Chapter Text
He hurt, he was tired, he needed a minute, just a minute to catch his breath. He stood with his hands on his knees, chest heaving as he struggled to breathe. He had tried to ignore it, work past it, but it was clear as day.
Shinso was sick.
It wasn’t much of a surprise when he actually stepped back and thought about it. It was only a matter of time until his body started breaking down. Things have gotten rough at home again, to the point he didn’t quite feel safe staying there. He had considered reaching out to his case worker.
Shinso could put up with a lot. If he reached out to the case worker, she’d put him in a new home that was most likely further from the school. The only reason he put up with what he did was because of how close he was to UA. He was only a few blocks away at this foster home but the foster parents had started directing most of their violence towards him. This violence had resulted in injuries that hindered him during the Sports Festival. That had almost been the breaking point.
What stopped him? He had somehow managed to catch the attention of Eraserhead. With their trainings before or after school, he couldn’t risk moving further away. The foster parents seemed to love curfews. It would give them an excuse to lock him out.
Before he knew it, he was flat on his back in the dirt, eyes staring dazed at the blue sky above him. Everything hurt, everything ached. How had he gotten there?
“Hey,” A deep voice spoke as a dark figure leaned over him. Right, he was at practice. “What’s going on with you today?” Shinso blinked as he tried to catch his breath. He had been struggling to breathe, finding he was getting more and more congested as the day went on. Aizawa’s tone wasn’t accusatory and Shinso opened his mouth to answer. As he sucked in a breath, his eyes went wide and he threw his arm over his mouth before a nasty sounding cough shook him. Aizawa stepped back, hands in his pockets and sighing deeply as Shinso coughed. When the coughing subsided, he let Shinso lay there for a moment to catch his breath.
“Sorry,” Shinso rasped out. He started to push himself back up to his feet, but as he rose to stand, the world swayed and he staggered, steadied by heavy hands on his shoulders.
“I think we’re done for the day.” Aizawa said with a finality in his tone that made Shinso hesitate to argue. He nodded and the world spun again. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and groaned. Everything hurt. When he felt a hand on his forehead he flinched and opened his eyes again. Aizawa slowly dropped his hand and studied him. “We’re going to see Recovery Girl.”
“That’s not-“ Shinso tried to argue but Aizawa cut him off in his firm, calm tone.
“It wasn’t a request.” Shinso’s shoulders dropped and the fight left him. He followed the man to the edge of the field where their bags were. Aizawa dug around and pulled out a fresh water bottle. “Drink this while we walk.” He instructed before throwing his bag over his shoulder and picking up Shinso’s. It was a small bag and he wasn’t surprised to find it so light. He kept his pace slow but Shinso still trailed behind. Every so often he would glance over his shoulder to make sure the kid was still upright. He would find him, sipping his water and a protective arm around his torso. He hadn’t struck the kid hard enough to do any serious damage. Had something happened?
“Please remove your shirt.” She instructed and as Shinso unzipped his shirt, she stuck a thermometer in his mouth. He shrugged the jacket off, leaving him in his uniform pants and a tank top. Had he not been so tired and so sick, he would have been more worried about what was hiding under his shirt. However, Aizawa was leaning against the wall, eyes closed. No scrutinizing gaze to worry about. The thermometer beeped and recovery girl turned to him again. He noticed her pause for a moment before continuing and reaching for the thermometer. “I suppose these bruises are your work, Eraserhead?” She tsked and Shinso’s blood ran cold. Aizawa’s eyes opened and zeroed in on him. Shinso sat, frozen as Recovery Girl looked at the temperature. “Your temperature is too high to be just a cold. What other symptoms are you experiencing?” She asked, grabbing a pen and clipboard. Shinso’s purple eyes glanced to Aizawa for a minute before looking back at the healing hero. He cleared his throat.
“Aches.” He started, his voice sounding worse and worse by the hour. “Sore throat. Congested.”
“Any difficultly breathing?” She asked. “Coughing?”
“Yeah.” He watched as she set down her clipboard and neared him again, putting on her stethoscope. She grabbed for the collar of his tank top and before he could stop himself, his hand closed around her wrist. She quirked her eyebrows at him but didn’t say anything. After a tense moment he was able to release her. “Sorry.” He mumbled. He could feel Aizawa staring at him and tried to keep his attention anywhere else. His hands rested on his thighs, bunching the fabric of his pants in his tense fists. He was trying to stay calm. As she pulled the collar of his shirt down, it exposed more of the angry bruising. She hadn’t even listened to his breathing. She sat there, staring at the bruising for a moment before she released his shirt and took the buds out of her ears, letting the instrument rest around her neck.
“Remove your shirt, young man.” She instructed. When he hesitated, she spoke again. “I need to see the extent of your injuries.” Her tone was firm by nature, but now there was a tenseness to it. Slowly he grabbed his tank top and pulled it over his head, wincing as his ribs protested. He set the shirt on top of his uniform shirt and returned his hands to his thighs. He avoided looking at his teacher and settled for staring at Recovery Gir’s bun as she poked and prodded, probably checking for broken bones. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Aizawa had stepped closer, wanting a look at the bruises. Shinso could practically feel his eyes scanning him, taking in every detail. No doubt the man could make out the shapes of the boot that had kicked his chest.
“How old are these?” Aizawa asked, his tone still surprisingly calm.
“A few days, by the looks of it.” Recovery Girl stated. Shinso winced as she prodded along his floating ribs. “Am I to assume these bruises are not from school related activities?” Shinso met her gaze for a moment but provided no verbal answer. Instead he looked down at his hands. “Very well.” She stated and once more grabbed her stethoscope. The cold metal stung his chest. “Breathe in deep.” She instructed. As he did, it triggered another coughing fit and she gave him space, his arm covering his mouth. She waited patiently until the coughing faded. Shinso wheezed and tried to catch his breath.
“Where have you been sleeping?” Aizawa asked. Shinso’s eyes glanced up to him before returning to his fists.
“There’s an abandoned building about a block away from school.” He answered, knowing there wasn’t any use in lying to him.
“How long have you stayed there?” He asked. Shinso sighed, triggering another coughing fit. Aizawa waited patiently but crossed his arms. He was frustrated with himself. Had he missed the signs? How? He was a trained professional hero. He was literally trained for this shit.
“A few nights.” Shinso answered. “When they get this bad it’s typically a good idea to stay out of their way for a bit.”
“This has happened before?” Aizawa prompted. Shinso clenched his jaw. He’d shared too much. The damn fever was making him too careless.
“Will all this rain lately, it’s no surprise you’ve gotten yourself sick.” Recovery Girl chided. She pushed her chair over to her desk and began typing in her notes. “You’ve gotten yourself a case of bronchitis and I hope you understand I will have to document the bruises. Do you have any other injuries I should know about?” She asked him, staring him dead in the eyes and daring him to lie. Fortunately or unfortunately, his foster parents had been smarter. They knew better than to leave any permanent damage. It was rare they ever even left bruises. In this case, he hadn’t gotten out of their way fast enough.
“Are you sure?” Aizawa asked firmly. He had maintained his usual stern but calm tone, never once letting his anger slip through his tone.
“Yeah,” Shinso nodded. There was a brief moment of silence before he spoke again, his voice still hoarse from the coughing. “I know you have to document it, but do you have to report it?”
“Yes, we do.” Recovery Girl told him before turning her chair to face him. “You will be staying here for at least two weeks while you recover.”
“That’s not necessary.” Shinso said as he reached for his shirt.
“That’s not for you to decide.” She quipped back, watching him. “You need bed rest while you recover and I will not be returning you to a home where safety is not guaranteed.” Shinso stopped and stared at her. The look on his face was hard to read. Anger, disbelief, shock, fear, panic all rolled in to one.
“I’ll be fine.” He insisted through a clenched jaw. “It’s really not-“
“I am not going to send you back to a home that put you in this position in the first place.” Recovery Girl told him firmly. “Unless you have another place to go, you will remain here.” The three sat in silence for a moment, letting the finality sink in. There was no wiggling his way out of this. These two were by the book heroes. They had rules to follow and they followed them.
Shinso cursed himself for being so careless.
The silence was broken by a tired sigh coming from his teacher. Shinso kept his gaze on his knees. He felt so disappointed in himself. How could he have let this happen? Because of this he was about to lose everything. He had worked so hard to get where he was. He was going to have to move again and with his luck it’d be on the other side of the city. He could kiss UA goodbye.
“Hizashi and I have a spare room.” Aizawa spoke in his usual bored tone. This confused Shinso. How would this help him? Aizawa hard turned to speak to Recovery Girl. “If he doesn’t want to stay here, he can stay with us while he recovers.” Recovery Girl looked between the two of them, thinking. She watched as Shinso stared at his idol in confusion and wonder before she sighed.
“Very well.” She agreed. “I will release him to your custody while he recovers from his illness. I will let his case worker know when I file the report against the foster family.” Next, she turned to Shinso. She was telling him everything he would need to do to ensure his own recovery but he couldn’t think. Was it the congestion or the fever? Nothing was sticking with him and he just stared at her blankly. “Do you understand?” He blinked, coming back to reality before turning to his teacher.
“Sir?” He asked curiously.
“Hm?”
“I can stay with you?” He asked cautiously, worried he had misunderstood.
“Would you rather stay here?” Aizawa asked and Shinso shook his head. “Then yes, you can stay with me.” He turned to Recovery Girl. “I’ll make sure he does what is needed to recover. I will also be on the lookout for worsening symptoms.”
“Have you discussed this with your husband?” Recovery Girl asked with a small smirk. Shinso raised his eyebrows at that. Not only was his teacher married, he was gay. Something warm bloomed in his chest at that.
So, there were heroes like him.
“I’m sure he won’t mind.” Aizawa shrugged before returning her smirk. “He’s used to me bringing home strays.”