A Flower's Affection (KiriBaku Flower Shop AU)

Eijiro Kirishima-Let's Try This Again

Aha! I got my laptop back (and then I got a new, faster, much better one for Christmas) and I'm so freaking happy about it.

        "Good afternoon, students," Aizawa started smugly when class began Saturday afternoon, shuffling his papers. "I'm sure you all have questions for me."

        Questions. Of course, they had questions. Huge, fate of the world, life-altering questions. Questions they hadn't been allowed to ask to Ectoplasm (they now knew why their math professor was called this) and had been forced to internalize while they worked through their Algebra textbooks. 

        "Starting with: what the hell gives, sir?" Kaminari whined. "Were the dramatics really necessary?"

        The class mumbled their agreement, still struggling with the disbelief that every person in that room was a professional hero. The class had hardly really spoken to each other since the fake villain attack the day before, and everyone was struggling to process the news to a different degree. The seat next to Tokoyami was empty, but if anyone noticed Mineta's absence, no one commented on it. (Just like no one commented on how Eri sat at the corner of Denki's desk, drinking apple juice. The child was, apparently, there to stay, even if no one knew why.) According to Bakugo, it was the second expulsion this year, the first being the student that had sat at Kiri's desk.

        Aizawa blinked at them. "Ignoring the blatant hypocrisy coming from that statement, yes, it was. There was a threat, it was a test, and everyone in this room passed with flying colors. It was also Nezu's idea, so I had no say."

        "If everyone here is a hero," Asui pondered aloud, "then is that why the news is always on? And why lateness is usually forgiven? And why Mina and Bakugo ran out last week?"

        "I had that covered," Kirishima grumbled before Bakugo could start growing at her, remembering when Pinky and Ground Zero had rushed to his unneeded rescue. At the time, he hadn't realized it was Bakugo behind the mask, and the thought that the angry blonde cared about his safety enough to rush out of class with Mina warmed his heart.

        "Yes, yes, and yes," Aizawa answered. "And Kirishima, it is advised that you not scream at villains while shirtless at eight in the morning."

        Kiri managed to fight down the embarrassment at the round of circles and quip back a retort. "Somebody please mention that I don't wear a shirt with my costume."

        "Which is probably why you were once mistaken for a woman," Midoriya muttered, which they probably weren't supposed to hear.

        "I have a horrible explanation for that," the redhead flushed. He remembered the man he'd saved that had given him that name, how the guy had been high out of his mind, and how Red Riot had found him in the alleyway between a makeup boutique and a dress shop after having been thrown through a wall.

        "We'd love to hear it," Mina teased, twisting in her seat to smirk at her best friend.

         "But Mr. Aizawa, wouldn't that make you a hero too?" Uraraka pondered. "

        "Of course," the professor answered, unamused by their banter. "All your teachers are heroes, though Yagi is retired, lucky bastard."

        "There's nothing 'lucky' about a terrible accident that left him without a stomach," Midoriya gagged. Kirishima swallowed his questions, even if he was now extremely concerned. It certainly explained how sickly the man looked, and most of the students still treated him with an extreme amount of reverance, so he must have been a great hero before he was hurt.