Chapter Text
Shinso had never had his heart broken, he’d never had a relationship deep enough to allow that. That wasn’t to say he hadn’t been disappointed though.
The absence of romance from his life wasn’t for lack of trying. He’d been on plenty of dates, with guys and girls. But that was as far as it ever went. Not one of them ever wanted a second date. Some said he needed to cheer up, some said he just wasn’t their type, but most of them he knew were afraid of his quirk. They were scared that he was going to coerce them, to force them to do things against their will. He got it, in a way, his quirk could be used like that, and it was hard to trust someone you didn’t know, but how was he supposed to get to know anyone and earn that trust, if they wouldn’t give him the benefit of the doubt to begin with?
“This has been lovely…” his latest date told him at the end of the meal, but her eyes betrayed her, she was getting ready to turn him down. She was trying hard not to offend him, obviously frightened that he’d turn his quirk on her and push for more. Tired of trying, he decided to save her the trouble.
“Thank you for the evening,” he told her. “But I don’t think we’re compatible.”
Her relief was obvious.
“I’m glad you feel the same,” she smiled. He did his best to return it for the sake of politeness, and then left. He didn’t owe her any more than that.
Outside, a cool breeze stirred the air. He jammed his hands in his pockets and walked, chin tucked into his scarf.
This was the third one this month to turn him down, sometimes he had to question his persistence, why did he keep putting himself through this? It wasn’t as though he was alone anymore, all of his friends from UA accepted him, some of them were even nice enough to set him up with acquaintances and friends of friends. A lot of the time when he went on those dates, people were instantly disappointed. When they went on a date with a member of UA’s famous Class 1-A they expected someone cool and charismatic, like Todoroki or Bakugo, even Kaminari and Kirishima had real appeal, but then they’d take one look at him and the disappointment was obvious. Still, he’d try to be polite and considerate, take an interest in what they had to say, hopeful that maybe once they got to know him a little better they’d see he was just as heroic as those guys. It never happened. How long was he going to keep this up? How many rejections would it take for him to accept that maybe he just wasn’t loveable?
At least one more, he told himself. He wasn’t ready to give up yet. At twenty-two he wasn’t willing to write his future off as one that he spent alone. But he probably did need to update his method if he was going to have a relationship that made it past one date.
Shinso checked his phone, it was still early, that girl hadn’t been able to get away from him fast enough. So instead of heading home to an empty apartment, he walked in the direction of UA.
It wasn’t unusual for him to be seen on campus, he consulted with the teachers on hero work a lot, sometimes met up with Midoriya socially, and even taught the odd class if Aizawa thought he had insight to offer on a particular subject or could help with a student’s specific quirk.
In reality, his old sensei was probably still his closest confidant. While he had made friends with his classmates, shared genuine affection and respect with them, Aizawa was the one person who never treated him with caution. Who always considered him a person first, not a vessel for his quirk. Of course, Aizawa did have a quirk-neutralising quirk of his own, so maybe that’s why he’d never been afraid to be close to Shinso.
He went to his old sensei now, letting himself into the older man’s dorm room with the familiarity of years of easy companionship.
His old sensei was sitting on the couch, a modern history book in his lap.
“Another turn-down?” Aizawa said without looking up.
“Yeah,” he admitted, flopping down on the couch with a sigh, beyond embarrassment at this point because it was just a fact that people couldn’t trust him. At least not with their hearts.
“Plenty more fish in the sea.”
“I think it’s the bait that’s the problem…”
Aizawa stilled and closed his book. It was like the whole room took a breath, everything settling before Aizawa spoke in a softer manner than usual.
“I get it, you know. People are wary of my quirk too. Who wants to get close to someone they have no choice about being defenceless around…”
On the surface, Shinso understood that, his quirk could be dangerous too and did have the potential to be easily abused. That wasn’t who he was though. He had worked so hard not to be defined by his quirk, but it always came back to that.
“It hurts though, doesn’t it..? People automatically assuming that you can’t control yourself, or that you’re going to do the wrong thing. Is that really how I come across?”
“No,” Aizawa said with certainty. “I wouldn’t have recruited you to the hero course if that was the case.”
Shinso turned his gaze on his old sensei, he really was the one person that had always had faith in him, never believed the worst.
“Thank you for believing in me. Seeing the best when everyone else saw the worst.”
Aizawa shrugged.
“All I saw was the truth.”
He let that sit there between them for a minute, allowing himself to just be in the company of the one person who saw him for who he was, and always had.
“Don’t give up,” Aizawa encouraged. “You’re going to make someone very happy one day.”
Shinso huffed out a disbelieving laugh, but then his eyes met Aizawa’s unflinching gaze.
“You honestly believe that…” Shinso said, inclined to believe it too because Aizawa had always been honest with him.
“I do. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
That was a shock. It wasn’t unusual for his friends to set him up on blind dates, but Aizawa had never offered before. It felt like too much of a risk for disappointment. And he didn’t want to offend Aizawa when a match with one of his friends didn’t work out.
“I don’t know…” Shinso hesitated. “I think I’m burnt out on the dating front for a while…”
“One more,” Aizawa pressed. “You trust me?”
It was unlike Aizawa to get involved in his personal life. Maybe Aizawa had someone special in mind. His old sensei did know him better than anyone. Shinso nodded.
“I do.”
“Then take a chance. Go on the date.”
“You won’t be upset if it doesn’t work out?”
Because as much as Shinso didn’t enjoy getting rejected on dates, risking his connection with Aizawa was unacceptable.
“I won’t hold it against you. It’ll work out if it’s meant to.”
“Alright…” Shinso agreed. Nervous, uncertain, but if Aizawa said it was worth a shot, he would try.