Throw a Chair Through a Window and Call It a Day

I Cried My Way Into This Mess, I'll Cry My Way Out

In the time it took Shota to transfer his student from the floor of the hallway to the couch in Nezu's office, he realized several things. The first is that normally, a scary-looking teacher walking next to a crying student typically doesn't garner the best kind of attention. He had to spend two minutes engaging in an aggravating eye conversation to convince Majima that no , he was not expelling his student . He gets that he has a reputation for that kind of thing, but seriously, what reason could he possibly have to kick out his own secretary?

The second is that Nezu's office had a lot more furnishing than he had originally thought. Aside from the desk and kitchen, he also had a large couch with quite a few fluffy blankets and throw pillows. If the underground hero didn't know any better, he'd say this room was deceptively warm and comforting so Nezu could trick the misbehaving kids sent to his office into thinking he would go easy on them, instead of making them wish they were dead. Yeah... he didn't know any better.

Finally, the third was Shota realizing that he had no idea how to deal with crying kids. Well, actually, Midoriya wasn't crying anymore, just a few sniffles from time to time. He seemed to have calmed down during the walk there, as well as the few minutes Shota spent analyzing everything he realized. By no means did that mean the kid was in a good state, though.

Midoriya, knees tucked into his chest as he sat on Nezu's sofa, managed to get a hold of one of the blankets, and wrap it around himself as he stared at his hands. And that, combined with the suddenly prominent bags under his red-rimmed eyes, allowed anyone within range to see how tired the kid was. And not the kind of tired the erasure hero feels, which is usually the result of a nonexistent sleep schedule, but the kind of deep-rooted weariness that came after such a mentally exhausting experience.

Oh, now that's interesting. Shota didn't know how to deal with mentally fragile kids, but he did know how to deal with exhaustion. As if a light bulb had lit up over the underground hero's head, he walked over to the bridge and began rummaging through the top shelf, pulling out the item he was looking for and lightly tossing it into Midoriya's hands. The boy reared back slightly in surprise before examining the label on the juice pouch.

"Mango Tango: The Bright Side of the Sweet Sun." Midoriya quirks an eyebrow at him and he rolls his eyes.

"I didn't choose the names," Shota grumbled out before plopping down on the sofa across from the kid. Midoriya didn't look too convinced, but he screwed off the cap and began slurping anyway. The underground hero sighed and tried to organize his thoughts.

Yes, he knew how to deal with exhaustion. First, the cold juice pouches contained just the slightest hint of caffeine in them, and that combined with the sharp fruity flavor would be enough to give Midoriya some of his energy back. It's what he used after a particularly draining patrol, except five in a row because they clearly didn't have as much caffeine as he would have preferred. Second, he focused on what he knew, the facts. He hated having to wait to do his job just because some hero kept beating around the bush using fancy words with dramatic pauses, and he assumed Midoriya may feel the same right about now. Just a tad bit more fragile. Not wasting another second, Shota began to speak.

"So, while you're eating, I'm going to state what I understand about the current situation. You can disagree on anything I say, but keep in mind that there will most likely be no valid reason for that." Wow, he really did sound like a robot. Still, the kid nodded, slurping away in sniffling silence. "The speech you made on stage about fifteen minutes ago was about you." Midoriya raised his hand. Not even two sentences in.

"W-well... technically the speech wasn't actually about me." Jesus Christ and they made so much progress earlier... "It was about kids who got bullied for villainous and mutant quirks. And I didn't have either of those."