Forgotten Nostalgia (Dadzawa)

Cloudy With A Chance of Breakdowns

Shouta really had no idea where he was going with this now. A little curiosity might be warranted, but he had no idea what any of this had to do with clouds or whatever it was he was talking about. 

"It's a little different kid."

"You don't have any kids?" Midoriya asked.

 He was probably unaware that it was a rather personal question, but then again, it wasn't like he didn't have a right to know. If Shouta was going to fulfill the role of character for the next unspecified amount of time, it made sense for Midoriya to know just what it was he was getting himself into. 

Shouta shook his head slowly. "No. I don't have kids."

"But you like kids?"

Shouta answered honestly. "Not particularly."

Midoriya paused at that, his hands stilling from where they'd been fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. He was obviously taken aback by the confession. "But- but you teach kids?"

"Yes. The amount of torment I put myself through depends on the groups of kids I'm assigned to teach and how destructive they all are, "Shouta answered. In reality, he didn't like most children. But his group of students was different. As much as they gave him gray hairs and migraines, he enjoyed watching them grow into heroes. 

The next question was a little harder to answer. 

"So why did you volunteer to take care of me then? Couldn't you have handed me off to one of the others teachers?"

Because the thought of another teacher taking care of his problem child made him unreasonably upset. 

"Because it's my responsibility. I'm your homeroom teacher and one of your mentors," Shouta answered. He thought for a moment, trying to amend the statement. "Besides it's only temporary. We'll get you back in the dorms in no time."

"Back to the dorms..." Midoriya trailed off, once again becoming lost in thought.

A warm wind swept over them, sweeping bits of grass and twigs up in the air. 

"Do students always stay in the dorms?"

Shouta's heart rate picked up at the loaded question. He thought through his next answer very carefully. "No. Sometimes they return back to their caretakers for vacations or to visit someone. But if they chose not to there are always staff on campus to take care of them and make sure they are staying healthy."

Midoriya sat up suddenly. His eyes zeroed in on him in what could have been read as a challenge. "Staff like you?"

"Sometimes."

"By caretakers you mean parents," Midoriya corrected. 

It wasn't a real question but Shouta answered anyway. "Yes."

The grassy green in the kid's eyes hazed over in a way that broke Shouta's heart. He'd seen him cry plenty of times before, but they were always tears of joy. He couldn't remember a time when he'd seen his skin express outward emotional pain, in fact, before the memory wipe he'd been talking with Nezu about enrolling Midoriya in therapy.

But this version of Midoriya, unguarded by his past defenses, everything was suddenly becoming more clear.

"I guess you know where this is going," Midoriya confessed. "So where are they? Why haven't my parents come to get me yet?"

Shouta hadn't wanted to have this conversation with the poor kid so early on. He hadn't wanted to have it at all.

"Are you sure you want to talk about this now? You just got h-"