Chapter Text
“Again.” Aizawa Shouta took a sip of his black coffee. His voice was barely audible, but you knew his order before it left his mouth from underneath his white scarf wrapped around him this time to protect him from the cold, as he murmured something to himself. You knew he was scolding you under his breath, yet he didn’t care to yell his scolding at you. It was more internal scolding himself too. He thought you better than this, yet apparently you were too stubborn to learn.
You didn’t slow your steps even though your legs were screaming at you to stop. This was the twenty-fourth lap; your lungs hurt from breathing in the cold weather, your knees aching from running for over 45 minutes, yet you never complained. Not that you thought you deserved it, but well, you knew this would be his reaction when he realized what you did. Despite the harsh cold, your clothes attached to your body from the sweat, and your head pulsed from your intense heart rate. You didn’t mind really at that point, and Aizawa—savage, cold-hearted Aizawa—knew your body’s stamina all too well to know when you could no longer continue. Well, savage cold-hearted was too much, and you didn’t mean to think of it that way; after all, he was right to be mad at you.
When you passed him by the twenty-fifth time, you heard him talking mostly to himself. “At what age do they grow up?” he murmured, and if your lungs weren’t almost crashing at that point, you would have laughed. You are an adult, and yet he acted like you were still a child. You went rough for 48 hours, and he was acting like you went full vigilante. You knew he didn’t like Hawks and anything that came from him, but that was an understatement given how cold-heartedly he was treating you.
“Take 5. You need your energy for another 25 more laps,” he murmured when you passed him one more time. You fell on your knees, promising yourself you were not going to throw up. He slowly walked toward you to offer you a water bottle; you snatched it from his hand and gulped down the whole bottle in one go, which was a stupid idea because the next thing you knew your side hurt. Aizawa sighed. “One might assume you’d learn after all this time.” His voice was tired, and you hated how that affected you more than the twenty-five laps you just went through.
“I will do another twenty-five laps if you go back to sleep,” you said breathlessly, words being cut off by the amount of cold oxygen you were managing to guide through your lungs. He knew you would not cheat, but he shook his head anyway. “I had to keep a better eye on you,” he said, and you let out a dry laugh which made you cough too.
“Oh please, I am not six anymore, Aizawa.”
“Yet you are acting like one,” he replied coldly, which made your quirk sizzle under your skin. The fire coursed through your veins, making your lungs expand to swallow more air inside. He sensed it and looked at you before his eyes turned red to stop your quirk. You withdrew it within. He doesn’t let you use your quirk during your running sessions, and you were not planning on disobeying him one more time that night. That would earn you more laps. Instead, you focused on a more direct, aggressive approach.
“What is your problem with Hawks?” you asked, your tone coming out a bit sarcastic, which made him sigh again as if he were speaking to a child.
“He is a bad influence,” he said, and that was it! You could not believe him.
“Wouldn’t you think I am a hero and I know who I should trust or not?” you asked.
“You trust him?” he asked, almost stunned, which made you wonder if he was going to add 50 more laps.
“It was just a mission, Aizawa, nothing more,” you tried to divert the conversation.
“What type of mission makes you go invisible in the system?” he asked, and this time you sighed. Yes, it was secret, and yes, it had something to do with the League of Villains, and yes, you could not tell him, which was the first time ever. So you stood up, barely managing to lean on your knees for support to get up.
“You need to get some rest. Your students need you tomorrow,” you said as you brought your hood back over your head. Your red hair attached to your scalp; you needed to take a shower after your mission, but Aizawa caught you before you set foot inside.
“Another twenty-five laps and then we talk about who needs what,” he disregarded your change of subject and started walking toward the corner of the field. You tilted your head back, looking at the night sky; the stars were barely visible tonight. A flake of snow sat right on top of your forehead and evaporated instantly. You started running again, and by the time the first ray of sun welcomed the new day, your second set of laps came to its end.
You promised yourself you would get a shower when you got up, and before your head touched the pillow you were already asleep. Yet you had nightmares again. Those memories came back to you from time to time, haunting you.
“I can’t. I can’t. I can’t,” you were crying, holding your small hands up to protect your face from getting hit.
“STOP CRYING!” your father yelled, demanding, but you couldn’t. You just couldn’t. You were just 4 years old; you could not stop it. He should have known that. Another wave of fire came rushing toward you; you barely ducked your head and rolled over. Your tears of fear evaporated from the heat. You later realized half your hair had burnt as the pro hero Endeavor yelled again, “FIGHT ME!”
How could you? You were a child and he was a pro hero. You could not do anything. You opened your mouth to say you couldn’t, but something connected with your face and you were on the ground. This time, you didn’t dare to cry. You wanted to stay on the ground, to curl up just so he would leave you be. He started screaming words at you.
“My first-born child. My first-born child doesn’t even have a quirk. You are useless. USELESS,” he grabbed your shoulder to make you stand up. You could not cry anymore. Your body was numb despite the damage. Something inside you wanted to switch off—to end this misery. You were terrified of him, his flames, his burning flames. Nobody could save you. Your mother—she was scared of him too, and maybe if he was busy beating you, he would leave her alone.
“DO SOMETHING!” You shrieked away from his voice. Your cheek was burning hot from his slap. He pushed you to the corner, preparing another round of fire, and you knew this time you couldn’t dodge. The scream blocked in your throat. He could not accept his first-born child wouldn’t have a power. He took you to the doctor and they said you had mutated genetically to have a quirk, but nothing, nothing at all. Nothing came out of you no matter how much he beat you.
You hear Toya outside of the training room, he was talking to someone, your mother perhaps “When would be my turn to practice with dad?”
Your father looks at you with disdain and before another wave of fire hit you , you hear yourself screaming.
You blinked couple of times, the room is coming back to you. Your heart is beating fast. Your eyes were open wide as you realized your were sitting down in your bed. You didn’t hear foot steps. The mattress beneath you was burned and smell of burned material was filling the room. Your pupils were wide open when you turned your head around seeing Aizawa rushing into your room. More than a decade had passed yet the memories never seem to leave you. He looked at you, he knew your nightmares.
“I’m…I’m ok” you managed. Aizawa sat down next to you on the half burnt mattress. He didn’t say anything as you press your forehead against his shoulder his hand gently pressed against your head holding you. You were shivering and he stayed there saying nothing. You felt a tremble on his shoulder as he kept you in his arms, like he did when you were small. When you hid yourself into his white scarf letting him save you. Letting him take you away.
“It wasn’t you” you manage to say and you felt he shake his head.
“It was my fault you were having the nightmares again” he said his voice was even yet you knew him better than to feel the tremble in his tone. You pulled away from him slightly to look at him.
“Never” you say letting him look into your eyes. He takes his gaze away and this time you chase your gaze after him “running laps don’t do that to me Aizawa” you say and this time he slowly nods. He needed to know, he needed to know at least part of the secret mission to know it wasn;t his fault. You could not bare the thought of him blaming himself for something Endevor did to you, something that he saved you from.
“Hawks brought me to him two days ago” you say and Aizawa stilled. You continue almost immediately “He didn’t know I was his … you know” before you could continue the noises down stairs made you shift your head to the door. The class 1A was awake, you could hear Bakugo screaming something at Krishima. You look at Aizawa again, he was ready to start the day with his students. You shook your head “your students must be waiting for you sensie” you say managing to smile. He frowned
“Why did he took you to Endevor?” he asked.
“I think … Hawks knows something about league of villains. Something we don’t”