Work Text:
It had been a fairly uneventful week for Class 1-A so far, which was a rarity.
It was a Thursday afternoon, the final bell having just rung and the students were packing up to walk back to the dorms and prepare dinner together, when Sero jokingly shoved Kaminari away from his bag.
The blonde had been trying to shove some of his own heavy text books into the tape-user’s backpack, complaining loudly about his back hurting from all the books they were constantly carrying around.
The shove knocked him into Mina, who squeaked as she fumbled with one of her glitter pens and ended up dropping it onto one of the short bookcases that lined the far classroom wall.
“Aww no!” She cried as the pen rolled and dropped behind the bookcase with an unceremonious clatter, “You guys! That was my favorite pen!”
“It’s called spatial awareness, guys!” Hagakure scolded as she slapped the two boys on the backs of their heads and ignored their grumbled complaints.
“Sorry, Mina, that was my bad!” Sero apologized with a friendly smile.
Kaminari nodded, “Yeah, I’m sorry that it was totally Sero’s fault.”
He laughed as the dark haired boy twitched in irritation and reached out to grab him again, the two paying no mind as Kirishima slipped past them.
“I’ll grab your pen for you,” He offered as he waved a hand at the other boys who were angrily grappling with each other.
He pushed his shoulder close to the wall as he squeezed his arm in between the short bookcase and the wall, fingers straining to catch the edge of the pen.
Bakugou slouched against his desk as he waited for the group to get their things together, arching an eyebrow at Mina when Kirishima made a strained noise and tried to stretch his arm further, “Don’t you have other shitty pens, Raccoon Eyes?”
“Not other shitty pens that are my favorite shitty pen,” Mina parroted back to him with an offended huff. The blonde simply rolled his eyes at her.
“Wait, I think I almost have it!” Kirishima called out.
Instead his fingers brushed what felt like dusty paper and he pulled, blinking at the unexpected weight.
What he pulled out appeared to be an old, dusty journal, clutched between his fingers by a few of pages, “Oh ew, what is this?”
“Did someone drop a notebook back there at the beginning of the year?” Mina asked as she took the book and began flipping through it while Kirishima went back to grasping for her pen.
When he finally emerged victorious, pink glitter pen clutched in front of his face proudly, he found Mina staring down at the journal with furrowed brows, “Ah, what is it?”
“I don’t really know, someone’s diary maybe?” Mina tilted her head as she eyed one of the handwritten paragraphs in the book, “You don’t think this belonged to Mineta before he got expelled, do you?”
“I dunno, what does it say?” Kirishima asked as he tossed the pen into Mina’s still open backpack.
Mina cleared her throat before she started reading the paragraph aloud.
‘How can you look so hot when you put your hair up, but then look so cute when you play with the kittens at the cat cafe?! It’s not fair for someone to pull off both of those so easily!
If I can’t get over this stupid crush it’s gonna become a SERIOUS problem.’
When she finished reading she had drawn the attention of a few of the other students around her, the others already squinting in thought.
“Sounds too innocent to be that purple perv’s.” Hagakure commented as she waved her hand and slung her backpack over her shoulder.
Uraraka, who had abandoned a conversation with Iida and Midoriya to listen, nodded in agreement, “Yeah and it looks like it’s more than a few months old.”
“Who gives a shit about some old ass diary?” Bakugou complained as he pushed off of the desk and bumped his shoulder against Kirishima’s, “I’m hungry so I’m not waiting around for you idiots anymore.”
Mina rolled her eyes, but she shoved the journal into her book bag and slipped her arms through the straps as Kirishima snapped his fingers to get Sero and Kaminari’s attention.
The group hurried out the door after the explosive blonde, thoughts of the dusty journal fading as they began discussing what they wanted for dinner that night.
Two days later, on Saturday night, Mina burst into Jirou’s dorm room with a tortured expression.
Jirou and Yaoyorozu, who were already hanging out in the dark-haired girl’s room, blinked up at her in confusion, “Mina, what’s up?”
“You guys, this sucks!” Mina exclaimed as she pouted at them and held out the old, dusty journal that Kirishima had retrieved from behind the bookcase in the classroom.
“I still haven’t figured out whose notebook this is, but they have literally the most adorable crush on someone and reading about it is like torture!” She perched on the edge of Jirou’s bed, giving them both a saddened expression.
“Oh, the crush that they were writing about when you read that section in class?” Yaoyorozu asked, scooting closer to eye the tattered journal.
“Yes! Except I think it’s totally more than a crush. Whoever this is has already written four more entries about how badly they want to kiss their crush and how spending time around them is torture.” Mina’s voice took on a whiny, sympathetic tone.
Jirou tilted her head, “So we don’t know who the writer is and we also don’t know who the crush is?”
Mina shook her head, “I thought about skipping ahead to see if they start writing their crush’s name at any point, but it’s kinda fun to read from the beginning because you can tell their feelings are getting stronger.”
“Like a first person romance mystery novel,” Yaoyorozu commented dreamily.
“Yeah, exactly like that!” Mina agreed as she grinned.
“It wouldn’t hurt to read a few here, right?” Jirou said with a shrug, “I mean, we don’t have any plans for the night and I was already pretty bored.”
“We could take turns reading the entries aloud!” Yaoyorozu smiled excitedly, “That would be so cute!”
“Hell yeah, let’s do it!” Mina pumped her fist, “But first lemme invite Hagakure; I was telling her all about the entries I already read before class yesterday so I think she’d want to hear them too.”
She whipped out her phone and sent a text to the invisible girl, chatting idly with the two dark-haired girls as they waited for her to show up.
Moments later a brief knock and the squeak of the dorm room door revealed Hagakure, bundled in fuzzy blankets, followed by Uraraka and Asui who were clutching handfuls of pillows.
“Hi guys!” Uraraka gave them a wide smile, “I hope you don’t mind us joining, but we were hanging out with Hagakure in the common room when you texted and we thought this sounded way more fun than listening to the boys argue over what movie to watch.”
Asui nodded in agreement as Hagakure dumped the blankets onto the floor.
“The more the merrier!” Mina exclaimed as she spread her arms wide and wriggled excitedly.
Since Mina, Jirou, and Yaoyorozu were already filling up Jirou’s dorm bed, the other three girls arranged their blankets and pillows before settling onto the floor in front of the bed. Uraraka pulled out bags of snacks that she positioned in a place easy to reach and Mina began flipping through the first few pages of the journal.
“So, all I know so far is that the writer is in their second year at UA, was in the hero course, and has a big fat crush on one of their friends!” Mina surmised as the other girls nodded along.
“And I feel really bad for this person!” The pink-haired girl continued as she fell backward into Jirou’s bed and held the notebook above her, “Like, listen to this part!”
‘Today you told me that you like my hair. The others were joking that my hero name should be the Cockatoo because I always spike my hair up and they think if I keep growing it out it’s going to look ridiculous.
I laughed because it was kind of funny, but it still hurt a little. Maybe my hairstyle is a little ridiculous? Or maybe I should give up on growing it out like yours?
We walked home together and you said “Don’t do anything stupid to your hair” and when I asked you why I shouldn’t, you just looked at me and said “I like it” like it was the simplest thing in the world!
You didn’t even miss a beat. How do you do that?!
Every time I try to tell you what I like about you it’s like my throat closes up and I forget every word in the dictionary!
If I told you that, you’d probably laugh and say it’s ironic... it is kind of funny.
Maybe it’s just a stupid school boy crush that I’ll get over when I’m not so hormonal. Who knows...’
“Aww, at least the person they’re crushing on seems nice,” Yaoyorozu observed quietly from where she sat at the end of the bed.
Jirou hummed in agreement, “And now we know that the writer is a boy. So a boy in his second year in the UA hero course... ugh, still not enough info to even guess who wrote it.”
“The entries are dated, but they only have a month and day, not a year so we can’t narrow it down that way,” Mina provided as she pointed out the dates, “Although, looking at the pages I think it’s really old. Like old enough that whoever wrote it has probably graduated by now.”
“I think it’s older than ten years old.” Uraraka reached out to rub the paper between her fingers with a confused frown.
“Alright, on to the next entry! Uraraka, do you want to read this one?” Mina asked, holding the book out with a smile.
The brunette took it and turned it around to begin reading aloud.
‘FML I had a dream about you last night and I haven’t been able to meet your eyes all day! I know everyone has noticed me acting strange, but I can’t help it! When I look at you all I can think about is-‘
Uraraka’s face went aflame with a dark pink blush as she stopped reading and squeaked loudly, “Eeek! I can’t believe he wrote this!”
“What is it? What is it?” Mina was bouncing on the bed with a wide grin, “Is it something super adorable!?”
“Did he dream about the two of them getting together, kero?” Asui asked thoughtfully with a finger on her chin.
“Or maybe he dreamt about his confession?” Yaoyorozu had sparkles in her eyes as she sighed the question dreamily.
Uraraka was violently shaking her head from side to side as she shoved the notebook into Jirou’s hands and pushed her hands against her cheeks in an effort to fight her blush.
“Hm?” Jirou held out the notebook as she flipped to the page the brunette had been on, her eyes scanning quickly before her cheeks pinked and she made a distressed noise in the back of her throat, “Oh my god, TMI!”
Hagakure’s invisible hand shot out and snatched the notebook as the invisible girl also scanned the page, letting out a surprised gasp, “No way!”
“What is it, what is it, what is it!” Mina complained as she watched the three girls fret over the entry.
She reached out and took the journal, beginning to read from where Uraraka had left off.
‘All I can think about is how it sounded in my dream when you moaned my name. I wor-‘
Her cheeks went bright red and she blinked rapidly, “Oh my gosh, he’s writing about a wet dream!”
The other girls were flushed equal shades of pink, eyes fixed on the ground.
Mina giggled and waggled her eyebrows, “Oh c’mon, it can’t be that bad! I’m still gonna read it. Besides, haven’t you ever wondered what a guy’s wet dream is like? It’s kinda naughty!”
The other girls giggled, albeit somewhat nervously, as Mina continued the entry aloud.
‘I worshipped every inch of your gorgeous body, held you by your hips and took you into my mouth like I’ve always wanted. I’d love to be at your feet, to feel your fingers tug at my hair while you try to stay quiet. You like to pretend that you’re unfazed and indifferent about everything, but I know you’d be so pushy and whiny for it, Shou. I know you.
God, I shouldn’t be writing about this in class. We just made eye contact and I think my face is actually on fire. Is it too late to develop a fire quirk? Maybe my quirk was a fluke.
Jeez, how am I supposed to get through the rest of the day like this!? What am I supposed to say if you want to spar during training!? There’s no way I could stand touching you right now with these thoughts in my head!’
“Wait! We have a name now!” Mina exclaimed excitedly, “The person he’s crushing on is named ‘Shou’!”
“Hm, would that be a given name or family name? Depending on how close they are, it’s likely a family name like how we all talk about each other.” Yaoyorozu contemplated aloud.
The other girls nodded and Uraraka poked at her still pink cheeks, “I wonder if they’re a girl or a boy, it’s kind of hard to tell from the way it’s written.”
“I know, right? It could be either.” Jirou shrugged as she pondered the words in her head.
“Let’s see if the other entries have any clues, kero.” Asui said as she reached over to pass the book from Mina to Hagakure, who waved it around excitedly before she began reading the next entry.
‘You found out my big secret today. While I was sparring, one of my hearing aids got knocked out. I couldn’t find it and I was too nervous to mention it to anyone, so I just pretended everything was normal.
Which was a TERRIBLE idea.
Class sucked and everyone kept looking at me funny when I asked them to repeat stuff. I didn’t even want to talk the whole time, even though English is my favorite subject.
You asked me about it on our walk home. I tried to lie to you, I really did, but I can never lie to you, Shou.
When I told you that I’ve lost almost 40% of my hearing and that I’d have to use the money I’d saved for our summer trip to get a new hearing aid, you demanded we should go back to the training grounds and find it.
I tried to tell you no, but you insisted. You hardly ever insist on anything, how could I say no?
It took almost two hours, but we found it! You put it in for me. God, do you know that you’re torturing me when you touch me like that, Shou?
You never touch anyone and you hardly ever let anyone touch you outside of training, yet you make an exception for me.
I want to cherish it but it tortures me because I know what I hope it means, but it probably doesn’t...
I know it’s probably just because we’re best friends, but it makes me want so much more.
I’m losing my mind.’
“This ‘Shou’ person sounds really sweet! It’s kind of silly, but it sounds like they feel just as fondly of this guy as he does of them!” Uraraka said as she smiled softly.
“Right? ‘Shou’ has to return his feelings, they’re so compassionate, not to mention the whole ‘exception for touching’ bit!” Mina agreed.
The next page’s text was smeared in some places and the paper lightly wrinkled, as though something had been spilled or sprinkled on it.
“Oh, looks like this page got wet somehow...” Yaoyorozu observed with a tilt of her head before she started reading the entry aloud.
‘I don’t know how to start today. I can’t get my thoughts straight.
I’ll start by saying that I’m the luckiest guy in the entire world. There’s no way that anyone out there is luckier than me, because I have you in my life, Shou.
Today you-‘
Yaoyorozu paused, her eyes going wide as she stared down at the page.
“Oh...” She said softly, her eyes skimming the words ahead.
“Oh no, is it another smutty dream?” Jirou asked with an anxious twitch in her eye.
Yaoyorozu gave a slight head shake before she continued reading, her voice wavering slightly.
‘Today you signed at me from across the classroom. You were picking up a copy of the day’s assignment and I looked up and you signed “I’ll grab you one” like it was nothing! Like you’ve used sign language around me before and it was no big deal!
I couldn’t even respond, I just stared at you like a big, dumb idiot and made you think that you’d signed the wrong thing.
You were so adorable when you got back to your desk and asked if you’d signed it right.
You told me you started practicing the same night you helped me find my hearing aid. I can’t believe you did this! You learned sign language for me! Who does that?!
It screws everything up though.
Before, I could’ve said that my feelings for you were just a crush. You’re my best friend who I just happen to find attractive and the feelings will fade eventually.
But now I know that’s not the case at all.
I’m in love with you, Shou. I’m in love with everything about you and that will never be something I can just ‘grow out of’. What am I supposed to do?
If you don’t feel that way about me... I can’t risk losing your friendship.’
Mina bit her lip and met the other girls’ eyes worriedly, “The paper didn’t get wet because he spilled something, he was... he was crying when he wrote that.”
“Gosh,” Uraraka sat back and tilted her head up to the ceiling, “I can see now why he’s so scared to confess. It sounds like ‘Shou’ is basically the most important person to him and if they don’t feel the same...”
“He’s terrified that he’ll lose his best friend.” Jirou finished with a nod.
Yaoyorozu sighed as she ran her fingers over the page she’d just read, “And this ‘Shou’ person sounds like a really special friend, learning sign language just for him is a big deal.”
They all nodded, staring solemnly at the small journal.
They spent the rest of the night talking quietly about the pros and cons of the writer confessing and trying to evaluate the prior entries to determine if ‘Shou’ could possibly return the romantic feelings.
But it was incredibly hard to tell, since it seemed they hung out all the time as best friends anyways and were already extremely close.
They found themselves feeling as nervous as the writer clearly did.
Sunday was spent doing much of the same, though they put the journal aside briefly to hang out with the rest of Class 1-A in the dorm common room.
When Monday morning rolled around they were still mulling over the possibilities, gathered together around Uraraka’s desk when the bell rang for homeroom and Aizawa entered.
“Do I even want to ask?” Aizawa drawled as he eyed the notebook that was settled in between the cluster of girls.
Kaminari smirked, “They found an old notebook behind one of the bookcases and they’re basically treating it like a romance novel.”
“It’s a testament of true love!” Mina responded as she slapped the notebook closed and flicked Kaminari’s ear on her way to her desk.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow before he shrugged, “Sounds like a waste of time. Back to your seats and next time be ready for class when the bell rings.”
Mina pouted lightly, but she mumbled out a quick apology that was parroted by the other girls as they retreated to their seats.
“Today, we have a more serious topic. It won’t be the most fun discussion, but I expect all of you to pay close attention.” Aizawa’s gaze hovered over them individually.
Aizawa hummed as he watched them all nod silently and thanked his lucky stars that Class 1-A seemed to be in mild state today, “Oh, and I won’t be the one teaching you-“
He barely flinched when the classroom door slammed open to reveal a familiar tall, leather-clad blonde, the loud clatter of the door startling most of the students who turned quickly.
“Yo, yo, yo listeners!” Yamada flowed into the room with his signature grin, arms extended wide, “Are we ready to talk about serious shiz today?!”
Aizawa would never tire of the look of amusement and apprehension that graced students’ faces when Present Mic showed up unexpectedly. It was like they couldn’t decide if it was the best or the worst surprise.
All of the students loved Present Mic, there was no doubt about that, but his constant enthusiasm could certainly be shocking before the students grew accustomed to it.
“This seems oxymoronic,” Sero muttered and he flinched when Yamada whipped around to meet his gaze.
“Hey not cool, little listener, I can be chill when I want to, I just don’t live my life being a constant buzzkill like Eraser over here.” He pointed a finger at the other man who was already slipping into his sleeping bag and gave a disinterested grunt in response.
“Whatever, just wake me up if you need me.” Aizawa groaned as he zipped the sleeping bag up to his chin and ignored the double thumbs-up that Yamada aimed his way.
“Alright!” Yamada sauntered to the podium, opting to lean against the front instead of standing behind it like he usually did during their English class, “So, there’s no fun way to segue into today’s topic. Let’s just jump right into it! We’ll be talking about quirk induced disabilities today.”
The students straightened in their chairs and the bright grin that usually graced Yamada’s face slipped into a somber smile, “I know it’s not the most interesting topic, but it’s important that we cover it early on in your rookie careers.”
Midoriya raised a hesitant hand and when he received a nod he fidgeted anxiously, “Uhm, what exactly does that mean? ‘Quirk induced disabilities’?”
“Glad you asked,” Yamada waved a hand as he reached up and tapped at the directional speaker around his neck, “I’m talking about heroes whose quirks can be self-limiting or cause self-harm. This is important for all of you, but I know it’s more applicable to some rather than others.”
His gaze lingered on Midoriya, Bakugou, and Todoroki before he crossed his arms, “For example, can anyone think of a way that your quirk can backfire and cause harm to you, the user?”
There was silence across the room before Todoroki slowly raised his hand, “If I use my ice powers for too long without counteracting them with fire, I can do frost damage to my cells and vice versa for overheating when only using my fire powers.”
“Mhmm, great example and an unfortunate side effect,” Yamada nodded sagely as he gave Todoroki a grateful smile for volunteering, “Anyone else?”
Midoriya blanched as he raised his hand, “Well, everyone knows it, but my quirk can do serious damage to my bones and muscles if I don’t control it properly.”
“Yep, yep,” Yamada nodded, his expression unsurprised.
“Mon ami,” Aoyama looked sheepish as he also raised his hand, “My belly laser causes tummy aches if I use it too much, I’m sure it could do some physical damage if I pushed it too far. I’ve just never tried.”
Yamada hummed, “Probably a safe assumption and it’s smart to pay attention to your limits.”
Aizawa gave a muffled grunt from his nestled spot in his sleeping bag and drew the class’ attention to him, “Dry eye.”
“See?” Yamada gestured to their home room teacher with a grateful look, “It can even happen to the best of the best!”
“Tch,” Bakugo glared at the voice hero, “Shouldn’t we test our limits though? Isn’t that the point of being here?”
They noticed Aizawa crack an eye open, his gaze sliding over to watch as Yamada frowned slightly.
“Well,” Yamada placed his hands on his hips, “That’s true, UA is designed to be a safe place to test the limits of your quirk. However, for those of you with a quirk that can do irreversible damage, you must be hyperaware of your limitations.”
“So that we don’t end up causing permanent damage and giving ourselves a handicap.” Midoriya murmured as he looking down at the scars on his hands and arms.
“Exactly,” Yamada shuffled his feet for a moment before he tapped at the directional speaker on his neck again, “Jirou, remind me what this support item does?”
She looked shocked for a moment to be called on, but she smiled hesitantly as she answered, “It directs your voice so that you can control your quirk better.”
“Righto!” Yamada fixed her with a finger gun point that was less enthusiastic than usual, “And what do you think would happen if I didn’t have it?”
“Well,” Her brows furrowed and she shrugged as though the answer was obvious, “You wouldn’t be able to control the direction of your sound waves.”
Yamada nodded and fixed them with a solemn gaze, “The sound waves would just bounce in random directions depending on where I’m facing. It was a difficult quirk for me to learn how to control. Especially since I was born with it rather than it manifesting later on in life.”
“Oh,” Midoriya had perked up with wide eyes, “I forgot that Aizawa-Sensei told us you were born with your quirk!”
“Yep,” Mic cocked his hip with a smile and tilted his head, “Now, does anyone know why your voice sounds so different to you when you listen to a recording of yourself?”
Yaoyorozu was the one to raise her hand to answer, and while Yamada looked a bit surprised he nodded to her, “I spent a lot of time studying the human body when learning about my quirk. Your voice sounds different to you because you hear through vibrations cause by sound waves in the air, but also through vibrations in your skull from your voice box.”
“Mm,” Yamada’s lips twisted as he nodded, “Now, think about how dangerous that could be for your hearing if you have a voice amplification quirk that magnifies those vibrations and that you don’t know how to control.”
He let the words hang in the air for a moment, letting the students’ eyes widen as they understood the implications.
“You see, my voice quirk has done irreversible damage to my hearing. It’s not something that I talk about publicly a lot, but I’m partially deaf and I have a permanent form of tinnitus.” Yamada said with a solemn tilt of his head.
“As a matter of fact” He stretched his hands out and smiled softly, “I was already partially deaf by the time I attended UA at your age! I had already lost 40% of my hearing by second year.”
Hagakure jolted in her seat, the words echoing in her head as she thought back to the journal entry. There was no way... was there?
The age made sense, Yamada would have graduated over ten years ago which explained the age of the journal. Then she thought to the first entry they’d read together about the boy being teased about his ‘cockatoo’ hair.
Were these all coincidences?
She was so distracted that she didn’t even pay attention to the end portion of Yamada’s lecture, too lost in her own thoughts to pay any mind to the discussion bouncing around the classroom.
Instead, as soon as they released for lunch, she found herself grabbing the other girls from Class 1-A to walk together.
“Guys, guys! Did you have the same thought that I had?!” Hagakure hopped as she tried to gain the others’ attention.
“That Yamada-sensei’s quirk is actually way more powerful than I ever thought it was?” Mina asked with a slightly awed expression.
“No, no,” Hagakure waved a hand, “Yamada-sensei went through UA’s hero course over ten years ago and he already had hearing loss by the time he was in training! Do you realize what that means?!”
“No way! You think he could be the journal writer?!” Uraraka’s eyes widened as she realized what the other girl was saying, “The first entry about his hair makes so much more sense now too!”
“Kero, what if it’s just a coincidence?” Asui asked with a small frown.
Mina nodded, though she squinted thoughtfully, “It’s a pretty huge coincidence though. I mean, what are the odds?”
“... I could always ask him about journaling to see if he’s done it before?” Jirou offered as she shifted from foot to foot feeling awkward, “I’ve asked him for advice several times so it wouldn’t be too out of the ordinary...”
“I didn’t realize you were close to Yamada-sensei?” Yaoyorozu asked.
“Well, yeah, it started out with just asking him questions that helped strengthen my quirk, but then I... started going to him for advice about other stuff. He’s actually really nice and way easier to handle one on one since he’s not as... I dunno, not as Present Mic-ish? Does that make any sense?” She twirled one of her ear jacks around her finger idly.
Uraraka nodded, “Yeah, like he’s less of a stage persona and more of just our teacher. He actually found me during the sports festival after I lost to Bakugou, and I was surprised at how gentle he was with his encouragement.”
“I should probably just go back to the classroom now, so we can know sooner rather than later.” Jirou commented, already halfway turning back.
“I’ll go with you!” Yaoyorozu offered with a bright smile, turning to follow the other dark-haired girl who gave her a shy, half grin.
They chatted casually on their way back to classroom, hurrying as they hoped that Yamada hadn’t left yet.
Jirou paused just outside of the door, her head tilted to the side at the sound of voices from within. Yaoyorozu opened her mouth to ask if they should knock, but she held up a hand to quiet her.
“That lesson never gets easier, ya know?” Yamada’s voice sounded tired, though there was the familiar bounciness in his tone that was reassuring.
“Mmm,” Aizawa merely hummed in response, the noise so low that Jirou almost couldn’t hear it.
Yamada gave a long sigh and then groaned, the way most people did when they were stretching, “Thanks for staying. I know you had papers to grade in your free period.”
“Mmm,” Aizawa hummed again, but after a pause he spoke, “You don’t need to thank me. I know you don’t like talking about it, but Nezu thinks you’re the only person who should be giving that lecture since it’s... relatable.”
“It’s fair,” She could practically hear the shrug in Yamada’s tone, “It wouldn’t be right to make Toshinori lecture about something like that when he’s lost his powers so recently and no one else on the staff has a quirk-induced disability as severe as mine.”
“I could complain for an entire lecture period about dry eye,” Aizawa’s tone was light and joking, a hint of playfulness hidden underneath that had Jirou raising an eyebrow.
She heard Present Mic chuckle softly (softer than she’d ever heard him laugh before) and then the sounds of rustling fabrics. It was impossible to tell what was going on as she strained for any other indications.
She finally looked up and nodded to Yaoyorozu, deciding that they shouldn’t ease drop for any longer. The taller girl nodded back and knocked loudly on the classroom door.
There was quick shuffle before they heard both teachers call them in, sliding the door open to reveal Yamada sitting at the desk up front with his elbows propped up and his chin resting in his hands.
Aizawa was leaning up against the board behind him, arms crossed and chin ducked into his capture weapon to conceal most of his face.
“Ah! Jirou, Yaoyorozu, what a pleasant surprise!” Yamada said happily as he smiled at them warmly, “What can we help you with?”
“Uhm,” Jirou felt her nerves flare as she felt Aizawa’s calculating gaze on her, “I was hoping for some advice...”
She stepped into the classroom, figuring it would be seen as more natural than hovering in the doorway and she felt a wave of relief as the longer-haired girl followed her.
“Oh? From myself or Eraser here?” Yamada jerked a thumb over his shoulder.
“Hopefully from you.” Aizawa grunted as he slid his half-lidded eyes over to glare at the back of Yamada’s head.
“Don’t listen to him, he’s just grumpy that he missed his nap because he sat in on my lecture,” Yamada waved a careless hand in the dark-haired man’s direction, “We’re both happy to help!”
“Thanks?” Jirou raised an eyebrow at their easy banter, “Uhm, I was wondering if you’d recommend journaling?”
She nearly flinched as soon as the words left her mouth. She knew it probably sounded totally natural, but knowing their intentions, the words felt stale and suspicious in the air.
“Journaling?” Yamada blinked behind his tinted glasses and tilted his head, “You mean like keeping a diary or just a notebook for thoughts?”
“Yeah,” Jirou scuffed her shoe against the floor, “I thought about it after... the last time we talked.”
Yamada’s fingers twitched and he smiled softly, “Ah, I see. I fully recommend it! Journaling is great for getting your thoughts straight. There have been plenty of times in the past where I didn’t realize how I felt about something until I got it down on paper.”
“Oh, have you kept a journal before?” She tried to keep her tone light and only mildly curious.
“Sure did! Not so much anymore. I did it in the past a lot, before I graduated.” Yamada answered with a nod.
Jirou’s heart skipped a beat as she resisted the urge to grin triumphantly, “So you kept a journal in your high school days?”
Yamada nodded, giving her a strange look at the repetitive question, but he was distracted by Aizawa nudging the back off his chair with his foot, “I didn’t know you kept a journal in high school.”
Yamada laughed somewhat nervously, “Well, yeah! It was good for thoughts and uhm... feelings and stuff.”
Jackpot! Jirou thought as she exchanged a cheeky glance with Yaoyorozu.
“I never saw you write in one.” Aizawa continued with a raised eyebrow.
“Of course not!” Yamada spluttered, “It was private!”
That sounded suspiciously like something someone writing about their big fat crush would say.
“I just meant, we were together practically all the time. If I never noticed then I must’ve needed better observation skills.” Aizawa shrugged and leaned his head back against the board.
Yamada seemed to relax slightly, “Oh, well I lost it after second year anyways and I didn’t get a new one until a few years into our rookie careers so maybe that’s why you never noticed.”
“Th-that’s a shame that you lost it.” Yaoyorozu commented, bringing the teachers’ attention back to her and Jirou.
Yamada shrugged, “Mm, I was nervous because I lost it at school and thought one of my classmates would find it and read it, but nothing ever happened! I must have dropped it on my walk or something and it probably got mistaken for litter.”
The two dark-haired girls were buzzing with excitement by now.
This was practically a confession! There was no way there were this many coincidences surrounding one small journal.
It all lined up; Yamada was the writer of the journal they’d been reading!
Jirou bowed slightly, “Thank you for your advice! I’ll definitely look into it, but we should be heading to lunch.”
She and the other girl turned, ready to leave the classroom and then sprint back to their friends with the new information.
“Yaoyorozu.” Aizawa’s voice had them freezing in their tracks, turning slowly to meet their homeroom teacher’s narrowed eyes, “Did you also need something?”
“No, Sensei!” Yaoyorozu reassured him quickly, “I just came along because Jirou and I have lunch plans!”
He eyed them suspiciously, but raised a hand to dismiss them and the two nearly sprinted out the door.
They narrowly made it in time to grab and scarf down lunch, not even getting a chance to share their intel.
Instead, they had to wait until that night in the dorms where they reconvened in Jirou’s room to read more before telling their story.
“And apparently he and Aizawa-sensei hung out a lot in high school, which is kinda crazy cause they’re polar opposites,” Jirou summarized as she finished recounting every detail.
“Isn’t that crazy though? That he lost his journal in second year?” Yaoyorozu said excitedly, “There’s just too many signs pointing to him being the writer, it all makes sense!”
“So, we know that this is Yamada-sensei’s journal,” Mina summarized with a contemplative finger on her chin, “But we still don’t know who this ‘Shou’ person is! Is it a boy or a girl? They had to be in the same year since he talked about training together.”
“Well, let’s see if we can find out by reading more, kero!” Asui suggested.
The journal was passed to Jirou for the next entry, and the short-haired girl shifted to get comfortable as she began reading.
‘I was injured at my internship today while on patrol. We were trying to stop someone with a stupid metal manipulation quirk, which I thought was kinda cool until he manipulated a lamp pole into my head when I was distracted.
Turns out, concussions are way more unpleasant than anyone ever warned me.
Anyways, I’m laying there with a concussion trying not to puke all over the sidewalk for the second time when who should show up other than YOU.
You take patrols for your internship on the same day and your mentor got called in for back up. Is this karma?
I’m so embarrassed just thinking about it! My moms are out of town and our hero mentors decided that I didn’t need to go to the hospital, but that I couldn’t go home alone before seeing Recovery Girl tomorrow.
Why did you have to tell you that you know where I live?!’
“Ugh, too bad he didn’t mention who they were interning with,” Hagakure interrupted the reading with a mutter, “It would’ve made it easier to narrow down who this ‘Shou’ person is.”
‘I’m glad my parents weren’t home when we got there, Mom would’ve blown a fuse if she knew I got injured in the first week of our internships. It was already hard enough to convince them that I was ready for real hero work.
Anyways, there was puke on my hero costume and since I was concussed you offered to help me change. Can I crawl in a hole now? I tried so hard to tell you not to, but you told me it’d be really stupid if I fell and hurt myself worse.’
Uraraka giggled lightly, “Knowing that Yamada-sensei wrote this makes it even funnier. He is rather clumsy.”
“Right?” Jirou smiled softly, feeling fondly for the voice hero since she worked rather closely with him on occasion, “And he’s so confident and self-assured. I mean I don’t think I’ve ever seen him with any emotion other than ‘exuberantly optimistic’.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Mina glanced down at the pages of the journal with a grin, “It’s kinda crazy to read about all this stuff and imagine him as a teenager like us...”
“It seems like he was kind of shy,” Yaoyorozu agreed with a gentle smile, “I mean he’s been pining after his best friend for months and is too awkward to say anything about it.”
“I wonder if he’s going to end up confessing while his parents were out of town... let’s keep reading!” Hagakure clapped excitedly.
‘Needless to say, you had to catch me several times because I was dizzy as hell and none of my limbs were cooperating. I can’t believe it, I know what it feels like now to have your hands on my skin. And to make it worse, you gave me the spare hoodie you had in your bag.
I know it’s your favorite, it’s too big and ridiculously soft and I’m dreading having to return it to you because it smells like you and when I’m wearing it I can almost pretend that you’re my... my boyfriend.
GAH I CAN’T EVEN WRITE THAT WITHOUT FREAKING OUT! What am I gonna do?!’
“So ‘Shou’ is a boy! Finally, some useful information.” Hagakure cheered as she clapped her hands even more excitedly.
“Eeeeeeek!” Mina wriggled in her seat and squealed in excitement, “‘Shou’ was touching him! And he saw him shirtless! And Yamada-sensei was being so cute about it!”
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Yamada-sensei would be the type to wax poetic about his crush.” Jirou said with a small smile, “I mean we already know he loves writing because of English class.”
“Yeah, this is some serious pining. Look at the dates on the page! He’s been writing about this other boy for almost 8 months!” Yaoyorozu pointed to a few of the dates on the pages as she flipped through.
“And if the beginning entries are anything to go by, they were friends for a while before he developed feelings, kero.” Asui nodded thoughtfully.
Mina pouted again, “This is just totally not fair. ‘Shou’ is his bestest friend in the whole world and then Yamada-sensei goes and falls in love with him. I thought it would be like a romance novel but we don’t even know if ‘Shou’ returns his feelings so it feels more like a tragedy!”
“I hope ‘Shou’ ended up returning his feelings,” as she flipped through the few remaining entries that they had yet to read.
When she got to the final page of the journal she paused, “Hey wait a minute, this one isn’t like the other entries. It’s... it’s a letter! Addressed directly to ‘Shou’!”
She cleared her throat and began reading the letter out loud.
‘Dear Shou,
As ridiculous as it feels to be writing you a letter when I see you literally every day, my Mom said it might be easier to just write out how I feel for you. Yes, I told her about my crush... she says she knew from the first time you came over to do homework. I think she’s exaggerating because even I didn’t know I had a crush on you then.
Anyways, this is supposed to be about my feelings for you. I don’t know how to put it other than outright saying that I... have fallen in love with you.
Which sounds cheesy and it also kind of feels... empty to me? I guess it almost feels like ‘love’ doesn’t even encompass how strongly I feel about you.
You are my best friend in the entire world. You’re with me through thick and thin, you always have my back, and you laugh even when my stupid jokes aren’t funny.
But you’re also my inspiration... Shou, you work so hard to be the hero that you want to be, and you push me to be stronger and better in ways that I didn’t think were possible.
Then of course we get along so much better than anyone ever thought we would. Even I thought that it wouldn’t work for a while in the beginning, when you were still trying to ignore me. But I wanted a friendship with you so badly that I wouldn’t give up and I’m so glad I didn’t. I hope you are too.
The sleepovers that we have, and the times when we go to the arcade or the cat cafe after school, and the weekend trips that we take with Nemuri and Tensei have given me some of the best memories of my life. Doing all of it with you, my best friend, has made all of those things better; brighter in a way.
And then I realized that I was falling in love with you. That I started getting distracted by your lips when you were talking or that I started thinking of you as beautiful when you let me play with your hair.
I don’t even know when those thoughts started, everything is all so blended together with you.
I guess I’m rambling a bit, I just want to make sure that you know how much you mean to me. It’s not just that I find you attractive, it’s that I’m in love with every ounce of you that I’ve been lucky enough to have.
I hope that you feel the same way, I really hope you do, but if you don’t I hope that we can still be friends. Because I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I lost you.
I love you.’
“A confession!” Hagakure breathed, her hands clasped together, “A super duper romantic confession!”
“But if it’s still in the journal, kero, that means he never gave it to ‘Shou’...” Asui said with a frown.
“Then... then he never got together with ‘Shou’, did he?” Uraraka said sadly, “At least, we have no way of knowing if they’re even still friends or if Yamada-sensei is still close to ‘Shou’.”
“What if we ask Aizawa-sensei about it?” Jirou said finally, her mouth twisted as she contemplated it, “I mean, we learned today that they were close friends in high school. Maybe he knew ‘Shou’ and knows whether there’s still a chance for anything.”
“That’s an excellent idea!” Yaoyorozu placed a hand on Jirou’s shoulder with an excited smile, “He might even know if there’s still something between them!”
“Alright, it’s settled!” Mina clapped her hands eagerly, “Tomorrow morning before homeroom we’re gonna give everything we have to Aizawa-sensei!”
The next day, Tuesday morning, the girls arrived in homeroom early and exchanged a few determined looks before approaching the front desk hesitantly.
Aizawa, who was still wrapped in his obnoxious yellow sleeping bag as he waited for the class to file in, looked up at them with a disinterested frown.
“Sensei, we have something we need your help with.” Uraraka said shyly, pursing her lips as she tried to think of the right way to word their request.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow, “Class hasn’t even started yet.”
“It’s not about class, kero,” Asui cut in, “Its about Yamada-sensei.”
That seemed to pique his interest as the dark-haired man’s eyebrows both rose and he sat forward a bit, “What about him?”
“Well, you see,” Mina rapped her fingers nervously against the desk, “Remember the journal that Kaminari told you about yesterday?”
Aizawa didn’t even bother to give a verbal answer, instead simply nodding lightly.
“We suspect that the journal belonged to Yamada-sensei when he attended UA as a student.” Jirou explained, “And there was some information in it that we hoped you’d know more about.”
“Yamada-sensei had a crush on someone and we realized after we talked to him yesterday that since you two were friends in high school you might know who it is!” Yaoyorozu supplied in a nervous tone.
“Basically, we were hoping that since he never gave his crush his confession letter, maybe you could give it to him now and there’d still be a chance!” Hagakure finished with an excited wave of her hands.
As they finished their spiel, Mina slid the journal forward onto the desk and toward the dark-haired man.
“Hm,” Aizawa looked down at the tattered book before fixing them with a serious gaze, “First of all, I’m not going to help you with this. And I’m also not giving this back.”
He raised a finger before they could even protest, “Second of all, I believe you need to tell Present Mic about this. It was his personal belonging and you should have given it to him as soon as you figured out it belonged to him instead of continuing to speculate about a silly high school crush.”
“But Sensei, please!” Mina placed both of her hands on the desk, “He was in love with ‘Shou’ and he wrote a whole confession, but it’s still in there so we know he never gave it to him and we just wanted to see if there was still a chance-“
Aizawa held up a finger again and shook his head with an unreadable expression, “You should talk about this with Mic, not me. I expect you all to talk to him later after English. If you don’t, we’ll be talking again tomorrow with Nezu and Mic.”
When the girls found their chance to tell their English teacher about what they had found, and subsequently what they had done with it, it was indeed after English class.
It had been two periods since they’d given the journal to Aizawa, who had tucked it into his bag as he turned their class over to Toshinori, and the rest of the class had already filed out for their lunch break.
Mina had decided to be the one to confess since she was the one to take the journal from where it had been found.
“YOU DID WHAT?!” Yamada’s voice, amplified by a slip of his quirk, bounced off the classroom walls as he slammed his hands down onto the podium.
The students flinched and some reached up to cover their ears.
“We gave it to Aizawa-sensei...” Mina repeated, though more hesitantly than she had last time, “Because we realized you two were really close friends in high school and we realized he might know the ‘Shou’ you were writing to and be able to give them your love letter!”
“We want you to be happy, Yamada-sensei...” Uraraka cut in, her eyes soft as she looked up at the towering blonde.
“I... you... what?” He blinked rapidly, his posture relaxing slightly as he raised an eyebrow at them.
“Sensei, we think you deserve to be with ‘Shou’!” Yaoyorozu spoke up, her face set in fierce determination, “You clearly fell in love with him, not just some school boy crush, and since the letter was still in the journal we know you never confessed your true feelings.”
“And we thought maybe if there was still a chance... that you could finally be with the person you wanted the most.” Jirou finished as she looked down at her hands in her lap.
Yamada was staring at all of them with a soft expression, his lips pulled into a small smile, “Oh, my dear listeners...”
They looked up at his gentle tone and watched as he slid out from behind the podium, sauntering over to squat in the middle of the desks where they were all seated.
“That’s very sweet of you.” He said, reaching up to place a hand on the desks on either side of him, “I’m... flattered by your intentions, I really am.”
“But...?” Mina looked pained as the teacher turned to her, “There’s a ‘but’ right?”
“Are you and ‘Shou’ no longer friends?” Uraraka asked in a voice tinged with regret.
“Did you move on to someone else, kero?” Asui asked, her eyebrows pinched in anticipation.
“Did ‘Shou’ move on to someone else?” Hagakure’s voice was small and laced with dread.
The girls almost didn’t want to hear the answers to their questions.
Yamada laughed softly as he shook his head, “No, no, and no, you see I can’t... well, it’s hard for pro heroes to have relationships and-“
“Hizashi?” A low voice from the entrance to the classroom had them all turning to see Aizawa hovering in the doorway, the journal clutched tightly in his hands.
“Ah,” Yamada pushed himself up and turned to face the other teacher, “Soooo... I see you read that...”
Aizawa’s eyes had an uncharacteristic softness to them as he tilted his head at the blonde, “Yeah. You were... a real sappy idiot, you know that?”
“Hey!” Yamada exclaimed at the same time as half of the girls cried out with him in protest.
“Aizawa-sensei, you shouldn’t tease someone for their feelings!” Hagakure protested loudly, her gloved hands pointing a scolding finger in the dark haired man’s direction.
Yaoyorozu furrowed her brows, “Yeah, what Yamada-sensei wrote in there was truly heartfelt! ‘Shou’ was the love of his life!”
“Love of his life, huh?” Aizawa smirked and thumbed through the journal casually, “I suppose he must be from the way he couldn’t stop writing about... Let’s see...”
He settled on a page where he read a few words, “‘Shou’s adorable sleeping face.’”
He kept flipping, “Oh and here you talk about Shou’s smile and soft, kissable lips...”
“And another where you wrote about loving that you can run your fingers through Shou’s hair during naps at lunch...” He pointed to the other pages as he read aloud.
“Hmm and...” He flipped to yet another page where he stopped, lips twisting into a grimace, “You seriously spent two pages waxing poetic about muscular thighs?”
“Stoooooooop.....” Yamada groaned in a tortured tone as his already flushed cheeks darkened impossibly.
Aizawa continued idly flipping the pages, coming to rest on another and his eyes sparkling with amusement, “You had dreams, Hizashi?”
His cheeks flushed a faint shade of pink, but Yamada had turned practically strawberry red, “We get it! We get it! I may have been a little... hopeless... but I was a teenage boy with a very attractive crush, you can’t blame me for fantasizing!”
Aizawa laughed, but it wasn’t a cruel chuckle. Instead the laugh was light and gentle as he snapped the journal shut and tossed it onto one of the front desks, “Very attractive, huh?”
“You’re... you wanna talk about this? Here?” Yamada asked, his eyes squinted behind his sunglasses in a question that was unclear to the girls.
Aizawa shrugged, but his eyes met the blonde’s and something intense flashed in them, “Yeah, I do.”
“Wow... I- wow...” Yamada blinked at the homeroom teacher and his shoulders relaxed, posture shifting slightly as he seemed to be thinking about the unspoken communication going on between them.
The girls were observing their two teachers, faces pinched in confusion, but the moment they were having was broken as Aizawa’s lips curved into a playful smirk.
“I didn’t realize you had it that bad... you really managed to play it cool.” He said as he took a few steps into the classroom.
“Of course I played it cool!” Yamada exclaimed as he waved his hands nervously, “I wasn’t gonna go blowing the only chance I had!”
“Chance?” Jirou interrupted with wide eyes, “You had a chance with ‘Shou’?”
“You confessed?!” Hagakure and Mina shouted at the same time, both straightening in their seats.
“But you never used the letter?” Yaoyorozu pointed out, blinking rapidly, “You left it in your journal?”
Yamada had now fully buried his face in his hands, flushed skin peeking out from behind his fingers.
“No, he never used the letter.” Aizawa continued to come closer, his lips pulled into an amused smirk, “Probably because he was too embarrassed since it was full of some pretty sappy shit. But he didn’t need to use the letter because someone else beat him to the punch.”
“‘Shou’ confessed?!” Uraraka squeaked, her eyes glittering with excitement, “How?!”
“Hm, why don’t you tell them?” Aizawa asked as he got within arms reach of the blonde man and grasped his wrists.
He pulled Hizashi’s hands away from his face and delighted at the bright blush still burning on the blonde’s cheeks.
“Masochist.” Yamada hissed quietly as he pulled his hands away, before he turned to the girls and placed a nervous hand on the back of his own still flushed neck, “Well little listeners, at the end of our second year Shou and I were planning to take a summer trip together-“
“The one you’d been saving for when you almost lost one of your hearing aids, kero?” Asui interrupted to ask lightly.
“Yep, that same trip!” Yamada pointed to her before continuing, “And while we were on that trip we uh... well, we had taken this long hike together, we had packed lunches and everything, and we were looking out at the city and Shou kind of... uhm, kissed me?”
“God you make it sound so corny.” Aizawa sighed as he shook his head, though he was still smiling.
“I don’t know how else to say it!” Yamada complained loudly as he turned his gaze to the dark-haired man, “It was corny! You kissed me without knowing how I felt and then you panicked because I was so confused and then we realized we’d both been massive idiots pining after each other for a full year... it was cliche and pathetic and so... stupidly perfect...”
Their two teachers looked at each other with warm fondness in their eyes, Aizawa shaking his head as he leaned back into one of the desks, “You’re getting sentimental.”
“How could I not? I remember writing those things,” Yamada gestured to the discarded journal, “I remember how it felt to realize that I might lose my best friend. I thought I had gone and ruined everything by falling in love with you...”
“Turns out you had nothing to worry about.” Aizawa answered with a shrug, but his nonchalant attitude cracked as he reached out and caught the blonde’s hand in his own, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
“Wait a minute, YOU’RE Shou?!” Mina broke the soft moment as she cried out loudly with wide eyes. The other girls bore similar expressions of blatant shock.
“No way!” Uraraka’s cheeks were extra pink, her eyes wide as she stared at the two men, “How did we not realize?! Aizawa-sensei’s first name is Shouta... and we even realized they were close friends in high school... and we didn’t even...”
“The whole time we thought Shou was someone’s family name, not a nickname for a given name...” Yaoyorozu slapped a hand against her forehead, “We never even considered it and it was right under our noses the entire time!”
“I don’t know about you guys, but... I kinda feel like an idiot.” Jirou looked chagrined, ducking her head to rest her chin on her desk in defeat, “But the ‘Shou’ in the journal sounded so sweet...”
“Ch,” Aizawa rolled his eyes, but the blush from his cheeks spread some, “That’s because the writer had a skewed opinion.”
“Oh love, you don’t need to embarrassed about being a big softie!” Yamada teased with a happy grin.
“It all makes sense now,” Hagakure waved her gloved hands, “And that’s why you were acting so weird when we gave you the journal!”
She pointed to Aizawa, who blanched but couldn’t keep down the dusting of pink that blossomed down his neck.
“Well, I’ve certainly never had students stumble upon a diary full of romantic venting about me before.” He grumbled as he rolled his shoulders.
“Aw, so you were embarrassed, Shou!” Yamada tugged lightly at the hand in his own and smiled when the dark-haired man leaned into his side easily though he avoided his gaze, “Listen, if anything you’re lucky. I’d pay money to know what thoughts you were having about me before we started dating.”
Aizawa raised an eyebrow at him, giving the blonde a suggestive look and Yamada blinked before he flushed and spluttered, “W-well, I mean, I’m not saying-“
“Don’t dig yourself any deeper.” Aizawa interrupted with a sigh as he ignored the giggling high school girls around them.
“So, you’ve been together since the end of your second year?” Uraraka asked curiously, her lips still stretched into a smile.
Both men nodded, the blonde more enthusiastically, and Mina cooed, “That’s so adorable, high school sweethearts! Are you married?”
Aizawa glanced away, but Yamada happily reached into the neckline of the other man’s black track suit and fished out a silver ring suspended from a thin black necklace.
“Yep! We dated for seven years then got married, which was six years ago! We both wear our rings around our necks. I’d show you mine, but I don’t wear it when I have the directional speaker on.” He grinned happily before slipping the necklace back into his husband’s hero costume.
“So, your relationship is a secret?” Jirou asked softly, “I mean, none of us had even suspected before we found the journal.”
Yamada paused before he spoke, words carefully chosen, “It’s not an actively kept secret, but we don’t advertise it. Essentially the only ones who know are the other teachers and our agencies for emergency purposes.”
“Is that... because Aizawa-sensei is an underground hero?” Asui asked, her eyes sliding over to the homeroom teacher.
“Partially,” Aizawa shrugged, his tone soft as he regarded the girls in front of him with a serious look in his eyes, “Hizashi and I have both dealt with dangerous villains that could have used our relationship to their advantage, but luckily since no one really knows we haven’t had that problem yet.”
Yamada nodded sagely, his own expression somber as he rubbed a thumb over the back of his husband’s hand and looked to their students, “You ladies will have to make decisions like that one day too. You’ll find that you’ll do anything to prevent harm from coming to your family from your hero status.”
“Family?” It was of course Mina whose interest piqued at the word, “Wait, Sensei, do you have kids?!”
“Enough of that,” Aizawa waved a hand as Yamada chuckled softly, “No more questions. And on the topic of secrecy, I know it’s impossible to keep you from telling the boys in class about this, but I’d ask that you stress to them how important it is that this information stay within UA.”
“Your class is strong and you’ve been through some tough situations,” Yamada said gently, “We have no doubts that you understand the importance of protecting those you love. That’s why Shouta chose to tell you voluntarily to begin with, you’re the first students we’ve ever told actually!”
The girls turned to their homeroom teacher with unreadable expressions, Aizawa shifting uncomfortably under their gazes, “I trust that you all won’t be irresponsible with this information.”
It was Uraraka who stood first, shifting around her desk to stand in front of the dark-haired man. When he met her gaze, he was surprised by the fiery determination there.
“Aizawa-sensei...” Her mouth was set in a firm line and he blinked as she bowed to him, “Thank you!”
“Thank you for trusting us enough to tell us,” She continued as she straightened up, “You could have lied to us or told us to drop it and we never would have known! But instead you let us see this part of yourself, after you’ve already-“
Her voice cracked and both hands snapped up to cover her mouth, eyes brimming with tears.
“After you’ve already given us so much of yourself, kero.” Asui picked up, standing from her desk as well, “You risked your life for us at the USJ and you moved into the dorms to protect us. You didn’t owe us anything.”
“We’re just happy to know that you’re both happy,” Yaoyorozu agreed as she stood and wiped at her own eyes, “You both give so much to us as teachers, and you’re still pro heroes in your free time. To know that you have each other makes me happy.”
“Because you both deserve to be happy.” Jirou stood from her desk as well, voice solid and unwavering.
“It makes me want to try my hardest to protect everyone I love when I become a pro!” Mina’s hands clenched into fists as she pushed herself up, “And we’ll protect your secret just the same!”
Yamada was practically a blubbering mess, his eyes filled with tears and his teeth biting hard into his lip as he looked at the teenagers before them.
Aizawa looked shocked, his bloodshot eyes wide and his eyebrows raised as he opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then closed it again.
“I don’t... know what to say.” His voice was rough and he shifted, his grip tightening on his husband’s hand.
“If it’s inappropriate you can say no, but would it be okay if we hugged both of you?” Hagakure asked in a tiny voice, her hands wringing nervously.
“Yes!” Yamada choked out, spreading his free arm out and using his other to raise the hand still joined with his shell-shocked husband’s, “Absolutely, yes!”
The girls crowded in and hugged the two teachers, smiling widely even as a few had tears slipping down their faces.
Aizawa looked up over their students’ heads and met his husband’s watery eyes, Yamada’s lips pulled into one of the brightest smiles he’d ever seen on the blonde.
The other’s hand squeezed his own, an unspoken thought lingering in both of their minds, and Aizawa squeezed back in agreement.
Yeah, Class 1-A was full of some pretty damn special students, he thought as he smiled and felt his eyes burn with a familiar yearning. But he blinked dryly and let his heart swell in his chest.