A light in the void (my hero academia)

Opening up

The sun is almost setting when Midoriya and Shinsou make it back to the dorms. They don't speak a word throughout the whole way. Both of them comfortable in the amicable silence that has settled between them.

For once, the quiet doesn't seem so loud anymore.

As they arrive at Heights Alliance, they see Aizawa waiting for them in front of the doors.
He doesn't spot them right away, but when he does, they can see his back straightening slightly. A slight crease forming between his eyebrows as he notices their bloodshot eyes.

They stop in front of him at arms lengths. Izuku's body longs to erase the distance between them. He wants to feel the safety of his guardian again. Ever since he came back from the hospital, he barely sees him anymore.

Aizawa looks at both of them for a second, his eyes scanning them for something. Izuku can't be sure what it is though. Finally, his gaze settles on him. His teacher's eyes seem to convey an unspoken question.

Despite the silence, Izuku nods his head slowly. 'I'm okay' He tries to answer.

"Monoma will be attending two months of detention with Vlad, starting immediately during his two weeks suspension. He'll be on house arrest through it all." Aizawa says, barely concealed anger in his tone.

Izuku wants to protest at this. Monoma may have said some mean things, but did he really deserve to be suspended? "But Ai-"

"No. You will not defend him. He is a hero in training. He was there during the training camp. He should know better. What he did is unacceptable. He's lucky Vlad vouched for him. Otherwise, he'd be expelled." The man left no space for argument. Leaving Izuku to just nod in response, albeit hesitantly.

Sighing heavily, Aizawa spoke again. "Now, are you up to sleeping in your dorm room tonight or would you prefer spending the night in the apartment at the teacher's section?"

"Y-you're a-apartment please." Aizawa's gaze softens at that. The anger from before seems to shimmer away.

Shinsou excuses himself at that. Squeezing Izuku's shoulder one last time before he makes his way back to his dorm room.

______________________________

They are a few minutes away from the teacher's building when Aizawa finally speaks.

"So, you've been having more nightmares?" Izuku's about to play it off, if not for the knowing look in his guardian's eyes.

"Y-yeah." He admits quietly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's fine, really... You know I used to have them before too." Izuku's gaze shifts to the ground at that.

"It's not the same now, though, is it?" Sometimes, he really hates how perceptive the man is.

A few minutes pass and Aizawa thinks that maybe the kid was just going to ignore his question. However, the teen's voice comes out a moment later. Voice soft, his words hanging in the cold night's air.

"It's still her. She's always there." His gaze seems miles away as he finally looks up and ahead of him. "Although she's not alone anymore. They are there too." Aizawa doesn't need to ask to know who they are. "It's mostly hazy though. I wake up feeling this- this heaviness. This weight that settles in my chest. But I don't actually remember what they were doing. I just know that it's bad and that I don't want it to happen again. Other times-Other times they're not hazy. They're real. I- I mean they feel real. Like memories. It's these dreams that are the worst. Because when they happen. I forget that I'm out. I forget that I'm supposed to be safe now. A-And suddenly it's like I'm back there again. Like it's real and it's never going to end."