Parry and Feint

                                    

                                          


                          
For Royal. 
                          
*****
                          
"Problem Child, follow me." 
                          
Izuku's head snapped up from his essay, eyes wide in confusion as he observed the retreating form of his Sensei. 
                          
It was a Saturday in the dorms and the boy had just positioned himself in, what was becoming, his favorite chair in the common room (angled near the window, providing lots of natural, warm sunlight), determined to finish his English assignment before the afternoon was done. 
                          
Turns out verb tenses and latent phrases were hard .
                          
But then...
                          
" Now , Problem Child." 
                          
"Oh, uh, r-right!" 
                          
So much for his essay. 
                          
Izuku was confused as he hastily shoved his schoolwork into his backpack and scrambled after his homeroom teacher, who'd languidly pushed open the door and stepped onto the porch of 1-A's dorm. He earned a few curious glances from some of his classmates (Bakugo shooting him a fierce glare before turning back to his own schoolwork) but no one dared say anything. 
                          
Aizawa peered back at the boy, eyes narrowed and a firm, thoughtful scowl on his face as he huffed tiredly before moving down the stairs and towards the walkway that led to the main campus.
                          
"We don't have all day, Problem Child so hurry up." Izuku, who swallowed back the sudden wave of panic that threatened to overwhelm him, trotted behind the man, fingers idly grasping at the straps of his backpack, confusion and trepidation making his palms feel slick, his feet heavy. 
                          
He didn't understand what was going on. 
                          
What were they doing? 
                          
Why were they--
                          
"You're not in trouble," Aizawa's voice cut through Izuku's muddled thoughts, as he tilted his head briefly towards the fretting boy, "It's just time that we address an... issue ." Izuku didn't miss the way the man's gaze lingered on the boy's arms, clad in their compression sleeves, bearing the scars and damage of some rather...regrettable choices (though not regrettable enough that he wouldn't have done the same thing again to protect Kouta from Muscular).
                          
And if Aizawa's comment was meant to make the boy feel any better, well, it didn't . 
                          
Still, Izuku nodded in agreement towards the man, his tongue feeling too thick to verbalize any thoughts or feelings. 
                          
This earned a frown from Aizawa, though he too stayed silent. . 
                          
They continued walking.
                          
*****
                          
"Midoriya." 
                          
Izuku had been surprised when they'd entered Gym Gamma. He was even more surprised to see Shinsou sitting near the mats, stretching his legs. 
                          
And it seemed that Shinsou was just as surprised to see him . 
                          
"Sensei?" 
                          
The amaranthine-haired boy furrowed his brows towards Aizawa who folded his arms and leaned easily against the closed gym doors.
                          
He was effectively trapping them in. 
                          
"I asked Midoriya to come because both of you need some additional training." 
                          
Shinsou's eyes flickered to Izuku briefly, a small frown tugging at his lips as he clamored to his feet. 
                          
"I don't see why he needs to be here" the boy remarked, the smallest hints of annoyance lacing his tone, "He's 'Mr. Power Quirk'. It's not like he's deficient in hero prowess or anything."