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turtletot · 2 months ago

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A Rock to Hold

Basically, Aizawa finds a partially regressed Kaminari hiding in his dorm after a bad morning.

Words: 2170

A/n: I think that there needs to be more Aizawa and Kaminari fics. Not just in age regression, though Kaminari is lacking in that area too, but just in general. My boy needs dadzawa too.

I want to make this a series of oneshots. I've got a few ideas kicking around in my head. I'm typically a really slow writer though so we'll see.

When Aizawa walked into the 1-A classroom, his students immediately abandoned their conversations and rushed to their seats. They sat silently, waiting for him to start class. It was a far cry from their first days at UA, and the changes certainly didn’t stop there. Every student had grown so much, both in academics and maturity. Many would have crumbled after facing the challenges this class has suffered through, but his students took those experiences and turned them into strengths.

It wasn’t until he got to the podium that he realized there was an empty seat. “Where is Kaminari?”

Based on their expressions, everyone else was wondering the same. Well, most of them were. Bakugo was staring daggers at Aizawa for wasting his time, though he had spared a brief glance at Kaminari’s desk. Aizawa figured Bakugo had as much information as he did. The kid was good at keeping secrets, but it was always obvious if he knew something.

The only two students that seemed to have at least some knowledge of Kaminari’s whereabouts were Kirishima and Sero. They shared a look before Kirishima raised his hand. “He told us that he wasn’t feeling well.”

Concern began to rise. Aizawa once had to practically drag Kaminari out of class to the Recovery Girl’s room as the kid kept trying to reassure him that he was fine. There had been a massive thunderstorm a couple of days prior which apparently, unbeknownst to everyone else, rendered Kaminari unable to sleep for multiple nights. It was upsetting to see how much he was willing to neglect his health for the sake of not falling behind. Aizawa knew the school’s motto, “plus ultra,” literally meant to go beyond what you can do, but not at the expense of your wellbeing for Christ’s sake. Especially when it was just to avoid missing classes.

Though he always talked about avoiding schoolwork and complained about it, Kaminari was one of the most determined to be there. If it wasn’t for his attention span (Aizawa really needed to talk to him about getting an ADHD diagnosis), Kaminari probably would have been one of the top students.

There was no way that Kaminari wouldn’t show up to class just because he “wasn’t feeling good.” If it was that bad, he would have asked for the Recovery Girl or someone. He wasn’t one to isolate. Kirishima and Sero knew this too, and the worries on their faces matched Aizawa’s.

He sighed. Whatever it is, it would have to wait. He trusted Kaminari to go to either him or another teacher if there was something truly serious or urgent happening. For now, he had to focus on his class. “Thank you, Kirishima. Now, today you all will…”

---

After Mic had taken his spot in the classroom, Aizawa headed towards the dorms. Kaminari still hadn’t showed up. Aizawa shoved his growing anxiety out of the way and think of explanations. The most plausible idea was either a breakdown or panic attack, but he would have reached out to Kirishima and Sero when they checked on him. Besides, if that was the case then he should have gotten to class by now.

Another explanation was the involvement of a third party, forcing Kaminari to skip class and lie about it. It wasn’t likely though. Who would keep him from going to class? Another student couldn’t possibly stop him without it ending up in a fight, which would alert security. And what would even be the point?

It could be a villain, someone whose threat should be taken seriously. But how would they get into the dorms? God forbid if the League of Villains-

Before Aizawa could follow that train of thought, he found himself at Kaminari’s door. Carefully placing his ear against the door, he could barely make out sniffling. It was tiny and would be near imperceivable to anyone else. But after years of working underground and fine tuning his senses, it was like shattering glass.

Aizawa knocked on the door. “Kaminari, is everything alright?”

The sniffling immediately stopped. After a moment of silence, he could hear the rustling sounds of someone moving. Then a few rushed footsteps. Then silence again. He sighed. Aizawa had taught him how to conceal his movements better than that.

“I’m coming in if you don’t respond. Student safety policy.”

Nothing.

Holding back another sigh, Aizawa pulled out his teacher’s ID and unlocked the door. He opened it slowly, acutely aware of the shuddered breathing that was now audible.

The lights were turned off and the curtains pulled closed. Kaminari was nowhere to be seen. Aizawa stepped into the room, quickly following the breathing to the closet. The door was only half closed, and he could see Kaminari sitting against the wall, arms loosely wrapped around his legs. Carefully, he pulled the door enough to the side to fully see Kaminari.

The kid looked wrecked. His eyes were red and puffy. Tear tracks that streaked down his cheeks were drying. The worst part wasn’t the anguish that was clearly written on his face, but his resignation to it.

Aizawa sat on the floor across from him. Watery eyes followed him. “Can you hear me?”

Kaminari nodded.

“Can you speak?”

He closed his eyes and thought about it for a while. Aizawa was about to move on to a different question when Kaminari responded with a small, “yeah.” His normally strong and loud voice was quiet and hoarse.

No longer bound to yes/no questions, there were a lot of ways Aizawa could proceed. Why didn’t he go to class? What was bothering him? He quickly analyzed what he knew about the kid, how he handled stressful situations, and the internal struggles Aizawa was aware of. Aizawa hated dancing around topics. It wastes time that could have been used to work on the problem at hand. His questions had to be effective and get him to the root of the problem as quickly as possible.

“Why didn’t you reach out to anyone?”

Kaminari’s eyes snapped open, and his body tensed. “I-I um…” he looked down in his lap. “…Didn’ wan anyone seeing me like this.”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. He knew for a fact that he has had multiple breakdowns around close friends. In fact, he often sought them out when it happened. Usually way past curfew when everyone was supposed to be in their own rooms. Aizawa always let them be. God knows that his students needed those moments.

His friends weren’t the only ones he was emotionally open with either. He’s had pretty deep conversations with Mic. Deep enough that Mic doesn’t share them with Aizawa to respect Kaminari’s privacy.

So, what was it about this time that made it different?

Aizawa looked at Kaminari more closely. He was still in his pajamas and had a fuzzy Raichu blanket draped over his shoulders that made him look small. Something was in his lap. Aizawa shifted a bit to get a better look. It was a stuffed animal, though he couldn’t make out what it was beyond that.

That sent off a few signals in his mind. Though…he couldn’t be sure. Stuffed animals didn’t have to mean anything. Especially not when one of your best friends is the embodiment of positive masculinity. A vivid memory of him clutching a stuffed cat as Oboro found him hiding in his room resurfaced.

He replayed Kaminari’s response in his head. Originally, Aizawa had chalked up the slur and partially formed words as byproducts of a breakdown. Now he wasn’t so sure. Glancing behind him, his eyes narrowed in on the crayons and coloring book on the floor. A couple of stuffed animals were there as well. He hadn’t paid much attention to the room when he walked in, just that Kaminari was nowhere to be seen.

Something had been nagging him about how he heard Kaminari move to the closet. It seemed…clumsy. Aizawa has seen the kid in action. He’s capable of sneaking around.

The clumsy movements and the horrible attempt at hiding…the crayons and stuffed animals…Aizawa had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

Turning back to Kaminari, he asked, “how old are you?”

Kaminari stared at him, stunned. He supposed that would be a normal response. Age regression wasn’t a well-known topic and had a lot of misunderstandings surrounding it. It would certainly explain why he avoided going to class.

When Aizawa asked again, Kaminari snapped out of his thoughts. “Um…I don’ know…somewhere in between…both small an big.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

Aizawa hummed in acknowledgement.

“How d’you know?”

He couldn’t help but snort. “Kid, you’re not what I would call discreet.” He gestured behind him. Kaminari nodded but Aizawa could see him shrinking away. “And, as a regressor myself, it’s easier to pick up on.”

Kaminari opened his mouth, then closed it. This repeated a few times as he struggled to organize his thoughts. Aizawa let him take his time.

Finally, the kid settled on, “you’re a regressor? Like, you’re not jus saying tha?”

He nodded. “I’m a flip. I don’t regress often but it does happen.” As mortifying as sharing this with a student was, he needed Kaminari to know that regressing was okay. He needed the kid to know that this was a safe place.

“Makes sense…’bout the flip…you did kinda feel like a dad.” Kaminari’s eyes widened and he slapped his hands against his mouth. His face burned bright red. As if realizing that covering his mouth brought more attention to what he said, he dropped his hands only a few seconds later. “Uh, I mean like a mentor way o-or like um-“

Aizawa cut him off from spiraling. “It’s fine, I don’t mind.” He was definitely taken aback by the comment. He knew that this year’s class 1-A was strangely attached to him, but he never would have expected anyone to consider him a father figure. That felt like it went against the laws of nature. However…he’d be lying if he said it didn’t make him melt a little on the inside. Not that he would admit that.

Kaminari, though embarrassed, was looking much more stable. Aizawa redirected the topic back to the situation at hand. “Could you tell me what happened this morning?” He had a rough idea, but he wasn’t going to act on assumptions. Aizawa was smart, not psychic.

Sucking in a deep breath, Kaminari shared what was actually an ongoing problem. He often regressed to deal with the stress of school and all of the attacks on UA. But, he started pushing away many coping mechanisms, including regression, to make more time for studying and training. His stress continued to grow, but he still continued on because he wanted to improve. Aizawa made a mental note to address that another day.

The past week had been especially hard. There were multiple nights where he was too exhausted and burnt out to resist the urge to be small. Kaminari didn’t go into details about how those nights ended, but Aizawa figured it wasn’t pretty.

When he woke up that morning, he was already slipping into his little headspace. Efforts to fight it were failing. He had woken up late, as he normally did, but that also meant that class would start soon. Not knowing what to do, he began to panic, which spiraled into a full-on breakdown. All the while being partially regressed.

By the time Kirishima and Sero had come by to check on him, Kaminari had calmed down enough to respond without alerting his friends to the situation. He was aware enough to realize that the best course of action was to just let the regression happen. At one point, he was able to start coloring and things seemed okay. But eventually, something triggered him and caused another breakdown. Once again, Kaminari didn’t go into details and Aizawa didn’t ask.

He wasn’t sure what to say after the kid had finished. This seemed like an emotional support moment rather than a fix-it one, which wasn’t really his forte. At least that’s what he thought. Hizashi always argued otherwise. Opening his arms, Aizawa opted to offer a hug.

Kaminari hesitated for a moment before practically lunging into Aizawa. He was a little shaky, so Aizawa ran his fingers through the kid’s hair to hopefully get him to relax. He was probably super dehydrated from crying most of the morning, but they could get water later. He needed this first.

Considering his massive emotional release, Kaminari should be able to get out of his littlespace and go to his classes. They could finish talking about this later when he is in a better headspace for serious and personal conversations. Hopefully, they’ll be able to talk about Kaminari’s regression more and ways they can make it easier for him while at UA. Maybe even discuss Aizawa being a caregiver.

For now, he’ll be a rock for Kaminari to grab hold on until he can stand on his own.

#sfw interaction only #bug scrolls #little kaminari #cg aizawa #kaminari denki #aizawa shouta #mha fic #mha agere #mha #age regression #age regression fic #agere #agere fic #agere blog

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