Aizawa wakes up first, there's a slight aching in his back. Probably from his current position on the floor. They must have fallen asleep at some point during everything that happened last night. Given that, the boy in question is currently sprawled over him, hands clutching his side tightly. A strange clicking sound startles him. He looks up only to be blinded by a flash of light. He tenses in anticipation only to relax once he sees the source of the disturbance. Who else but his annoying best friend. He curses himself internally for giving Mic spare keys to his apartment.

The voice hero has his phone clutched between his hands, a satisfied grin adorns his features as he scrolls through the pictures he just took.

"What are you doing here?" Aizawa hisses in a low voice, he doesn't want to wake up the problem child after all.

"Came to check on the little listener! You two, just looked so cute. I couldn't help it." He justifies, as he tries to take one last picture. However, the death glare Aizawa is currently shooting him makes him think twice about it. "I brought some of his cloth from his house, he's going to be staying here right? Nedzu also asked me to see if the kid was up, to going back to school."

Aizawa hummed in response, slowly untangling himself from the boy as he rises to his feet. Izuku shifts a little, but ultimately settles back. The boy must have been exhausted if he's comfortable in this position.

The two heroes make their way towards the kitchen. Yamada promptly climbs on the counter as if it's completely natural, he swings his legs, content with his seat and watches as his best friends sigh loudly in exasperation before going to make himself a cup of coffee. "This is going to be a long morning," Aizawa mumbles to himself.

"So, how is he doing? I still can't get my mind wrapped around everything we learned." Mic asks quietly, his voice uncharacteristically quiet.

"He's as fine as he can be, given the circumstances, I guess... He's having nightmares. His nervous behavior makes much more sense now!" He begins quietly," Hizashi, the kid's first reaction is to flinch at everything as if he's expecting to be hit for every little mistake. He freaked out yesterday, thought I was going to punish him for breaking a plate by accident."

"I guess it's expected Shouta, he's been living like this his whole life... What kind of a mother does this to her own child. It's just so- it's wrong." Yamada's hands are clutched, his frustration and anger bubbling to the surface.

Aizawa knows that the voice hero is sensitive to these kinds of situation, although he can't really blame him. He'd like to find Inko Midoriya and make her pay for all the suffering she put Izuku through.

----------------------------

Izuku wakes up to a sweet smell coming from the kitchen. He straightens up and looks around.
Last night events playing back in his mind as he face-palms internally. However, although he slept on the floor, he feels strangely rested.

He gets up and follows the strange aroma. He walks into the kitchen and freezes. Aizawa has his back turned towards the counter and is apparently making pancakes. A man is setting the table next to him, the blonde hair and glasses gave his identity away. Present mic, his English teacher suddenly notices his presence and beams up at him, Izuku responds with a shy wave.

"HELLO, little listener!" The blonde's voice starts out really loud, but his shouting is reduced to normal talking, the reason makes itself known. Aizawa glares at the voice hero, his eyes are red and his hair is floating. A telltale sign of his quirk in action. Izuku really likes Present Mic but he can't help but feel grateful for his homerooms teachers' action. It's too early for this kind of shouting.

"Good morning" The boy mumbles as he makes his way towards his two teachers.

"Hey kid, Mic here decided to drop you some of your clothes," Aizawa states quietly as he takes a sip from a cup of coffee. He puts the cup down and stares straight at Izuku. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh okay. Thank you, Mic-Sensei." Mic's smile increases tenfold, but before he gets to say anything izuku continues. "I'm as fine as I can be I guess." The boy answers truthfully. "I've had worse..." That last part is muttered, but the two adults hear it nonetheless. A deep frown replaces Mic's previous cheerful expression, the voice hero opens his mouth to say something but a glare from Aizawa shuts him up. Getting angry won't help the kid.

They're both angry, they both want to go out there and make that woman pay for everything she's done but Izuku comes first.

"Well, come on then. Breakfast is going to get cold." Izuku looks up at his teacher and nods as he slowly makes his way towards the table. The food looks absolutely delicious and this time he doesn't hesitate to dig in. Their meal goes by in peaceful silence. That is until Izuku musters enough courage to ask the one thing he's been wanting to ask.

"Aizawa-sensei?"

"Call me Aizawa at home kid."

Izuku is quiet for a second.

"Aizawa... Uhm, do the others know?" Izuku's voice comes out weaker than he meant to. He doesn't elaborate on what but the adults understand the question nonetheless.

Izuku doesn't want his friends to find out, he doesn't want them to look at him differently. Like he'll break. Like he was weak. They probably won't want anything to do with him after they find out.

"Nedzu has given the students a couple of free days. Todoroki and Shinsou know, they were the ones that warned us. However, the rest of the students probably think you are home."

Izuku sighs in relief. Todoroki and Shinsou already know, yet, they didn't treat him any differently. They had told Aizawa? He'd probably be dead if they hadn't...

"Oh... okay. Wh- When will I go back to class then?" A gleam of hope appears in the boy's eyes.

"Whenever you feel up to it. However, the doctor said to refrain from any tiring activities so you won't be participating in any practical's. Luckily though, Nedzu decided to postpone the internships. So, you should be fine to go on the internships with the others." Aizawa responds calmly, Izuku feels it's safe to ask more questions.

"Internships?"

"After the sports festival, Heroes are able to take on a couple of students as interns for a couple of days, when you get back to school Aizawa will explain it to you and your classmates. Normally it happens sooner, but Nezdu saw it fit to postpone it for a couple of days, let the students rest." It's the voice hero that answers this time.

They eat their food quietly after that, Aizawa and Izuku deciding that it would be okay for him to go back to class as soon as the break ends. He missed his friends.

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THE DAY OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL

Bakugou marches home, his whole demeanor is radiating nothing but fury. How dare that nerd walk out of their fight? Was he that much of a coward! This wasn't a win, this was nothing but a joke. How could they give him first place if he didn't even get to fight in the finals? It was all shitty Deku's fault.

He grumbles more under his breath as he steps out to cross the road. However, as soon as he prepares to take a step forward, a racing ambulance nearly hit's him. He curses loudly and shouts at the vehicle.

Tsk. Shitty driver. Fucking shitty Deku.

All of the anger and built up frustration seeps away as he crosses and his eyes land on Izuku's apartment. Police cars are parked outside, the blaring siren of the ambulance sends red flags in his mind. Dread fills his stomach as he sees medics carting a figure away, a green tuft of hair makes his blood run cold.

Deku.

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The weekend passes with little fanfare, Aizawa, and Izuku slowly get accustomed to each other's company. The boy gets more comfortable around Aizawa every day and the apartment is starting to feel more like home than his house ever did. Izuku can't help but feel hope bubble in his chest. Maybe, he could finally have a real home.

The next day, the duo is walking together towards campus. Aizawa's apartment is just a few blocks away from UA.

Aizawa looks at his ward, Izuku still hasn't smiled, but he couldn't blame him. The boy has been through so much.

A soft smile grazes his normally stoic features as he looks at the kid that has grown to be something akin of a son to him. The boy stands quietly next to him as they walk in tandem. The silence between them is peaceful, a blatant change from the originally awkward silence that was held between them at first. He vows he's going to try his best to make his problem child smile again.

Soon enough, they are walking through the school gates. Luckily, Aizawa had thought to come extra early to avoid any reporters. They reach the building's hallway and each go their separate ways. Izuku to his classroom and Aizawa towards the teacher's break room to prepare for homeroom.

Izuku walks into the classroom, he expects it to be empty. Given how early they got here. However, what he doesn't expect to find is an exhausted-looking Bakugou, deep bags adorn his face, a clear contrast against his pale skin. His shoulders are hunched and his posture slumped as he appears to be lost in thought.

Izuku thinks he can get away with backing away, however, his hopes are shattered as crimson eyes land on him. Many emotions flit across the Blonde's expression, too fast for Izuku to decipher. Kacchan stands up abruptly, his movements stiff and alarming. He approaches Izuku, his steps harsh against the tiled floor. Izuku backs away slightly as his childhood bully marches towards him. He flinches when the boy raises his arm and places it on his shoulder, his eyes slamming shut automatically. After a second, when no pain seems to come, Izuku hesitantly opens his eyes.

"K-Kachan what- "He doesn't get to finish his sentence before he finds himself crushed between Bakugou's arm. The boy holds onto him like a lifeline.

"Deku! You shitty nerd! What the fuck is wrong with you? I thought you were fucking dead!" Bakugou's words come out as loud and harsh, but somehow Izuku sees the intention behind them.

Izuku can only stand there speechless. Was Bakugou actually worried? About him?

"I was walking home when I saw the police cars and you were being karted by the medics and when I ran home, police officers were questioning my parents and... Why didn't you tell me? All this time? Your mom was hurting you. All those injuries you'd say you got by accident... The broken bones, the bruises. Why didn't you tell someone?"

This was the first time Izuku saw the blonde express an emotion other than anger. Was that worry and guilt, he saw in those scorching red eyes?

"I- Kacchan, do you think this is your fault?" Why was the blonde feeling guilty now? After everything?

"Of course, it's my fault! I tormented you for years, bullying you every day and I even told you to fucking kill yourself! I've been nothing but cruel to you for most of your life and now I find out that even at home you were being abused! It's my fault you didn't tell anyone! I remember when you would come to school all bruised and banged up and I would hit you even more. Shit Izuku. I'm sorry. All this time I thought you were looking down on me, always hiding something from me. I thought It was your quirk. How could I have not realized sooner?" The blonde's words were getting louder and more frantic as he dissolved into a crying mess.

Izuku stood there and watched, frozen as the walls his childhood friend had built up all those years crumbled. Leaving nothing but his most bare emotions, in the open, for all to see.

"Kacchan... You didn't find out because I didn't want you to. I didn't want you to see me as even weaker than I was. You were right though..." He laughs, it comes out as broken and filled with self-hatred, "I'm just a useless, weak Deku."

"Don't you dare say that! I was wrong, you hear me? You are not weak! You are the strongest person I know. Despite everything you went through, despite everything I put you through, you kept getting back up. You kept fighting and working to reach your dreams. You are not a useless Deku. You said it yourself. You are the Deku who can do it."

Izuku looks up at his childhood friend through blurry eyes, tears he didn't even realize shedding had started to fall down his cheeks like a river.

He never thought he'd hear those words, let alone from Kacchan.

They stay like this, crying into each other's shoulders for a while. Izuku thinks that finally, they might get to be friends again.

Soon enough the bell rings and the rest of the students trickle in. All of them seeing the duo, worried glances exchanged as they see their bloodshot eyes. However, as soon as they realize the lack of animosity between the two they seem to relax.

Iida seems off, Izuku notes. He had expected him to be the first in class but the boy had arrived nearly last, closely followed by Todoroki who nods at Izuku as soon as he walks in. Izuku thinks he sees relief in the heterochromatic eyes of the fire and ice user. He needs to thank him later.

------------------------------

Aizawa sighs as he walks away from the classroom door. He'd come to class to check on Izuku, what he wasn't expecting was to find his problem child in the middle of a confrontation with the classes one and only explosive teen. He'd known that the history between the two went way back and the battle exercise only served to prove the animosity between the two but he never thought it was this serious. At least they seemed to finally make up. He'd have to talk to Izuku later about the bullying, even Bakugou needed to be set straight. He'd make sure to talk to Nedzu about therapy sessions for the both of them.

------------------------------

Homeroom goes on without a hitch, Aizawa announces that they'll be picking out hero names and soon enough most of the students have already decided. Midnight helps them pick it out though, Aizawa may be a great teacher, but this wasn't his strong suit. His own hero name was picked out by Present Mic when they were both first years.

Uraraka decides to go with URAVITY, the name, a mix between Uraraka and zero gravity, while Tsuyuu decides to call herself FROPPY. Many of his classmates have really interesting names. Kirishima decides to go with RED RIOT as an homage to Crimson Riot. Even Bakugou ends up with a decent name. Although it took many tries, his first choices being King explosion murder. He finally decides to go with GROUND ZERO.

The only people left without Hero names are Izuku, Iida, and Todoroki.

Iida and Todoroki both decided to go with their first names. Both of them seem hesitant and thoughtful.

The worry in Izuku's chest is increasing by the second because he's never seen Iida look so...Distraught. He wonders what happened to make the boy have that look in his eyes.

He's cut off from his musing when Midnight calls for him to show the class his hero name.

He walks up to the podium, hands sweating as he twiddles with his fingers in a nervous gesture. Finally, when he musters enough courage, he flips the white chalkboard to reveal his hero name.

There, in black, slightly messy hiragana is written DEKU

"Are you sure about this Midoriya?" Midnight asks carefully. She knows about his past; all the teachers have been informed. Knowing that this name used to be an insult doesn't dissuade her worries.

His classmates all voice some kind of concern, but what he says next convinces them.

"I used to hate this name. It used to make me feel like I couldn't achieve anything. Like my dreams were unattainable. Yet, someone made me see it in a different light." He looks at Uraraka briefly and then at Kacchan. They both smile, although Kacchan hides it with a scuff. "I'm DEKU. The hero who never gives up!"