Chapter Text
“This is the second attack on UA students in under two months.”
“I hear the same teacher was on duty in both accidents.”
“Someone needs to be held responsible. At this point I’d make a better teacher than this Aizawa guy, is he even a hero? ”
Yamada struggles to hold his tongue while listening to the two guests chat. His first instinct is to defend Shouta from the groundless criticism, but the station's shareholders would never allow it. Put Your Hands Up Radio didn’t usually get involved with politics, but his manager had basically begged him to allow the interview, claiming that the Hero Public Safety Commission's impression of Present Mic wasn’t the best and allowing this interview would lessen the tension.
Personally, he didn’t care about getting along with the Commission. Yamada has always been too outspoken and progressive for the conservative in the eyes of the conservative Commission. They’d given him numerous citations before for discussing what they claimed to be ‘unsavory’ and ‘malicious’ topics. Usually, the Commission wouldn’t lower themselves to appear on Yamada’s show, but the recent Hero Killer incident had made them unpopular with the media and younger heroes.
“Personally I’m not surprised the guy couldn’t protect his students. He’s an underground hero right? Those types never have any skill— not liking the spotlight is just an excuse he couldn’t break the top thirty even if he tried.”
“I hear the teachers’ basically quirkless.”
The conversation drags on, and just when Yamada thinks he can’t stand it anymore, he sees one of the staff flash the end card. The whole interview had put him in a bad mood. The Friday show was supposed to kick off the start of an obligation-free lazy weekend. The events of the summer training camp were making things around UA tense. Yamada himself hadn’t participated in the camp, preferring to keep his role as a summer school teacher. He regretted not going. Shouta didn’t know how to deal with the press. If it had been him, he would have been able to handle the situation without being a scapegoat. Unfortunately, Shouta was too hard on himself.
Shouta’s habit of self-criticism is why the upcoming weekend is important. He had forced the underground hero to take time off work and planned on thoroughly spoiling his husband. A local animal shelter was opening a cat cafe that also functioned as an adoption center. Yamada knows a visit there is going to end with them adding another cat to the family, but with how stressed his husband had been lately, he supposed the hero deserves another cat.
Yamada starts the question-and-answer part of his show, and the calls continue for about fifteen minutes when a strange call comes in.
“You’re calling into Put Your Hands Up Radio! What’s going on, listener?”
“Um, hi,” a childish voice squeaks out. “Can you hear me?”
Children call in all the time, and there are favorite callers. Their excitement can be felt through the phone, surprised that a hero answered their call.
“Well, I'm at my grandpa's, and there’s this guy outside.” The child's voice sounds a little nervous as she speaks.
“Is there anyone with him?” He glances at his assistant, who nods, pushing the panic button. This isn’t the first time a child in a potentially dangerous situation has called his show. Oftentimes, the kids are too scared to call the police and call Yamada, who has a kid-friendly image.
“No, he’s alone, but it looks like he’s about to draw on the walls!”
“Is your grandpa home?”
“No but he always tells me drawing on the walls is bad!” The girl's tone is so firm that Yamada can’t help but chuckle at the cuteness of it.
“You’re absolutely right, little listener some adults never learn that lesson. You’re gonna be a great hero one day.”
The girl ends up being the show's last guest; he feels like he’d be tempting fate if he kept the show going any longer. He shuts down the broadcasting equipment before grabbing his keys and locking the office.
He’s about to pull out of the broadcasting station when he’s stopped by a light tapping on the window. An officer from a nearby station pulled up right beside him. Yamada recognizes the man he’s run into multiple times at a local coffee shop Shouta likes.
Wasting no time, he rolls down the window. “How can I help you?” he really hopes it's nothing important; he just wants to get back to Shouta.
The officer clears his throat. “About the kid that called into your station. We’re currently investigating the report, and we suspect a Yuuei student was involved, so we’d like to ask you how to proceed.”
“WhAAAt!! How is that possible?” The shock of the statement causes Yamada’s quirk to bleed into his voice a little, and the officer gives a little wince at the sudden change in volume.
“We don’t believe the student is from the hero department of course. And I understand that things are hectic at Yuuei right now and you might not want to get involved in the issue.”
Yamada takes a breath to calm himself down. “No, it’s good you came,” he hands the officer his number. “Please, keep me updated.”
X~X~X~X~X
“Shoooo I’m home!” Yamada’s voice rang out; he’s holding pastries from Shouta’s favorite cafe. After meeting with the cops, he’d run over to the small joint. The midnight cafe is popular among underground heroes who typically need a second dose of coffee between the hours of one and six am. The shop owner had been about to close up shop when he arrived. Fortunately, some high-pitched begging from Present Mic had the man quickly opening the store. He knows it’s a shameless tactic, but he’d do anything for his grumpy Kit-Kat.
“Kit-Kat, where are you?”
The silence that follows isn’t exactly surprising; it's ridiculously late, and Shouta had just recently been “released” from the hospital. If he’d come to his husband looking at a pile of police reports instead of getting some much-needed rest, they’d be having a strongly worded conversation.
However, as he walks deeper into the kitchen, he notices something’s not quite right. The cats aren’t lounging, toppled over the countertop like usual, and the kitchen doesn’t smell like coffee. It’s odd; their kitchen always smells like coffee. He continues calling out Shouta’s name as he makes his way to their shared bedroom.
The cats that were missing from the kitchen are pawing at the bathroom door. The worry he’d been feeling since he first got the call from the hospital multiplied. He and Shouta had reached an agreement after he’d found Shouta bleeding out in the bathroom while trying to tend to a stab wound on his own. No shutting the bathroom door.
He shoos the cats away by opening the bathroom door.
The lights are off, and Shouta is sitting on top of their toilet seat, knees drawn to his chest. Empty beer clans are splayed out across the floor. It’s odd Shouta hates his beer and makes a point to complain anytime Yamada bought it. The underground hero didn’t understand why people would drink— in Shouta’s words— dog shit instead of a freshly brewed cup of coffee.
The kitchen doesn’t smell, which means Shouta didn’t cook and drank all those beers on an empty stomach. Concerned, he gently nudges the sleeping hero.
“Kit-Kat, it’s time for dinner.” well, it’s breakfast time at this point, but that doesn’t really matter. How long has Shouta been sitting here?
Yamada shuffles forward, removing his sunglasses. At this point, it’s clear he isn’t getting a vocal response from Shouta. He moves to lift Shouta off the toilet seat when he notices a piece of paper peeking out from behind the toilet tank lid.
Pulling the paper out from the crevice, he notices the Yuuei symbol stamped in the top right corner.
In regards to one Aizawa Shouta,
We regret to inform you that the Yuuei High School Board of Directors has suspended you until further notice while we review your case, and a decision has been made regarding your termination. Your class 1A has repeatedly been put in danger since the first term in both the USJ and Hero Killer Stein incidents. The recent abduction at the training camp has made it clear that your ability as a heroics instructor needs to be re-evaluated. Please remain in the area until a verdict has been reached.
~Plus Ultra
He has to restrain himself from releasing a chilling screech as he reads the words written in the letter.
Who do they think they are? Shouta is an excellent teacher. Any hero school would be lucky to have him.
His partner, who’d been silent up till now, looked at him with tired eyes. He could tell Shouta hadn’t used his eye drops yet from their red, irritated color.
“They're gonna get rid of me.”
“NO, Shouta, you're a great teacher that school is lucky to have you.” Yamada can tell from the irritated look sent his way that his husband doesn’t believe him.
“You’re biased. Love is clouding your judgment.”
“No, it’s not. If Yuuei even thinks about firing you, that school will be down two heroes.” The words are followed by a couple ruffles to matted hair. Not waiting for a response, the blonde hero pulls the underground hero to his feet and guides him to their bed.
"You're exhausted; don't worry i'll handle it." Anyone who messes with Shouta has to go through him.