In His Eyes

XXV

Aizawa sat sluggishly at his desk, his head resting on all of the paperwork he has yet to do, his mind was a bit preoccupied at the moment. It was about his students, not his actual ones, Bakugo and Midoriya. He didn't know their past with each other, only that they were childhood friends. But something didn't add up. Aizawa did not miss the flinches Midoriya gave off every time an explosion sounded or how he froze when the smell of fire was in the air, Aizawa didn't like how tough Izuku's skin was when it came to getting burned, this was found out when Aizawa went to visit the Midoriya's but Inko hadn't come home yet, so Izuku had invited him inside to wait and for some tea, Aizawa watched as Izuku accidentally dropped something in the active burner and casually reached down to grab it, his fingers weren't even red. Another thing Aizawa didn't like, the child was way to good at hiding his emotions, how else would he touch fire and not flinch? Aizawa disliked how alert Midoriya was, he saw as the boy scanned every new place he was in and could near perfectly pick out the most dangerous characters. And that was only Midoriya, Bakugo had some issues as well. Like just how powerful he was, how he seemed to know exactly how much power to use, how he was usually athletic, how he didn't know how to use his words to express his emotions correctly, how he didn't know how to understand his emotions correctly, how he sank in guilt every time he saw Midoriya quiver at the smell of something burning. It was very safe to assume neither of them was mentally stable, and now there was a child involved.

He had thought this would be a problem, but to his surprise, both of them seemed perfect at caring for the child. It had been a week and not once had Ms. Midoriya or Aizawa been called in by one of the two for assistance. When Eri cried Bakugo would scoop her up and talk to her or hug her or Izuku would sing and try to make her laugh, when Eri was shy Bakugo would stand in front of her and glare at the people making her feel uncomfortable or Izuku would pick her up and whisper good and distracting things to her. Bakugo had immediately assumed the dad role and decided it was best to get a job so he could spoil the child, he now worked at the local grocery store (Aizawa had thought that this would be a problem as well and was relieved to find out that Bakugo was in charge of shelving and carrying boxes), and he had sworn to spend his first pay check entirely on Eri, then divide it in savings and Eri. Although Aizawa had his suspicions that part of it would also be directed towards Izuku. All in all, they were doing fine with Eri.

Since Ms. Midoriya had a job and Bakugo did not trust his parents with Eri the child had to come to their training sessions, it was a bit problematic at first, Eri disliked seeing her new parents being hurt, but after a little explaining from Izuku and Bakugo she understood that it was so they could protect her and grandma better. On Mondays and Wednesdays she would cheer for Izuku, on Tuesdays and Thursdays she would cheer for Bakugo, and on Friday she would cheer for whoever seemed to be losing. While Midoriya and Bakugo sparred Aizawa would teach Eri little fight moves so she could mimic Midoriya and Bakugo, which made her very happy and determined. Aizawa smiled as he remembered the look of determination in Eri's eyes.

Another thing about the child, she said that she would stay in her five year old self until she was actually five, she said she didn't know how she knew, she just did. Bakugo and Midoriya excepted this of course and offered to sign her up for elementary school when she was five but teach her themselves at home, she refused, saying that she wanted to go to school like her momma and pappa. All three of them had frozen when Eri said that.

'What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?' Eri asked with a confused look on her face.

'You did nothing wrong, Eri, but can you answer a few questions?' Aizawa asked her.

She nodded her head, 'Yep!'

'Okay, point to 'momma'.' Eri pointed at Midoriya. 'Now point to 'pappa'.' Eri pointed at Bakugo. 'Where did these names come from?'

Eri smiled, 'Grandma read to me last night and told me what a family was! She said that normally a momma took care of her child and a pappa went to work.' She pointed her fingers to Midoriya and Bakugo as she spoke, 'They're my momma and pappa! Right?' She said the last word with uncertainty.

Midoriya smiled and picked her up, 'Yes we are.'

It was a heart touching moment that Aizawa got to see, although he nearly spit out the coffee he had been drinking when Eri pointed at him and said 'Than that ones grandpa!".

They weren't the only ones with names, Denki, Kirishima, Iida, Shinso, and Todoroki were all given the name 'Uncle', but just occasionally, Eri would call them 'Dad'. This morphed until each one of them had two separate nicknames given to them, Aizawa knew that Bakugo would forever be 'Pappa', Denki was 'Dad', Todoroki was 'Daddy', Kirishima was 'Father', Iida was 'Pappy' and Shinso was 'Pop'. It was amusing to Aizawa that each one of them never forgot their names, but he didn't notice the smirk Bakugo would give the others when his permanent position of 'Pappa' was brought up. Which was often, after the incident at Iida's house the five visited Midoriya and Bakugo regularly, Todoroki spoiled Eri the most.

Aizawa pushed his head off of the desk and laid it on his hand, now that he thought about it, each one of them had their positions in Eri's life.

He himself was the grandpa and teacher. The one who would babysit Eri.
Ms.Midoriya was the grandmother and sweet maker. The one who would laugh with her in the kitchen.
Denki, the son of pro heroes Pulse and Shock you later, was the goofy father/uncle. The one who she would grow up to say 'Silly Uncle' at.
Todoroki, the son of pro hero Endeavor, was the one who spoiled Eri. The one who she would greedily and happily purge his pockets for candy.
Iida, brother to pro hero Ingenium and son of a wealthy family, was the 'piggy back' father/uncle and rule teacher. The one who she would make the 'o' face at whenever she didn't know something.
Kirishima, son of pro heroine Unbreakable, was the smiling and goofy-sweet father/uncle. The one who would play with Eri on the playground.
Shinso, son of pro hero 24 Hours and 7 Days a Week, was the tired, naughty joking, rule breaking father/uncle. The one who would whisper to her when they sat down to make her giggle.
Bakugo was the caring, funny, reliable, go to father. The one who would actually impact the most in Eri's life.
Izuku was the sweet, determined, kind, understanding mother. The one Eri would look up to the most.

Aizawa sighed as he sat up and grabbed his pen, maybe this year wouldn't be so bad.