Always tired (bnha agere)

Chapter Fourteen: Aizawa Knows

Cw: Mental illness

Todoroki decided not to go to school.

When the morning light crept through the gap of his curtains, he could not bring himself to get out of bed. He sent Mr Aizawa an e-mail. He lied, of course, saying he was ill. Then he went back to sleep.

----------

Izuku peered up from his desk. Mr Aizawa had swooped in beside him, his dreary eyes boring into the boy's face.
"Midoriya, I wish to talk with you outside."

Immediately, Izuku's heart began to race. Had he done something wrong? As far as he was aware, he hadn't broken any school rules. Nodding, he followed the man outside into the hall. Mr Aizawa made sure they were out of ear shot of the rest of the class. He cleared his throat and began.

"I've been hearing rumors that the other day, there was an incident between Todoroki and Bakugo. Is this true?"
"Well, yes. I don't remember it that clearly but Kacchan took Shoto's plate and he... He smashed it."

He'd been barely awake when witnessing it. The whole thing had seemed like a weird dream. Izuku braced himself for Aizawa's harsh words though to his surprise, they didn't arrive.

"Bakugo has already been referred to the safeguarding team - they're dealing with it." Aizawa grunted, giving Izuku a long stare.

"Midoriya, is there any other students you have concerns about. I can only monitor the class so much. This is why it's important for students to look after each other."

Izuku's face got hot. He'd completely forgotten about Shoto up until Aizawa pulled him aside and he was realising he hadn't seen the boy all morning. Midoriya had been running late, after all - he didn't think he had the time...

"I've noticed Todoroki isn't here today. How did he seem this morning?" Mr Aizawa asked. "I feel as though he is somebody I'm supposed to be worried about."

Midoriya glanced at the floor. He couldn't deny that he was concerned about Shoto. The boy appeared to be falling apart but in such a silent, subtle way.

"I don't know if Shoto's been feeling good lately," Izuku murmured back. "I'm a bit worried about him."

Mr Aizawa paused briefly, stewing over the reply. It felt like hours before he spoke once more.

"I will drop by to see him later today. Thank you for sharing your concerns, Midoriya. Please, go back to class."

When the day came to an end, Izuku made sure to get back to the dorms first. He had to check up on Shoto. The conversation with Mr Aizawa had done to much to calm his nerves but he knew that at least now, Shoto would have support from somebody much wiser.

Knock, knock!

The door creaked open. Todoroki's face appeared in the gap. Once he realised it was the familiar face of Izuku, the door was opened to be a bit wider.

"Shoto, are you okay? You didn't come to class today and I was nervous that you weren't feeling your best lately and-" Midoriya's mouth moved at the speed of light, spilling all his thoughts of the past six hours at least.

Shoto gave him a strange, borderline uncomfortable look, leaning against the doorway.

"I am fine. Don't worry about me, Midoriya." he said, almost absently. His eyes were blank as though he could see something Izuku couldn't.

"I'm not sure if I believe you, Shoto." Izuku protested, loosening his tie. He could hear some of the others entering the dorm house from downstairs.

Todoroki blinked at him, withdrawing back into his room. "I'm sorry." he said, before shutting the door. Izuku stood there idle for a moment, gazing at the door as though he expected Shoto to pop out again. Oh, how would Mr Aizawa get anywhere with this?

----------

Another knocking at the door? Todoroki approached. Izuku had tried that two hours ago, was he back again? The boy pried open the door. To his dismay, his eyes lay across Mr Aizawa.

"Todoroki, I have some concerns about your attitude and I'd like to discuss it with you." the man explained. His tone was calm but that didn't stop Todoroki's spiking anxiety.

This was one of the last things he wanted. Mr Aizawa wouldn't understand - Shoto just knew. Besides, he didn't think he was even capable of talking about anything truly emotional. His mouth wouldn't make a sound and his mind would blank almost instantly.

"Todoroki."

Shoto gulped. He'd zoned out right there in front of his teacher, in the middle of a conversation. He shook his head, attempting to back away.

"No thank you." He apologised, his eyes glued to the floor. Mr Aizawa held onto the door so that the boy couldn't shut it.

"Todoroki, I'm becoming increasingly concerned about your well being and it's my duty as a teacher to keep you safe." he said. "You don't have to talk to me about it but you need to know that you can come to me when you need to."

Todoroki's mouth got dry. Part of him was screaming for help - crying out for the comfort and reassurance that stood right in front of him. However, another part of him couldn't bear to explain, couldn't bear to try - to feel the stabbing agony of being misunderstood. He was just too frightened.

"Alright." he replied. Mr Aizawa hovered there for a moment as though debating whether or not to try and push a little harder yet he ended up letting it go. He nodded at the student and then he left.

Shoto crashed onto his bed. Well, Mr Aizawa was onto him now - Mr Aizawa was watching.