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Winter was always Shouta’s favorite time of the year.
The sidewalks froze over, the temperature dropped, the breeze blew arctic winds. It was everything that he loved. However, although he loved all of those things, that was not why winter was his favorite time of the year. No, the real reason for that was because winter was the one season where no one could judge him for spending all day inside of his sleeping bag.
Not one person had any say on how long he could spend inside that hideous yellow caterpillar of a bag.
And he loved it.
Nemuri would still make her off hand comments but never truly moved to physically remove him from it like she would if it were spring.
All Might would look at him disapprovingly as he stood in the middle of hero training with only his head peeking out of the bag to give instructions but made sure to never utter a word about it.
And Yamada, his husband, would poke and prod the outside of the bag but made sure to never go far enough to actually wake him up or voice his annoyance.
The entire faculty knew that when winter came, not one person could remove Shouta Aizawa, the Erasure Hero, from his sleeping bag.
Many people had tried before, and desperately failed.
Some surrendered their mission when Shouta acted out the moment a hand made contact with the zipper of the bag. Some surrendered before their hand even touched the zipper due to Shouta’s harsh glare.
Long story short, when winter came, Shouta was one with the bag.
It happened every year, and every year it never changed. He spent exactly the same amount of time in his sleeping bag as he did the year before.
It was routine by this point.
Shouta’s family knew it, his friends knew it, his fellow teachers knew it, and his past classes knew it.
When winter came, Shouta would disappear into the warmth of his bag and would only be seen out of it once the snow on the ground melted.
Not one person could remove him from his precious bundle of heat.
Not one person, not even his husband, could plead their case on why he should crawl out of the bag for a few hours.
Not one person could make Shouta want to stray away from his routine.
However, that was until a problem child with features of green hair and eyes came into his class with a self sacrificing attitude and smile that made him want to wear sunglasses.
And as Shouta observed from his safe place, he found himself wanting, no, needing to be out of the bag to comfort his kid.
And yes, his students were his kids. He may fight Hizashi and Nemuri anytime they bring up the topic, but without a doubt, every person in class 1A was his kid. And as the designated parental figure, he needed to make sure his kid was alright.
It was only after a particularly hard day of training when Shouta for the first time since he knew what winters were, found himself debating getting out of his sleeping bag to properly talk to his problem child.
After all, he hated breaking routines, but for his problem child, he would break all of them.
Shouta watched from his position on the floor as Midoriya clenched and unclenched his fists that rested on top of his desk.
The entire class had just returned from hero training to finish the last 30 minutes of the school day in homeroom.
Shouta being Shouta refused to actually start a new lesson right before his class went home, so he rolled his way over to the white board and rested on his side while giving the class time to finish any homework that was due the next day.
He quietly observed everyone even though he made it seem as if he were fast asleep.
Kaminari was busy bothering Shinsou.
Bakaguo was busy cursing and screaming at Kirishima.
Iida well, was being Iida and trying to get the class on task.
Every single person in class acted the same they had been for the last year; everyone except Midoriya.
Shouta couldn’t see his facial expressions from his place on the floor, but he could see his fists clench and that was the biggest sign he would get.
Midoriya could cover his anxiety with bright sunshine smiles if he wanted, but he could never cover up his shaking hands.
Shouta just observed as the time ticked down. And as the bell rang he saw Midoriya shoot up out of his seat, ready to bolt from class.
“Midoriya stay after class,” Shouta found himself saying.
And Midoriya, the poor boy, looked at Shouta with nothing but nervousness and fear.
As the rest of his students piled on out of the class, Shouta made the effort to lift himself into a sitting position with his back leaning against the wall. Once the rest of the class was out and it was only him and Midoriya left, he pointedly stared at him and then moved his head to the floor in front of him.
Midoriya at this point wasn’t even afraid anymore, he was just confused.
“You want me to sit on the floor in front of you?” He tried, doing his best to decipher whatever his sensei just did.
Shouta just grunted.
Not one word came out of his mouth, just an inaudible grunt.
I’ll take that as a yes, Midoriya thought to himself.
As the boy got himself situated in front of his sensei, he leaned against the desk that was directly behind him, sat crisscrossed, and folded his hands together while resting them on his lap. Throughout all of that, Midoriya did not once look at his sensei. He just directed his gaze downwards and kept it there.
Neither of them spoke.
It was just both of them sitting in front of each other, one with their gaze to the floor and the other with their gaze on nervous clenched hands.
Surprisingly, it was Midoriya that broke the tension after the uncomfortable silence got too much for him.
“Did you need anything sensei?” He asked out, trying to get his voice under wraps.
Shouta just sat and watched his kid before responding, “What’s wrong with you?”
Midoriya flinched and Shouta internally berated himself.
He was never good at emotions and usually left all that to his husband.
“That was rude, sorry, I meant are you okay?” He tried to make it better.
Midoriya just let out a silent chuckle while responding with, “that’s your attempt of asking if someone is good?”
“Hush problem child, no one ever said I was any good at this,” Shouta replied, cheeks burning pink in embarrassment.
Midoriya, the little shit he is, just chuckled once again.
Shouta was so going to give him detention after their little talk.
“So are you okay?” Shouta made sure to ask once again when his problem child came down from his laughter.
“I’m fin-“
“If you say you’re fine, you’re expelled” he interrupted before the boy could finish his sentence.
“But what if I am fine?” Midoriya managed to snark back, his nerves making him brave.
A week.
Shouta was going to give him a week of detention.
“If you are, that's great, but you and I both know you’re not,” Shouta tried again.
“Maybe you are just seeing things?” Midoriya had the audacity to once again snark back.
Two weeks.
Shouta was giving his problem child two weeks of detention.
However, instead of voicing his decision, Shouta just took a deep breath and stared unblinking at Midoriya.
And after a few moments of uncomfortable silence Midoriya gave in and uttered, “yeah okay, I’m not fine.”
Shouta, being the smartass he is, just hummed while secretly praising himself.
“Do you want to talk about it?” He found himself saying after a beat of silence.
“Not really, no,” his problem child responded.
“Alright then” Shouta hummed while leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes.
Midoriya made no move to get up and leave, and in a way, that was Shouta’s plan. He knew if he waited him out then his student would give into the silence and really say what is on his mind. It was a tactic that always worked and never failed. And when Midoriya opened his mouth not even 5 minutes later, he added another victory talley to his methods.
“Why did you want to become a hero?” His problem child spoke out.
Shouta, without even opening his eyes or moving his head, evenly replied, “Out of spite.”
A small smirk crawled on his face when he heard Midoriya’s choked and spluttered response.
“I don’t know why you’re surprised problem child, I don’t really give off the heroic vibes.” He gave as an answer to his students mumbling.
“Heroic vibe or not, you just don’t decide to become a hero out of spite alone. Yeah, maybe spite did have a big part of it, but spite can’t create the willingness to save people. There are bad heroes out there just as much as there are good villains. Spite alone can’t give you the motivation.” Midoriya spoke out, a bit out of breath from the blatant speed of his response.
“I suppose it can’t,” Shouta answered, staring at Midoriya’s face once again since in the middle of his speech, his eyes snapped open and he sat up.
The room once again became quiet before Shouta decided to play Midoriya’s little game and ask him the same question.
“Why do you want to be a hero?”
His question however, was met with silence. Scanning his kids face, he could see him so deep in thought he was likely going to give himself an aneurysm.
Shouta, realizing he wasn’t going to get an answer any time soon, decided to close and rest his eyes once again. However, the moment he felt the sweet release of darkness, his eyes snapped open from what his problem child said next.
“I want to be the hero I never had.”
“What?” Shouta spoke out before Midoriya continued on with his speech. And that was the biggest mistake he had ever made. Shouta knew if he interrupted then Midoriya would probably never tell him any of this again, but he did so anyway and from how his problem child clamped his mouth shut, he realized he wasn’t going to get an answer any time soon.
Dumbass, Shouta internally berated himself.
“Sorry, I understand that might be a difficult subject for you. Just, can you tell me why you were so nervous in class you couldn’t even write on your paper.”
“I just, sensei, I-” Midoriya was struggling to get the words out, almost on the verge of tears.
“Just breathe problem child, it’s okay, I promise you’re safe here.”
Now, Shouta would argue that he is a highly intelligent man. He passed school with full marks and never struggled. His intelligence in the field proved to be vital with the amount of villain takedowns he procured every month. He found his assistance in missions to be requested more and more for just his sharp mind and incredible wits. So, Shouta would say he is rather smart. However, apparently he is not as smart as he thinks he is because from his last statement alone, he caused Midoriya to open the flood gates he was trying so hard to repress.
“Fuck” he cursed out, completely at a loss of what to do.
“Sensei” his problem child sobbed, his shaking hands now gripping his hair.
If you asked Shouta, he wouldn’t be able to tell you how he was able to unzip and crawl his way out of the warmth of his cocoon with speed that could rival Iida’s. He wouldn’t be able to tell you how he had Midoriya gathered in his arms while the poor boy sobbed his heart out on his chest in a blink of an eye. He wouldn’t be able to tell you any of it at all. Because Shouta merely reacted to his kid in distress. And routines or not, he would always be there for his kids no matter what.
“Breathe with me Midoriya, easy,” Shouta soothed, working to get his kids breathing under control.
Once he could tell that Midoriya finally calmed down a bit, Shouta with much debate asked the question plaguing his mind, “Do you want to tell me what that was about?”
Despite the overall harshness of the question, Shouta made sure to ask it in a soft tone. Which apparently was a mistake since his problem child was looking at him with eyes full of amusement.
Three weeks.
He was getting three weeks of detention.
After clearing his throat, Midoriya finally responded to his sensei’s question.
“It’s just that, I feel so safe here.”
Now Shouta was just plain confused.
“That’s good, you’re supposed to feel safe here,” he responded. Still so confused.
Midoriya lightly shook his head before mumbling, you don’t understand
“Then explain it to me” Shouta found himself once again asking.
Midoriya contemplated his request. If he were being honest, Shouta felt a bit unnerved by his students' stares. However, he just stared back just as intently.
That was seen to be the correct option in his opinion from the way Midoriya slightly smiled and got comfortable while burrowing his head into Shouta’s chest
He took one last breath before finally telling his sensei what was bothering him all day.
“Sensei I just, I have never felt this safe before, and it’s making me so anxious. And I know how it sounds, believe me I know how it sounds. But I have never felt safe anywhere before; especially at school. I mean yeah home is pretty safe but my mom works a lot so it’s also very lonely. But here, I’m not alone and I’m safe. Today at training, it was the most fun I ever had. I mean yeah, it was hard and difficult but I also adapted to everything. Kacchan actually worked with me and Todoroki used his fire to implement a new move. I have friends here and I’m safe. But I’m also terrified I’m going to lose them. Everything good that comes into my life always disappears. And I’m so scared I’m going to lose this safe place. I’m so anxious that the people who make me want to be better are just going to go away. I used to be afraid of teachers and I’m in one of my teachers arms at this moment. I just don’t want to lose it all; and I’m so afraid I will.”
As Midoriya spoke out, Shouta just held him tighter and listened to what his kid was telling him. And as he finished, Shouta did his best to reassure his kid.
“Kid, you’re not going to lose us. Bad things happen and we have no control over them. But what we do have control over, is our reactions. If you lose someone in this class tomorrow, yes they will be physically gone, but I think they will always be looking after you. Once you make these connections, these lifetime connections, the only thing that can rip it away is death. And I think your classmates have no intention of dying soon. It’s okay to be scared of the unknown, it’s okay to be terrified and anxious of what could possibly happen, but it’s not okay to let it get to you so bad you can’t even write on a piece of paper. I want to ask how you want to be the hero you never had. I want to know what you meant, but I won’t ask. At least, not today. But kid, please, if you’re ever feeling like this again, come to me. We are here to help you for a reason. I promise kid, no one here will ever hurt you again.”
Shouta was out of breath after his speech and his kid was crying full blown tears again. But the more he spoke, the more he saw his problem childs hands gradually decrease in shaking. So, he added another winning talley to his methods.
“I can’t believe people still think you’re so scary,” Midoriya mumbled out through tears.
Four weeks.
He was getting four weeks of detention.
“Hush child, I am terrifying.”
“As terrifying as a kitten.”
Five weeks.
Midoriya was getting five weeks of detention.
“Brat,” Shouta mumbled before he noticed how his problem child’s eyes dropped a bit more after time went on.
“Are you tired?” He asked
“Yeah, I didn’t sleep last night and after my emotions today, I’m exhausted.”
Shouta would deny it to the day he died if you asked him, but without even blinking, he scooped up his problem child and placed him in the bright yellow caterpillar of a bag before zipping it all the way up and making it lay flatly under the whiteboard.
“Sensei wha-” Midoriya tried throughout the whole ordeal but Shouta was having none of it.
“Hush, just sleep, and when you wake up, meet me in the teachers lounge.”
“Okay sensei,” Midoriya mumbled before closing his eyes.
Shouta slowly stood up, wobbled a bit from not walking in a month, and made his way to the door. He could still see his kid squinting at him through tired narrowed eyes.
Shouta just lightly smiled before saying the most heartfelt thing that made his chest swarm with warmness.
“When you wake up, you have five weeks of detention.”
“SENSEI WHAT”
But Shouta was already out the room, his signature smirk on his face while he fought to contain the chuckles.
However, not even five whole steps out of the room, he made eye contact with his husband, and prepared to flee.
“SHOUTA WHAT,” Hizashi screamed.
“Shit,” Shouta replied.
And that is how the Erasure Hero was found sprinting away from the Voice hero through the halls of UA.
And well, if he got in trouble with Nezu for breaking one of his windows when he flung his husband out of it, he found himself not minding one bit.
And if when he walked into the staff meeting on two legs with his husband full of leaves and twigs as well as snow in his hair glaring at him, he just smiled through the yells of protest and questions at what was going on.
And if he walked back into the classroom after the meeting to check up on Midoriya and found him sleeping with his head turned down to capture his sleeping bag's heat, he would forever dismiss the idea of the genuine smile on his face as he closed the door once again and made his way to the teachers lounge.
Shouta would spend all winter in his sleeping bag every winter.
That was his routine, it was set in stone.
But walking down the hallway with a slight chill from the arctic winter winds that were coming from the open window, he found himself not minding one bit how this winter he strayed from routine.
After all, Shouta hated breaking routines, but for any of his kids, he would break all of them.