Chapter Text
Toshi had begun to find himself up at indecent hours most mornings out of the week. That first morning was a fluke- he woke up at four a.m. and couldn’t force himself back asleep, so he wound up at U.A. to wait for sunrise and students. He had rested on a bench in the yard for a while, closing his eyes to the soft morning until he heard a noise.
That noise happened to be Aizawa, shuffling across the sidewalk. Toshi’s eyebrows tipped together in confusion. He hadn’t expected anyone to be here this early, least of all the most sleep-deprived teacher of the school. He tried very hard to ignore the strange feeling in his chest. Aizawa didn’t seem to notice that he was there. Distracted and brazened at his concealment, Toshi kept watching him as he took a shortcut through the grass. He swallowed thickly as his eyes traveled down Aizawa’s unusual attire, right down to stare at his bare thighs for a split second before recovering.
Toshi’s eyes were locked onto his hands folded gently in his lap for a good while after that.
Toshi was doing a fairly good job at not being totally pathetic with his… crush. He shied away from even thinking of it as a crush. Since that incident that morning, however, Toshi had been up late at night, shaking his head awake in the mornings, and avoiding Aizawa at all costs.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of Aizawa finding out, or of the kids latching on to his stiff behavior around their homeroom teacher, though those did manage to strike fear into his weak heart. It was more that Toshi didn’t think there was a way to describe this to Aizawa, how he could show how he felt without being brushed off as pathetic. He knew how Aizawa felt about him, that he was silly and obnoxious, pandering to the media. Useless, when not fighting villains. He didn’t know how to prove himself to Aizawa, to prove his illogical feelings to the ever-logical man.
These thoughts were what kept him up at night and woke him up in the morning, what caused him to space out in front of his class and ruined his appetite. He was agitated, even when he was all alone, fidgeting with his hands or his long blond bangs.
That’s how he found himself back on that same bench a week later. He didn’t mean to go back, definitely didn’t plan on it, but there he was. So what if he was flirting with disaster? It was much preferable to flirting with the subject of said disaster. Soon enough, there was Aizawa, a frown still creased across his face, as if it was permanent. Toshi’s shoulders went slack once he saw that Aizawa was wearing his hero clothes, complete with his capture weapon draped over his shoulders. Toshi preferred to call his deflation relief rather than disappointment.
Today, Toshi noticed Aizawa had more of a hard look to his features. He looked more like he was glaring, a small pout on his lips. Nothing like his casual apathy. Maybe it was simple, a hard night, or something similar. Toshi snapped his mouth shut before calling out to him. He just couldn’t. Not now, of all times.
And so he kept silent, still just out of Aizawa’s line of sight, hands twisting.
Toshi blinked awake early enough that his room was still dark. Immediately his stomach (well, what would have been his stomach) writhed and his chest was in turmoil. Not again, he thought has he sat up and rubbed his eyes. This was the third time this week. Now he was starting to look like Aizawa with the bags under his eyes.
He rose and slowly got dressed in his baggy clothing. Not much use for it now that he couldn’t hold his hero form for any substantial amount of time. Still… it worked well to cover up his scarecrow-like body.
A bit restless, he waited for his tea to steep. He sipped it slowly as well, trying to calm himself, but it was no use. He had to move around, do something to ease his bouncing leg.
So once again he was out the door and into the fresh air on his way to U.A. He watched the sky turn from navy blue to soft pink and light blue. Birds replaced the stars on his walk to school grounds. There were no clouds in sight yet, but weather reports said there was a chance of rain later in the evening. He distantly, indulgently wondered if Aizawa enjoyed the rain. He wondered if the man enjoyed anything, really, other than his sleeping bag and jelly packs.
Sighing for the fiftieth time that morning, Toshi settled into his now-usual bench, slumping down and stretching out his long legs, eyes sliding shut. They stung, lightly, from lack of sleep. It wasn’t altogether uncomfortable, considering the circumstances.
Toshi wasn’t sure how long he had been dozing there until a voice cut through his reverie.
“What are you doing here?”
Toshi bolted upright, looking wildly for the voice, the voice he knew too well.
Aizawa stood just behind the bench, arms crossed and scowling. His hair was pulled back into a loose bun, allowing the fresh scar under his eye to stand out more.
“I-I, uh…” Toshi trailed, unsure of how to answer. Aizawa remained silent, glaring. “I come out here, sometimes, when I- when I can’t sleep.”
“Lately, yes.”
“Um…” Toshi pressed his lips together, hands wringing. “It’s relaxing…?” It came out like a question, his voice accidentally going up an octave or two.
Aizawa narrowed his eyes and stared Toshinori down for a long moment. Then he turned on his heel and stalked into the building without another word. Now alone, Toshi dropped his face into his hands, grimacing. He’d noticed Toshi sitting there, but for how long? Certainly he would have said something before now? And why had he been so angry? Toshi knew his coworker liked his space and seclusion, but surely U.A. grounds weren’t off limits?
One thing was for sure, Shouta Aizawa had not warmed up to All Might in the slightest.
_________
Aizawa, clenching his fist as well as his jaw, stomped into the gym. He was absolutely infuriating, that man. He just wanted a quiet place to come and work out like he has been doing for years before All Might came along and ruined it within a week. Why he had suddenly decided U.A.’s front lawn was the perfect place to stretch his absurdly long legs out on, he didn’t know.
Aizawa knew he was acting like a child, but he couldn’t help it. Something about the former pro-hero got under his skin.
Already fired up, Aizawa angrily shot through his warm up and launched into his routine with much more vigor than usual. He punched and kicked, getting dangerously close to a blind fury before it was already time for his cool-down.
In the shower, he let his eyes close and tipped his head back. He really should start loosening up towards All Might, he just made it so difficult. It totally did not help that he remained completely in his scrawny form now, which, admittedly, did soften his heart. He shook his head to clear it. Who wouldn’t think that way after witnessing the loss of one’s quirk? Especially if it was the No. 1 Pro-Hero All Might. You’d have to be a villain to not care.
Aizawa’s jaw remained set as he toweled off, dressed, and made his way to the teachers lounge to finish up some grading, thinking hard about anything but his irritating blond coworker.