apathy

all might umbrella

Here's what Aizawa knows about Izuku Midoriya:

1. He leaves his home early in the morning, before Aizawa's patrol has ended, and comes back late at night, when his next patrol has begun.

2. He never wears a school uniform and seemingly never goes to the junior high a kid his age should be attending.

3. He avoids his explosive neighbor like the plague, even scaling his apartment building once to avoid running into the other teen.

4. He is observant and definitely knows that Aizawa is watching him. 

When Aizawa agreed to keep an eye on Tsukauchi's pet project of a kid, he'd expected some well meaning, bubbly child who kept getting into conflicts out of the goodness of his heart. After a week, it was obvious that what he has gotten is a dead eyed teenager with seemingly no regards for his personal safety. Aizawa can't say for sure that Midoriya is searching for fights, but he certainly gets into his fair share of them. If he intervenes with a fight on patrol, there iss an eighty percent chance that Midoriya will be involved.

They don't actually talk until halfway through the second week that Aizawa was watching. It is a slow night, and Aizawa is perched on the roof of a building. His eyes keep sliding shut, having had his naps throughout the day constantly interrupted by loud nuisances. A loud car horn makes him open one eye and watch as someone shouts at a retreating blur. He narrows his eyes to get a clearer view, but the figure darts into the building Aizawa is settled on. Disgruntled, the pro turns to watch the door up to the roof, waiting and prepared to throw out his capture weapon at the first sign of trouble.

When the door opens, Aizawa first catches a flash of silver. The capture weapon is already streaming across the roof by the time the person steps out, trapping them in coils of reinforced fabric. Aizawa stands and tugs the person closer, out of a shadow and into the light from the surrounding buildings. He relaxes out of his stance.

Midoriya stares back at him, looking blank and tired, umbrella pressed up against his chest and a barrette pinning his bangs away from his face. After a beat he looks down, scanning the weapon wrapped around him. He doesn't say a thing until Aizawa has skillfully unwrapped the thing without moving from his own spot. 

"Weighted and reinforced with some type of metal..." He muses aloud, mostly to himself it seems, then steps forward and holds the bright All Might umbrella out. Aizawa eyes it and Midoriya shakes it when it's obvious Aizawa isn't planning on taking it from him. "It's going to rain soon. You probably haven't seen the weather update."

He has not. Shooting a glance up at the dark sky, Aizawa reaches out and gently takes the umbrella from Midoriya's grasp. He expects some form of victory to show in Midoriya's eyes at completing his objective of protecting the pro from the rain, but his expression stays dead in a haunting echo of the same kind of face Aizawa faces every day in the mirror. This kid has seen some sort of horror, gone through some soul crushing trials. Midoriya watches him back, dragging the tip of one of his red boots through the layer of gravel laying on the roof.

"Sansa, Mom, or Tsukauchi?" He asks suddenly. Aizawa just blinks in response to the nonsensical question, and Midoriya's lips take on a familiar, unimpressed slant. Aizawa is seeing himself more and more in this kid; it's alarming. "Which one asked you to watch me?"

"...Tsukauchi." Aizawa answers after a moment. Midoriya doesn't seem surprised, just rolling his eyes. "Do you know why?"

"I have a tendency to get into disputes with no concern for my own personal welfare." Midoriya says without preamble, something in his tone leading Aizawa to believe he is repeating something that has been said to him many times before. Aizawa arches a questioning eyebrow, an expression that is mirrored a moment later with much less emotion. The two of them stand in silence, just staring, for a minute before Midoriya points to his capture weapon. "Where do you get those?"

"Private contract. You can't get one as a civilian anyway." 

Midoriya's mouth twists for a second at that, like he's taking that as a challenge instead of a fact. Aizawa makes a mental note to tell his support to not take any requests from kids with green hair, no matter what he offers in compensation. A crack of lightning lights up the sky for a moment and Aizawa grimaces, considering.

"I'll escort you home." He decides after a moment of deliberation. He walks past Midoriya, who is giving him the unimpressed look again, and holds open the door to the stairwell. "Come on."

"It's just crossing a street, I'm not going to get into a fight." Midoriya complains, passing Aizawa onto the stairs anyhow. Letting the door swing shut behind him, the pro huffs to himself instead of responding. Even knowing Midoriya as little as he did Aizawa was sure Midoriya would find some way to get involved in something without supervision. As it is, he has to use his quirk to spook off some thugs who look like they're considering instigating Izuku as they walk back to the apartment building Midoriya lives in.

The lobby is nearly empty when they step inside. After a moment, Aizawa recognizes the boy leaving an elevator as the explosive neighbor that Midoriya is usually adamant in avoiding. The blonde goes stiff at the sight of Midoriya, but he just squares his shoulders and brushes past like the other kid isn't even there. Aizawa trails after him, taking the time to watch the way the neighbor's fists clench and his expression hardens in determination. Midoriya snags Aizawa's wrist as soon as he gets close enough and tugs him into the elevator, smashing his thumb against the 'doors close' button once the pro is inside. The neighbor turns, mouth open to yell something, just as the doors slide together. Midoriya doesn't exactly slump in relief but Aizawa can tell he's less tense now that they're rising up.

"What was that about?"

"No offense," Midoriya keeps his eyes glued to the display above the doors, counting up to his floor, "But I don't know you, and I'm not sharing my tragic backstory with a stranger."

Aizawa thinks that's fair—but he makes another mental note to follow up on the blonde to see if there's any official recordings of their past together anyway. The elevator rises to a stop on the fifth floor, doors sliding open to let the two of them out. Midoriya leads him down the hall while pulling a key from his pocket. There's not a single sign of life when the apartment door swings open. The lights are off and Midoriya makes no move to change that when he goes inside.

"Thanks for the unnecessary escort." Midoriya says, hand on the door to close it. 

"Where are your parents?" Aizawa asks, eyeing the dark over Midoriya's shoulder like it holds a monster ready to lunge out and attack.

"Work." He answers. Then he shuts the door in Aizawa's face. Aizawa huffs through his nose and leaves, the blonde teen nowhere to be seen when he crosses through the lobby again. Opening the building's doors reveals that the sky has cracked open and it is pouring outside. With another sigh, Aizawa opens his borrowed umbrella and slips outside, skulking back out to his patrol.