Work Text:
Title: Broken Memories Can Be More Beautiful Than the Original
Category: My Hero Academia
Pairing: Aizawa/Yamada Aizawa & Yamada & Kayama & Oboro Aizawa & Shinsou Aizawa & Eri Aizawa & Midoriya Yamada & Shinsou Yamada & Eri Yamada & Midoriya Shinsou & Eri Eri & Midoriya
Rating: T
Summary: It was an accident. A tradition held by a grieving student who never got closure, a small child wanting her favorite hero to feel like he’s a part of her family, and a tired student who couldn’t say no to his little sister were sitting something up when it happened. A child just trying to find a connection to a family that doesn’t want him accepts the rejection.
Inspired by Shattered by phantomessangel
Disclaimer: I own no rights to the MHA franchise.
Please go check out the story that inspired this one. I had this story written out during the earlier chapters.
Comment moderation is on for everyone’s safety.
~~Story Begins~~
A simple vase of clear glass sat on the kitchen table, a long strip of glossy paper set in front of the vase with an ink pot above it and a feathered pen resting inside of it. A young boy, no older than three, sat on a smoky man’s lap, kind green eyes looking at the vase, his green curls getting blown by warm air.
“Izuku,” a warm, gentle voice of a well-contained campfire said. “Have you heard the story behind this vase?”
“Mommy just says it's important, but doesn’t say why. I’ve told Mommy that I’ve seen it at the stores,” Izuku said.
The man chuckled.
“It is an everyday vase,” the man said. “But it is important to Mommy and me.”
Izuku looked up at the man.
“You see, this vase is how your Daddy met your Mommy. You see, your Daddy is very forgetful and clumsy. It was your Grandma’s birthday and I had accidentally forgotten about it. I rushed to the store to buy your grandma some flowers and a vase because I broke the last vase. I had always been a clumsy person, tripping over my feet or getting easily distracted, especially when I was a child around your age.”
“Daddy is daddy! Daddy couldn’t be a child and a Daddy!” Izuku said.
Izuku giggles as the man started to tickle his son’s sides
“Your Daddy was a child too at some point,” the man said. “Your Daddy couldn’t find the vases at the store and then your Mommy comes flying in to save me. She guides me to where the vases are and I fell in love on the first sight. She handed me this vase so I brought two vases, because this one would never leave my possession. Not when it led me to your Mommy.”
Izuku looked back at the vase as the smokey finger traced the top of the vase.
“I went back to the store after Grandma’s party and Mommy was still in the store so I asked your Mommy to come see a movie with me.”
“It sounds like a boring story,” Izuku said.
The man laughs like a crackling of firewood.
“When you get older, I’ll give you more details and you’ll understand more,” the man said. “But for now, knowing what I’ve told you about this vase and why it’s important to Mommy and me, what do you think of the vase?”
He grabbed the feather pen as Izuku kept hearing one word whisper into his mind like a gentle breeze blowing past his ear.
“Give it to me in one word,” the man said.
“Reflective.”
~~
Izuku Midoriya was trying to get used to his new ‘family’. He was grateful that they took him in when he knew no one else would’ve.
Well, All Might would have but he doesn’t have a foster license as he never got one and he doesn’t have enough time let alone the energy to teach, take teaching classes, plus his own health. Midoriya didn’t think he was worth the extra effort for All Might to add fostering classes on top of everything else.
The death of his own Mom was still fresh in his memory and within his heart while his Dad’s own death anniversary was coming up, but his parents had instilled upon him a kind heart and a giving nature. That homemade gifts were always worth more than anything they could buy and he wanted to show his appreciation to them while still honoring his parents.
It was nothing more but a simple walk by when Eri was giving him a tour of his new home. He heard two simple words in a small whisper as they walked past the three shelf wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. He looked at the middle shelf where a hand painted vase sat. The vase held a lot of memories for a lot of people, but they were broken. The memories felt like they were a jigsaw puzzle, waiting to be glued together once it was completed.
A city landscape went around the body of the vase through the different cycles of a day from the early morning, to midday, to early dusk, and nighttime. Each with their own clouds.
He didn’t know the story behind the vase and the words slowly faded as Eri showed him the hallway that led to the bedrooms.
‘Evolving Memories.’
~~
“Deku! We need your help!” Eri said one day startling her favorite hero from his own project in his room where he was outlining some calligraphy with a pencil on a long, shiny, white paper. Small ink bottles of blue, pink, and purple waited to get open above the paper and next to a calligraphy pen that had a black feather attached to it.
“Huh? What’s the problem?” Midoriya said as he put his pencil down and sat Eri on his lap.
“Eri, we don’t need his help,” Hitoshi said as he walked into the room. “We would like for his help.”
“I’m always happy to help,” Midoriya said. “However, I still need to know what I’m helping with exactly.”
“Zawa and Yama’s cele-bating getting together today and we forgot!” Eri said. “We need to get them presents!”
“It’s their anniversary today,” Hitoshi said. “Like usual, they told us not to worry, but I forgot because I’m trying to catch up on Heroic Lessons. It wasn’t until Eri asked what an anniversary meant that I remembered. They’re due to being back home in two hours and -”
“It’s fine. I actually was making them something to thank them for taking me in. I think it would mean a lot if the two of you did some of the writing. I’ll need to call Iida and see if he’s free to do the last part.”
Hitoshi squinted at Midoriya.
“Why not you? We’re already taking your present away and are you sure it’s okay for us to even do that?” Hitoshi said.
“Don’t worry about it. I can easily say I didn’t know about it until today and fix them supper. I can use that to be my present for them. Besides, I think it would mean more if it came from Iida and not me. I’m not family, after all.”
“Yet. You’re not family yet, but in our eyes, you are already our brother,” Hitoshi said as he walked over. “So, what is this anyway?”
The three of them looked at the paper.
“It’s sort of a tradition I did with my Dad when he was alive. One of the few memories I still have of him, but what we would do is take an item that has a sentimental value and think of one or two words that represent the story behind the item. We would use calligraphy to write the words,” Midoriya said.
Midoriya moved his hand which caught Hitoshi and Eri’s attention. He pulled out a chain that had two wedding bands on them.
“Like this for example,” Midoriya said. “These are my parents' wedding bands. The only things I have left of both of them and I would never give them up unless the situation called for it. I’m hoping that when that happens, I could have fake rings lined up to give up and not the real ones.”
Midoriya clutched his hand around the wedding bands as he tried to hold back the tears.
“Somewhere, possibly in one of the few boxes I still have to unpack, is a paper that represents the rings with the two words, ‘true love’. It was the first project I did after my Dad’s passing for my Mom,” Midoriya said. “I never found out the story about the rings as it hurt my Mom too much to talk about my Dad.”
Eri looked back at the paper on Midoriya’s desk.
“What does it say?” Eri said.
“Evolving Memories. I have it written in the English language since Aizawa and Yamada both enjoy the language,” Midoriya said.
“What item is it for exactly?” Hitoshi said, looking at the paper.
“That vase with the cityscape and day cycle,” Midoriya said. “So, I was thinking that Hitoshi, you should trace the lines ‘Evolv’ in purple, then Eri, in pink you can start from where your brother left off up til ‘Mem’, and Iida can finish the rest.”
“But, I think some green would be nice,” Hitoshi said.
Eri nodded.
“Green for you!” Eri said. “Because you are family too! Zawa and Yama won’t give you up Deku!”
Midoriya smiled sadly before rubbing her head.
“Aizawa already puts up with me enough, besides, no one besides my parents would ever want me,” Midoriya said. “Now shall we get started?”
~~
Yamada was busy talking to the receptionist at their apartment building when he saw Midoriya heading towards the staircase with grocery bags around his arms and was also using Blackwhip to carry more.
“Midoriya?” Yamada said getting his foster son (soon to be adopted)’s attention.
“Oh! Hello, Yamada,” Midoriya said with a bright smile. “Happy anniversary. I didn’t know it was today otherwise I would’ve gotten you a present. I hope you don’t mind if your presents from me were doing the grocery shopping and fixing supper tonight.
Yamada smiled at him.
“Thanks Listener, and I don’t mind at all, it’s a big help, but you really shouldn’t worry about us,” Yamada said.
“It’s no problem. I don’t mind and honestly, I would’ve felt bad later on.”
“I’m just glad you didn’t bring home another cat,” Yamada said. “Meowmallow with her zoomies is trouble enough right now, I don’t think another stray would help matters. “I’ll be up in a little bit to help you. Shouta should be home soon.”
“Okay, but you and Aizawa should enjoy it with Hitoshi and Eri,” Midoriya said. “I’m just an extra.”
Midoriya started to make his way up the stairs and Yamada sighed.
“Midoriya, why can’t you see that we want you as family? We know your Mom passed away not too long ago, but she knew she was dying and helped us start the paperwork of adopting you,” Yamada said. “You were the missing piece that helps us feel like a whole family.”
About two minutes later. Shouta Aizawa walked through the entrance.
“Shou, baby, welcome home,” Yamada said. “I’m almost done with getting our green bunny his own security code and card. Happy anniversary, love.”
“Mm, happy anniversary. I’m going to take a quick nap before I start supper,” Aizawa said.
“Oh. Midoriya came through about three minutes ago with the groceries and said he’ll fix supper for us tonight as his present for our anniversary.”
“The best anniversary present he could give to all of us is to agree on us officially calling him our son,” Aizawa said. He walked over to the elevator. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
~~
When Midoriya entered the apartment, he was surprised to see Eri on Hitoshi’s shoulders in the living room, trying to hang the ‘Evolving Memories’ paper above the middle shelf, above the vase.
“Guys, that’s dangerous,” Midoriya said. “Just let me put the groceries away and I’ll help you hang it up.”
“Dude, you’ve already done so much today. We can handle this little task, can’t we Eri?”
“Yeah!” Eri said.
“Just be careful, if it's not up by the time I get done, then I’m taking over. Besides, Yamada is talking to the receptionist downstairs when I come back,” Midoriya said, carefully walking around them.
“And you took the stairs like a moron, thanks for the heads-up,” Hitoshi said.
Midoriya chuckled and walked into the kitchen. No sooner did he pick up the eggs to put them away when a white ball came charging at him, tripping him as it ran underneath his feet. The cartoon of eggs fell out of his hands and he landed on his butt, but he landed on his right wrist wrong and it hurt.
“Now’s not the time to get the zoomies, Meowmallow!” Hitoshi said as Eri squeaked before Midoriya heard a thud followed by a crash.
He got up quickly, hissing as he had used his right hand to help get up and then bit his own lip as he continued to move it, pushing through the pain. He ran to the living room to see Hitoshi cradling Eri, both of them unharmed thankfully, but the paper was scratched up and the vase was on the floor in pieces.
“Are the two of you okay?” Midoriya said, rushing over to help them get up without hurting themselves further when they heard the door open.
“What the hell happened here?’ Aizawa said in a sharp tone that he uses it when someone is in trouble.
The children looked over at the door to see Aizawa standing there, not looking at them directly, but at the broken vase pieces surrounding them. His eyes moved to looked at the children, but only focused on Midoriya.
“Well, Problem Child, what did you do this time? Couldn’t you have stopped causing me problems and grief for -”
Midoriya looked away as he didn’t know how to talk to Aizawa when he was this anger and that’s when Midoriya saw the fear in Hitoshi’s eyes and Eri was starting to breathe faster, a possible sign of her having a flashback.
“Dad, stop! Mi-” Hitoshi started to say, but Midoriya shook his head.
Midoriya turned around, keeping his injured wrist that was starting to bruise close to his chest with his other hand.
“I-I don’t have much money saved for me to buy something for your anniversary with Mom’s funeral and my schooling, but I still wanted to give you something for your anniversary and to say thanks for taking me in. I thought that I would be able to use Float to hang -”
“We never asked you to give us something,” Aizawa said, taking a step forward.
A little cry caught Aizawa’s attention.
“Make him stop!” Eri said, putting her hands up to her ears. “Please make him stop!”
Aizawa looked behind Midoriya to his son and daughter. Hitoshi was slowly getting up, keeping Eri close to his chest. That’s when he noticed the expressions on his children and how they were afraid.
They were afraid of him.
Aizawa took a deep breath and took a step back.
“Is anyone-”
“Like we’ll tell you now if we are injured or not,” Hitoshi said.
Aizawa flinched because he had a point and -
“Eri is having a flashback, she might be thinking you’re Overhaul from the tone of your voice, but it looks like she has no injuries. Hitoshi did try to save the vase so he might have some cuts on his hands,” Midoriya said. “We’ll be fine, but m-maybe you take Y-yamada to go see a movie or-or something, just so everyone could maybe cool down?”
“Problem-”
Midoriya flinched and Aizawa saw it so he tried to retract.
“Midoriya, I’m -”
“Mad at me. I know. T-today’s a stressful day, but anniversaries were important to my family,” Midoriya said. Aizawa watched as Midoriya had winced as he clutched at his chest, holding his wrist but a sob from Eri caused him to turn his attention back to his daughter. “I know I made a mistake which ruined your special day and I’m sorry for it, but that doesn’t mean that I still can’t try to fix it. I-I know the vase won’t-”
“We don’t talk about the vase AND you know nothing of the story behind it,” Aizawa said with a snap.
He saw Midoriya flinch and another sob from Eri.
Aizawa had to step back. He had too as they didn’t know the full story behind the vase or the memories surrounding it. They didn’t know about the lost friend.
“Right, Hizashi was at the entrance. If he’s still down there then we’ll go for a walk. If not, then I’ll call and ask him to let me know when you three are ready for me to return and if I am cooled down. Does that sound fair to everyone?”
“Hitoshi?” Midoriya said.
“Fine! Whatever! Just leave and calm down because maybe then you’ll listen!” Hitoshi said glaring at Aizawa. “At least Pops will listen!”
Aizawa left the apartment and leaned against the door shortly after he shut it.
“How do I fix my mistakes? I know I was in the wrong here, I let my emotions cloud my judgment and I hurt my kids because of it,” Aizawa said. He looked up towards the ceiling hallway. “Zashi, Oboro, I screwed up and I don’t know how to fix it.”
~~
“Midoriya, why-”
“Shinsou,” Midoriya said, ignoring the hurt look in Hitoshi’s eyes at the use of his family name and no longer his given name. He clutched the hidden wedding rings tighter through his shirt, tears coming out of his eyes and slowly running down his cheeks. “Go comfort Eri. I’ll start cleaning up the vase. I know someone who can fix it.”
“What about your wrist?” Hitoshi said.
“It’s nothing. I’m sadly known as the Bone Breaker Kid,” Midoriya said. “Don’t expect me to be here for supper or to stay here.”
Midoriya looked into Hitoshi’s eyes.
“I broke my own family and I don’t want to break yours too,” Midoriya said.
~~
“Shouta Aizawa, I literally told you five minutes ago that Midoriya had just returned from grocery shopping,” Yamada said, using his finger to stab him in the chest. “That kid HAS to be forced to take the elevator and that has only happened twice. Once when we first took him in and he was asleep on your back, the second is when Hitoshi brainwashed Midoriya to take the elevator instead of carrying all the heavy furniture we brought for him upstairs by himself! The fastest we have timed Midoriya on going up the stairs without his quirk is two minutes and thirty seconds and that’s him running! He was carrying groceries with Black Whip Shouta!
“Hizashi, I screwed up. I-”
“Screwed up is an understatement! Midoriya has said and proven to himself many times that he always puts groceries away or helps put them away before he even goes to do something else. So, he lied to you because he assessed the situation and focused on what mattered more. Which is our kids minus himself!” Yamada said. “Now go walk around the block until I call you when I find out more information.”
His fight with his husband kept playing itself on repeat right after the scene of him entering his apartment and what he said to Midoriya.
He usually doesn’t let his emotions get ahead of him, but that vase was the last thing that Oboro helped make. It shouldn’t have been a big deal as they all had one. Oboro, Nemuri, Tensei, Hizashi, and himself. They each hand painted the scenes on the vases and his husband still had his version. Even then, if Midoriya really did cause it, it would have been an accident. He didn’t know the memories behind the vase, the amount of sentimental value it had, the story behind it.
Midoriya is a good kid and while it seemed like he didn’t know much about sentimental items, he enjoyed making homemade gifts. He doesn’t know if he actually hasn’t unpacked things from his parents that still have sentimental value to him, or if Midoriya didn’t keep anything like that. However, Aizawa knows Midoriya didn’t deserve the anger.
Midoriya had just lost his mother and the only family he still had wanted nothing to do with him, calling him a ‘disgrace’, ‘a useless child’ and a ‘nobody’.
Aizawa was going to have a long talk with Midoriya, an apology and an explanation. He knows it will take time for Midoriya to trust him again, but knows being open about everything will help.
His phone started to ring which he answered after seeing that it was his husband.
“Zashi,” Aizawa said.
“Midoriya left the apartment with the vase pieces and an injured wrist, possibly broken,” his husband said.
“What? But-”
“Hitoshi says he doesn’t believe Midoriya will come back to stay and if he does come back, it will be to gather what he wants to keep and when we aren’t there,” Yamada said. “You need to make this right, so please find him before he does something stupid in his quest to apologize for something that he didn’t even cause!”
“I will. You know -”
“Hitoshi is furious at you because you didn’t listen. You refused to listen and Eri is terrified of you. We know the green listener is going through a rough time right now and you’re the one who knows him the best.”
Aizawa leaned against the building as he closed his eyes.
“But would he be willing to talk to me? To trust me again after I broke his trust?” Aizawa said.
“You know him the best Shou, do you think his trust in you is that fragile?” Yamada said.
“If he trusted me then -”
“He was being a hero. He was protecting Hitoshi and Eri. The person who is at fault is Meowmallow with her zoomies as she ran underneath all of their feet. The question you should be asking is if Oboro really wanted you to keep such little things? He always said that items like our vases were like clouds. Once they break -”
“They can be their own little clouds in the sky or form with another cloud to create a better one,” Aizawa said. “I’ll find him and bring him home.”
~~
A silver chain with two wedding bands was held in the air by a hand wearing a black wrist brace, but it didn’t last long as another hand belonging to someone older snatched the rings away. A small paper rolled up into a scroll was already grabbed before the other hand of the older person swept across the table over top of the broken vase pieces. Familiar green eyes watched as the rings and paper were tucked away before they moved down to watch blue, pink, and purple colors rebuild the vase. The vase was completed, almost in perfect condition, but the three colors were acting like glue.
“Take the vase and learn your lesson. All you ever do is destroy families so quit being so greedy with selfish want of being a part of a family. I’ll hate to see how broken you made this family.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Midoriya.”
The vase was grabbed and left the house. Tears fell from the green eyes as he looked at his phone. A message was sent and then they were gone.
~~
“How did you get those?”
“A client gave them to me. It was the only thing I wanted from a killer like him.”
“You have no right to those. Return them.”
“It was payment for my services.”
A clear vase was grabbed, the silver chain with wedding bands was grabbed next and the scroll of paper.
“What are you doing?”
“Returning them to someone who needs them more than you.”
“He’s a murder! He deserves nothing! He’s broken our family.”
“No. You did. He doesn’t deserve this from you.”
~~
It’s been two days since they last saw Midoriya. It wasn’t for the lack of trying, but all they had received was a text message Midoriya had sent them to go to this cat cafe. It was there they were given the broken vase repaired with midnight blue glue, glittery pink glue, and reflective purple glue. The colors that matched the ‘Evolving Memories’ sign they now had hanging up over their family and friends photos.
“It’s fixed and even more beautiful than before,” Yamada said, tearing up.
“Why use blue through?” Aizawa said.
“Deku had Cousin Iida write the blue part of the sign too,” Eri said.
“Why not any green?” Aizawa said.
“We tried to get Deku to use green to represent himself but he said no,” Eri said looking down,
“Yoshiki! I will not ask for them back! They are mine and -” a female said as the door to the cat cafe opened.
The small family looked at the elderly couple that just walked in. The lady yelling and tugging on the man’s arms who held onto a clear vase in the crook of his elbow. His other hand held onto a scroll of paper with a silver chain wrapped around it that had two wedding rings dangling a little.
“Enough! Rikka, grow up! These -”
Hitoshi had climbed over Aizawa lap to face the couple. Silent fury in his eyes as he walked up to the couple, his eyes focused only on the rings.
“Hitoshi, wait!” Aizawa said.
“-don’t belong to you. They never had.” the man said in response.
“Yes they do! They are the last thing that my son and daughter had. They are precious to me.”
The man started to laugh. Aizawa stood up and used his long legs to catch up to his son and restrained him.
“Let me go,” Hitoshi said.
“Oh? Now she’s precious to you? Now she’s being called our daughter? You wanted nothing to do with her while she was dating, engaged, and even married to our son!”
“Hitoshi!” Aizawa said.
“Those rings don’t belong to you! They belong to Midoriya!” Hitoshi said, getting the couple’s attention.
“See. Even this young man knows -” the female started to say.
“They belong to Izuku Midoriya! He said he would never give those rings up as they were the last thing he had that belonged to his parents,” Hitoshi yelled. “So how do you have them?”
“Hitoshi,” Aizawa said as Yamada and Eri walked over with the vase.
The older man looked at the family of four with gratitude while the female sneered at them.
“You are Aizawa and Yamada, correct?” the man said. “Izuku’s foster family.”
“Yes, and you are?” Aizawa said letting go of Hitoshi.
“Then please, give these items back to Izuku,” the man said. “I didn’t know that he had come over to visit a couple of days ago and that my wife was heartless enough to charge the wedding rings for her to fix that vase.”
“You can’t give them back! They are mine, Yoshiki!”
“I said enough, Rikka,” Yoshiki said as Yamada took the offered items and gave the vase and rings to Hitoshi while Eri was in charge of the paper. “They belong to our grandson, the last bit of Hisashi and Inko we have left. He deserves them and if you ever take them away from him again, I will divorce you.”
“So, you are just willing to give them back to the murderer? Hisashi, our son, would still be alive if Izuku was dead! He killed our son!”
“An earthquake killed our son,” Yoshiki yelled. “Izuku was four and Hisashi was protecting his son like a father should! He was four when he was found alive in his dad’s arms after that earthquake.”
Yoshiki shook his head at his wife.
“Inko was never good enough for you in your eyes and now even your own grandson isn’t good enough for Hisashi. I should’ve listened to our son on his wedding day when he begged me to divorce you sooner, so I could still have a relationship with my grandson without your toxicity tainting it.”
“Excuse me,” Eri said. “If you were able to fix the vase, why is there no green?”
“There isn’t green on the vase because Izuku wasn’t affiliated or had strong bonds with the vase’s owner. Izuku has a side effect of my wife’s quirk that mutated with Inko’s quirk. It’s not strong or common enough for it to be considered as a quirk, just a side effect. My wife can fix items that have strong sentimental value to people and how it will be fixed will be based on the items owner bonds with the old and the new. Izuku, if the item has a strong sentimental value, will sometimes hear a word or two that represent the memories the item holds.”
“The Evolving Memories were made for the vase,” Aizawa said in thought as he looked at their newly fixed vase.
“Izuku doesn’t have many items from his parents because of my wife,” Yoshiki said. “However, he knows how important sentimental items are as my son’s business deals with sentimental items.”
“You are heartless!” Yamada said pointing to Rikka, his voice sounding choked up as he restrained himself from crying. “Izuku is precious and I’m glad you didn’t want to take him in! You don’t deserve him!”
“He deserves to NOT have a family that loves him! All he ever does is bring death!” Rikka said.
“Incorrect,” Aizawa said, going back to restraining his son who was getting ready to throw a punch at the lady. “Izuku deserves to have people who love him because he loves humanity too much. Even if they don’t deserve it, he puts others before himself.”
Aizawa walked around the couple with his family following him. He let his husband guide their two children out of the cafe. It wasn’t until they were halfway home that Yamada looked over at him.
“He doesn’t deserve to have that wrench in his life! No wonder he was adamant he wasn’t family. Not with her around! We need to bring him home! We need to,” Yamada said.
~~
A couple of days and nights later, Aizawa who had Hitoshi’s permission to keep Midoriya’s rings around his neck just like he does with his own wedding ring, when he finally found Midoriya. He rushed up to the school’s rooftop and made sure that he was loud enough for Midoriya to hear.
“Midoriya, please get away from the edge,” Aizawa said.
Midoriya was sitting on the edge of the roof, he didn’t make any motion to acknowledge Aizawa’s presence or his suggestion. He just sat there with mud covered shoes next to him. His yellow backpack which was just as filthy as the shoes was now an ugly yellow-brown color with a lot of holes. His green curls that always bounced with his head were matted down with mud, sweat, and Aizawa swears blood because he sees a gash on his head. His shirt was torn up with slashes peeking from underneath the shirt. Aizawa was scared to see how his shorts or the front of Midoriya looked.
“Midoriya-”
“Did you know, Sensei, that right below where I’m sitting is a window that was my 8th grade homeroom?” Midoriya said.
“This was your middle school?” Aizawa said as he walked closer.
“Yeah. I don’t have any good memories here. I don’t have any good memories from my elementary school either, but I can see the stars better here.”
“Stars are beautiful tonight,” Aizawa said. “May I sit here with you?”
Midoriya moved to shrug, but let out a silent hiss of pain which Aizawa took notice of. He sat next to Midoriya and took a glance at him. The front of his shirt was torn up, Midoriya had his knees up to his chest, his legs from what Aizawa could see was blue which had the Pro-Hero scared. Midoriya was looking up at the sky.
“My Dad always told me that the stars in the sky are our ancestors watching over us,” Midoriya said. “He liked to quote an old Disney character.”
“Zashi and Eri love Disney movies,” Aizawa said, looking up at the stars. “May I take a guess?”
“Go right ahead."
“Is it that one space adventurer that has like five different spin-offs? What’s his name? Fuzz. Duzz. Muzz.”
Midoriya looked over at him, blinking. “Do you mean Buzz Lightyear?”
“Yes, him.”
Midoriya laughed and looked back up at the stars. “No. I said old, Sensei.”
“That movie is old! It came out two years before I was born,” Aizawa said, defending himself.
“I mean, the first appearance of Buzz Lightyear is from the Pre-Quirk era and he actually has fifteen different spin-off shows and five more movies not related to the series that he came from originally, but no. Try again, but think of the Pre-Quirk era.”
Aizawa thought about it.
“I don’t think I have watched any of their pre-quirk movies. I don’t think Zashi or Eri have either,” Aizawa said.
“Shame. I personally love the pre-quirk movies and shows. They seem to be more inspirational and memorable in my opinion. I think Lilo & Stitch would be amazing for Eri. I think she would see herself in Stitch with what Overhaul taught her at the beginning and the character development that happens to Stitch because of Lilo.”
“Perhaps you could guide us through the Pre-Quirk movies,” Aizawa said. “We miss you at home and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything that happened that day. I was out of line.”
“You have no need to be sorry. The vase was important to you and you were upset.”
“But, I didn’t assess the situation like you did,” Aizawa said. “I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you, I shouldn't have blamed you. Don’t say it is fine because it’s not. Hizashi already scolded me because he had told me earlier that day you had come back from grocery shopping. I should know by now that no matter what you do, groceries will be your first priority unless someone is injured.”
Midoriya stayed silent.
“You’re the second person to apologize to me and acknowledge their mistakes,” Midoriay finally said. “The first one is Iida.”
“I'd like to think that I’m the third,” Aizawa said, reaching around his neck. “We met your grandparents when we picked up the vase.”
Midoriya looked over and his eyes widened as he saw the offered chain with two wedding rings. Aizawa heard Midoriya’s breath get shaky and saw him bite his lip, saw the way he moved his hands into fists like he was restraining himself from grabbing it.
How many sentimental valued items did that woman - his own grandmother - took from him?
“Your grandfather handed this, a scroll, and a clear vase to us, much to his wife’s anger. He wants you to have them back,” Aizawa said. “Hitoshi saw the rings and it looked like he was ready to fight him for the rings back. He said he knew you wouldn’t give them up, but you did. You gave them up for us, to fix the vase, and you shouldn’t have.”
Aizawa reached over and with Midoriya watching him, grabbed his hand. He turned Midoriya’s hand over and gently placed the wedding rings and the silver chain in his hand. He gently closed Midoriya’s fingers over the rings. Midoriya kept staring at his now enclosed hand, like he couldn’t believe that he was holding them again.
“The vase and these rings, they are the last of the connection you have with your family, your biological family. Maybe, we can find a different item so you can have a different connection to your adoptive family.”
Midoriya looked at Aizawa now after he moved his hands back to his chest, like he wasn’t going to let them go ever again.
“We want you to join our family,” Aizawa said. “We were going to ask you on our anniversary. All we need for you is to agree as your mother had already helped us with the paperwork before she passed away.”
Midoriya looked back up at the stars and Aizawa felt his heart drop to his stomach.
“Look at the stars, the great Kings of the past are up there, watching over us. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you and so will I.”
“What?” Aizawa said.
“The Lion King movie. The first one. Mufasa is telling his son about the stars in the sky. It’s the quote my Dad loved quoting whenever we would stare at the stars together. I like to imagine that Dad is up there, watching over me, guiding me, and now my Mom is up there too.”
He looked over at Aizawa.
“If you are still willing to have me in your family, I would love it,” Midoriya said.
“I’m sensing a what Pro-”
Aizawa stopped himself, remembering the flinch Midoriya gave.
“It’s fine. You can call me Problem Child,” Midoriya said. “But, I ran into some of my old bullies from middle school and their new friends. They used their quirks on me and one of their quirks deals with paralysis. I can’t feel my legs right now.”
Aizawa stood up and grabbed Midoriya who put the chain back on his neck.
“Only you, Problem Child, but I wouldn’t change you for the world,” Aizawa said as he made his way back home.
And with Midoriya back in his arms, they were going back to their family which will now be completed.