[[Spoilers: Spoilers in general for the anime.]]

Aizawa Doesn't Give Hugs

Since their school days at U.A., Aizawa had come to expect hugs from Hizashi. Personal space did not exist in Hizashi's universe. He broke through every boundary Aizawa built up– crossed every line.

Young Aizawa had sworn never to attend a slumber party, where the last thing you did was sleep. With Hazshi, he found himself hosting a slumber party. Hizashi had invited himself over, neglecting their study session, until it was too dark for him to leave.

"What if a villain grabs me on my way home?"

Aizawa's mother agreed. (Really, she just couldn't be bothered driving him back.) Hizashi could stay the night. Aizawa was relegated to his sleeping bag while Hizashi stole the bed. This alone wasn't an issue for Aizawa. It was the fact that Hizashi snored.

Hell, did he snore. Grunts, snorts and mumbles– every little sound was magnified by his voice. Aizawa could only stay up for so many hours erasing his Quirk. By three o'clock, Aizawa slithered onto the bed, still wearing his sleeping bag, shook him and snarled, "Shut up."

For a single blissful moment, there was silence. Then Hizashi rolled over, flung his arm around Aizawa and dragged him down beside him. Aizawa started to struggle but stopped when the snoring didn't resume. Hizashi's breathing was deep, but quieter. Bearable.

Moving back onto the floor would take too much effort. And he would risk rousing Hizashi...

Aizawa shut his eyes with Hizashi's arms still around him. He'd slept in worse places.

After years of having Hizashi sleep beside him, scream in his ear, drag him onto the dance floor, and being subjected to horrendous 'noogies', Aizawa had come to tolerate the odd hug.

Hizashi's intimate gestures only increased when he returned from England. Hugs were given more freely over there. Not to mention, Hizashi had missed him. When Aizawa had gone to meet him at the airport, at the ungodly hour of five in the morning, he'd been hit by a screech ("SHOUTA!") and an embrace that almost knocked him off his feet.

"Hi..." Somehow, Aizawa felt more jetlagged than Hizashi looked.

"Did you miss me?" Hisashi hollered in English.

He answered in Japanese, "It's like you never left." People were staring. He separated himself from Hizashi, picked up one of his suitcases and announced, "You're driving."

Hisashi lowered his voice just a touch as they ambled out of the terminal. "You sound like an old man..."

"You sound like a seven-year-old."

Both of them were in fact twenty-three, though neither acted like it.

Aizawa felt the side effects of his age even more when he reached thirty: Dry eyes, sleep deprival, decreased duration of his Quirk...

The stresses of Pro Hero work and teaching gradually took its toll.

Much to his surprise, the Number One Hero, All Might, had also deteriorated in the past few years. He maintained his duty as the Symbol of Peace, but his appearances in public became less and less frequent. These days, he was far more likely to turn cameras away. Aizawa was glad he was stepping out of the limelight... until he learned Toshinori Yagi's secret.

It was brought to the U.A. staff's attention when All Might began teaching with them; he had been left severely injured after a battle five years ago and as a result, he was forced into a weakened form for the majority of the time. The students weren't supposed to be aware of this and neither was the media.

That didn't prevent the camera crews from swarming U.A. as soon as news of their celebrity teacher got out. They were drawn to the mere presence of All Might like hornets to a hive. Aizawa told them all to buzz off. His class didn't need that kind of pressure on top of their training and their studies.

Honestly? Aizawa preferred All Might's 'weaker' form. He was less big-headed and he lost that booming voice. It was nothing compared to Hizashi's vocal cords, but still...

Like Hisashi, All Might was heavily inspired by western culture. His signature attack– "Detroit Smash" –made him resemble professional wrestlers from the United States of old. He was just as flashy as these former 'Pros'... and flippant when it came to teaching.

Under his watch, Midoriya has been beaten unconscious during the Battle Trial and Bakugo's confidence was shaken.

Aizawa wasn't particularly worried about the latter's injured pride. The problem was that All Might had let Bakugo off with a pat on the back. He had left the criticism to Yaoyorozu before swiftly moving on. (Yaoyorozu had given Aizawa a full report.)

At the end of Class 1-A's second day, Aizawa had found Toshinori in the staff lounge.

"Fear not! I spoke to Bakugo at the school gates."

"At the school gates..." Aizawa echoed. "Were any other students around?"

"Only young Midoriya–"

"Brilliant." He needed a cup of tea...

"I'm certain Midoriya won't hold it against Bakugo," he floundered as Aizawa filled the kettle with water. "The two of them may have their differences, but I've seen Midoriya risk his life for Bakugo."

"They're still rivals," he pointed out. "As far as Bakugo is concerned, you just patronized him in front of his nemesis."

"Patronize—?" A cough tore through Toshinori's body. "I... I tried to assure him that pride is a worthy attribute in any hero, as long as he isn't c...consumed by it."

"The pot calling the kettle black," Aizawa breathed as the kettle boiled.

"What was that?"

Aizawa made his tea before he turned to Toshinori. "The point is you should have lectured Bakugou in class with the others."

Somehow, Toshinori became even more hunched over. "Understood. I apologize for my carelessness..."

"Don't. Just remember next time."

"I will..." Aizawa was about to walk out, when a spindly hand brushed his elbow. A spider might as well have landed on Aizawa for how he froze. "Thank you, Aizawa."

He nodded. Toshinori's grip, so weak, dropped and Aizawa left with his tea.

This didn't mean they saw eye to eye– not by a long shot –but over the next week, All Might kept flashing him smiles and thumbs-up. Aizawa avoided his gaze as best he could. He would be seeing enough of All Might during the USJ trip...

Typically, All Might turned up late— right when Aizawa truly needed him. The so-called League of Villains showed up expecting All Might, of course, but they were stuck with an underground nobody erasing their Quirks.

In the blink of an eye, his elbow was shattered by the supposed final boss. Not thirty seconds later his body was smashed by a behemoth of a villain. Both of his arms were snapped. He tasted blood as his face was pummeled into the floor.

This monster was just as strong as All Might— maybe even stronger.

Where the hell was he?

Distantly, he heard the villains discussing their retreat.

"Oh, before we leave... Let's make sure the Symbol of Peace is broken. Let's wreck his pride."

Arms broken, eyes burning, he heaved his head up. A decaying hand hovered before Asui's head.

They were his students first.

He received some words of admiration from the villain. Then his vision was reduced to blood and rubble.

A splash, a shout and silence.

He stirred briefly when he felt arms beneath him, but couldn't open his eyes.

The next time he regained consciousness, someone was kissing his head.

Recovery Girl? He tried to speak, but his voice was muffled by bandages and a pained moan.

She could see the question in his eyes. "Everyone's safe— I promise."

His eyes narrowed and he glanced around a recovery room. Where were they?

"Do you need proof...?" Hopping off her chair, she picked something up from the table beside his bed. It was a Get Well card, signed by every one of his students and the staff at U.A.

He saw Midorya's scrawl, Yaoyorozu's calligraphy, Todoroki's print, Kaminari's scribbles, Kirishima's jagged font, a summary of the class's health from Iida, French salutations, a paw print, glitter, a frog doodle, smiley faces, hearts, stars, singes at the edge of the card...

Only one signature was missing.

He cocked his to the side, ignoring the ache in his neck.

Recovery Girl flipped the card over to reveal an All Might-sized autograph, with added Xs and Os.

There it was.

Aizawa sighed and finally rested against the pillows. The kids would be devastated if anything had happened to him...

"Don't worry about All Might." Recovery Girl returned the card to its table. "He's making his rounds to the students and Thirteen, but I'm sure he'll visit you afterwards."

He would have to get in line– Hisashi burst in half an hour later with balloons, candy and a radio for Aizawa's entertainment. Recovery Girl let him stay on the condition that he kept the volume at a minimum. ("If I find Aizawa's ears bleeding, you're out. Do you hear me, Hizashi?")

"You look like an Egyptian mummy," Hizashi remarked through a mouthful of candy Aizawa couldn't eat. "But you're really more like a dad with all those kids looking up to you."

Hero worship... Hopefully, it would wear off soon.

He tuned out Hizashi's chatter in favor of the radio.

"—gators are still searching for the League of Villains' hideout. These criminals cornered a class of first year students at the U.A. rescue training center. Their evil mission, as far as we know it, is to destroy Number One Hero, All Might—"

"Hello...?"

Speak of the devil, Aizawa mused.

Toshinori poked his head around the door.

"ALL MIGHT!"

He shuffled inside, shushing Hizashi.

"SORRY! Sorry... I better leave before Recovery Girl sticks a needle in me. See you, Shouta!" He gave Aziawa a quick gentle hug and hightailed it out of the room.

Toshinori watched him go before he addressed Aziawa. "Do you mind...?"

Aizawa nodded in the direction of Recovery Girl's chair.

"Thanks." Toshinori seemed to curl in on himself as he sat, hands resting on his knees.

For several minutes, only the radio and Recovery Girl's humming could be heard in the background. Aizawa glared at Toshinori. He wasn't staying awake for nothing.

He grumbled, "Toshi—"

"Can you forgive me?" His head was still bowed, but at least he was finally talking. "On the day of the attack, I wasted my Quirk time to save a family. I should have left it to another Pro Hero and arrived earlier at the USJ. My pride put your lives in jeopardy."

What if All Might had been caught off-guard with the rest of them? Would he have succeeded if Aizawa hadn't weakened the villains beforehand?

Aizawa tried not to wince as he shrugged. "Kids got out. S'all that matters."

"Yes, you're right... as usual."

Aziawa smirked slightly behind his bandages (not that Toshinori would notice).

Somewhat reassured, Toshinori stood up to leave. "I'll let you rest—"

"Xs and Os... explain?" Eye brows raised, Aizawa looked at the card.

Toshinori followed gaze. He coughed into his hand, failing to hide a chuckle. "Hugs and kisses from All Might. That's how all my autographs are signed."

"Sure they are."

Aizawa supposed he could let that slide… as long as All Might didn't physically attempt to hug him.