Chapter Text
A few minutes earlier...
Denki was testing how effective his electricity was with different conductors as weapons. "Hey, Momo, what else could I use?" But instead of an answer, all he got in return was a bunch of mismatched whispers. "Hey, come on, what’s everyone talking about?" Then Sero bumped into him. "Are you serious? I thought out of everyone you’d be the first to talk about them." Denki angled his head in confusion. "What the heck are you on about?" Sero huffed, "Turn around. Everyone stopped training the second Aizawa Sensei left."
Sure enough, as Denki turned around, he saw the entirety of Class 1-A hiding behind a wall, intently watching Todoroki and Eri.
"Took you long enough," Mina said, rolling her eyes. "This is literally the cutest thing ever," someone else whispered. "Why can’t we get closer? I want to see their faces better." "Because he’s like a deer; if we get too close, he'll run off or freeze on the spot," Jiro said.
Bakugou scoffed as Midoriya started crying, "They're just so perfect for each other." Uraraka floated with excitement and exclaimed, "Look, he's making her a flower!" It was truly a majestic sight.
Shouto hand-crafted the most beautiful ice sculpture with intricate petals that caught the sunlight in a mesmerizing way. Eri was so captivated she couldn’t take her eyes off it, and neither could Class 1-A. To finish the sculpture, Shouto hollowed it out and created a flame in the middle. The class and Eri watched as it dwindled down into nothing, the fire dancing in the air and reflecting off the ice. Shouto took a step back, tucking his messy hair behind one ear as he redid his bun, and half the class held in their gasps. Even Bakugou had to admit he had a tiny crush on Todoroki. They watched as Eri took a step forward before all chaos broke loose.
In the blink of an eye, Eri stumbled, falling into Todoroki, and as her quirk activated, it latched onto him, causing a golden glow to cascade around him. Eri screamed, and before they knew it, Shouto was on his knees trying to comfort her. Iida yelled, instructing everyone to stay calm and help Eri while he ran to fetch Aizawa.
Present time in the teachers’ lounge...
Aizawa sat down while Hizashi fetched him a cup of coffee. He had tried to protest and get it himself, but Hizashi pushed back, saying it wasn’t every day that the most introverted classmate was hanging out with Eri and actually helping her train her quirk without all hell breaking loose or Eri being smothered by hugs and affection. 'Not that it was a bad thing, just overwhelming for someone as touch-starved as Eri,' he thought. His mind flashed back to Todoroki. Maybe that’s why he left her alone; he knew that smothering her would be bad. Or maybe he also didn’t show affection to anyone, let alone touch anyone else, so it could be unpleasant for him. 'Weird.' And Aizawa had some time to himself in his hell-packed schedule, not being bombarded by Class 1-A. He suspected the reason they were quiet was either because they had stopped working the second he left (which he didn’t mind because they were quiet) or they had hidden to watch Eri and Shouto and didn’t dare make themselves known for fear of Aizawa himself or Shouto freaking out.
He chuckled to himself before Hizashi walked back to him with a vanilla hot coffee. "I know you want to get back to your kids, but take the time to relax. I’m sure they’ve got it all sorted," Hizashi said while fetching some cheesecake. "So just sit back, relax, and cuddle with your loving husband."
"Alright, alright," Aizawa sighed, relaxing into the couch, his husband snuggling into his side. All seemed peaceful. Eri had found a new, unexpected best friend. He was caught up with his work. There were no new grading systems to apply. The training regimes had been made and taught to Class 1-A. All Might was quiet for once, not bothering him with some new drama. He could just sit and relax. That was until a faint scream reached the couple. Aizawa leapt to his feet, spilling some coffee on the floor. This woke Hizashi up. "Shota, what was that for? You really should relax," Hizashi said. But Aizawa didn’t listen. He walked around, trying to find out where the sound was coming from, his mind racing. "Was it a villain? Did something happen to his students? Did someone take Eri?" Iida burst through the door, out of breath. "Sir, my apologies for the door, but Todoroki-san got hit by Eri's quirk." He looked desperate.
Aizawa sprinted out of the teachers' lounge, leaving a shocked Hizashi to process the information. Iida faltered for a second, wondering whether to alert more teachers, seemingly asking for directions nonverbally. Hizashi quickly gathered his thoughts. Eri was probably freaking out, and Todoroki could be in serious trouble.
Aizawa couldn’t help but think this was all his fault. He left them alone. He knew if Hizashi were here, he would say the rational thing (surprisingly) that he couldn’t have known and that it was justifiable for him to take a break. But what kind of father leaves a traumatized kid with an unstable quirk alone with the number 2 hero’s kid, who in Aizawa's opinion, has one of the most powerful quirks in the school? He had to take another deep breath as he turned down a corridor. 'You need to focus. Todoroki is the most capable student in your class. He's nothing like his father. He's kind, quiet, reserved, incredibly smart, and capable. He's one of the best people to deal with this situation. So stop blaming yourself and focus on the present. What can we do to fix this problem and calm Eri?'
He finally reached the entrance to the training courts. The sight before him was something he wished never to see again. Eri was bawling her eyes out, her voice hoarse and shaky, probably from an extended period of screaming. Midoriya was obviously trying not to look in Todoroki's direction, keeping his eyes and focus on Eri, his arms wrapped tightly around her, trying not to let her see the remnants of the ice and fire fading into the ground where she and Todoroki once were. Aizawa could barely make out where Todoroki should be. Half of the class was crowded around Eri. This included Ochako, Hagakure, Tsuyu, Koda, Jiro, Kirishima, and Denki. The rest were gathered around Todoroki: Sero, Tokoyami, Bakugo, Shoji, and most of the introverted students Shouto was close to. Momo was down on her knees, cradling something in her hands. Aizawa hoped it wasn't a dead body, but he knew there would be more crying if that were the case. However, everyone was extremely quiet in that circle; it could be shock, though, so he was back at step one.
Gathering up his fading courage, he moved towards his students. The first to notice him was Tokoyami, as Dark Shadow immediately circled around Aizawa's body. Rapidly, he got the signal and sped up. His first priority was to clear a space to assess the situation. Trying his best to sound collected and composed, he spoke, "Space, please. Can everyone take a few steps back?" The class heard him, and everyone in the circle or around Eri moved back, some going to comfort others, while some took a moment to collect themselves, realizing the situation was not as bad as it could be.
The only people still around Eri and Todoroki were Bakugo, Momo, and Midoriya. At this point, Aizawa could see as much as he needed to. Kneeling down next to Momo, he saw a pale Todoroki covered head to toe in bandages. Physically, he looked five, but Aizawa had a disturbing feeling he was older than that. The bandages covered over 70% of his skin. Near his heel, a white bandage had unraveled, revealing a deep purple bruise practically glowing compared to the frail skin around it. He thought he could make out almost a metal stake part around it, like in football boots or combat boots. The more he looked, the closer it resembled an actual shoe mark, though the person would have to be massive. He reached the boy's neck, checking for a pulse, which in his opinion was far too shallow and slow for anybody, let alone a kid his age. But alas, he was breathing and alive, which was more than Aizawa originally thought.
After a deep sigh, he moved to Eri, who, unbeknownst to him, had climbed out of Midoriya's arms to the disapproval of both Bakugo and Midoriya and was now hovering above the scene below her. Once Aizawa made eye contact with her, he opened his arms, and Eri ran into them. Muffled sounds escaped her lips, but he could just barely make out small cries. "I-I hurt h-him, it's my f-fa-ault. He w-as try-y-ing to hel-help me, and I h-hurt him." Her voice was raspy with sharp breaths between words.
Aizawa hadn’t seen her like this in months. She had gotten more confident and happy over time with the support from the class. Now she was breaking down while he held her once again. Aizawa carefully picked her up off the ground and spun her to face Shouto. "He's going to be fine, okay? You and I can help take him to Recovery Girl."
Eri's face lit up, then dimmed again. "Is he mad at me?" Aizawa knew this was a shot in the dark, but if he knew Todoroki at all, he could bet that while being hit, he would have tried to calm Eri down in any way he knew how, which honestly wasn’t much considering he could barely speak to kids his own age. But alas, it could help. "Eri, did Todoroki say anything after the accident to you?" Eri thought for a moment and shyly nodded her head. "He said that it wasn't my fault and that he's not mad. He told me to get you and Recovery Girl." Aizawa smiled at his student, who, unaware of whether he would live or die, took the time to console Eri, making sure she knew it wasn’t her fault. "He did good, huh? You see, he doesn’t want you blaming yourself, and now he's going to be the same age as you for a bit. Then you can make it all up to him."
Eri smiled and laughed, thinking of various ways to make it up to Todoroki. However, the stress and shock she was in had all but vanished, and she slipped slowly into unconsciousness.