Shackles of the Past

Dead and Alive

"You said you were interested in Shinsou, weren't you, Aizawa?" Snipe asked. He was 1-C's homeroom teacher, and Aizawa did ask him to keep an eye on the brainwashing quirked child. They were currently in the staff room, doing paper work. UA was shut down for a few days because of the villain attack, and they were very lucky that Midoriya was acting very much like he wasn't injured so the press didn't manage to get much about the extent of his real injuries.

Aizawa nodded. He had been dragged to the cafeteria once by Yamada, past the 1-C classroom. He had noticed that Shinsou was lying on his table, much like Midoriya was, sleeping through lunch. He did wonder if that was a one time thing or he just never ate lunch in the first place. He did also hear a few pretty nasty rumours from the General Education department, saying how weird and creepy Shinsou was with that dead expression he always wore.

"Well... you say Akatani is very... void of expressions, right?"

Aizawa nodded. That was a very, very nice way of saying that he literally didn't feel anything except that he was useless and expendable.

He didn't really want to talk about his problem child now. The poor boy had passed out during treatment, and Shuzenji couldn't heal him because he never ate much. They had to put him on an IV drip just so he had enough nutrients for Shuzenji to slowly heal him. Apparently, Midoriya's self diagnosis was entirely correct. Aizawa didn't want to know how he knew where every single injury of his was located.

"Let's just say... Shinsou is similar. He's usually quiet, never speaks unless spoken to, doesn't interact, never shows emotions whatsoever."

Aizawa sighed. The other kid he had to take an interest in just had to be another problem child.

"You said usually."

"Yeah. He got mad once. Someone took his notebook."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "Got mad... how?"

"Well... as far as I know, I rushed out to the USJ and let the class finish their classwork. Shinsou always has this really old notebook that he brings around everywhere, but he never uses it, or even opens it. There are really messy scrawls on the cover, like that of a toddler trying to write."

Aizawa raised his eyebrow at that detail.

"So they had finished work while we were out, and this student with an air quirk grabbed his notebook just when i got back to class to dismiss them. Shinsou flew into a rage, snatched the book back, and hissed at him. The other student just grumbled that he shouldn't be attached to an inanimate object, and Shinsou just yelled at him that the notebook was his little brother's and he had no right to touch it. He can can be surprisingly scary if he wants to."

Aizawa rubbed his head, unconsciously tracing the new scar he had obtained at the USJ. "Isn't he an only child?"

"Well... adopted, if the records mean anything. He's been transferred around quite a bit, so he shouldn't have formed such a strong bond with anyone who's fostering him."

"So... let's say he had gotten attached to someone. Any idea who?"

"I saw the name on the notebook before he stomped out in a rage. It said Midoriya Izuku."

Aizawa felt his heart clench. The kid who went missing three years ago.

How long did Shinsou know the kid? How long has he been harbouring all his emotions close to his heart?

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"Did you see how we were on screen for a second?" Hagakure pipped up. "I was barely seen at all!"