MHA Stories i find on Ao3

Growing up quirkless and the problems that comes with

By: ShadeCrawler

         Shouta remembers very clearly the first time that Izuku Midoriya went to him with a problem.

          It was much later than it should've been. If Shouta had been paying  attention like he should've, he would've recognized much sooner that the  boy didn't trust him. Had probably never trusted him to begin with. But  with the events of that school year – the USJ, the league, the possible  traitor, multiple villain attacks that were all aimed towards Shouta's kids  – it had slipped through the cracks. He should've been more attentive,  noticing much sooner that his Problem Child would sooner open a vein  than trust adults to handle problems for him. He should've asked himself  sooner why. He should've done something to amend that.

          But he didn't. And here he was now, sitting at his desk staring at his  Problem Child who was curled into himself with his head ducked and eyes  blank. Looking far too scared for a student who had come to a teacher  with nothing but a request for a meeting to ask for advice with a  problem they were having.

         Shouta studied Midoriya for a  few seconds, taking in the tilt of his chin that hid his throat, the way  his arms were curved in a way that would protect his stomach and ribs,  the way that his head was angled so that any attacks wouldn't make  direct contact with his face. Was this body language intentional? No,  Shouta realized with a sense of dread. He had seen this before, whenever  he or another teacher asked Midoriya to stay behind after class or  asked him a question directly. This was a learnt behaviour.

         Shouta had only ever seen this type of body language from Midoriya when teachers were involved. Why?

          "Of course, Midoriya," Shouta said, standing up and nodding towards the  door. The rest of the kids had already filed out of the classroom, all  except for Todoroki who was waiting at the door. He was watching Shouta  with an expression that Shouta couldn't pin down. Nervousness? Wariness?  Reluctant hope? But Shouta didn't have the time to study the expression  properly before Todoroki was giving Midoriya a small nod and turning to  follow the others towards the dorms. "We can talk in my office." He  walked out of the classroom, Midoriya right on his heels. From the  corner of his eye, he could see his student gripping the straps of his  backpack tightly, the mangled fingers of his right hand tapping against  the strap nervously. What was making him so nervous?

         The walk from the classroom to Shouta's office was a quiet one, the only sounds being their footsteps and the tap tap tapping of  Midoriya's fingers against his backpack. Shouta took the few minutes to  piece his thoughts together. This was important. This was very  important. Since he had gotten to know Izuku Midoriya, he had known that  getting the kid to ask for help – and from adults especially – was like  pulling teeth. The kid trusted few and out of the few that he did  trust, not a one was an adult. Midoriya reaching out to an adult for  help? This was big. This was something that Shouta needed to do  correctly and carefully or else there was a risk of Midoriya closing  himself off even tighter than before. This needed to be handled with all  of the delicately that Shouta usually reserved for scared kids,  animals, hostages. Midoriya was firmly in the first camp at the moment.  Shouta needed to be careful and move at Midoriya's pace.

          He opened up the door to his office, ushering Midoriya in before closing  the door behind him. The kid had never been in his office before so  Shouta wasn't surprised by how Midoriya shifted nervously, not sure  where exactly to go. Shouta led him over to the couch that he kept in  his office for emergency naps and nodded for the kid to sit while he  grabbed the old, ugly loveseat that Hizashi had gotten him years ago and  pulled it closer to the couch. He sat down and took a second to study  the kid curled up on his couch, hunched over and picking at his nails.  The blank look in his eyes hadn't faded. Shouta watched him for a second  before deciding that his usual style of letting kids come to him  wouldn't work here. Midoriya needed a nudge. "So, what can I help you  with, Midoriya?"