MHA: Not Your Baby Boy

[aizawathebaby]

Aizawa Shouta wasn’t acting like himself lately. It seemed with each passing day he grew more and more irritable, quick to snap and lash out at colleagues and students alike. His behavior was..erratic. Some days he looked like he was sleeping even worse than usual, and on others he talked about a mile a minute. He was tense, snippy, and nothing was really going on with him(as far as anyone would know), so he assumed his friends and coworkers would try meddling. Aizawa just..felt tired and uncomfortable in his own body. Barely got any sleep and had to rely on caffeine to keep him going, which made him pretty grumpy and short-tempered in the best of instances, and downright insufferable at worst. Aizawa has been working himself too hard, and it showed in the bags under his eyes and the sickly pallor of his face, the rough, unshaven stubble on his cheeks.

These days, he didn’t even know what he was doing this for. Why was he pushing every button conceivable, riling everyone up? He just felt emotionally amplified. He felt like he felt things so much more vividly than he ever had; sorrow choked his throat and made tears pour down his cheeks, made his stoic expression crumple and his lower lip quiver. Anger made his face red and his eyes flash with his quirk, made him kick and scream like a toddler throwing a temper-tantrum, made his words slurred and babyish.

“I wan’ it noooow!” was something the man never thought he’d hear himself say, stamping his foot and wailing at the top of his lungs, tears of rage in his eyes: that tantrum in particular had been a whirlwind, an explosion of “no no no!” and kicking and stubborn pouting that he barely felt like he could control. Aizawa didn’t understand why any of this was happening, and on some level, it scared him, so he was trying not to let anyone know that his problem was this severe. By now though, it was only a matter of time before someone found out.

[MinaBlue]

After a bit, warm hands grabbed onto Shoutas, holding them gently as soft words coaxed him to calm back down. It was Hizashi. Trying to help his friend come back down from everything that was going on for him right now. All the big emotions that he had trouble trying to express at the moment.

“Shouta you need to calm down. It’s gonna be alright.” He didn’t know what was going on with his friend, but it couldn’t be anything good.

[aizawathebaby]

Shouta whimpered, pouting. “But it’s no faiw!” He couldn’t even remember why he’d been throwing the tantrum. Normally, fits of inexplicable sorrow or rage like this happened in the comfort of his own home, or were at least controllable enough to some extent.

This time, he was kicking and whining for a reason he didn’t understand in a more public setting-the teacher’s lounge, where Hizashi has run into him-which just amplified his feeling that something was wrong. Shouta’s entire body was moving on autopilot, and when Hizashi gently took his hands and coaxed him back from his tantrum, the man sniffled and rested his cheek against his shoulder. “I dunno why I’m mad. It’s dumb an’ I don’t wike it!” He whined, his voice rising an octave and lisping. Trembling, Shouta looked up at his co-worker and good friend with his lower lip quivering. “I-I want to go ‘way! School is dumb. Dumb and-and stupid. Makes me angwy.”

[MinaBlue]

“Shouta calm down.” Hizashi moved him to sit on the couch, bending down in front of him. “You need to calm down, if you don’t calm down then it’s just gonna make things worse.”

He didn’t know what was wrong, but he needed to do something about. And he had something in mind, but wasn’t sure if it would work at all. Or just make everything worse.

[aizawathebaby]

Aizawa pouted more, squirming a bit as he was sat down. He sniffled, rubbing his tear-soaked face and gazing at Hizashi with watery eyes. “I-I wanna, but I can’t! I feew too..too icky!” He couldn’t really explain it, this constant whirlwind of emotion and the way it always knocked him off his feet and made him a mess.

Every time he thought he was finally okay again, it was like his own anger or sorrow or anything just latched onto his mind and started messing with his body. Aizawa despised having so little agency, especially when Hizashi was here; he hated that his friend had to be subjected to this. “It’s no faiw still! I wanna be cawm but it won’t wowk an’ it’s stupid!”

[MinaBlue]

“Deep breaths. Do you want some water? Would that help you?” He asked him, planning to get him out of the school once he calmed down enough for him to leave.

[aizawathebaby]

Aizawa nodded, sniffling and trying his best to remain calm. He still felt horrible, all tense and mad and overwhelmed with all his thoughts. Tears trickled down his cheeks as he curled up, thumb straying to his mouth. “Yes. Want you to stay, pwease, need you t’ stay.” He begged, clinging to his shirt with one hand, thumb hovering inches away from his mouth. “Pwease get watew an’ stay wiff me?”

[MinaBlue]

“Okay Shou. I’ll stay. Let’s get some water and I’ll take you home. I won’t leave you though.” Hizashi told him, carefully picking him up. It wasn’t easy but he managed it. He got a bottle of water and gave it to Shouta before walking out of the building and to his car.

[aizawathebaby]

Shouta drank the water like he didn’t know how the water bottle worked, sucking on the top and laying back with a whine. He did get it on his shirt and face, dripping it down his chin, and his hands kept shaking so it spilled on him more. When Hizashi carried him, he curled up in his arms, wet, body much looser than usual. Finding it difficult to move his legs and arms, instead he just lay there, drooling a little.

He was like a baby, babbling, fumbling and getting water all over himself, remaining nonverbal and making little noises as he tried to drink. Tears of frustration and humiliation trickled down his face, and he wanted to scream. This was terrible. “Daadaa.” Shouta whined, clinging to him, rubbing his eyes and staring up at Hizashi from his arms. When he was taken to Hizashi’s car, he let the other man buckle him in, still making baby-babble noises in an attempt to communicate when words failed him. Finally, he managed to speak, still slurring, “Whewe we go?”

[MinaBlue]

The baby babble and the inability to drink out of the water bottle normally was concerning him a lot. He just wondered if something was causing his or if was stress. There was just too many questions and no answers. All he could do was help make Shouta feel a little bit better.

“We’re going home Shou.” Hizashi told him, “it’s gonna be okay though, I’m right here.”