Shouta had come to the conclusion that Izuku Midoriya tried to hide things with a smile. Or simply kept up the image to stop others from getting involved.
In a way, he was like Shouta.
But instead of a smile, Shouta had a blank face. He knew how ingrained portraying a certain face to the outside world was. So he knew the implication of the smile that Midoriya was giving them at the moment.
It was tired and a little bit sad.
But It was the most real thing he had seen since standing with Midoriya that morning in front of the logically big door.
Shouta was glad that he didn't make Uraraka or Kaminari leave the infirmary. Because from the look in Midoriya's eyes as the child looked at those two. A look of something that looked like wonder, let him know he made the right decision. And he knew he had made the right decision of himself staying because when Midoriya looked at him, the smile didn't go away and that look of wonder stayed.
"Hey there Midoriya," he said, in a softer voice than usual. "How are you feeling? Recovery Girl healed you a while ago."
Despite the good news he told Midoriya, the boy stiffened in bed. He saw green eyes flit around the infirmary, looking for something.
Was he looking for Recovery Girl? She wasn't in the infirmary anymore, having left to go do something somewhere else on campus.
Shouta saw how Midoriya was less tense when he didn't find Recover Girl.
"Hey dude, how are you feeling right now? Do you need water or something?" Kaminari asked, drawing Midoriya's attention to the boy.
When Midoriya went to speak but a rasp came out, Shouta was impressed with the speed and grace that Kaminari had in getting up and serving his classmate water. Both Uraraka and Kaminari had been rather protective, and it seemed that they would remain that way for a while.
After drinking some water Midoriya finally responded.
"I'm fine, just sore and tired." He looked down, "How bad was I hurt?"
Shouta paused for a moment.
Never had Midoriya asked about what injuries he sustained when he got hurt. Kaminari and Uraraka looked a little surprised at the question as well. So he made sure to answer, as to not make Midoriya uncomfortable with the silence.
"You had a concussion, bruises, a cut inside your mouth, burns, and smoke inhalation," Shouta listed.
"Oh, that makes sense. I think I bit the inside of my cheek when Bakugou got me in my head. And the smoke inhalation explains why I couldn't breathe." Midoriya let out a short mirthless laugh, "It really wasn't fun not being able to breathe with his explosions coming after me."
Shouta saw Uraraka and Kaminari send concerned looks at him while Midoriya still had his head down. He motioned for them to give him a moment alone with Midoriya and he received nods in response before they went off to the side to give them some privacy.
"Midoriya, I'm sorry."
In less than a second, wide green eyes were staring at him. "Wait Sensei why are you so-"
Shouta cut off Midoriya before he could continue. "I'm sorry Midoriya, you shouldn't have had this happen to you. Kaminari and Uraraka already told me how you weren't feeling well but All Might still made you fight Bakugou. This isn't your fault. It's All Might's, you're not in trouble and I don't plan on letting All Might give you criticism on a fight you should have never been a part of."
"Really?"
It was Shouta's turn to look at Midoriya with wide eyes. The voice that came from Midoriya was so small and the look on his face looked like hope.
Why was that look on his student's face? Why did he seem so surprised? Why was there an uncomfortable twisting in his gut as he looked at his injured student?
"Yes," Shoutaa responded and the man watched as Midoriya practically sank into the infirmary bed and let out a shaky breath.
The twisting in Shouta's gut worsened.
__
Shouta stayed with Midoriya after he told Kaminari and Uraraka to go back to class. The two students didn't leave before giving Midoriya a hug and fussed more over him. The green-haired boy laughed when Kaminari kissed his forehead while he held the boy's face in his hands.
"Uraraka and I'll take care of Bakugou if he does something again, so don't you worry your pretty little green head." He said before walking away.
Shouta saw the fighting duo (as he now dubbed them) share a fist bump before walking out the infirmary. He'd have to make sure to keep an eye on those two when he went back to class.
"Did they really punch Bakugou?" Midoriya asked him.
"Yes and Kaminari electrocuted him for a few seconds."
Aizawa saw the problem child smirk.
"Nice. I knew since Gunhead that Uraraka has a brutal punch and Kaminari has gotten better with his quirk. Can I ask you to not punish them?"
The hero let out a huff of amusement. "I didn't plan to, kid. This happened during All Might's class, so let's just say Bakugou needs to work on his defense against sudden attacks."
"Sounds good to me."
_______
It was odd sharing a joke with Aizawa-sensei.
The man had always had a serious demeanor and a tendency to focus on what was logical. But here he was, joking with Izuku. Izuku liked it.
He liked how Aizawa-sensei wasn't looking at him in disdain or annoyance. The teacher had obviously been pulled away from something to see Midoriya in the infirmary, but not once had he mentioned it or complained. Instead, he asked Izuku how he was feeling and apologized to him.
Izuku wasn't used to that.
"Midoriya," his teacher said and Izuku was yet again surprised to see concern in his teacher's eyes.
"What was going on before the match? The other two told me you looked sick and were leaning against Shoji."
Ah yes, that.
Could Izuku just tell Aizawa-sensei that it was his anxiety getting so bad that he had an anxiety attack that made him feel like he was about to fall and throw up? Could he tell his teacher that it felt like he was going to pass out when he heard he was going to fight Bakugou and All Might said that the match would continue as planned? Could he tell him that he kept catching himself forgetting that he was at UA and thought that he was back in middle school, when he didn't have a quirk and didn't know how to fight back? Could he tell him that he had wished he was laying on the bar floor looking up at Dabi and Spinner instead of in class with All Might?
Izuku looked at Aizawa-sensei's dark eyes, eyes that had dark circles underneath like his very own. The hero already looked so tired, he always looked like he was one missed drink coffee away from falling asleep.
Could Izuku bring himself to put one more thing on Aizawa-sensei's plate? Was it worth it, did it even matter anymore?
Izuku has already dealt with these things on his own for so long. Never having friends to tell them about his troubles. Never confiding in teachers or adults he trusted (not that he ever trusted any adults before).
...
"Do you really want to know?"
That's what Midoriya asked instead.
"Yes Midoriya, I really want to know," Aizawa-sensei said, "You are my student and despite my appearance, I do care. I don't like how you ended up getting hurt. And I don't like how you were unwell and unable to get help. So yes, I care, and yes I want to know what was wrong so that it doesn't happen again."
Izuku couldn't help that a small part of him believed his teacher's words. Because no one ever sounded like that, no one ever looked at him like that. Like they truly cared and wanted Izuku to tell them what was wrong. Like he wasn't a burden.
Midoriya couldn't say anything for a moment and he tried to come up with the words of what he would say. But when he opened his mouth to speak, the infirmary door opened.
His mouth snapped shut.
__________
Shouta wanted to scream at whoever had come in the infirmary, and when he saw who it was, he was sure that his quirk activated on its own. Because right when Midoriya opened his mouth, right when he saw the boy's eyes finally have some light in them, in walked All Might with Nedzu and Recovery Girl.
Midoriya's mouth snapped shut and the boy's face went blank. Green eyes once again dull, causing Shouta to clench his fists and glare at the new arrivals.
But that glare quickly turned into wide eyes, as when All Might and the others came in, he was in his buffed form. So when Shouta's quirk activated, the man poofed into his smaller, more skeletal form.
Right in front of Midoriya.
Fuck.
When Shouta looked at Midoriya, he expected wide eyes and a million questions. But instead, he was met with a blank face, so much tension in Midoriya's body that he looked like he was frozen, and hands clenched into his ruined hero costume he still had on.
"Ah young Midoriya you're finally awake! Recovery Girl told me you had fallen asleep but now that you're awake I can discuss the match with you." All Might said, clearly not reading the atmosphere in the room.
Certainly not noticing the quickening breathing rate of Midoriya.
The oaf was oblivious to everything as he walked up to Midoriya and went to put a hand on the boy's shoulder. He never was able to though, as Shouta shot out his capture scarf to wrap around the gaunt arm and pulled it away from his student.
As All Might asked Shouta what was wrong, Shoutaa looked at Nedzu. "Nedzu, what is the meaning of this?" He gritted out.
"Midoriya here is already aware of All Might's smaller form, and he simply wanted to come by and see how Midoriya was faring after getting healed. Recovery Girl informed me of his injuries and All Might had come to my office after you so kindly told him I wanted to speak to him." Nedzu chirped.
"Yes, I wanted to offer some criticism regarding young Midoriya's match." All Might said.
The man flinched when Shouta's glare returned to him, "You will do no such thing."
Shouta turned to Midoriya with softer eyes, "Midoriya you can go get changed back into your uniform and return to class. I'll talk to All Might and the others. Also, switch seats with someone so you don't sit near Bakugou."
Shouta would rather another student go with Midoriya, but calling one of them to come here would take too long and he wanted Midoriya to get out there as soon as possible. Both Recovery Girl and All Might tried to interject but Nedzu cut them off.
"Yes Midoriya, I think it's time to go back to class. I hope that you feel better later on and I apologize for what happened today." Nedzu said with his perpetual smile.
With that, Midoriya got out of bed and slowly made his way out of the infirmary. Shouta sent him a small nod when the boy looked back at him at the door. He noticed how Midoriya hadn't bothered to look at All Might once.
The moment Midoriya was gone, Shouta returned his glare at All Might, the man was clearly taken aback.
He saw Nedzu clasp his paws together. "Now," Nedzu began, looking at everyone in present company, "I believe we have something to discuss."
________
When Midoriya walked in, class 1-A went silent. Well, as silent as it could be with Bakugou growling from behind his mouth taped shut. Also, as silent as it could be from the red-eyed boy attempting to get out of his desk.
Which did not look like it would be happening any time soon due to the fact that Mineta had used his quirk to fix the chair to the floor on all four legs. Then fixed Bakugou to the chair. It was actually quite surprising that the boy had so much energy even after Recovery Girl had come by to heal him (much to the displeasure of Kaminari and Uraraka).
"Oh Midoriya," Kaminari said, quick to break the tension in the air, "Come over here. Kirishima was going to move to go over to Bakugou to try to calm him down anyways."
They saw as green eyes looked at the Kirishima's seat as Kirishima was indeed going to go sit in Midoriya's seat behind Bakugou in an attempt to stop the boy from damaging school property.
Midoriya didn't say anything as he sat down behind Kaminari at Kirishima's desk. Instead, he had quickly put his head down and took out a blue marble.
Kaminari felt disappointed that Midoriya was no longer smiling or seemed anywhere near as happy (or just not sad) as he looked in the infirmary when he left him.
Just what happened since Uraraka and he left?
While the other students of class 1-A did not know about the smile they missed, they could tell that something was wrong. Including the shadow-like creature that had helped Midoriya stand earlier that day.
No one stopped Dark Shadow from making their way to Midoriya and resting their head in front of Izuku on the desk.
Everyone watched as Midoriya stopped rolling the blue marble with his fingers and looked at Dark Shadow. Then Dark Shadow proceeded to burrow their head underneath Izuku's hand, the boy not resisting at all. A moment later, Midoriya started to run his hand along Dark Shadow's head. All the while, he had his own head resting on the desk.
But the whole time he did this not once did he smile. His eyes were still that dull green.