agonizing forty minutes later that the door to Recovery Girl's office opened, Shouta nearly leaping to his feet in concern. It wasn't Chiyo coming through though, it was her assistant, the blonde second year rolling her shoulders with a wince as she looked up at Shouta with bleary eyes. "Oh, Mr. Aizawa," she chirped. "Didn't know you were still here."
"How are they, Himiko?" Shouta asked, trying to keep his tone level.
Himiko rubbed her temples. "Um…I dunno what all I'm allowed to say, patient confidentiality and stuff-" a voice mumbled something from behind her, Himiko turning about to look in the room. After a few moments, she nodded, closing the door behind her as she turned around. "Okay, Chiyo says I can tell you. Mind if we walk to the cafeteria though? She sent me out here to 'rejuvenate' myself, heh," Himiko shrugged dismissively.
Shouta nodded, following behind the blonde student as she walked towards the cafeteria. He glanced back at his husband, Hizashi giving him a smile as he relaxed in his chair, letting Shouta know he'd stick around just in case. Shouta offered him a grateful smile as he followed the second year down the hall, her hands already in motion as she began talking.
"So, basically, they are pretty fucked up," she began. At Shouta's glare, she sighed. "Look, I don't know how else to say it. The laceration on the girl's shoulder just needed stitches luckily, but she still bled a lot from it. Compounded with the leg, which was totally messed up. Like, it was not a clean break, she broke it in multiple places, and then she walked on it?" The last part was asked as a question, confirming with Shouta who nodded silently, watching as Himiko sighed. "Yeah, it's totally screwed. Chiyo said we'd need a specialist in bone regrowth to come in, just to be safe. It's fifty/fifty odds she recovers fully, if not, she's gonna have a limp or worse, not be able to really use that leg."
Shouta worked his jaw, already mentally trying to plot how to explain this in the worst case scenario, but was distracted by Himiko continuing, now getting really into it. "As for the boy? The concussion wasn't too bad, no extra swelling or signs of damage to the cranium so he should recover fine from that, but the rebar? It went into his intestine. The chance of infection is stupid high, and it could cripple or kill him if we don't get it under control. Chiyo already reached out for another specialist for him too. Quirks make dealing with these sorta things much easier than back in the day, but it's still always a risk."
Shouta finally broke in as she took a breath, the older man noticing how pale she was. "And you? Are you alright?"
She waved him off. "It's no worse than my normal donations. You know me, I regen my blood super quick." He did indeed know that…due to how her Quirk worked, her blood regenerated dozens of times faster than the average person, and as a universal donor, she was every blood drives favorite person as she could easily donate full liters worth of blood every time. It was why she chose to become Chiyo's apprentice; after she was rescued from her parents, she wanted to help people. It also let her more easily identify ongoing issues with people, by taking a fresh sample of their blood and changing into them she could use her own knowledge to get more details.
"Maybe so, but you have your limits too," Shouta gently admonished as the two made their way into the cafeteria.
"That's why I'm out here, Mr. Aizawa, don't you worry," she said with a bright smile. "Just gonna get some food and be right as rain in no time."
He sighed fondly, ruffling her hair, the ponytailed teenager batting at his hands with a pout. She stepped up to the counter, Lunch Rush still in the kitchen even with it being as late as it was (once again Shouta wondered when the man ever rested), and already was throwing something together for her, the blonde well known around UA as she was one of its wards, specifically under Chiyo's supervision.
Lunch Rush held up a hand to get Shouta's attention, silently asking the question from there. Shouta shook his head no…he doubted he could eat anything right now, the pit in his stomach just getting worse from Himiko's description. Lunch Rush nodded, turning back to Himiko to say a few final words before handing her a tray, the blonde happily taking it and skipping over to a table. Shouta followed her, taking a seat next to her as she began digging into her soup. She slid a cup over to him, Shouta glancing at it before looking back up at Lunch Rush. Even behind the mask, he could see the smug grin, and sighed…no one made better coffee, so he took the mug and accepted the sip of perfectly brewed caffeine.
They sat together in silence for a few minutes as Himiko continued to eat her soup. Her face turned pensive after a bit, setting her spoon down and looking up at Shouta. "Hey, Mr. Aizawa?"
"Yeah?"
"Are those two students?"
Shouta paused. On one hand, he probably shouldn't say too much about them. On the other hand, she was treating them and already knew stuff about the kids he didn't know himself; plus it wasn't like the grapevine wouldn't already be buzzing, considering the literal explosion blocks away. He chose to stick to basic information for now. "No. They are…acquaintances of mine, of a sort."
She hummed, stirring the remnants of her soup as she kept her eyes on the table. "Do you uh, know if their parents treat them okay?"
Shouta blinked, looking down at her. "Why are you asking?"
She continued to stir for a moment before speaking quietly. "They are really hurt. Like…badly. Lots of scars. The sort you don't get from roughhousing or childhood accidents."
Shouta felt his shoulders tense up as he was reminded of Himiko's past. She never opened up about the details, but it was obvious she noticed something, and considering the scarring he'd already seen on them, he could only imagine what the student had seen today. He let out a deep breath. "It…wasn't from them. They are vigilantes."
Himiko's head snapped up to look at Shouta with wide eyes. "Wait…are they Zero and Specter?"
"How do you know those names?" Shouta deadpanned.
Himiko shrugged with a sheepish grin. "I dunno, I like to read news articles and stuff and I see stuff on the web…"
Shouta sighed, facepalming. "If they ask, you didn't hear it from me," he murmured.
Himiko ignored him, looking forward in a bit of a daze. "Huh…wow. God, what happened to them to get them in that condition?"
"They pissed off someone big," Shouta replied quietly, choosing not to go into any more details.
"Oh, is it related to the explosion?!" Himiko asked.
"How do you know about that, you've been in Chiyo's office the whole time?!" Shouta exclaimed, getting a bit tired of how much Himiko had put together.
Himiko shrugged, pulling out her phone and pulling up the UA group chat program Nezu created as a secure platform. The Management course students moderated the chats as part of their school duties, leaving it rather open to the students to police themselves. Nezu believed it encouraged them to act more like teenagers, not fearing the adults coming in and 'ruining' things (although the management students were duty bound to report anything truly unsavory). She pointed to a pinned chat, one of the UA gossip chats, and Shouta felt a headache coming on as he saw the swirl of discussion around the explosion…and then felt his entire being freeze. A pinned photo of him, Nemuri, and Ken rushing the two vigilantes on stretchers into the school, Specter's green hair clearly visible.
"...can anyone see this channel?" he asked quietly.
Himiko seemed confused, but nodded. "Yeah, it's one of the most active ones. We even have some kids from your class in there a lot, um…Ashido and Hagakure, I think?"
It was at that moment Shouta realized he'd left Hizashi alone, Ashido was a gossip queen and had seen what Specter looked like, and Bakugo was at the dorms with her. He leapt to his feet. "I…need to get back," he muttered, giving Himiko a squeeze on the shoulder. "You finish your meal, thanks for all the information kiddo. Rest up." Without waiting for a reply, he quickly began to rush back to the nurses office, and before he even got near it he could hear his husband's voice, that soothing tone he used when trying to calm a stray cat or Eri, and the pop of Bakugo's Quirk.
Rounding the corner, he could see the two in a standoff, Bakugo staring past Hizashi towards the door, Hizashi smiling, standing between him and the door, his hands outstretched as if to try and beseech the blonde. At his arrival, both pairs of eyes snapped over to look at him, Hizashi looking relieved as Bakugo's went wide. The teenager nearly rushed him, bolting towards him and stopping barely a meter away, his hands shaking. "Is Deku in there?!" he demanded, pointing at the door.
Shouta took a deep breath. "He's getting treated. You cannot go in there, Bakugo."
"What the fuck happened?" Straight to the point. So very much like Bakugo, even if the blonde was currently a half second away from blowing into that room, consequences be damned.
"It's not entirely clear yet, but they appear to have been attacked," Shouta said quietly, slowly moving around so he stood between Bakugo and the door. He watched as Bakugo parsed the information mentally…putting together whatever picture he'd seen, the news about the explosion, the fact Shouta had been the one to go get them, and he could see in the teenagers eyes the moment it hit him that this was what Specter had been afraid of. As if a puppet with his strings cut, Bakugo collapsed into the nearest chair, head in hands as he tried to get control over his emotions.
Shouta stepped over and took a knee by the chair, placing one hand on Bakugo's shoulder, making the blonde look up at him. "They will survive, Bakugo. They'll make it out."
Bakugo swallowed, looking down at his hands. "...this is what Deku was scared of, isn't it? The people who bombed that fucking warehouse, I mean."
Shouta nodded. "Yes. We still don't know who it was, but likely one of the groups the two were investigating did it. Or it's revenge from a prior attack, we're not sure."
"Fuck," Bakugo cursed, clenching his fists. "Fucking fuckity fuck," he continued to curse, making Shouta blink at him.
"Okay kid, I'm being lenient here but maybe back the cursing down a bit," Shouta said, offering a smile to take the sting out of his words.
Bakugo let out an annoyed huff, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling. He took a deep breath, and then, without warning, slapped himself, making Shouta rock back in surprise. After a moment, he shook his head and looked at Shouta with clearer eyes. "Okay. What's the plan then?"
Straight to business. Shouta could practically see Bakugo shifting into hero mode right there and then, setting aside his personal feelings and getting to the point. His lips twitched, but he kept his expression flat, not wanting to show the kid how proud he was of how quickly he managed to get himself under control. "Well, they'll need to recover for at least a few days. After that…well, I could use your help, actually."
Bakugo blinked. "My help? With what? Deku won't fucking listen to me."
"You still know him better than I do. I need to know if there is anything we can leverage to convince him to stay here, where it's safe. The police want to throw them in protective custody, but myself and the principal both agree they would likely try to break out if they did that. So we're hoping to convince them to stay here, or at least, with one of the teachers, until this is all settled."
Bakugo's shoulders slumped as he looked down contemplatively. Shouta could see the wheels turning in his head as he wracked his brain for an idea. A whistling interrupted Shouta and Bakugo's talk, the two turning to look at the approaching Himiko, her jauntily skipping down the hallway. She waved at Bakugo (familiar with him from his numerous visits to Recovery Girl) and stopped at Hizashi, striking up a quick conversation with him. Shouta chose to set that aside and turn back to Bakugo, but he noticed the teenager was staring at Himiko with narrowed eyes.
"...Round cheeks…she's the key," Bakugo murmured, making Shouta tilt his head in question. Bakugo shrugged. "Deku will never do shit for himself. He won't. He won't think about himself. It was fucking impossible when we were kids. I still remember before he even got his Quirk, he jumped between a buncha older kids beating on this other kid, and promptly got his ass handed to him until I showed up and chased the bastards off. He was always like that. Leapt in headfirst with no regard for what happened to him."
"Ah, I see how you two were friends," Shouta deadpanned, making Bakugo glare at him.
"Deku was way worse than me, teach," Bakugo shot back, and boy was that thought headache inducing to the pro. "But yeah, you can't appeal to his own safety, it won't work. But if you make it about hers…"
Shouta nodded absently, considering it. He remembered that moment where Specter tried to have them take Zero in by herself, how concerned he was for her but ignoring his own injuries. Bakugo might be onto something…but then, how do they convince Zero to stay? They needed both of them…
"Why not do the same in reverse?" Himiko asked, making Shouta jump. Belatedly he realized he'd been musing aloud, and turned to look at the nursing student. She shrugged. "If it works on him, and the two of them are these super close vigilantes, I bet it'd work on her too. Make it about his health and she'll cave."
"Not a bad idea, listener," Hizashi said, ruffling Himiko's hair much like Shouta had earlier. She swatted at his hands rapidly, hissing at the taller blonde, Hizashi just chuckling as she started trying to pat her hair back into place. "We'll need to workshop how we deliver it, but I bet you're right. If we make them realize it's better for each other, that'll be the key."
Himiko jerked her thumb at the door. "Well, you guys do your thing. I best get back in there, Chiyo probably has more stuff for me to do." Bakugo lurched to his feet, his eyes wide and pleading, but he was halted in his step by Himiko's hardened expression and an upheld hand. "No. You can't go in there yet. I dunno how you know them, but you can't. Chiyo will let you know when they can have visitors, but they are not ready for them right now, I know that much. Just be patient. She's doing everything she can."
Bakugo slumped back into his chair again, nodding slowly. "Yeah…okay. Just…can you let her know I really wanna see him?"
Himiko gave Bakugo a quick pat on the shoulder. "I'll tell her." With that, she waved to the three men and walked to the door, slipping inside with a cut off greeting to Recovery Girl, the door clicking shut behind her.
"...they'll be okay?" Bakugo asked Shouta, his voice a whisper.
Shouta shared an agonized glance with his husband, before turning back to Bakugo. "Yeah. They will be."