Chapter Text
Staring at the terminal tunnel, Izuku couldn't help but be riddled with guilt. Having been unable to say goodbye to his class, he couldn’t help but feel that he should have told them earlier in the year, though, with the reminder of how he ended up in line waiting to verify his ticket, he wondered if it would have mattered.
~~~~~
Walking around the dorm’s common room, Izuku watched all the antics his friends and classmates had going on while celebrating the end of their second year. Somehow Sero and Kirishima had gotten a hold of some sake, though Izuku figured that either Nezu or Aizawa, if not both, were in on it.
As Iida went around limiting everyone's intake of the sake, Uraraka was following him around, laughing at his antics. Katsuki, Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, and Mina all sat around the tv and played some new racing game. Ojiro, Satou, Shouji, and Jiro were sitting around a deck of cards, playing Texas Hold’em, with Jiro winning with her large pile of candy. No one truly cared to use actual yen to bet, so the class had taken to betting other items with candy, notebooks or pens, or favors being the most common bets. Aoyama, Tsu, Tokoyami, and Kouda were playing cup pong, with Yaomomo and Todoroki watching as judges. Hagakure sat next to Izuku, having decided that watching the students was more fun than joining in, though he had noticed she was starting to nurse her head slightly. The gloves that she had taken to wearing seemed to be holding something in them and with her clothes seeming slouched, it was a quick assumption that he had come to after having studied her small movements to not leave her out. Sometimes Izuku’s actions confused the girl, having never been seen or read as easily as the boy had her, especially in such a small period.
“You okay?” He asked her softly, wondering if he should take her to her dorm.
“Yeah, I think I just drank too much, I might head to my dorm soon, this noise is getting to my head.” The small bow that tied her hair out of her face tilted slightly, leading the teen to believe that she was smiling at him, so he smiled back.
“Well if you do, let me know and I’ll accompany you.” He paused quickly, his hands rising and quickly shaking back and forth, “Only if you want to though! I don’t want to pressure you at all!”
Small giggles escaped the girl, her clothes shaking with her, as the boy turned a strawberry red and looked back around the room. “I think I would like that, Thank you Midoriya.”
Smiling, the teens got up to leave the common room and head to the elevators. That was something Izuku had grown to like about Hagakure, as much as he studied everyone, so did she. Having noticed very early on that Izuku would slightly flinch at the name Deku, Tooru had made sure to call him Izuku or Midoriya unless in the field or training. It made her feel as if she was repaying him for noticing her and including her in the class, where others would forget her.
Silence followed the two all the way towards the girl’s room and after a quick goodnight, Izuku stopped her at the last second by grabbing at her wrist lightly.
He glared at the floor for a few moments before exhaling and murmured out a soft “Thank you and goodbye Hagakure. For everything.”
Before the brunette could even process his whispered words, he was already down the hall and the elevator doors. She couldn’t help but feel like she missed something as her headache came back full force and had Tooru retreating to her dorm, forgetting the words by the morning.
~~~~~
Izuku sighs, before smiling brightly at the attendant, letting her scan the digital ticket on his phone. He was quick to stack his extra luggage at the designated area before placing his carry-on under his seat, instead of the overhead. Settling in by the window seat, he stared at the night sky, saddened at the lack of stars that always filled up the sky at the dorms.
Shaking his head, he ignored the safety brief, instead of reading the pamphlet quickly, putting on headphones, blasting whatever song had been played last.
~~~~~
Exiting the elevator, he was greeted by loud cheers as Ojiro finally gave in and gave Jiro the rest of his candy. Smiling lightly, he moved towards that group, sitting next to Jiro and pulling out the cards the girl had hidden in the back of her collar. Outraged cries filled the air as the other three boys realized they had been played again. Jiro was none for cheating and not being caught, so far only Izuku, Katsuki, and, weirdly enough, Mina, had ever been able to catch her cheating and still win without cheating as well.
Tears threatened to appear as Izuku watched his friends laugh and try to steal candy from Jiro, “Hey guys?” The laughter continued to fill the air and his soft words were unheard over it, “Thank you for everything, you have made school amazing for me.”
Only Shoji had seemed to hear the teen, but once again Izuku had slipped away before the other could reply. So he stared, unable to discern what the greenette was feeling or meant at the words as he walked over to the group still playing cup pong. Shaking away the feelings he felt, Shoji went back to trying to chase Jiro and steal back his candy stash.
Izuku approached the group, standing next to Todoroki, scared hands playing with a smallish envelope in his pocket. Tsu smiled cutely as she watched the ball bounce into a cup before jumping back up and smacking a rowdy Dark Shadow in the head.
“No way that counted! Tsu and Aoyama should take another shot for that!” Dark shadow exclaimed loudly, Tokoyami just simply laughed and shook his head.
“Nope. It counts. Kouda and Tokoyami will be taking that shot.” Todoroki said matter of factly, Yaomomo laughing silently, knowing that Dark Shadow was right but found it hilarious to watch the sentient quirk get hit with the ball.
As the four argue over which team should take the shots, Izuku slips the letter from his left pocket into Todoroki’s pocket, knowing the boy checked his pockets every night after an incident where he left candy in his pockets once and it melted and ruined his pants when he used his fire quirk during a prank. The teen had taken to being very careful after that to make sure nothing ever was in his pockets that were flammable or could ruin his pants or shirts.
“Thank you guys, for everything.”
Izuku walked away just as Todoroki had slid his hands into his pocket and found the envelope that read ‘Read later’ in simple Kanji. Frowning, the boy looked towards the other teen who had moved onto the last group playing video games before sliding the note back into his pocket.
~~~~~
As Izuku sat on the plane, staring out the window into the dark sky, he wondered why he couldn’t outright say goodbye to his classmates. Was it because he knew it would ruin the mood? Was it because he was scared they wouldn’t care? Or was it simply because he didn’t know how? The more he thought about it, Izuku couldn’t help but think it was a mixture of all of the above. He was petrified of his classmates and close friends for not possibly caring as much as he did. He was at a loss of words on how to say goodbye to any of them. Not to Katsuki, with who he had finally started to mend their relationship. Not to Uraraka or Iida who was his first true friends. Not even to Aizawa who protected, saved, and cared for the students, who had dubbed the teen ‘Problem Child’ lovingly.
Looking down at his left arm, a small silver scar could be seen if someone looked closely enough running from the top of his hand, down through the skin between his thumb and forefinger, through his palm, and to the bottom knuckle on his pinkie finger. Izuku always looked fondly on the tiny scar compared to the massive damage that had been done to his right arm. This scare was different from the ones he had gotten in his first year, this one was from protecting the person he had fallen in love with, even if they never accepted or even denied his feelings, believing them to be fake. Izuku had grabbed onto a thin metal wire that had been part of a villain’s quirk that had been headed towards their neck. Izuku had grabbed the wire without thinking, barely keeping his hand intact because of the heavy-duty gloves Powerloader and Hatsume had created for him. He still remembers the complete fear that filled him as he watched in slow-mo as the wire had been whipped in the air and was spinning straight towards the person’s neck. His secret love had gotten onto the teen, yelling at the boy that he needed to be more careful and that he needed to write both a thank you and apology letters to Hatsume and Powerloader for destroying the gear that had saved the boy’s hand from being completely torn off. Izuku did it with a smile on his face, knowing that he would have done it even without the gloves if it meant his secret love would be safe.
The teen leaned against the window scrolling through the photos he had saved on his phone before going back to his playlist, trying to find the one song that fit how he felt.
~~~~~
Sitting on the edge of the couch, Izuku was focused on the race after having stolen a controller from Katsuki. He had traded the controller in the blonde’s confusion with the letter that stated to open later, which may have been a mistake on Izuku’s part as now all he could do was try and ignore the glares Katsuki had been burning into his side for the last two minutes. Winning the race, Izuku threw his hands up and laughed loudly at the curses and groans that escaped the rest of the group, before tossing the controller back to Katsuki.
“Thank you guys for everything, I’m gonna head out now. Have fun, you guys!” His famous sunshine smile displayed across his face, blinding his friends in its glow.
Leaving, Izuku went up the elevator to the very top floor, where Aizawa resides as he didn’t really trust any of his students to not get into trouble. Knocking on the door, Izuku waited a few moments before knocking again in case the man was sleeping, though he wasn’t truly sure if the man was on patrol or not.
Shuffling behind the door, had the teen back up slightly to give the man some space, before pulling out the last letter the teen had written. He couldn’t help but favor this letter, having written it over and over again, trying to find the words he needed.
The teacher couldn’t help but give his student a bewildered look as Izuku stood completely still, the letter held out to the man and his hands slightly trembling under the man’s questioning glare.
Taking the letter, Aizawa slipped it into his pocket, knowing he would open it as soon as the boy left. “What’s wrong, Problem Child?”
“Sorry Sensai, for waking you, but I wanted to thank you and give you this letter. It will explain everything to you.” The boy’s words were soft but clear as he refused to make eye contact before whipping around to enter back into the elevator doors and head towards the airport, Toshinori having been waiting for the boy with his luggage and bags already. Aizawa didn’t try to stop the teen, instead of ripping out the letter from his pocket and reading it with vigor.
~~~~~
Aizawa,
If you are reading this then I got the nerve to actually leave this letter to you. To start, Nezu and Toshinori have allowed me to finish my studies in America and even go to University while being a hero in the states. I wanted to tell you myself before the principal was forced to tell you himself and possibly face your wrath.
I want you to know that you are the most amazing teacher I have ever met. You already probably figured it out, but my life before UA was horrible. I was bullied, ridiculed, beat up, and forced down the totem pole. I got many suicide notes and spider lilies left on my desk and to my face, the teachers even joining in on the bullying.
And I just want to thank you for being a real teacher, a true hero, who never gave up on me, even after finding out the truth about OfA and my quirk.
So… Aizawa. No, Shouta, thank you for everything. Protecting us. Caring for us. Teaching us. And for teaching me that I am allowed to have friends and goals and dreams and even love.
I’ve honestly written this at least a dozen times because I want to be honest with you… I have to be a problem child once more as I confess that I love you. And I have for a long time. Don't worry though! I don’t expect you to ever say anything or acknowledge anything about this confession, I just thought that you deserved to know.
Thank you Aizawa Shouta
From: Izuku Midoriya, the problem child.
~~~~~
Jerking slightly, Izuku startled awake as the plane started to land. Putting his headphones and phone away, the teen looked through the window, watching with curious eyes as the clouds passed and the sun rose in the distance.
The landing was quick and without any complications, which led to Izuku departing fairly quickly, much to his relief. Grabbing his luggage, Izuku was quick to head towards the entrance where the driver would be waiting for him. Loading the car up, Izuku pulled out his phone and turned off airplane mode, shocked by the numerous calls, texts, DMS, and even emails that poured through all at once. Hundreds of messages came from all of his classmates, however, he ignored all of those to stare at the three messages that came from Aizawa Shouta. He couldn’t bring himself to open any of the messages yet and instead decided to text his mother and Toshinori that he had arrived, before putting his do not disturb on.
He didn’t know what else to do besides stare blankly at the phone as he contemplated if he did the right thing.
~~~~~
Shouta dropped to the floor. Shock filled his system as he read and reread the letter over and over again, wishing and praying the letter was a joke and the boy would walk through the elevator and come back to him. Come back to Shouta.
Tears escaped the man for the first time in years, strangled sobs escaping as his forehead lowered to the ground, crushing the letter in his fingers.
He didn’t understand, why did it hurt so much? Why did he leave? Why did he fall for Shouta? How would Shouta show him that he wanted him as well?
He didn’t know, and all Shouta could do was cry on the floor, knowing his secret love slipped through his fingers. He had just gotten permission from Nezu, Inko, and Toshinori to court the nineteen-year-old, even if it wasn’t necessary. And now the boy is gone. His love was gone.