Need You (ShinDeku)

Ch. 99 - Jelly

A/N: Aizawa is not having a good time. Good thing he knows how to exercise self-restraint and how to sleep all his problems away.
Have fun reading!

Aizawa POV

Zashi's words over coffee this morning come back to me when Hitoshi interrupts my nap time. We were talking about living arrangements for Izuku moving into our flat, and I could tell something else was on his mind for a while when he finally asked 'do you think Shinso will be okay without Izuku? I'm worried he'll stress himself out not knowing Izuku's whereabouts and condition at every second of the day. He's taken quite strongly to our kid.' The question of whether Izuku would be okay without Shinso was left unasked, because we all more or less knew the answer already. Things were no doubt going to be difficult.

Truth be told I wanted to have a nice, peaceful last day of the semester, especially after the late call I had to respond to last night. Seriously, what kind of criminals are working after 2am? Ones with an especially deep hatred for heroes that want to sleep, apparently. The police were involved and the four people that the report suggested were involved were actually seven people, so of course I had to give a detailed report at the station while nursing a cracked rib and severely irritated eyes at 5am. Three hours after my shift was supposed to end. Even worse; the officers I was stuck dealing with were a bunch of incompetent little shits in the next district over since the case was outside of Tsukauchi's area of jurisdiction.

To top it all off I was too bloody to take public transportation or a taxi—I tried the train once after a case that left me covered in mud and with a fresh gunshot wound to the arm, and was escorted off the train by police after a scared civilian made a report about a 'dangerous, hostile-looking hobo' scaring train customers—so I walked the 40 minutes back to UA.

I think, given the circumstances, it was reasonable of me to hope for a quiet day. Alas, hope is a disappointing thing. I thought I'd only have one problem child to worry about this summer—my own—but after Zashi's comment this morning and the way Shinso was acting when he spoke to me, I might have to keep a closer eye on him. Because of course that's an easy thing to do when you're about to be in two completely separate neighborhoods and only see each other a few times a week for remedial lessons.

I was finally coming to terms with the fact that there was nothing I could do about it right now except sleep when I was interrupted yet again. By the loudest, most obnoxious student in my class. And he was acting strange. I prepared myself for the worst when I noticed how quiet and awkward he was being because what the hell, that's not normal, but he still managed to surprise me.

"The other day in class. You said Hound Dog does that therapy shit, right?" He ground out quietly between clenched teeth.

"Hound Dog is a licensed therapist whose services are available to all UA students, yes." Surely he's not...?

"Is it walk in or do I need an appointment?" His expression showed shame, and he spoke even quieter.

He really is. I never thought the day would come.

"Either." I sat up straighter, suddenly sensing the importance of this conversation. Depending on how this goes, my prideful, rage-filled student might actually get some help. "If you want to make an appointment online you can log in with your account on the UA website and go to the mental health page. Over the break he'll be in his office during normal school hours from Tuesdays through Fridays, but his number is available every day of the week, any time." I spoke the rehearsed words that Hound Dog told me to tell the students. I felt like I needed to be the responsible adult and tell Bakugo that he didn't need to feel ashamed but I wasn't sure how to do that without him thinking I was offending him, so I kept my mouth shut about it.