Chapter Text
It was 4 o’clock on a dull Thursday afternoon when Shouta’s day suddenly brightened. Popping his head around the doorframe, former UA student, turned Hero, turned teacher then reinstated Hero - Izuku Midoriya grinned cheerfully and gave a friendly wave.
“Aizawa-San!”
He rolled his eyes as he pushed off the desk to stand up. “Friends usually call me Shouta y’know.”
The 24 year old, leaning on the doorframe blushed a very pretty pink and Shouta zeroed in on it like a hawk… before promptly beating himself internally to a pulp.
‘No… remember that its time to let go of that. Too young. Too innocent. Far too scandalous. Former student for fucks sake… Besides, he would never feel that way about an exhausted, washed up mess like me’
“… So…” Shouta shoved his hands into his pockets and wandered across the room, closing the gap. “What are you doing here anyways, its been over a week since you officially became a former employee. People don’t usually go back to work after quitting to hang out.”
The teacher hoped he came off as casual, relaxed, feeding a nonchalant conversation… not a little whiny… or needy… even though he was.
Izuku turned his head, glancing at the ceiling, smiling again as his blush faded a touch “Ah… I came to uhh- go through a few student quirk practices with Tanaka-San. She uh- I offered, I mean- well, its-hah…”
Shouta’s eyed narrowed a touch, before he regained his blasé expression, pushing any paranoid and unwarranted jealousy out of his head. He didn’t want to act like a petulant child because Izuku was here to see his replacement and not him…
“Right… well, if you miss it here that much, you could always do both jobs, I’ve heard its very rewarding.”
“I’ve heard its bad for your sleep habits” Izuku teased back in a way that would have shocked him a couple of years ago. The newly un-retired hero had certainly come out of his shell over the years.
Shouta strode out of the room, slinging his sleeping bag over his shoulder and joining Izuku to walk down towards the computer room. “I’ll have you know that my sleep patterns have never been better…”
Izuku snorted a laugh, before hopping forward, grabbing Shouta’s sleeve and pulling him a little closer. “Shinso told me he saw you patrolling last friday” he whispered.
A soft and subtle scent of apple shampoo wafted towards his nose. Clenching his jaw, he shifted out of reach, away from nagging temptation. “He’s clearly mistaken. Obviously, must’ve been seeing things. Trick of the light.”
“A misplaced weather balloon. Low light refracting off some gas.”
He glanced to his side, his chest burning as he watched Izuku’s shoulder’s bob with a quiet giggle. He’d missed this easy friendship they’d built up. If he told himself 5 years ago that he could get this close with someone so much younger than him, he would have scoffed, dismissing the notion. And not just that, but a former student, the problem child as he was back at the beginning.
Izuku really had changed though. When he’d first met him, he was just some hero worshipping, wide eyed (and anxious) kid. Of course, he matured quickly, fighting in wars that no sixteen year old should have to. Then he finished up school at eighteen and took off to be a hero for a whole two years, getting as much experience as he could with what little quirk embers he had left.
Aside from occasionally seeing Izuku on the news, Shouta kind of stayed in the dark. That whole hell class… the end of his active career… losing a leg… losing Nemuri… Oboro… he just wanted to push that all of behind him and quietly let it fade away.
In the midst of it all, Izuku disappeared. The decline in appearances had probably been a measured, carefully followed plan but for someone who shied away from the news, the retirement of Hero Deku felt sudden. And it had been swept under the rug for the most part, the information actually reaching him through Nezu.
So when Izuku turned up in a staff meeting, a year after quitting heroics, Shouta literally stopped at the entrance to the meeting room and just stared.
The 21 year old was maybe a little taller, still packed with lean muscles and wore a plain suit and tie, with a sunny disposition. That was the part that had his feet stuttering to a halt. How? How could someone go through all of that and still… well, Izuku was an enigma. Shouta felt a strange urge to understand, get close with him, maybe a little weirdly - suck some of that endless optimism. Heck, Eri certainly deserved a father with a better constitution, maybe by spending time with Izuku, that cheerful buoyancy would rub off on him.
The change from teacher-student to sort-of-strangers, now to coworkers, gave him whiplash. Shouta was guarded and quiet at the best of times so how would he develop a new friendship? The answer was, very awkwardly… until a conversation regarding student quirks, about 4 months after Izuku starting teaching at UA.
“Aizawa-San!” Izuku stood abruptly from his desk, staring across the room with firm determination painted on his face “I’d like to talk to you about some quirk specific tasks I want to do with the students.”
Shouta’s brows raised but he kept his lips sealed, simply leaning back in his seat and nodding once. His coworker literally ran across the room, practically jumping into the adjacent chair.
What followed, was an intelligent and thorough, albeit a little verbose, breakdown of each student’s quirk and the different applications, then how these could be tested and quizzed.
By the end of his spiel, Izuku was rosy cheeked. His fists were clenched atop his thighs, leaning closer to him than he first realised. Or maybe Shouta had been subconsciously gravitating towards that brilliant brain.
“…” He opened his mouth, then closed it again to think for a moment, looking down at the notes scattered on the desk, one page per student, all hand written.
“What did you do during your year off from Heroics? After you retired?”
Izuku blinked and sat back, obviously startled by the abrupt left turn in topics. “Oh uh… sorry, did I-“
Before the new teacher could curl in on himself, take Shouta’s question completely wrong and misunderstand, raised his hand and butted in, adding “Because that was… excellent. Meticulous information gathering, smart simple ideas for introductory testing, moving into more intricate and inventive ideas.”
Now it was Izuku’s turn to be speechless.
It was slightly amusing to watch. He didn’t let that show on his face of course. Just sat and waited for Izuku to reboot.
“I took a teaching degree. Fast tracked, full time. I uhhh didn’t really leave the house for a year haha” Izuku rubbed the back of his head, shifting on his seat a little. “I ummm- not that I want to bag out All Might- he means a lot to me and was a great mentor over the years!”
Shouta observed carefully, still kind of processing the fact that Izuku actually did the smart thing and learned how to combine all that quirk obsessed knowledge with teaching.
“-I just think that battle trials on the first full day of schooling, with brand new costumes and accessories with a bunch of other students and quirks you don’t understand, isn’t how I’d want to teach the students in my class… and… well, I wouldn’t really want to have a Teaching for Dummies book in my back pocket either… it doesn’t go down well with your students.”
The capture scarf Shouta wore always was useful in more ways than one, particularly when it came to hiding a grin.
He cleared his throat and propped his elbows on the table. “Midoriya, I’d be happy to bounce ideas for activities, assessments and other teaching methods with you, anytime. You definitely have a knack for this.”
The two from that moment on, chatted often about school work, students, activities and trials. Over time, it moved from class room talks to chatting over lunch, over dinner, a shared trip to the shops. At some point Izuku came to be the one he called when his car broke down, or needed to move something from his spare apartment off campus. The new teacher was close enough with Eri that he could attend parent’s night in lieu of Shouta, if needed. He’d probably be at the top of his mobile phone message list, if it wasn’t for Hizashi’s relentless, boredom induced text streams.
It was fine, Shouta was comfortable with gaining a close friend.
Except there was a strange pooling ache in his chest, one that he hadn’t felt since his teens. It seemed to resurface, particularly when Izuku smiled brightly, when a delicate blush lit his cheeks and made his freckles darken, when he had a sudden idea and bounced with excitement, heck, even when he spiralled in a mumble storm - Shouta found those moments surprisingly fascinating… So all of it built up over the course of a year until finally-
“You’re in love with Midoriya”
Shouta stared at Hizashi like he had two heads. “You’re drunk.”
The Izakaya was noisy, their little booth not doing much to shelter them from the bustle and chatter. The two met like this every month, usually just to let their hair down, reminisce about old times etc etc. On that night in particular though, around 18 months after Izuku started working at UA, Hizashi decided to drop a truth bomb.
The blond rolled his eyes dramatically, his smooth, straight locks flopping forward from his shoulder. “Not nearly drunk enough my friend. He was your student… well… that was a long time ago and you didn’t see him for ages, b’cause I know you avoided the news for like, 2 whole years and then he went hermit style for a year… but still… hmmm… although… he’s changed hasn’t he-“ Hizashi rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he went through a whole ass debate on his own.
“-He’s still all bright and bubbly, which I know-“ He pointed at Shouta, half empty glass in hand, booze sloshing with with the movement “-you soak that shit in like vitamin D on a sunny day… but that’s a preeeeetty big age gap… Nemuri would probably approve. Actually, she would definitely approve, the former student card gives you, like bonus points or something.”
Shouta sat perfectly still, mouth agape as his friend continued the one sided discussion.
“Yeah…. Yep… He’ll be good for you-“ Hizashi chugged the last of his drink and slammed it back on the table, yanking Shouta out of his stupor. “I begrudgingly give you my blessing - Go get him pal!”
‘What’
Without uttering a word, he got up from the table and walked out. He knew his high school friend was chasing behind him, frantically paying the bill and shouting after him, but he couldn’t hear it over the high pitched ringing in his head.
In love?
Is that what this was?
Is that why Izuku shone like the sun. Why his laughter sounded like bells ringing. Why his intelligent muttering gave him butterflies. Why Shouta’s pants became strangely too tight when Izuku spilt hot miso soup on his shirt and immediately stripped last Monday?
He… was in love… with Izuku?
Wait.
“Blessing??”
He whirled on the spot, practically getting bowled over by the surprisingly, still accompanying blond. “Sho??”
“You… wh… I don’t need a blessing. I am not going to act on-“ He waved an arm around then circled a finger over his chest “-this, whatever this is.”
“Love… you’re not a crush kind of guy, you’re a bit of an obsessive maniac to be honest.”
Shouta huffed and turned, resuming a fast pace, one that he knew the other could keep up with.
“No. Absolutely not. Besides, Izuku- is he even-“
Hizashi overzealously nudged him with his shoulder, making the pair stumble to right themselves in their mildly drunken state “Oh he came out a few years ago when he was a hero the first time. Someone leaked a picture of him making out with Monoma-“
‘Wtf!’ Shouta recoiled, a little disgusted in his taste ‘…Well it could be worse’
“Sekijiro told me it didn’t end well-“ Hizashi cackled “-Midoriya was wasted, threw up on him ha ha, they don’t even talk anymore.”
He pursed his lips, unimpressed with how happy he was, to hear that it ended before it began.
“Well… even so… its not happening. Its not even worth thinking about.”
He sharply pivoted, dragging his friend into the next nearest bar, happy that the topic was dropped quickly. Hizashi always was a sucker for drinking heavily when good food was involved. So that left a tipsy Shouta Aizawa plenty of time to ruminate over the newly discovered knowledge that he apparently had feelings for one Izuku Midoriya.
Shouta blinked, pulled from his memories and back to the present, a further 18 months since that hellish discovery. When he arrived at the computer room, he paused “Well…-
‘We should catch up sometime, we should go for dinner, why don’t you tell me how its all going over coffee … no…’
“You’d better get moving for your meeting with Tanaka… Don’t be a stranger, Hero Deku.”
Izuku clutched and pulled on the end of his jacket in a nervous manner “Of course not!… See you again, Aizawa-San”
The moment those pretty freckles were out of sight, Shouta sighed and walked around the screens to where he knew his friend was hiding. “Not a fucking word.”
Hizashi sat up from his concealed slump, placing his hands on his chest and sighing like some Disney princess in love. “Be still my beating-“
“I won’t make your death swift or painless, if you keep going.”
The fellow teacher huffed as he flopped forward, elbow on desk, chin in hand and resumed Japan’s Got Talent on the screen. “Well you’re no fun… anyway, what’s the embodiment of sunshine doing here. He restarted hero work straight away didn’t he?”
Logging in with a sigh, Shouta glowered at his work emails for a second before rubbing his hand roughly over his face. “Yeah… they’ve got him on graveyard shifts because they want to keep his return to heroics on the down low. Minimal support, shit pay, as if he didn’t sacrifice a ton for this damn country as it was.”
“Why is Hawks letting that happen?!”
His finger flicked the roller on the mouse, rapidly scrolling down the list. Snipe complaining about a missing stapler… Someone robbing conbini’s with a quirk that triggers animal transformations… A large, definitely not as exciting as it was worded- stationary delivery… Transfer student paperwork… Kota’s homework - 2 days late… a new kitten at ‘Cats and Crudités’.
‘Hmmmm’
Shouta tilted his head. He really wanted to hate the place. The name was dumb, they didn’t even sell crudités, just basic bistro foods… and all the cats annoyingly had names starting with “C”… and the coffee was shit. But Izuku took him there a couple of months ago in an attempt to “cheer him up”, when he was feeling particularly miserable with his unrequited love. And thus, he now adored the place.
“Shoutaaaaa! Stop ignoring me-“
He huffed at the blond, leaning further away as he clicked on the cat profile linked in the email.
‘Clive the kitten. Who the fuck names a pretty kitten Clive. Fucking asshats… Better book a time slot for tomorrow lunch’
“Anyway-“ Hizashi continued “-I thought you were getting a haircut yesterday. Like a ‘I’ve been dumped even though we were never together and now I have to get a dramatic new look to reinvent myself, like I don’t sob into ice cream every night’ kind of haircut”
He slowly turned to look at Hizashi. “I don’t think we should be friends anymore. You’re bad for my health.”
“PAH! You’re bad for your health- what, did Izuku find out and tell you not to cut it?”
‘Shit’
Shouta quietly decided to take interest in the ceiling fan.
The bastard beside him gasped “No way, you’re so whipped.”
“Fuck off.”
Almost 7 hours later, Shouta sat on a rooftop across from a conbini, waiting- hoping for it to close quietly and not fall victim to the attacker that he’d read about. Of course, there were small stores that all closed between 9pm-midnight scattered a dime a dozen but the pattern of robberies that cycled through different franchises in a circular route… it seemed too subtle to be real and yet here he was, staking out the place 15 minutes before closing… just in case.
The Thursday evening breeze was pleasant, so despite what he’d implied earlier that day to Izuku… he really wasn’t ready to give this lifestyle up. Only a handful of people knew he still did this, even his timesheets went direct to the HPSC president, Hawks for quiet payment. On paper, he had essentially retired. He’d dramatically reduced his hours, unregistered from all raids and undercover operations and taken his name off all active agency work, be that as it may… He just couldn’t quite let go of the peaceful night patrols, wandering across the rooftops of smaller, forgotten neighbourhoods. It was a much calmer job than it was 10 years ago but a crime-free world was something unachievable in Shouta’s eyes.
He pushed up from his crouch, grimacing at the ache where his knee met his prosthetic. He figured he might as well slip into the store before it closed, grab a coffee and some liquorice to accompany him on the stroll home.
Walking into a harshly lit store after hours in the dark was always unpleasant. With a huff, he buried his face in his scarf after accidentally scowling at the store clerk and trotted off towards the fridges at the back. The chime of the store door was nothing unexpected so he reached out a hand for the drink and-
‘Oh fuck’
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Usually, Izuku found that Saturday nights were buzzing with activity but tonight, out in a smaller suburb, it was surprisingly quiet. Thanks to the flu, Sero had phoned in sick and Izuku was loathed to request that Shiozaki come out, even though she was on call. In fact, it could be a blessing in disguise. If he was going to prove to everyone that he could return like this - without a quirk- then this was the perfect chance.
He leant forward on the small wall that bordered the tall roof he was crouched on, perfect place to watch the Izakaya across the street, the late night ramen shop to the left and the alley that housed the speak-easy. He shuffled right and glanced down the passage at the fake vending machine which concealed the entrance. Hidden bars were popular in more upmarket, hip suburbs. They were quirky, almost like a status symbol, that only those in the know, knew. This one however, had more shady clientele. The bar was under suspicion of housing criminals, specifically those involved in two separate attacks on single, young women last month. The two suspects were still on the run, one with a Kansai accent, the other with fluorescent blue eyes. He’d read the file the day before, curious to see if the men were still lurking in the area or had enough smarts to move on.
He slowly blew out a breath through puckered lips and shoved himself into a standing position. “Might as well head towards the train station then circle b-“
*Squawk!
He flinched to the side as the obnoxiously noisy crow landed on an antenna just a few feet away. Clutching his rapidly beating chest, Izuku stared intensely at the black bird. “You’re… just a crow, right?”
Unsurprisingly, the bird didn’t answer, just returned his gaze.
A chortle bubbled out as he relaxed his shoulders “Ah Izuku you dumdum.” He pulled his mask back on and after a moment of thought, waved to the crow that still seemed to be watching him.
An hour later, Izuku stopped walking and hopped up a drainpipe and onto the top of a smaller building. Sitting on the roof corner, he pulled off his mask and looked out onto a poorly lit park, a little down the road from his previous view point. Funnily enough, he was immediately joined once more, by the crow.
After he’d left his former surveillance spot, he’d hopped his way over to the train station, followed by the bird. He’d flown over to the department store and patrolled the area for a little while… accompanied by the crow. Then he’d walked back down the street, circling back towards his starting point… stalked by the crow.
“You’re a bit suss” he said, side-eying the black feathered fiend, perched on the air conditioning vent.
“Oh!” He pulled off his gloves and began searching his pockets, groaning after coming up empty “I was thinking maybe you wanted a snack but uh… I don’t really have anything.” Leaning over the edge of the building to look down the street, he spotted a small convenience store, surprisingly still open… probably trying to capitalise on the late night patrons of the Izakaya, Ramenya and Speak-Easy he’d been watching before.
He chewed the inside of his lip for a moment, considering his options but sighed once more. “I shouldn’t go in while on duty… all I’ve got is-“ he pulled out a small bag of chocolate covered coffee beans and popped one into his mouth, chuckling “Sorry Sir, I don’t think these are very crow-propriate.”
The hero snickered to himself but yelped when the bird launched itself at his head, ducking down at the last second to snatch up the small plastic bag of treats in it’s cheeky claws.
“Hey!” Izuku stepped forward but the damn thing flew in circles, almost mocking him.
“Look-“ he pinched the bridge of his nose “-I don’t want to be done for animal cruelty if people find my DNA on the body of a dead bird… you could have- wait, would… would caffeine cause heart attacks in birds?” He rubbed his chin in thought.
*Squawk!!
Izuku looked up and tip toed to the edge, noting the taxi that pulled up in front of the store.
‘Pretty late… she’s by herself…’
The lone woman, probably around 20 years old, entered the conbini just minutes before it was due to close. The taxi dropping her didn’t stay behind.
“I don’t think there’s many apartments around here… I-“ He looked at the crow, like the thing would turn around and talk back to him “I have a bad feeling about this.”
The two of them skipped over, scaling the next taller building and then jumping to the next. Now, above the store… they waited.
A few minutes later she exited the store, wandering down the street, face buried in her phone. Izuku pats his re-gloved hand on the concrete a couple of times, readying himself for his next move and jumped to his feet, lightly bounding down to street level.
“Excu-“
The woman whirled on the spot with sheer terror twisting her face. Izuku holds up his hands, one holding his hero licence for her to see “Sorry, sorry!! Hero on patrol! I didn’t mean to scare you, I promise!! I just ummm… Are you ok miss? Its quite late to be uhh… walking alone.”
She sags in relief and nods “I flew into Tokyo from Kagoshima this evening, then hopped straight on the Shinkansen and on to a bandai card tournament. I didn’t expect it to end so late! There’s a capsule hotel nearby apparently, it came recommended from some online forums but I wanted some midnight snacks.” She lifts and waves the bag of treats, making Izuku glance around in case the crow decides to swoop and snatch.
“Would you like an escort?”
A brisk five minute walk later and Izuku is waving bye to the young traveller. A pleasant warmth spreads through his chest. Helping people, no matter how small, always made his heart soar.
*Caw!!!
Izuku quickly spun at the nearby, somewhat echoey bird call, he’d wondered where his newfound companion had disappeared to while he was accompanying the lady to the hotel.
His ears prick at the sound of a hiss and harsh mutter, making him quickly apply his mask, clicking on the advanced hearing tech.
“Kill that fuckin crow will yer, if the hero comes over how the hell d’yer want to explain chloroform and rope huh?”
The crook has barely finished the last word when Izuku is off like a shot, ricocheting off the alley wall beside the capsule hotel, landing a mean kick to the shocked face of a man shoving a line of rope into a back pack. The other guy was swinging a lead pipe at his crow friend when Izuku socked him with a hydraulic assisted punch.
Ten minutes later, he’s helping the police load the two guys into the van. “These guys match the description of two men involved in attacks last month… please contact officer Betsuno, he was working the case.”
He watched policemen nod and take off in the vehicle, leaving Hero Deku to continue his patrol. Its another win under his belt… but it was definitely assisted.
“I really appreciated that” he says, looking up at the crow perched on the street light. He jogs across the road and hookshots onto an emergency exit stairwell, leaping up onto the roof. Its no surprise that his new bird friend joins him as he starts walking along, ready to make another loop of the area.
“You were a big help… and to be honest, its been nice to have company” Izuku smiled at the crow, barely feeling foolish for talking to a bird. Anima would be so proud. “Just uhhh don’t get a caffeine addiction“ he pauses on the last roof of the street, staring out towards the horizon with a smile “Although… my favourite person has one… so I guess it wouldn’t be the end of the world.”
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Shouta flew home the long way, it had been an eventful evening but he wasn’t really ready for it to end. It wasn’t the feeling of gliding through the air, the wind rippling his feathers as he fluttered and soared, that made him feel so light and almost giddy. Instead, he was sure it was the pleasant company he’d had for the night.
He’d patrolled with Izuku!
Admittedly, he was a bird… and the hero didn’t know that it was him but there was just something so… amazing about it. He didn’t think he’d ever get the chance. Of course, they’d had the Shie Hassaikai raid… the war, even some patrol simulations… but nothing with Izuku as a seasoned adult.
Izuku was smart, efficiently disarming the crooks and taking control of the situation in a way that reminded him of his own early career patrols. And Shouta finally got to be a part of that.
His chest stung when he realised how much more fun this would have been if he hadn’t been crippled and pretty much disarmed of his quirk. Sure, Erasure still worked… but the range was much shorter and the peripheral aspect of it had fizzled out. Now he had to be directly looking at someone, less than 30ft away. That was effective enough. Quick, short hand to hand (or hand to scarf and boot) was still perfectly productive.
And this was the perfect way to spend time with Izuku. A purely professional setting. No need to make excuses or blur any lines. He could get his fill without drama.
Perfect.
‘Maybe after all this is over, I can approach him about a couple of night patrols…hmmm… when exactly will all this be over though?’
He swooped under some communication lines and pitched a hard right around a corner.
‘His favourite person has a coffee addiction…’ He let slip a quiet caw and tried to push the thought out of his mind. Izuku likes lots of people who like coffee, it really wasn’t something he should be thinking about in too much detail.
Another sharp bank around a corner, zipping close to the ground, the thrill of flight flooding him with more excitement than he’d felt in a long time.
It had been a little over 48 hours since Shouta had been hit by a quirk and turned into a crow. Initially, after he woke up at the back of the store, in a pile of his own clothing, he felt like the worlds biggest idiot. There was nothing to suggest in the intel he’d gathered, that the conbini-robber’s quirk acted like an EMP blast, turning anyone within a specific radius, regardless of barriers, into a random animal.
But still… why he hadn’t just finished the stakeout and gone to a different store afterwards!?
By some insane luck, the clerk had been turned into an orangutang and promptly called the police after the criminal bolted. Thankfully, the computer studies student knew of a text to speech function on the store computer to read out the problem and their location.
Unfortunately, it was Hizashi who came to collect him and his belongings. While it was preferable to the utter humiliation he would have felt if it had been Izuku, the blond ass was absolutely loving the whole situation, saying he’d always wanted a pet bird. Only after Shouta broke his glasses and clawed his hair into a matted mess, did his friend promise to keep the whole thing a secret.
“It only happens from dusk til dawn.” The reporting officer had told them before they left “So come morning, you’ll be back to normal… but so far, we aren’t sure of the duration. The first people to be hit with the quirk are still suffering from the effects and its been 22 days.”
Shouta flapped hard, propelling himself higher, far above the rooftops, spotting UA in the distance.
‘I can do this every night that Izuku’s out’ he thought as he sailed over the barrier, quietly thankful that despite his changed form, his DNA was fundamentally, if not bizarrely, the same and didn’t trigger the UA security system.
He banked left, gliding forward towards his open balcony sliding door… and slammed straight into the glass.
‘Fuck’
Flapping wildly as he clamoured to get back to his feet, he hopped over to the offending pane to see Hizashi on the floor of his apartment, in a fit of hysterics, literally rolling side to side, holding his ribs as he cackled.
‘I’m going to kill that bastard’