(TW: Past child abuse)
Kaminari stared in the mirror, eyes drifting to his cheek.
He had the faintest scar, no one really noticed it since it blended in with his pale skin, but Kaminari always spotted it when he saw himself.
It reminded him of all the other scars he owned.
They littered his whole body, some more noticeable than others. Sometimes he'd like to think he got them from common childhood acts like skinning his knee or wiping out on his skateboard, or maybe even falling out of a tree he dangerously climbed.
Unfortunately for him, his scars were obviously from abuse. Although he never realized it was abuse since his parents called it 'discipline'.
Kaminari thought his punishments were normal. His mother told him his father was disciplining him the same way he was as a child.
Thing is, Kaminari never saw whip scars across his father's back like his had. He never could imagine his big scary father having a busted lip or black eye. Kaminari could not understand why his father usually hit him in places that couldn't be seen while wearing clothes during the school week.
Kaminari thought it was wrong, but that thought sat in the back of his mind while his mother's enabling words kept him from speaking up.
He couldn't stop the sudden feeling of smallness whenever these 'punishments' happened too. There were moments where he felt fuzzy, vulnerable, little.
His father hated that. He was kicked out plenty of times for being caught sucking his thumb or accidentally wetting the bed/himself. All Kaminari wanted in those episodes was to be loved, cared for, and treated like a little baby that their parents always wanted.
It felt like a dream. A dream that would never be a reality. He wasn't meant to be loved, it just wasn't who he was. His parents always said that. They said it so often he really didn't see the possibility of being loved ever happening.
Then he got into UA.
The first time he showed up to class with a mysterious black eye, everyone was concerned. They asked him if he was okay, hugged him, and treated all the other little cuts littering his arms.
It was the first time he got small for a good reason, enjoying the attention from his classmates. The concern in their voices was music to his ears. Only he never understood why they cared so much, wasn't this normal? Some punishments were just nastier than others, surely they could relate to that?
But then Aizawa was so soft with him, gently talking to him in ways he wished his parents would. Holding him and hugging him in ways he only read in stories and watched in movies.
"Can you tell me who did this, sweetheart?" Aizawa asked softly as he bounced Kaminari on his knee.
The little curled into Aizawa more, completely enamoured with this newfound affection. "Why?"
"Because if someone is hurting you, I need to know."
Kaminari still couldn't understand, whining out, "why?"
Aizawa sighed, making Kaminari freeze up again. A gentle hand rubbed his back. "It's alright, baby. I'm not upset. Shhhhh...."
Kaminari didn't realize he was crying until Aizawa used his other hand to wipe his tears.
"People who hurt others are bad people."
"Bad?"
"Very bad."
"Like villains?"
"Yes, I'd say they are villains in my book."
Kaminari hiccuped. "My daddy and mommy are villains?"
