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The day, to Aizawa's surprise, had been relatively normal. No nuisances in class, and heroics went relatively well, with the only exception being Kaminari accidentally being knocked out cold by Ashido, somehow , during their sparring match. Aizawa swears that the most random events happen the second he turns his back. Thankfully it was just a glancing blow to the head, and Kaminari should recover just fine.
The rest of the day was calm, especially by his Hell class' standards. No fighting, no bickering, no destroyed property, just...normal. God, it felt odd to even say that unironically. But it was just past midnight now, and all the kids should be in their dorm rooms with lights out as per their curfew.
'Should' being the key word here.
Aizawa sat groggily on the couch of the staff common room, looking over the mountain of essays he had yet to grade. With all the practical exams and training he had to assess, any physical work he was responsible for grading eventually went over his head.
Yamada was sat next to him for what the blonde would've passed off as 'moral support' to their coworkers, when they both knew that was hardly the case. Sure, they've been together for nearly four years now, but it was getting harder for them to keep their relationship on the down low, especially having to keep their ever so nosy coworkers in mind.
Yamada grabbed the TV remote and began to idly flip through channels while Aizawa got to looking over the first essay in the stack. Iida's almost unnervingly neat handwriting was recognizable to him immediately, and he began scanning over his student's work.
The silence between him and Yamada was...nice. Comfortable. With all that's gone on in the past few months, it was nice to feel productive without the added stress of the outside. It would itch at the back of their minds, but at least they could sit and assure themselves that it was an issue for the future.
That silence lasted a solid eight and a half minutes before that god-awful, ear-grating sound of U.A.'s alert notification goes off from Aizawa's cell phone.
With an irritated grumble, Aizawa picks up his phone. He knew what was coming. And to nobody's surprise, the security robots spotted one of his students at the training grounds on the edge of campus near the woods. Aizawa pinches the bridge of his nose. Just who the fuck would go all the way out there this late at night? And to think that today was going so well too. He stood up, cracking a few joints in the process, and snatched up his capture weapon. God, he was so tired.
He must've looked particularly pissed off because Yamada stood up and grabbed his wrist, making Aizawa turn around. "Don't kill the kid, Shou." he said with a slight smirk. Bright green eyes peered over his glasses, locking with his. Aizawa let out a sigh, letting his shoulders relax a bit. It was hard to ignore those eyes.
"But don't be out too late, these papers won't grade themselves." Yamada shrugged, flopping back down onto the couch.
Aizawa's gaze landed on the stack of papers in front of him. He'd barely finished grading one paper, and now he had to go retrieve one of his problem children from the far edge of campus. He suddenly felt a new wave of irritation flood his nerves.
He was not letting this one slide.
•••
' Again .'
Tokoyami stared into the large tree in front of him. Slashes from his quirk littered the trunk of the tree. The night surrounding him was black as pitch and, for what it's worth, quiet, meaning he wasn't likely to be found all the way out here. He'd lost track of how long he'd been out, instead his focus being entirely on his movement, his technique.
' Not good enough.' He felt bruises begin to form on his exposed forearms. Still, he summoned Black Ankh once again.
His mind was clouded. Dark Shadow was particularly roused tonight, and felt the need to taunt him whenever an attack didn't go the way he wanted them to. In this case, it was most of them.
It was so loud.
He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, wherever that was. The more he thought about anything other than his current focus, the more difficult it was to navigate his mind. Still, he had to keep going. This all meant nothing if he didn't keep going. He charged the tree once again.
'You're no hero. You could hardly handle one training exercise. What do your classmates think of you now? An uncontrollable freak and a weakling who can barely carry his own weight?'
He faltered, slamming into the tree. His arm stung with pain. Why was it getting harder to think straight?
He stood up, weakly dusting himself off. The noise in his mind only got louder. His shoulders tensed. He made a quick plea to Dark Shadow to quiet themselves, just so he could focus for a little while longer.
'It's still not good enough.'
Tokoyami returned to his previous position, and Dark Shadow enveloped him once again. He felt the shadows become restless around him, trying to overpower him. Frustration boiled within him. Why couldn't he do this right? Why couldn't he do anything right? Every time someone counts on him, he does nothing but disappoint, and bring everyone else down with him. Every opportunity he has to be heroic ends up with him leaving with nothing but failure and disaster in his wake.
What kind of hero was he?
His hands gripped at the sides of his head, trying to shake the thoughts away. He couldn't be like this. Not now. He wasn't supposed to feel. Feeling meant failure. Feeling meant hurting everyone around him. He was not. Supposed. To feel. He took in a sharp breath and focused his attention back on the tree in front of him. He focused Dark Shadow's power into his fist, and charged the tree once more. He felt his knuckles sting with the impact. His entire body ached, begging for him to stop. But if he stopped, he wouldn't improve.
He stood back, looking briefly at the torn and broken skin on his knuckles. Everything hurt so much. But a villain wouldn't stop just because he had a headache and was bleeding a little bit.
So he charged again.
He can hear Dark Shadow cackling at his distress within their shared consciousness, daring him to unleash them. They're just so loud. He feels like his head is splitting. He looks up at the tree, trying to regroup.
He'd barely made a dent.
Tokoyami wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. Anything. Anything at all.
It was getting so much louder. There were so many voices. Mocking him . Everyone who's ever doubted him, belittled him, teased him. Teachers, classmates, counselors, family - all of their voices, colliding within his thoughts, grating against his skull. And it just kept getting louder.
Tokoyami wrapped his arms around himself, clenching his eyes shut. The fabric of his hoodie was the only thing protecting him from digging sharp nails into his skin.
' A-Are you sure this is what you want to do, Tokoyami?'
'There's plenty of other opportunities outside of heroics, you know. Not everyone's built for that kind of thing.'
'Guys, listen, listen! The bird freak says he wants to be a hero!'
'Please! This guy would be better off dead on the side of the road than as a hero!'
'No one would accept a monstrous freak like him as a hero anyway!'
'Your quirk just isn't built to be around others at all, let alone protecting them, Fumikage.'
'Your disastrous quirk is one thing, but that temper of yours isn't doing you any favors either.'
'We can't afford to constantly have to deal with your fucking temper tantrums, Fumikage! Every time I turn around you and that god-awful quirk of yours destroy everything you touch!'
Maybe they were right.
No.
No .
NO .
He just has to calm down, that's all. He just needs to breathe. Just breathe and keep going. He has to keep going. That's the only way to prove them wrong. To keep going. To get better. He has to keep going. He has to-
His thoughts are cut off by something swiftly wrapping around his waist, whipping him around. Before he can even react, Dark Shadow vanished from around him and he was face to face with glowing red eyes, and they did not look happy.
"Explain. Now."
Tokoyami's head was spinning. He could hardly process what just happened. He couldn't move and he couldn't hear Dark Shadow but it was still so loud and his teacher looked so angry at him and he didn't know what to say and he-
"Do not make me repeat myself."
He was completely panicked. Tokoyami swallowed, trying to slow down a bit. He knew his distress wasn't as evident as it would've been if he had a human face, so he tried to relax despite his teacher's eyes stabbing through him like knives. His head was pounding and his breath was ragged, but he managed to let out a sentence.
"I...figured I could benefit from some extra time to train." He avoided eye contact, trying to sound as calm and unassuming as he could muster despite his current predicament.
Aizawa was not impressed. In fact, he felt like he was ready to snap.
He isn't sure what exactly he expected to hear, but that didn't change the fact that he made the trek all the way out here to begin with. In an attempt to calm himself and hopefully avoid strangling the child in front of him, he looked his student over and...God, this kid looked awful.
His feathers looked disheveled - some were sticking up and out of place, like someone had dug their hands into his head. He could feel how tense the kid was beneath his capture weapon, but he looked the exact opposite. His body was slumped, and he looked like he could barely hold himself upright. He looked his student up and down once more, stopping at his right hand, which was spotted with blood. Aizawa felt his brows furrow.
Something was seriously off here.
With an exasperated sigh, he deactivated his quirk, and loosened the grip from his capture weapon, allowing Tokoyami to land on the ground, stumbling slightly. The kid stood up straight, hastily pulling his sleeves back up to his wrists...were those bruises?
Aizawa hid his concern, and directed his attention back to the issue at hand.
"Are you aware that it's over an hour and twenty minutes past curfew?" He looked Tokoyami over, his tone remaining sharp. The kid stuttered for a second, rubbing his temples. He blinked a few times, looking everywhere except at Aizawa. Why was this kid so out of sorts? He wanted to give him an opportunity to plead his case but that was beginning to feel impossible. Aizawa audibly cleared his throat to regain Tokoyami's attention. His patience was starting to wear thin.
Tokoyami's gaze finally returned to him, and after a sharp inhale, he finally answered, "I...may have lost track of the time, sir."
Aizawa held back a scoff. Yeah, right. This wouldn't be the first time one of his Hell students thought it would be a bright idea to sneak out to get in extra time to train. But he will admit, Tokoyami was the only one so far to go out of his way to come this far out on campus, thinking he wouldn't get caught.
But just as he was about to rip into the kid, Tokoyami's breath suddenly hitched violently and his eyes clenched shut, his hands quickly moving to grasp at the sides of his head. Alert, Aizawa quickly removed his capture weapon from around him, and Tokoyami fell to his knees. His breathing was getting faster and shadows swirled around him. Aizawa could hear the kid's nails digging into his scalp. This was not good.
Aizawa kneeled down in front of him, trying to make some rational sense of what was going on. This wasn't at all like Tokoyami. He was never the type to be so emotionally out of sorts. Even after the disaster during the training camp, he held it together well enough despite that night going terribly, especially for him. So what was bothering this kid so much is that he's to the point of a near-panic attack?
Aizawa knew this probably wasn't the right move, but he had to do something before the kid hurt himself any further. So he firmly grabbed both of Tokoyami's shoulders, calling out to him.
"Tokoyami, look at me."
The call couldn't have gotten through to him, because Tokoyami began to shake his head violently, muttering something about it being 'too loud' and that he 'has to keep going'. From what Aizawa could tell, Tokoyami was desperately trying to even out his breathing, but he just couldn't. Whatever this was, Tokoyami was already trying to regulate himself even without his help. Whatever this was, tonight wasn't the first time.
Instead, Aizawa took Tokoyami's wrists and pried his hands from his head. Tokoyami looked up, finally making eye contact with him.
"Slow down kid. You're alright." He tried to be as soothing as he could, but stayed alert in case he needed to reactivate his quirk. He slowly brought Tokoyami's hands down in front of him, keeping a firm, but gentle hold on his wrists. "Just breathe, alright?"
The kid mustered a shaky nod, his eyes darting back and forth, trying to take in his surroundings. His chest rose and fell, steadily slowing down. He slowly unclenched his hands, and Aizawa carefully lowered them into his lap. Once Aizawa felt that he'd finally come to his senses, he released Tokoyami's wrists. His student immediately looked up at him. Normally Tokoyami wasn't a very easy kid to read, but right now, Aizawa could see one emotion behind his exhausted eyes - guilt.
"I...I-I'm so sorry Mr. Aizawa. I was so reckless and foolish and I know I'm not supposed to be out this late but-"
Aizawa held up a single hand, cutting him off.
"Save the apology, kid. We don't need you spiraling again. We'll sort everything out later." Aizawa stood up, holding a hand out to his student. "Can you stand?" he asked.
Tokoyami nodded and took his teacher's hand, slowly getting up to his feet. He winced slightly, but stood up as straight as he could manage. And to be honest, it...wasn't much. Aizawa planned on bringing Tokoyami back to the dorms to sort this mess out, but nothing so far had gone as expected . He certainly wasn't expecting to ease his student out of a panic attack, and from the looks of it, the kid could hardly stand up straight. The walk back to the dorms was pretty lengthy, and in the state he's in, it wouldn't be good for Tokoyami.
Aizawa sighed and walked the kid over to a nearby tree. All the trees in this clearing were relatively big and sturdy, as a precaution for those with quirks that could cause collateral damage. He sat down against the trunk of the tree, ignoring the protests coming from his tired joints, and invited Tokoyami down next to him. The kid obliged, but not without giving Aizawa a confused look.
"Are we...not returning to the dorms?" Tokoyami asked reluctantly. Aizawa turned toward him, and looked him up and down again.
"You don't look like you're in any shape to be moving right now. Plus, I need you to answer a few questions for me." He expected Tokoyami to protest his decision, much like most of his students would if he were to perceive them as 'weak' in any way. But after what he'd just witnessed, Tokoyami didn't really have any excuse to not go along with him.
Tokoyami turned his full attention to Aizawa. He began subconsciously scratch at his bloodied knuckles, prompting Aizawa to reach into one of the many pockets of his uniform pants, and pull out a small roll of gauze.
"Give me your hand." he says plainly. His student holds out his hand, and Aizawa pulls out a strip of gauze and begins to wrap Tokoyami's hand. "This is just until you're able to clean it. Until then, don't pick at it." Tokoyami nods, still looking uneasy. Aizawa ignores the look and continues talking.
"Do you remember what time you came out here?" he asked, not looking up from his current task. Tokoyami shifted slightly, and looked down at the grass next to him. Whatever blade of grass he was staring at must've been particularly interesting that he was avoiding answering the question.
"...I suppose it must've been a short while after nine o'clock." he finally responded. Aizawa looked up at him, an incredulous look on his face.
"So you're telling me that you've been out here training for well over three hours?" He finished wrapping Tokoyami's hand, and tucked the gauze back into his pocket. "And no one noticed you were gone?"
Tokoyami shrugged. "I...suppose not. And thank you," he said as he retracted his bandaged hand to examine it. Aizawa suppressed a huff. For as attentive and protective of each other as his students are, how do they not notice that one of their classmates had been missing for over three hours? Aizawa sighed, and continued with his questions.
"Now...why were you out here in the first place?" This was the big one. Whatever was bothering Tokoyami so much had to be the same reason why he'd come all the way out here.
"I said already, I was training," Tokoyami replied plainly.
Bullshit. Aizawa should've figured that Tokoyami would avoid the question, but he couldn't at least come up with a better excuse?
"Your injuries and exhaustion are telling a different story, kid." Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose. He was trying to stay patient, given the situation, but his lack of sleep was getting to him. "So I'll ask again. Why have you been out here training for three hours in the middle of the night?"
Aizawa looked over his student intently. The kid looked like he was thinking over whether to dodge the question again or not. He usually wasn't one to pry, but if Tokoyami needed help with whatever this was, now would be his opportunity to ask for it.
"This is foolish but...I've...been frustrated recently". Tokoyami finally responded. His response seemed a little too deliberate, and Aizawa still wasn't buying it. "With?" The man urged. Tokoyami traced this thumb over the bandages with his free hand wordlessly. Aizawa just could not understand this kid. He finds the kid exhausted and overworked in the middle of the night, eases him out of a panic attack, bandages his bloody hand and he's still worried about being seen as childish? At this point, Aizawa was more concerned than anything. What exactly had this kid been through that asking for help was so difficult for him?
"Tokoyami. I'm sure that whatever's bothering you isn't foolish. I can't help you if you won't accept it." Aizawa watches as Tokoyami shifts again and folds his arms, clearly not willing to cooperate with him.
"...It's my own problem, and I can handle it on my own." The teen responded, his tone turning stubborn. Tokoyami's expression was now unreadable, and Aizawa felt himself getting irritated. He really didn't want to be that person, but that bullshit statement just gave him the opportunity to do just that.
"Clearly, based on what I've seen just now, no you can't," Aizawa retorts pointedly. Tokoyami's eyes shot up immediately, a stunned look on his face. "And if you're so keen on 'handling it yourself' then I'm sure you'd have done a much better job at keeping your emotions in check." Aizawa looked toward his student, now throughly irritated. Tokoyami clenched his fists, his gaze turning from one of shock to one of pure rage.
"Can't you see that I'm TRYING?"
Aizawa's eyes widened slightly as Tokoyami's voice dropped to a near demonic tone. Was that Dark Shadow's voice as well? The swirling shadows from before made their return, and the agitated look in Tokoyami's eyes told Aizawa that that was definitely the wrong thing to say.
"Do you have any idea how hard I have to try every day just to keep my head on straight? How much I have to hold back just because of how my quirk functions? The world can go to complete shit but I'm stuck having to wear my happy face all day because even the most minuscule thoughts can destroy everything I've worked towards!" Tokoyami buried his face in his hands. The gothic dialect was gone, and so was any attempt Tokoyami was making to stay calm. He sat back up, his gaze returning to Aizawa. This time, he didn't look guilty, agitated, or even mad. The kid looked straight up broken.
"No one thinks I can do it. No one sees a hero in me. I want to prove them wrong so badly, but every opportunity I get, I fail! The training camp, I let my guard down once and suddenly I'm a nuisance to everyone. The joint training, I completely blow it and make myself look like a fool because I'm just not good enough! I work, I train, I listen, and nothing works! But all I can do is sit there and take it because feeling only makes everything worse. Feeling anything means proving everyone right. But even if I can keep my head on straight, I can't seem to improve no matter how hard I try! It feels like I'm running in an endless loop of failure and it's driving me mad!" Tokoyami slammed his bandaged fist against the tree, his free hand gripping at the side of his head.
For the first time in a long while, Aizawa was at a loss for words. Things finally started to make sense. Tokoyami was out here training for hours because he feels like he isn't improving, which was completely insane to Aizawa. Tokoyami did exceptional during the matches with Class 1-B - taking out two of his opponents in one sweep when the odds were against him was very impressive, and he ended up losing mainly because he fucking asphyxiated, yet he seriously sees that as a failure? And on top of that, it's become abundantly clear to Aizawa that Tokoyami lacks a good support system. The kid feels the need to constantly overcompensate because he doesn't have anyone that sees the good already in him.
It's ridiculous, for one, but...also very disheartening to hear coming from one of his stronger students. Damn, you, society. For forcing these kids to feel like they're inadequate for things out of their control. Aizawa quickly wiped his brow before returning his attention back to his student.
"Tokoyami." His voice was soft, but firm.
Tokoyami, now slumped against the trunk of the tree behind him, must've snapped out of his thoughts, because as soon as it registered to him that he'd directed that rant toward his teacher, his expression changed from one of exhausted hopelessness to one of sheer panic within the span of seconds.
"Oh no...I-I'm-" He stuttered, tripping over his apologies. His hands went back to his head, where he began scratching at his already disheveled feathers. Aizawa made a mental note to get him out of that habit. He reached out and laid a hand on Tokoyami's shoulder, cutting him off.
"Don't apologize, kid. That was uncalled for on my part. But, I do need you to listen to me." Aizawa's voice was steady, and Tokoyami took a deep breath, bringing his hands back down to his lap. He nodded, and Aizawa spoke.
"Tokoyami. I understand now that you're frustrated, and you have every right to be. The world hasn't been fair to you, but you're trying to make something great out of what was given to you despite that, and that's commendable." Aizawa ran his free hand through his own tangled hair, trying to be careful about what he says.
"As much as you don't think so, you've been improving at a very strong pace. You've been thrown into scenarios that've made you feel like you have to be perfect at any given point, but the reality is that you are still in your first year. Nothing you'll ever do will be perfect, and you have a lot more time than it feels like right now. You've seen things at sixteen that would have some veteran heroes shaking. The training camp incident, for example. The events of that night were unexpected, even by the pros who arranged it. You had an emotional response to a friend getting hurt, and no one's holding that against you. Understand? And I know it feels like no one believes in you, but let me say this. If I didn't believe in you, I would've had you kicked out of U.A. months ago. Am I clear?"
Tokoyami nodded, a slightly grateful look in his eyes. The more he spoke, the more he felt himself understanding as well. He had no idea this kid was struggling so much. Tonight told Aizawa, if anything, to check up on his students more. If Tokoyami spent this long fighting with his emotions alone, then God knows how the rest of the kids are holding up.
"And for the record, even though there were aspects of the match that could be improved on, you performed exceptionally well during your joint training match. In fact, you got the highest overall score out of your group," the man said with a shrug. Tokoyami's head snapped up, looking at him in disbelief. Aizawa nodded to reaffirm his statement.
"So quit discounting yourself, kid. It's alright to keep a level head for the sake of improving control of your quirk. That's a good quality to have, but you need to allow yourself to feel . You're running yourself ragged because you have so many pent-up emotions that you won't allow yourself to come to terms with," Aizawa said, shifting his weight to face Tokoyami. He laid a hand on his student's head, smoothing out one of his disgruntled feathers. He did have one more question for the kid.
"With that said, is there anything that you'd like to feel right now?"
Tokoyami looked down into his lap, his brows furrowed in contemplation. Dark Shadow made their first appearance since Aizawa showed up, their glowing eyes big and teary. They nudged Tokoyami on the shoulder, and the two locked eyes for a short moment. As soon as Aizawa was about to pull back his hand, the kid's shoulders began to shake, and his breath hitching. Before he knew it, the kid had begun sobbing. It was barely audible, but evident by the stream of tears running down his face. He wiped at his face with his sleeves, silently sobbing into the fabric.
Aizawa let out a slightly relieved sigh, wordlessly rubbing a hand over Tokoyami's back in an attempt to give the kid as much support as he could. God knows how long the kid had been holding back these tears until that point. It was hard to see one of his students break down in front of him like this, but it was also reassuring to know that this was a step Tokoyami needed to take to treat himself better. He could only bottle his feelings up for so long. If he hadn't found Tokoyami out late like this, that breakdown could've happened somewhere that could cause the kid even more struggle than he was already facing.
After a few more moments, Tokoyami's breaths had evened out, and he once again slumped against the tree trunk, thoroughly exhausted. Aizawa briefly checked his phone to an unread message from his partner, asking for his whereabouts. That's when it occurred to Aizawa that it was already well past twelve-fifty. He'd been out way longer than he'd anticipated. He looked at Tokoyami, who was dozing off, blinking himself awake every few seconds.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
He was met with a slow, tired nod. "Very much so. Thank you Mr. Aizawa." And there was the oh-so-polite speech pattern again. Perhaps the kid just found comfort in it.
"Good. Now let's get you back to the dorms," Aizawa said, pulling the teen to his feet. Tokoyami rubbed at his temple once he was finally upright. With all the panicking, ranting, and crying he did, Aizawa could imagine that the kid probably had a splitting headache. He sent a quick text to Yamada to meet him at Heights Alliance in fifteen minutes, and to bring a first aid kit with him. Recovery Girl hated working late.
The man began walking toward the path leading to the center of campus, and noticed his student lagging behind him considerably. Aizawa stopped and looked the kid over, then remembered that he had been out here training for nearly three and a half hours. "Sore?" he asked, somewhat unamused.
Tokoyami sighed and nodded in defeat.
Aizawa let out a small groan. How did he end up with such self-sacrificing problem children? He quickly kneeled down, grabbed Tokoyami by his lower legs and threw the kid over his shoulder, receiving something hilariously similar to a squawk from the kid in response. To his surprise, however, Tokoyami didn't try to fight it. If this were any other day, he'd be thrashing around and demanding to be put down. Apparently the kid was just that tired.
And despite gaining a significant amount of muscle during his work-study with Hawks, Tokoyami still managed to weigh just about nothing in Aizawa's arms. Aizawa made a mental note on that as well - to check on his dietary habits.
With the kid held firmly over his shoulder, Aizawa quickly made his way toward the dorms.
•••
The two made it back to the dorms at just past one-fifteen. Aizawa set Tokoyami down in front of the entrance, knowing that the kid wouldn't want anyone to see him being carried like cargo, whether his classmates were awake for it or not.
Aizawa unlocked door and let Tokoyami into the common room ahead of him, where Yamada was sprawled out on the couch. His hair was half-up-half-down, with the top half in an elaborate bun. The lamp next to him emitted a dim light, and a closed first aid kit sat in front of him. Upon hearing the door open, he looked up at Aizawa with a slightly relieved smile that Aizawa reciprocated. His eyes then fell to Tokoyami, and he grimaced a bit.
"Geez, listener, what happened to you?" he asked in a soft tone, motioning for the kid to sit next to him.
"Overworked himself," Aizawa said plainly. All the while, he shot his partner a look that said, 'I'll explain later'. Yamada nodded and opened the first aid kit while Aizawa sat down next to him. The blonde proceeded to unwrap and clean Tokoyami's bloodied hand. Aizawa cleared his throat and directed his attention toward his student.
"Now, as for your punishment..."
Tokoyami looked up at him, almost dumbfounded. Aizawa raised a brow. "You really thought you were getting away with that? It's two hours past curfew and you were ten feet away from being off campus. If not for the circumstances you'd be more than just in trouble, brat. I still have a mountain of papers to grade because of you," he said dryly. Tokoyami looked away sheepishly, tugging at his choker, and Yamada stifled a laugh.
"Like I was saying," Aizawa continued. "No heroics courses for the next week. "
Tokoyami shot up, giving Aizawa an upset look. Yamada had to readjust to work with the sudden burst of movement. "But that isn't-"
"It's perfectly fair, Tokoyami. I want you to spend the next week focusing on taking better care of yourself," Aizawa immediately cut him off, ignoring his student's protests. "After tonight, you need it."
Tokoyami let out an irritated huff, and slouched against the couch. Keeping in mind the face full of feathers, Aizawa imagined that this was Tokoyami's version of pouting. Pretty amusing.
Yamada chuckled, and handed Tokoyami a tube of ointment, a roll of gauze, and some painkillers for his headache, before Aizawa shooed him up to his room.
"I fully expect you to be on time to class in the morning," Aizawa called to the kid on his way to the elevator. Tokoyami gave a tired nod, before bidding the two men goodnight.
There was a brief silence once the elevator left, Yamada being the one to break it.
"You mentioned he'd overworked himself," he said in a lowered tone. He began to pack up and close the first aid kit. "But that's not all, is it?"
Aizawa exhaled, adjusting his capture weapon around his neck. "He's emotionally distressed. Panic attacks, anxious tendencies...but he feels like he's able to handle it all without any help." He thought back to Tokoyami's insistence to avoid talking about his problems. The only reason he did is because Aizawa egged him on and basically forced it out of him, whether that was the intention or not. Yamada hummed in thought. "Should we refer him to Hound Dog for that sort of thing?" he thought, glancing toward Aizawa.
Aizawa thought about it, but something in him was saying that that wasn't going to go over well. "Perhaps, if the issue persists. For now, just keep an eye on him. The kid isn't one to be open about feelings." He stood up, Yamada following suit. "And remind me to check on Tokoyami's home situation. Something tells me this isn't the first time something like this has happened," he added. Yamada nodded, any concern he had being hidden as he grabbed the first aid kit. Aizawa's brows remained furrowed in thought, only being interrupted by the blonde pressing a kiss against Aizawa's cheek, which he wordlessly leaned into.
"Don't worry yourself too much, Shou. You're only one man, y'know?"
God, this man really had the answer to everything, huh? He really didn't know what he'd do without him. Every obnoxious part of him. Aizawa let out a soft snort and turned out the light.
The two interlocked their hands and silently made their way out.
•••
The next morning, Aizawa walked into class to a neatly-folded note on his desk. He quickly unfolded it to Tokoyami's neat, but scratchy handwriting that read -
' Dark Shadow and I greatly appreciate your assistance last night. I don't think we would've made it through the night had you not intervened. I'll try to take better care of myself from this point forward.
- Many thanks, Tokoyami'
Aizawa looked up at the student in question. He was settling into his desk, chatting with Midoriya and Sero, who were inquiring about his bandaged hand. Tokoyami responded with a very dramatic-sounding excuse, well within the comfort of his gothic way of speaking.
Despite everything that happened the previous night, Tokoyami seemed to be fairing well. Aizawa thought about it, though - Tokoyami seemed to be doing well the past few months, despite all the chaos his class had faced, and Aizawa learned last night that that was definitely not the case.
He noticed that Tokoyami had looked up, meeting his gaze. His face was obscured by his capture weapon, so he quirked a brow, hoping that the kid would catch on.
Tokoyami, ever so vigilant, noticed it right away, and gave him a short nod in an attempt to be subtle. Aizawa allowed himself a small smile, and nodded back.
Class went okay that day.