Need You (ShinDeku)

Ch. 136 - Floor

A/N: yeah the floor is a reoccurring subject in this chapter. It and Shinso are good friends.
Have fun reading!

Aizawa POV:

I watch disinterestedly as Shinso limps in my direction, sporting rope burns on his arms and making pitiful noises. He's sure to have a bruise the size of a baseball on his hip tomorrow based on the way he flailed off the side of a ten foot drop just a moment ago, but I've determined he isn't seriously injured so it's of no concern to me.

     It's not like my hand hovers over my phone in my pocket, which has RG on speed dial. My hand just happens to be there. For the purpose of comfort. And that old lady is always on speed dial because all my students are always injuring themselves.

"You lack grace."

"Thank you, captain obvious," he snarks, rolling his eyes and then wincing, as if even that movement hurt him. Dramatic. "And what kind of feedback is that, by the way? Next thing you know you'll be turning into a ballet instructor."

"At this rate I think you'd benefit from it. Maybe I'll adjust your schedule to include some classes."

"Please don't threaten that," he whines, and Izuku snorts from where he stands next to me, having watched the hot mess that was his classmate attempting to finish the course I set up.

"I can't imagine why you'd think it's a threat," I respond mildly, "it was a good idea, one of very few that you've had since I met you."

"Geez, can't even get a compliment out of you."

"Maybe when you manage to complete my training to a satisfactory degree you'll get a sincere compliment."

"Like that's ever going to happen," he grumbles, lowering himself gingerly to the floor by my feet, where I imagine he's going to sprawl out and sulk for the remainder of his two minute break.

"I got a compliment from him," Izuku boasts, obviously trying to get a rise out of him. The kid is still catching his own breath, but he had finished the circuit 43 seconds before Shinso and when he made it over to me I'd given him a meager 'good job'. It's certainly not something worth bragging about, but I guess it doesn't really matter when all you're doing is trying to get a rise out of someone.

My purple haired student makes an indignant sound from where he has, as predicted, sprawled himself out on the floor. "That's because you're his son. Doesn't count. Special treatment."

I very carefully school my features at the way he says that so confidently. I hadn't expected it to be so satisfying to hear such words, despite the fact that I'm actively being accused of playing favorites. Izuku, on the other hand, seems to have a visible reaction to his friend's statement.

From the corner of my eye I see his head whip around to face me, his cheeks quickly gaining color. He makes a spluttering sound, and all the confidence from before is gone, replaced with a nervous energy.

Usually I'd be quick to point out that objectively, Izuku had done much better than him and there was nothing else to it. Something told me that wasn't something Izuku needed to hear right now, and that a little comment like that would reinforce ideas in his head that weren't true.

So no, I firmly hold that I wouldn't give out praise on a bias, but the kid is looking for reasons to believe we don't think of him as family. I'm not going to hand out statements for him to misinterpret as he pleases.

"Nothing to say, huh? That's what I thought," Shinso pokes at my silence.

"You seem to have forgotten your place." The second the words leave my mouth I see my student's face fall. "Your break is over. You get a 30 second head start on Izuku. If he still manages to beat you, you'd better come prepared to our Monday session with ballet shoes."

"Oh, Come o-"

"-28, 27, 26,"

He curses under his breath. "-I'm up, I'm going!" He shouts, already halfway to the rope wall.

———

Izuku beat him again. I will admit it was a much closer margin this time, and they're both breathing heavy.

"Shota said it already but really, how can you be so flexible but so uncoordinated? I didn't realize a person could be both." Ah, some competitive banter. It seems he's recovered from Shinso's earlier remark. It's good to see Izuku feels comfortable enough to talk like this, rather than just staying quiet and agreeable. These past few months have felt like watching a snail slowly come out of its shell.

"Hey, I get enough insults from our teacher. You're supposed to be on my side."

"I had a time handicap and my muscles are still only like, half as strong as they used to be. Plus I'm out of practice. You still lost to me." This is certainly not untrue, but given the circumstances Izuku's performance was impressive. Movements like these seem to come back to him a bit more naturally than combat has, but that's alright. We're working on it and making good progress. It helps that he's eager to test his limits and face the things he's uncomfortable with.

Shinso wrinkles his nose. "I have no argument for that."

Aaaaand this is where his fragile self confidence plummets and the lighthearted banter turns into Shinso thinking he's not enough. That expression has taken up residence on his face one too many times in the time I've known him.

I decide to be merciful. "Your time wasn't the slowest in 1-A."

"Way to make me feel so much better. Let me guess, I'm the second slowest." He doesn't even phrase it as a question.

Izuku sees my statement for what it is though, a genuine smile on his face and his teasing tone easily abandoned. "Nice job, Hitoshi! High five!"

The teen just groans from his spot on—you guessed it—the floor.

Izuku isn't having it, though. He crouches down over his classmate, holding his palm out in front of his friend's face expectantly.

"I'm not celebrating not being dead last," he mopes.

"Hitoshi, you did better than some of the hero course students that have been training all year. I know you were having lessons but you didn't get transferred in until the end of the year. It means you're keeping up. That's really good," Izuku explains encouragingly.

Shinso peaks one eye open to look at my kid, and then slides his gaze to me. There's a question in the way he looks towards me, a little hesitant.

I give him a short nod, and suddenly it looks like a weight has lifted off his chest. He gives Izuku a little self-pleased smile and finally reciprocates the high five.

Thank god for the green haired sunshine child because as hard as I am on Shinso, he's doing very well and I am proud of how far he's come. I'm not very good at dealing with when the kid gets down on himself about how far he still has to go, but Izuku managed to give him a hefty dose of confidence with just a few lines.

That's one crisis averted, now to focus on the next most glaring issue: Shinso looks like he hasn't been getting enough sleep again, which means both my kids are sleep deprived. Just as Hizashi predicted. Trauma bonds are a real piece of work. Sometimes I really wish he weren't so smart.

I suppose I'll monitor the situation over the weekend to see if they're doing any better after seeing each other, then reevaluate on Monday to see if I need to... ugh, facilitate a sleepover. For the sake of their mental and physical health, of course. Never in my life did I think I would be in such a situation that I would need to plan such a thing.

The life of a parent has come with many unexpected surprises thus far. Do all fathers go through situations like this? It's far more responsibility than what I have for my students. Perhaps I'll consult Hound Dog for his expertise.

1355 words.