Anywhere but There

Talks

Aizawa already knew that his students were weird. U.A encouraged that as did he. But, there was one student that stuck out in plain sight. Although Todoroki Shouto was powerful and gave off an air of dominance that the other students like Midoriya didn't, Aizawa felt that coldness differently.

Go away.

It was like the boy thought that if he glared hard enough that everyone would stop- looking. Most did. In fact, even the nosy Midoriya began to turn a blind eye to the half shy, half assertive classmate.

However, it was Aizawa's job to look. He'd noticed the signs at the start of the third week at U.A. The way that All Might would appear behind the class, when he'd arrived late (because he was an idiot) and- while the others would jump in either surprise or excitement- Todoroki would flinch. The next time Aizawa noticed anything was out of place was during their hero practicals about 5 weeks into the school year. During the fights (especially against Bakugo, who was far too fast for Todoroki to react quick enough), the boy would dodge with such speed that it looked instinctual- as if he'd been hit before. After said fight (where Todoroki lost too easily, in Aizawa's opinion), he witnessed Kirishima try to sling his arm around Todoroki. Try. The boy had moved away before the rock-like classmate could blink- despite the fact that he was still injured and shouldn't've been moving so quickly so soon.

The next time Aizawa noticed wasn't for a while. Just after mid-terms, actually. He'd seen the way that Todoroki would wince when he moved even an inch and then later in the week he saw the dread on his face when the first of the semiweekly practicals came up. That day, he was also the last out of the changing rooms and managed to be late by about a minute. Irked, Aizawa spoke before he could move any further towards his classmates.

"Todoroki, I'd like to speak to you. Come to the faculty room at the end of the day." Aizawa's voice gave nothing away. Todoroki made sure he stayed unnoticed throughout the exercises. When he had to spar, he was lucky enough to be paired with Midoriya. Although Aizawa didn't hear what the pair were whispering, he was sure it had something to do with the fact that Midoriya never once hit Todoroki during their match.

By the time it was the end of the day, Todoroki was visibly paler than when the day had begun. He got to the faculty as soon as he could, anxious about the text he had received from his father earlier that day. It mentioned 'finishing early', 'training' and 'don't be late'.

Entering the faculty room, the rest of the staff tried to make it less obvious that they were watching what was about to happen. Aizawa turned to him when he got closer with a grim expression.

"Is everything all right at home?" he asked. Todoroki nodded and swallowed before speaking.

"Yes sir, everything's fine." he lied. Aizawa sighed, dragging his hand down his face before speaking again.

"If there's nothing wrong, then I'd like to see you more active in lessons from now on." Aizawa ordered. Todoroki nodded.

"I'll make sure of it in the future, sir." Todoroki bowed without wincing to try and get out of the faculty room faster. Nodding, Aizawa turned back to his desk.

"You're dismissed." he said without looking at the boy. The door the room shut quietly on the boy's departure. Aizawa groaned and let his head fall in his hands. Midnight, better known as Nemuri to the faculty, sat up so that she could see Aizawa across their divided desks.

"Are you sure that he's being abused?" she asked tentatively. He nodded and looked up at her.

"Positive. We sent home the results for the mid-terms to the parents on Friday and he comes back injured. I have footage of before and after the weekend of him and he's been wincing ever since. Also, during the training exercise today he asked Midoriya not to hit him; I'm sure of it." he said. Yamada Hizashi (or Present Mic to everyone else) got up and stood behind Aizawa, rubbing his back soothingly.

"Have you opened a case for it yet?" He asked. The other nodded wordlessly.

"The only thing we can do at the moment is wait for more evidence." Nemuri said. Yamada thought he heard Aizawa growl at the statement.

"I hate this. I hate leaving him there knowing he's going to get hurt. It feels like we're just letting it happen." he said dejectedly. The pair smiled to him.

"So do we. The best we can do for now is comfort him if it happens again." Yamada said, still rubbing the other mans back.

The next day, Todoroki was the first one in their homeroom. That wasn't too surprising as he was normally one of the first to arrive. The day started as normal. Usually there was a ten minute gap between each lesson where the students could have a break whilst the teachers moved rooms. Most of the students would get up during this time to stretch their legs. Todoroki didn't budge from his seat until lunch. When it was lunch, Aizawa realised he had left a folder in the homeroom. Aizawa entered the room, expecting all the students to be getting their lunch. However, he found Todoroki with a pained expression as he stood from his seat. Both males paused for a second, before Aizawa walked towards the boy.

"Are you all right?" he asked quietly. Todoroki nodded with his eyes downcast.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said, matching his teachers loudness. Aizawa's eyes narrowed.

"Come with me," he ordered. He turned and walked away, hearing the boy's footsteps behind him. They eventually arrived at the nurses office. Aizawa pointed to the bed with a scowl, "Sit." Todoroki did as he was told while Recovery Girl walked towards the pair.

"What seems to be the problem?" She asked. Aizawa didn't even glance at Todoroki.

"Can you check him for injuries, please?" he asked. The woman nodded and turned to Todoroki.

"Stand up for me please," she said. The boy couldn't help but wince as he stood. Recovery Girl frowned, "take off your shirt. I need to check your torso." Slowly, Todoroki's clothes were removed and an angry black bruise the size of a watermelon greeted the adults.

"What happened?" Aizawa cut in before the other two could speak.

"It's just from training." he said quietly.

"Training with who?" Aizawa's voice had a sharpness to it that made Todoroki want to curl up into a ball and cry. He didn't answer straight away, before only giving an incoherent mumble to the older male.

"Todoroki Shouto," the boy's head snapped up at his full name, "Who were you training with?"

"My father." he said, louder this time. Recovery Girl handed the boy's shirt back and he put it on hastily.

"Bruises have to heal on their own I'm afraid." she interrupted the other two.

"Thank you, Recovery Girl," Aizawa said with a small bow. He turned to Todoroki again with a scowl, "Come to the faculty room after school. We need to talk."