Trigger warning: Mentioned child abuse. It starts when Aizawa asks him if he's ready to talk
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Hitoshi hardly sleeps that night. Along with his insomnia, the fight with his dad won't leave his mind long enough for him to relax. When he finally does sleep, it's only for a few hours.

He wakes up at 5 feeling exhausted, but since he hasn't been able to sleep properly for years it doesn't really bother him. He just needs a few minutes to wake up entirely.

Hitoshi sighs, then decides to go and see if anyone's awake. He slowly opens his door and looks out, only to find Aizawa sitting on the sofa, his black hair tied back in a pony tail and already wearing his hero clothes. Hitoshi wonders if he slept in those clothes or if he got changed already, before Aizawa looks up at him. "Morning" He sighs, sounding equally as exhausted as Hitoshi.

He pauses, then puts down his mug on the table, narrowing his eyes "You didn't sleep"

"Sorry...I have trouble sleeping, and last night was..." Hitoshi trails off, but the hero seems to understand what he means.

"Sit. Do you want anything to eat?"

"Thank you, but I'm not hungry" He says quietly, and sits down towards the edge of the couch away from him. His teacher rolls his eyes and sighs.

"You should eat. Don't think I couldn't hear it growling last night. You didn't have dinner did you? When was the last time you ate?"

"Lunch time" Hitoshi mumbles, looking down to avoid the annoyed look on Aizawa's face. He's not sure he's ever seen him care so much about someones well being, but it's strange.

"Eat something. I'll make you toast" He sighs getting up.

"You don't have to"

"Do you want to starve?"

Hitoshi doesn't reply, feeling even more awkward than before.
___

Aizawa puts a plate of toast in front of him and a cup of coffee, before sitting down where he was and taking a drink of his. "Are you ready to talk?"

There's a brief silence, then Hitoshi nods slightly.

"My dad came home early yesterday, and got angry when he found out I wasn't at home. So when I got home, he started shouting at me. I told him that I was training with you, and we already told him that we were training on certain days, but he said that he never knew about it. Then he got even angrier when I told him why we were training; he doesn't like the idea of me being a hero" He sighs.

"Ever since I got my quirk, my parents hated me. They were upset when I applied for UA, and didn't hide their relief when I got into general studies. So the idea that I was training with you to get into the hero course didn't sit well with him. I'm not sure why...I guess he just thinks that if I got into the hero course I would use it to become a powerful villian"

Aizawa frowns, but doesn't interrupt. He notices Hitoshi starting to fidgit slightly.

"He shouted more, and I shouted back because I had enough of him treating me like that. Then...he threw a glass at my face. I didn't have enough time to react to it, or when he hit me. I tried to fight back but he got me to the floor and held me down. He wouldn't stop hitting me...until I stopped fighting back. As soon as he walked out the room, I packed my bag and run away. I stopped at the bus stop, and stayed there until you found me"

"How long has this gone on for?"

"Since I was 5. They couldn't stand having a kid with a villainous quirk. So they focused all their love on my sister instead. When she left for college, it only got worse" He sighs.

Aizawa watches him rub his scarred wrist. "Did he do that as well?"

"Oh...no. It was a boy at school...Igarashi. He used to bully me. He had a lightning quirk. Uh...he can produce electric from his hands. He used that to burn me"

He sighs, "And no teachers stopped them?"

"No. I was always blamed by the bullies. They would do something and then say I made them do it. The teachers didn't like me either, so they never belived me"

Aizawa growls quietly. Hitoshi has been through so much just because of his quirk. Something he didn't chose to have. He can relate. People didn't think his quirk was very heroic, and he had to work twice as hard to get into the hero course. The only difference is that he had supportive parents.

Hitoshi sighs, then takes a piece of toast and starts to eat it. "Sensei...what will happen now that you know?"

"First, I want you to stop calling me that while you're here. I'd prefer it if you just called me Aizawa. Secondly, I will report your parents to the police and find someone to take custody over you. Is there anyone in your family who comes to mind?"

"No one except my sister. But she's in college, going to university this spring. She can't"

"Alright, I'll find someone who will take care of you"

"Thank you, Sen- Aizawa"

The hero smiles slightly, puts a hand on Hitoshi's head then turns back to the paperwork on the table with his coffee. Hitoshi smiles to himself and continues eating, finding the silence surprisingly comfortable for once.

An hour or so later, Yamada walks out of the bedroom yawning loudly. Hitoshi is surprised when he sees his long blonde hair down, and normal glasses on his face. Yamada looks at them both, and talks loudly "Oh hey you're both up? You're more alike than I thought"

"Hizashi" Aizawa sighs.

"What? It's cool" He grins, "have you seen my-"

"In the drawer on my side. You left them there when we went to bed, as you were already half asleep"

He nods and leaves the room briefly, before coming back in while pressing something into his ear. He picks up the other object and Hitoshi recognises them as hearing aids, which makes sense. Having the quirk since birth probably meant that he damaged his hearing for years. "Ah now I can hear properly!"

"And you can talk quieter. One day you'll deafen me"

"Sorry, Shou!" He smiles, "Morning Shinsou! I'd ask you if you slept well, but if I'm right you didn't! You know, you two really do look alike. Anyone would think you're related or something"

Aizawa rolls his eyes groaning, "Just get your breakfast and get ready. If you talk too long then we'll be late"

"Got it!" Yamada clicks his fingers and does finger guns, before walking into the kitchen. Aizawa looks at his watch and sighs.

"Should I get changed into my uniform?" Hitoshi asks.

"No. I think it's better if you stay here for a day or two. I'll tell Nezu that you won't be in for a while. Hizashi and I leave at 7:30, and usually won't be back until about 6 or later. Although I might stop by the police station to file a report"

"Ok. Thank you"

It takes Yamada almost an hour to get ready -mostly doing his hair- and Aizawa just takes the hair band out without brushing his. As the two leave, Aizawa tells him that he's allowed to eat something while they're gone and to try and get comfortable.
__

Hitoshi doesn't eat anything, feeling too awkward to just take something without asking even though he already has permission. Though, he eventually strikes up the courage to get another cup of coffee, and then sits down to play with the cats for a while.

Around 12, Hitoshi gets curious, and decides to look around the apartment. He gets up, and walks down the corridor towards the door, looking the pictures framed on the wall. There's quite a lot, and they capture both the different moments of their lives, and the clashing personalities of both men, or the rare moments where Aizawa smiles.

One is of the two on the couch, with Aizawa cuddling two of the cats and Yamada holding the third. To his surprise, they're both grinning. One next to it is of the two standing next to each other on a path lined with cherry blossom trees, as the blossoms fall around them. Yamada is smiling wide, his arm around his partner, and Aizawa has a soft smile that's almost too faint to notice. A classic, cliche looking photo.

There's a picture of Aizawa, Yamada, Midnight, all wearing Christmas clothes. It captures the personality of each teacher perfectly, from Yamada's smile to Aizawa's half scowl, to Midnight's laugh. Hitoshi smiles. Christmas with them is probably entertaining.

He moves to the next picture and pauses when he notices that it's obviously cropped.

It has Yamada on the left, grinning widely while holding his arm out to take the picture, and the other with his arm around Aizawa. Aizawa looks slightly embarrassed, or even flustered. Hitoshi can see another arm going around his other shoulder, and light blue, mist-like hair just visible on his right. He frowns, wondering who the cropped out person is. He can't think of any hero who has hair like that, and from all he remembers, his friends are teachers at UA. So who is that? And why are they cropped out?

Hitoshi lingers at that photo for some time, but eventually moves on as he decides it must be an old friend.

He looks around more, and laughs when he notices that there is a third bedroom hidden towards the back of the apartment. If his assumption was wrong, he probably would've died from embarrassment.

Once he finishes looking around, Hitoshi sits down again and tries to find the mystery person. But it's hard when there's no leads to go on, and hardly any information on Yamada or Aizawa's school life. He sighs, eventually giving up.

He gets bored after a few hours, noticing that it's only 4PM. He'd be leaving school by now, and the two heroes wont be home for another few hours. Sighing, he lays on the couch and allows the cats to jump on him, stroking them all. They purr, laying down on him, though Patch keeps wiggling around and Yowl is purring loudly in his ear. He laughs and looks at Jelly, who is the only one who is laying there content.

"Three cats with different personalities. How cute"
___

Aizawa comes home to find Hitoshi asleep on the couch, with Jelly on his stomach and Yowl laying just over his shoulder so his head is sandwiched between Hitoshi's and the back. He smiles to himself, then walks to the kitchen to start dinner. Yamada takes a picture, before joining him.