Chapter Text
Ever since the students’ vacation started, Aizawa Shouta had been hearing noises such as glass shattering and thuds above his apartment. At first, he thought he was dreaming of the days he’d rather forget. The days where everyone seemed out to get him, even his parents. When he confirmed it was not a dream and it was real sounds, he left it for a few days because he thought that maybe it was just a couple arguing and having a quarrel. On the fifth day, he became concerned because he was sure he heard faint sounds of a child crying. The sounds of a child crying continued throughout the whole week, and Shouta became too worried to be sleeping.
Based on the noises he’d been hearing throughout the whole week; it sounds like there is a case of domestic violence in the apartment above his. And out of all cases, Shouta hates domestic violence. Because there was no way they can get evidence unless the victim cooperates and/or the police/hero saw the violence happening right before their eyes.
It takes a lot of trust and discretion to solve cases like these, so Shouta hopes, really hope that for once his instinct is wrong. He also hopes that there is no child abuse going on. The sounds of a child crying he heard are faint so it may not be a child, but if it is, then it will get worse.
Because if the victim is a child, it will be really hard to gain their trust and the case may go cold if they don’t cooperate and don’t have enough evidence.
After a week, he posed as a concerned ‘citizen’ (yes, for once he tried to look presentable so that he wouldn’t scare whoever is above), he took the elevator to the second floor and walked down the hall. Once he reached the door that is above his apartment, he knocked.
It was silent for a whole minute and Shouta began to feel worried. There was no sound behind the closed door and he waited with bated breath. He knocked again three times, and this time he heard shuffling behind the door.
A few seconds later, the door opened. What Shouta was about to say died in his throat, as he saw the one who opened the door. Green hair, green eyes, and freckles dotting his cheeks. There was no doubt that the child he’d been hearing is his student.
“Oh…Hi, Aizawa-sensei. What are you doing here?” The child, no his student, Midoriya Izuku asked. The boy is avoiding his eyes, fingers fidgeting and a hand pulling up the sweater up to his chin.
A lot of questions popped up in Shouta’s mind as he inspects the problem child. Before the kid pulled up his sweater, he was sure he saw bruises and a handprint in the kid’s neck. Midoriya looks like he hasn’t slept for the whole week, and if Shouta’s hunch is true, then his student will never get the chance to sleep due to the abuse going on.
“I’ve been hearing a lot of noises in here ever since the vacation started. Care to explain, Midoriya?”
The boy awkwardly laughed, before scratching his neck. The sleeve from his sweater pulled down when he scratched his neck, and there Shouta saw more cuts and bruises. The underground hero clenched his fists. How come he didn’t notice this?
He saw many red flags in the problem child since the start of the school year. His nervous and skittish behavior, how he doesn’t like explosions and other loud noises, and why he has no self-preservation. He didn’t think that Midoriya’s mother will do this to him, since he heard from Yagi that the boy’s mother is nice even though she was a little bit strict.
Midoriya’s ears reddened at the silence between them, realizing that he hasn’t answered his teacher’s question.
“I think your ears are playing tricks on you, sensei. Thank you for caring though, that’s nice of you.”
The boy bowed and Shouta raised his eyebrow at the kid.
“Then why I’ve been hearing glass shattering here?” The underground hero asked and Midoriya just laughed again and gave his teacher a smile.
Now that he can see it closely, Shouta realized how fake that smile is.
“I wish I could tell you about the noise you’ve been hearing, Aizawa-sensei, but I didn’t hear a thing.” The boy shrugged before continuing. “It must have been the wind. Excuse me sensei, but I have to go back in. Thanks for being concerned, but there is nothing to be concerned about.”
The boy gave him a smile again and was about to close the door. But before he can close it fully, Shouta stopped it.
“Wait, Midoriya.”
Problem child looked confused and Shouta sighed. The underground hero pulled a notepad from his pocket and wrote down his number.
“Contact me if there’s something wrong or you just need someone to talk to, please.”
Shouta is not the kind of person who gets desperate, but he knows that if the problem child won’t trust him, the abuse will go on. He was concerned, and rightfully so because he never knew that there was abuse happening behind closed doors and his student is in the receiving end of it.
He wishes that the kid will pick up on the message he’d been trying to convey to him.
A small smile appeared on the green-haired boy’s face, and this time Shouta knows it is genuine.
“Thank you, sensei. I’ll try to contact you if ever.” The kid bowed a little and now the door closed on Shouta.
The underground hero sighed. It must have been true that his students are growing on him, because never in his life he had been extremely concerned about his students, especially Midoriya, now that he found out some unpleasant things about his living situation.
The man trudged back to his apartment on the first floor and hoped that he won’t hear noises in the apartment above his.
Even though he knows it’s just wishful thinking.
________________
Yeah, it was just wishful thinking indeed. The night after he talked to Midoriya, he heard noises again, and this time it’s louder.
Shouta was just lying on his floor that night, encased in his sleeping bag. He cannot sleep because he was too concerned about his problem child. The cold concrete on his back helped in keeping him awake.
He asked Hizashi what should he do, albeit the information he gave him is a bit vague. He knows that his friend is an expert in interacting with children, being on rescues, and solving abuse cases like this. But Shouta also knows that Midoriya doesn’t trust anyone except All Might and two of his teachers visiting his apartment would be too overwhelming for him. So, he just asks for his advice.
His blonde friend told Shouta that he should work on building trust between him and the problem child first. It was a rational plan, even though the underground hero just wants to smash the door in the apartment above his and take the problem child away from his abusers.
But that is called kidnapping. And he is a hero. Shouta groaned and rolled over the floor.
He just couldn’t shake the feeling that he is missing something. If Yagi says is true, then who the hell is abusing Midoriya? He didn’t want to suddenly intrude on Midoriya because he knows that he doesn’t have all the facts. All he knows is that Midoriya is living with his mother and the father is absent…
Wait. The father is absent but what if they came back? If so, then why did Midoriya’s mother just let this continue?
Finally, Shouta found a clue. He will make the kid trust him in this, even if it took days or months. He just couldn’t bear the thought of leaving his student suffering at the hands of his abusers.
The next day Shouta took the elevator to the second floor again, walking down the hall to see if there are any witnesses to what is happening in the apartment above his. But weirdly enough, the hall on the second floor is silent…as if there is someone who threatened the tenants to stay quiet or there is something they fear.
He reached the problem child’s apartment and knocked on the door again. This time Midoriya opened the door faster. It looks like the problem child is already expecting him to visit.
“The noises last night are particularly louder than the last few days. I doubt I’m the only one hearing this, Midoriya.” Shouta raised his eyebrow at the kid and immediately gained a reaction.
The boy nervously chuckled and fidgeted under his gaze. “What do you mean, sensei? Are your ears playing tricks on you again? It’s really nice of you to care about me, but really, there is nothing to be worried about-“
Shouta interrupted him before he can lie again. “Izuku, please.” let me help was left unsaid, but both of them know that is the message he’d been trying to convey ever since he visited the apartment.
The boy bit his lips, seemingly contemplating something.
“I really need to go back in…” The boy looked back at the apartment, before sighing in resignation. The kid just seems so tired.
“Please come in then, Aizawa-sensei. I’ll prepare you some coffee.”
The boy left the door open for his teacher, before disappearing inside the apartment.
Shouta sighed in relief. He was glad that his student trusted him enough to let him in. But he knows that the kid will still withhold information from him, because of his self-sacrificial personality.
The green-haired boy pointed to a couch, where Shouta can sit. When Shouta sat on the couch, he took his time to observe the interior of the apartment while Izuku makes some coffee.
He saw some glass shards near the wall, it was nearly invisible to the human eye and Shouta just saw those because they reflected in the light.
What disturbed the underground hero the most though, is the specks of both dried and fresh blood in the floor and wall. From his point of view, it seems like someone bashed a person's head in the wall and the blood dripped to the floor. Shouta really can’t believe what he is seeing.
The boy sat on the couch in front of Shouta and pushed the coffee towards him on the table. He thanked the boy before glancing at his condition. The sweater is still pulled over the kid’s chin although now Shouta can see some cuts in the boy’s hand and the gauze on the back of the kid’s head. If Midoriya passed by someone, they wouldn’t be able to notice it unless they truly observed it.
Why does this kid think that he needs to shoulder and hide everything? What kind of childhood his parents and other people gave him to be like this? Probably like the childhood you experienced, or worse.
“Do you need medical attention, Midoriya?”
The boy froze before laughing it off again.
“Uh, I think I already dealt with it, sensei. It won’t be necessary.” The boy said, but Shouta knows that is a lie. The underground hero looked around again, and it seems that there are other people inside this apartment.
Midoriya allowed him to come in even though he knows that his parents are eavesdropping on them. So that’s why he seems so anxious.
Shouta passed his pen and notepad to the kid, hoping that way he can give him some information without someone hearing.
The boy took the items nervously, staring at the notepad for a while before writing something.
I can’t give you much information right now, sensei. All I can give you is that my father is back and he is infamous, so people on the second floor are really tight-lipped.
Shouta’s heart dropped when he read the note. His hunch was correct again, and it is as bad as it seems. The underground hero clenched his fists before he wrote a question in the notepad for Izuku to answer.
What about your mother?
The kid’s expression turned grim, before writing out his reply.
She loves my father so much.
Based on his reply, Shouta understood what he is implying.
His mother loved his father so much that she turned a blind eye to the abuse going on.
“I appreciate the visit, sensei. But the noises you heard really must just have been the wind outside because I didn’t hear a thing. So…I’ll just contact you whenever.” The boy gave his teacher a smile again and Shouta sighed. The man stood up from his seat and went for the door, but before Midoriya can shut it, he adjusted the gauze on the kid's head before patting it. He then lowered to the kid's eye level, before saying one word.
“Whenever.”
Whenever you’re ready, I’m here to listen.
_____________
Shouta pulls out the stupid boombox Hizashi gave to him as a prank. He never knew that it will have some use until now. He knows that Izuku won’t trust him with more information except for the ones he gave, so he just wishes that playing a song at midnight would reach the boy.
Well, it wasn’t really his idea. Since that damned bird knows his situation (vaguely), it was him that suggested that maybe playing a song where the kid can hear it will help in building the trust between them.
It kinda made sense to Shouta. He was not great at social interactions, especially with abused children. A song might help in getting to the kid’s head that it’s okay to get some help. Yes, Midoriya is his student, but outside the school, they were nothing. He cannot force the kid to come out of his shell when the monsters creep into his house. So…even though this might disturb some neighbors, he begrudgingly agreed to the blonde’s advice.
No one will notice that he’s been the one who is playing the boombox with a song every midnight anyway. They won’t believe that someone like him will do that, so no one questioned why ‘Lean on Me’ plays every midnight.
Shouta sighed, he hopes that the kid would lean to someone for once, even if it isn’t him. To share his problems with others and not carry the burden to just himself.
He hopes that the kid hears the words of the song and knows that everything will be okay.
Shouta will make sure of that, even if it took time.
Until Izuku is ready to talk about the noises, he will be here for the kid even from a distance.
______________
Sometime around, he visited the boy again, this time with no questions to ask.
He knocked on the door and the kid opened it immediately. The boy gave him a smile but this time, Izuku went outside. It seems that the boy is expecting him to come.
“How are you?” He asked the boy, who just bit his lips before answering.
“I’m good, sensei.” It must have been tough then. Shouta thought.
“Tough day?”
The boy just hummed affirmatively.
“Kid, you know that you can stay at my apartment if you ever need to, right?”
Midoriya looked at him incredulously, as if Shouta is playing tricks on him, and can’t believe what he is saying.
“I promise I’m not playing tricks on you. You’re always welcome to come in. You can stay for an hour or two, or even how long you would like if you just need to run away or need someone to talk to.” He knows that it was an unbelievable offer, especially for an abused child like Midoriya, but he needs to get it through the boy’s mind that he’s here for him. He is his teacher; this is not his responsibility and yet... his student has really just grown on him.
“We can talk about the noise when you’re ready, but until then…”
Shouta faced the boy and for the first time in his life, a genuine smile appeared on his face.
“I’ll just say it must have been the wind.”
The boy looked at him dumbfounded, awe shining in his eyes. Shouta noticed that the tears started to drip from the boy’s eyes. He just sighed fondly and gave the boy his handkerchief.
Shouta didn’t notice that the boy held a note in his hand, so imagine his surprise when the boy gave him a teary smile and bowed to him before giving him his handkerchief back and the note.
“Thank you so much, for everything, Aizawa-sensei.”
And just like that, the boy went back to the apartment, leaving Shouta standing in the hall.
He stared at the closed door for a moment, before opening the note.
I’ll be ready before the vacation ends. Until then, please pretend that you didn’t get a wind of this. I’ll meet you where I can lean on you.
The underground hero pocketed the note, with his chest a little lighter.
It took him a while to realize, but he’s now sure that Izuku secretly asked for his help ever since he visited the boy’s apartment.
It was not to deflect the situation, rather a silent call for help and to wait until he’s ready.
Whenever it is, Shouta will wait for the kid until the kid is ready to talk about the noises he’d been hearing since then.