A Flower's Affection (KiriBaku Flower Shop AU)

Shota Aizawa

        UA dean Shota Aizawa stood by the door to class 1A, listening to Professor Yamada's English lecture for a moment. He was twisting his wedding ring over and over on his left hand, an anxious tick he'd had for years. As usual, he was grouchy and uptight, and still irritated with the professor from yesterday's news set failure. His sleep schedule was off for no good reason, and he hated it. How the loudmouthed professor could maintain two classes a day, a morning radio show, an evening talk show, grade papers all night, and still get enough sleep to be a functional human being by five the next morning was a mystery to him.

        Denki Kaminari, the excitable blonde, was the first to notice him standing there. All the students knew that their dean hated loud noises at seven in the morning, so Kaminari made a point of screaming "GOOD MORNING, SIR!" As loud as he could.

        This loud outburst attracted the attention of the other eighteen students, who returned the response at varying volumes. Katsuki Bakugo shouted above them all, a good "HAPPY SUNRISE, MOTHERFUCKER!"

        "Wow," Yamada chuckled, covering his bitterness. "I can never get them this excited for me." He liked to 'hype up' his classes at the beginning of every lesson. They liked to spite him too, staying completely silent when he attempted this morning routine, yet screaming for every random visitor that walked into the room.

        Plus, a visit from the dean meant that the current lesson on formal English grammar was on hold for the time being. He knew that the students were beginning to suspect the real reasons they were at this school--the real reasons they learned the things they did and why the school administration was so insane--and that they were expecting a formal reveal any day now. Then again, it's not like the University President was a rat or anything.

        Aizawa sighed loudly, stepping into the room and strolling up to the professor's podium. "Hizashi, I'm going to borrow your class for a moment."

        "Oh, I know what this is about," the blonde muttered under his breath while handing over the clicker for the projector, just loud enough for the brooding dean to hear. "This must be why you were so stressed last night." His hands lingered for just a moment, just a stolen second in time, before backing up to give the other teacher room.

        "Listen up," Aizawa growled, pleased when his voice carried easily across the room, "I'm only going to say this once." The class quieted, intrigued. Despite being the dean, Shota Aizawa still taught one class. The hero course. (Though the course was called the hero course, the students only studied the activity and history of heroes in the world, finding mistakes heroes or villains made over the years and going over hero-law.) "I know you all usually take your hero strategy course studies on any day of the week except Friday, but the university has felt that there are pressing matters in this world that need to be addressed and have allowed me to take over your English class to bring you a hero update. Start writing."

        The class scrambled for their other notebooks, flipping through pages as Aizawa flicked on the projector to a close-up image of a cocky Ground Zero. Bakugo groaned a little, and a few of his classmates snickered at his discomfort.

        "Hero Ground Zero," Aizawa announced dully. He flicked to another image, to the gunslinging heroes, "Hero Snipe, and Hero Gunhead. Can anyone tell me what these three heroes have in common?"

        "They're violent?" Kaminari guessed with a smile, causing the other students to laugh.

        "That's one thing," the dean said seriously, effectively silencing the class.

        Momo Yaoyorozu tried her hand. "They can all handle long-distance weaponry?"

        "That's another, but not the one I'm looking for."