Forgotten Nostalgia (Dadzawa)

Leave Me And my Croissant Alone

Aizawa POV

The scream was short-lived but most definitely Izuku's.

Shouta's eyes flew open. He has his capture weapon wrapped around him before he even had time to take the next breath. Before the panic could set in. 

He ran out the door, wildly scanning the yard. There was a slight breeze, rustling branches and overgrown grass swaying around his boots, and a low whistling. But no Uraraka and more importantly no Izuku.

"Uraraka? Izuku?" His hands tightened around the scarf but there was no villain to apprehend or student to save. He was standing alone in the yard. 

Please let this be another fluke. Maybe Cat Number Two had scared the two of them off with the whole biting their own tail thing or maybe Todoroki had jumped up out of nowhere. He was known for that. That's what it was. That's what it had to be. He wasn't really alone they were probably hiding around the corner. 

"Kid c'mon. I don't have time for this," Shouta shouted, cursing his voice for not staying steady. He stayed perfectly still, waiting for the problem child to come out from his hiding place like he always did. He'd once found the kid on top of his refrigerator this was nothing.

It had to be nothing. 

The wind picked up speed but still no Izuku.

Shouta's breath caught in his throat. His grip tightened around the scarf to the point he was afraid the ultra-strength fabric would rip. He tried to let go, to force himself to relax, he didn't want to scare Izuku, but he just couldn't.

"Izuku!"

Nothing.

Shouta swore- or maybe he stayed silent- it was hard to tell. His brain was being louder than everything around him and it was really screwing up the whole not panicking thing. His breath kept catching and he was becoming way too aware of his own breathing. This couldn't be happening. He'd sworn to Nezu he would protect all his students. He swore to Recovery Girl he'd protect Izuku after the memory loss. He'd sworn to himself he would protect his son. 

There had been this insecurity festering ever since Izuku was hit with the memory loss quirk. He'd tried to push it down and be his old dull self but it was an annoying little worry that just refused to die. 

He wasn't able to protect his students. 

No matter what he would never be strong enough to protect them from all the horrible things out there.

Shouta had tried to convince himself he'd been thinking irrationally. he was Eraserhead. He was one of the best teachers at U.A. and one of the best underground heroes of his era. He was more than competent. So why was he so worried about it? Those insecurities would never be founded.

Life had been cruel enough to prove him wrong.

He'd only been standing there for a minute at most but it felt like a lifetime.

Somehow he was able to release the scarf with his left hand and grab his phone. Two seconds later and it was pressed against his ear and ringing. 

"Eraserhead," a grim voice answered after the second ring. He knew. He already knew. Shouta had failed.

Even after knowing that Nezu knew that he knew that Nezu knew Shouta heard himself say, "he's gone."

"I know. It's going to be okay. We'll get him back."

His legs started moving and he'd never been more grateful for that in his life because if he'd just kept standing here he might have lost the ability to breathe. It was hard to focus on anything other than the fact that Izuku was not in his house or in his yard or in U.A. He was most likely with villains, The League was his first guess. But they hadn't wanted the kid dead, they'd taken him and let him live long enough for Izuku to scream at least, that was something.