Isamu was not blind.
He could tell that something had troubled his ward and his friends.
It was hard not to when the boy was sneaking back in before the sun rose, or his ward leaving daily to go and train with his friends on U.A. grounds.
Even if he was busy with his meetings to better understand his new duties as the future department head, and he helping Kurose learn the curriculum she'd be teaching from now on, he noticed that Oswald's actions had changed.
Having a quirk like his made him rather good at noticing changes that weren't visual since he couldn't use his gaze accidentally, especially on people.
Sure, he knew that something had shifted in the friend group to make the five of them lock down and be protective of Togota, he hadn't pressed any of them and made sure that Ryo was aware and was helping them through whatever had happened.
When the end of term came and Oswald was going out with his friends every day for long periods of time, he was concerned but Nezu had informed him of where the kids were and that they were being supervised in some special training with Midoriya.
He would have been concerned about where Oswald was going in the middle of the night but when he saw the news the next day, he felt less concerned about where Oswald was going knowing that he was with Shouta.
But it had put a thought into his mind that he wasn't sure what to do about it.
Because when he thought about why Aizawa and Oswald, maybe the others, would be vandalizing one of the buildings that had protected housing for heroes, he found a particular connection.
Sir Nighteye lived in the building.
Isamu didn't like jumping to conclusions, but he couldn't think of anyone else that lived in the building that Shouta would be targeting.
Not recently anyways.
This left him with the fact that Shouta and Oswald's friends were pissed enough to use Hizashi's stash to vandalize Sir Nighteye's building for a week straight.
Isamu also knew that something had happened to greatly distress Togota.
It wasn't hard to connect the dots; Nighteye must have done something that upset or hurt Togota, what though was the mystery.
It couldn't have been something physical, he and the rest would have noticed long before now, not to mention how Nezu and Shouta would have done much more than use Hizashi's stash to vandalize Nighteye's building.
That did not leave a lot of options on the table for what Nighteye could have done that would make Shouta feel the need to retaliate or indulge his ward in petty revenge like this.
Unfortunately, Isamu would likely remain in the dark until someone let him in and told him what happened between Nighteye and Togota.
Even if he had the time to look into the matter, unless the two were in the same room he seriously doubted he'd find anything about what had happened.
Which wasn't great but he trusted that Ryo, Shouta, Midoriya and Nezu knew what they were doing, the four of them being just the right mix to address Togota's situation in the most emotionally healthy and responsible way possible.
That did not mean he wouldn't put cinnamon in Shouta's coffee when school started up again.
Hearing his ward coming out of his room Isamu's mind and his thoughts were brought back to the present, and he frowned when he realized that all of his thinking had meant his tea had gone cold.
Oswald entered in his typical pajamas and was lightly running his hand over his hair to smooth it down.
"Morning Master-Sensei." Oswald muttered sitting down and yawned.
"Morning Oswald, any lingering pain from yesterday?" He asked, putting down his cup and preparing to grab the boy a bowl of cereal.
"Nah, Recovery Girl fixed me pretty good, and it wasn't like Jiki tried to punch me or anything." Oswald answered, his hair flicking when he said that second part.
Oswald didn't seem like the bashful type when it came to relationships, but the boy seemed to share quite a lot with Shouta.
Of course, accidentally overhearing part of Oswald's call assuring Amajiki did a lot to help Isamu understand what happened between the two.
Not that he'd say anything, but he would have to admit he was happy for the two of them.
Most people did not have the guts to ask out one of their friends and he'd watched many of his friends and coworkers flounder when it came to their love lives.
Hopefully things will work out for the best between his ward and Amajiki.
Isamu handed over a bowl then sat across from the boy.
"Considering how you and your friends have been training on campus the last couple of months, I'm sure you've noticed the changes going on." Isamu brought up.
"If you mean Cementoss-Sensei and those construction crews, then yeah." Oswald replied in between bites "They building a new gym or something?" Oswald guessed.
Isamu shook his head.
"No. Recently Nezu-San got the board to agree to building dorms for the students, the staff of U.A. and the staffs' families to live on campus, dorms that will be ready to be used by the start of the next school year." Isamu informed the boy.
Oswald paused and frowned slightly "Are they going to be mandatory or something?" Oswald asked, Isamu nodded.
"You'll be moved into one of the thirty-three apartments built for the students, 3-A's building with Haruki-San there to watch over you since she'll be your homeroom teacher. I'll be living in 2-A's building." Isamu explained to the boy.
"So not that much different to now? I'll just be living with a different teacher and my classmates." Oswald commented.
"For you yes, though it will be a bit more like living in an apartment building that only has communal bathrooms." Isamu confirmed.
"However, this has brought up something I wanted to talk about with you, specifically about your plans for after graduation." Isamu told the boy.
He saw Oswald blinked through the boy's glazed reflection of the table, and knew the boy hadn't expected him to bring that up.
"Have you thought about whether you'll go straight into hero work or do you have any plans to go to college after school?" Isamu asked.
Oswald's hair twitched somewhat.
"Straight to hero work, I'll need to get started on working on my rep with the underground community and I've been looking into where I could start patrolling." Oswald answered.
Isamu hummed back taking a sip of the cold tea and hid his grimace.
"Do you plan to be independent or working out of an agency?" Isamu inquired.
"Independent like Aizawa-Sensei, I know it won't come with a regular check and more paperwork, but I'd prefer picking my own routes and cases." Oswald replied, "Besides, I doubt there are many places that send heroes to where I plan to work." Oswald said under his breath.
Isamu raised an eye at that, there weren't many places underground agencies didn't cover, less commonly would that knowledge trickle its way back to a hero student.
"And you've thought of which hero you'd want to partner with for a year?" Isamu questioned, since rookie undergrounders were never allowed to patrol completely on their own, their work was just too dangerous especially if they weren't working out of an agency.
Shouta had tried and was quickly forcibly adopted by one of the locals as a sidekick, even if Aizawa refused to call himself one.
"Yeah, I've talked with Aizawa-Sensei about the locals here and ideally I can sidekick with Scripture for a year or two. Then plan to move to Niigata and work one of the routes there." Oswald explained to him.
Starting local was usually not advisable for Undergrounders, too much of a chance to be recognized by that one kid you used to go to school with, but Shouta wouldn't advise something like this without good reason.
"And you've thought about where you'll be living after moving out of the dorms?" Isamu asked next, since that would be the most important part of picking where to work as a hero.
Oswald nodded.
"Actually, I already got that figured out, Miyake's helped me find a decent-ish little hole in the wall and we're planning on being roommates for the year or two I'm still here in the prefecture." Oswald answered.
Isamu tilted his head, Oswald had certainly put more thought into where he'd go after school than most students, he supposed it made sense given his previous living situation was one that made him wanting to leave as soon as possible.
"I'm glad you've already started to make a rough roadmap for yourself after graduation Oswald." Isamu told the boy.
Oswald scoffed.
"Ain't just me, all of my friends have been thinking about where we're going after we finish up next year." Oswald replied, likely rolling his eyes.
"That doesn't mean I'm any less impressed with you, most of last year's curriculum is based in helping the third years get their feet on the ground, both in preparing them for the licensing exam and how to best go into their chosen branch." Isamu informed his ward.
"You and your friends will be quite a few months ahead of the rest of your class." Isamu complimented.
"Speaking of the upcoming exam, do you and your friends still want to take the exam in September, or do you think that you'll need more time to prepare yourselves?" Isamu inquired standing up to start cleaning his dishes.
Oswald was silent and being turned away from him Isamu couldn't tell what his ward was thinking exactly.
"We just need to wait for some upgrades to our costumes, then we'll be ready." Oswald answered, then he heard Oswald begin to gulp down the milk from his bowl.
"What kind of upgrades?" Isamu asked somewhat curious.
"Mostly basic shit, better arm braces for Hado. And Mirio's planning to overhaul his costume to add more of the armor that Deku-Sensei had made for him." Oswald told him walking over to clean his own bowl.
Isamu hummed back nodding, passing Oswald the soap bottle after the boy finished putting on his gloves.
He knew that Nighteye had a hand in the design of Togota's current costume, so the fact he wanted to change it wasn't surprising but did speak to Togota's level of discomfort with the man.
"So, you feel confident you'll pass the exam then?" Isamu inquired drying off his hands.
Oswald shrugged "Depends on how many points they'll dock for my bedside manner, cause I'm expecting quite a few to be taken for my usual attitude." Oswald commented.
"Bedside manner is important for a hero." Isamu agreed, he wouldn't be surprised by Oswald losing more than a few points because of his mouth.
Shouta almost hadn't passed his exam because of his own abrasiveness.
A comfortable silence followed after that, Isamu watching as Oswald got himself ready to head out for U.A's campus.
The pinkette cursing under his breath when he couldn't find his backpack right away.
"By the door." Isamu helpfully called out to the boy.
"Thanks Master-Sensei." Oswald muttered heading for the door and slinging the backpack over one shoulder.
"Oswald." he said, causing Oswald to pause and look back at him with a raised brow.
"Yeah?" Oswald asked.
Isamu walked over to him.
"You know that if you or any of your friends need anything, you can come to me no questions asked right?" Isamu asked his ward back.
Oswald stared at him then huffed rolling his eyes.
"You know if you're trying for some heartwarming shit, I'd take you a lot more serious if you weren't in your damn onesie." Oswald replied.
Isamu expected a reaction like that from Oswald, though he felt his cat onesie didn't affect the seriousness of the moment.
Isamu hummed back.
"If you say so, but my door is always open, after graduation too." Isamu told the boy before turning away to finish his cold tea.
Oswald stood for a moment then Isamu heard the door open, and his ward left for the day.
Leaving Isamu alone in his apartment with his cold tea.
Bloopers
Isamu: I am here for you for whatever you need, but I won't and don't want to pressure into anything you aren't comfortable talking about.
Isamu: And know that if you or your friends ever need anything, I will help.
Oswald: Master-Sensei, I respect about as much as I can respect an adult to so know that I say this from the bottom my heart.
Oswald: For the love of god shut the f*k up and stop trying to give Jiki the talk or I will burn your onesie.
Jiki *Red faced and wanting to die*
Oswald: I am perfectly capable of talking with him about that shit and we're seventeen, we can buy our own protection for fucksake.
Jiki *faints*