Nemuri is honestly getting a little worried. She's held back on demanding answers from her friends because they clearly wanted space but Hizashi has never taken this much time off. Shouta would rather come in with broken bones than miss class. Now they've missed about as much as they can all at once on short notice.
They're supposed to be back today and if they don't show she is more than prepared to kick in their door with her very sturdy heals and demand answers. She makes sure to get to the teachers lounge even earlier than normal so she can get her answers. The couple is rarely this early but stranger things have happened.
She can tell the other teachers are tense and wary. They've been on edge ever since the Aizawa-Yamada duo called out. The uncharacteristic absence has been eating at all of them.
Nedzu popping out of a vent and startling Maijima badly enough to spill his coffee everywhere certainly isn't helping matters.
"Good Morning Staff!"
The grumbles of acknowledgement are largely ignored as his eyes sparkle with mischief. That's never a good sign, where is Shouta when she needs him?
"Before you head off to your classes I have a last minute announcement to make! I've decided to institute a 'Bring Your Child to Work Day!' at UA. I've read that it's important for humans to share their work with their offspring and bond so today will be a first run of the concept!"
Huh? Nemuri didn't know any of the staff had any children. Maybe Shuuzenji has a grandkid somewhere?
"Nedzu! You've gotta give people some warning! I woulda loved to show Asami around the old place."
"I have notified the relevant parties. Snipe, can you guarantee me that your child would not try to squeeze me like a stuffed toy?"
What? Is Nemuri hearing this right? Snipe has a child... Snipe. Oh, it's a real shame Hizashi isn't around for this.
"I reckon not." He looks incredibly dejected at that.
"You have a kid?"
"'Course, little cowpoke's almost two. Cutest thing you'd ever see."
Nemuri's fairly certain she didn't drink anything weird with her coffee this morning. She watches as the normally very private hero whips out his phone to share dozens of photos with the person closest to him, Ectoplasm.
"That's nice, I'll have to drag my granddaughter out of Kayama's class to spend a period with me then. Even business students ought to have a healthy appreciation for medical work." Shuuzenji nods.
So, what was the point of all that? Nedzu couldn't possibly have announced an event like that for one measly partial participant. He's up to something. She narrows her eyes suspiciously at him but he doesn't even blink, maintaining a pleasant smile.
"Well, I'll be heading back to my office. Have a lovely day everyone!"
She doesn't trust the look in his eye. There's five minutes before they have to head to class and all she has is a weird surprise holiday and the knowledge that Shouta wouldn't dare miss work again without telling her.
Her inbox remains empty.
The whole room jumps as the door clatters open violently with a bang and Shouta enters, glowering at the room.
"I am going to get my coffee and head to class, if any of you and I do mean any of you" his gaze settles on Nemuri, "scare or crowd or dismiss him, I will sic Yamada on you and you will know no peace."
He makes significant eye contact with a wisely cowering Vlad and storms over to the coffee machine before heading out again. Man, Shouta's really bringing out the big guns if he's threatening Hizashi's wrath and not his own. Anyone with even a drop of common sense knows who the real scary one in that relationship is.
Wait... did he say he? Who's he? And why shouldn't they crowd or scare him? Did they bring a cat to work or something?
Before she can puzzle out any real theories Hizashi makes his own, significantly less dramatic entrance, sliding the door open at a normal pace and intensity. She's about to ask what the hell Shouta was on about when she spots it.
A small child trying his absolute best to hide behind one of her best friends.
He has a hand clutching the edge of Hizashi's jacket and the cutest little head of green curls. He ducks further behind Hizashi once he realizes there are eyes on him and avoids eye contact by staring at the floor, clearly desperately hoping to avoid drawing attention.
The entire room goes dead silent.
Hizashi just smiles brightly and hurries them both into his private office.
The warning bell telling them to get to class rings.
No one moves.
Shuuzenji breaks the stunned silence by sighing and starts heading off to her office grumbling something about beings of chaos who don't pay her enough under her breath. Hizashi returns with a nervous, sheepish smile.
"Well, we'd better head to class!"
He heads out down the hallway before anyone can recover and start asking questions. The rest of the teachers break out of their stunned silence and rush to follow. Nemuri doesn't have far to walk so she allows herself a moment to just sit in shock. She glances at the office window to find the blinds annoyingly blocking her view.
Did she really see that? A kid, way too young for U.A. and not wearing the uniform, clinging to her friend like a lifeline.
She needs answers.
She takes mental stock of her schedule and grins once she realizes the 1-A kids have an extra training in gym beta scheduled for her free period.
She's going to get answers whether Shouta wants to give them or not.
-
She's antsy through the first two classes but manages to keep it together relatively well. The students keep giving her looks but they wisely don't ask so it's fine.
Once the bell rings she practically skips to the gym. Students in the hall give her a wide berth and she can hear whispers theorizing about who she's going to kill. Good, it's important for students to gain a healthy fear once in a while. Helps them learn not to underestimate their opponents.
She throws open the door, startling the students that remain in 1-A. There's sixteen of them, pretty good for this late in the year.
"Hello Youth! I'm here to help supervise!"
"Midnight, what are you doing here?"
He looks thoroughly annoyed but he can't have honestly expected her to let that entrance go ignored. She grins wickedly and turns to the kids.
"I'm here to help!"
They shiver and wisely turn back to the obstacle course Shouta has them running. She sidles up next to him and they absently observe the students for a moment.
"What the fuck Shouta!?" She hisses, "where did you get a child?"
"Same place I got all my cats. Random alleyway."
"That's not how that works."
"'Zashi found him, finders keepers, we have a kid now." He shrugs like he didn't just become a goddamn parent overnight.
"Well, don't just stand there, I want details!"
"His name is Izuku, he's eleven."
"Oh, come on Shouta. Work with me here, I'm not looking for tragic secret backstory. You owe me for keeping me from my new nephew."
"New nephew huh?" She can almost hear the raised eyebrow.
"Of course," she scoffs, "I'm going to be the best wine aunt you've ever seen."
"You don't even know if this is permanent."
"It totally is, there's no way either of you are letting him go. Even if it wasn't I would smother him. Poor thing looks like he needs it."
"You're not wrong there."
They turn their attention back to the students so Shouta can chew one of them out for trying a needlessly reckless move.
He sighs, giving in to her demands. "He likes quirks, spent a ton of time just asking questions about mine and Zashi's. He'd probably love to hear about yours. He's shy, make sure not to make any sudden movements or grab him."
Nemuri hums, "Quirk?"
He sighs again but answers anyway. "I'm only telling you because I trust you and know you can keep quiet about it. He doesn't have one."
Well, that's a surprise. Not many quirkless children around these days, although the theories that quirkless children will stop existing in a few generations are ridiculous. There will always be quirkless children and each generation will face worse things than the last. She can see why he's so skittish now.
"Are you going to leave him alone in 'Zashi's office all day?"
"No," he suddenly looks slightly pained. "Nedzu insisted he sit in on one of each of our classes, something about 'not going through all the trouble to plan a bring your child to work day for nothing' so we're going to threaten some 3rd years into silence this afternoon. He's going to see Shuuzenji and Nedzu after school as well."
"Can I meet him? Please, I promise I won't overwhelm him."
Her pleading face only gets her an eye roll.
"We're eating lunch together in one of the meeting rooms later, I'll ask if he's alright meeting you then."
"Yes! I won't let you down!"
-
Time cannot go fast enough for Nemuri. For once she can relate to her students as they eye the clock and fidget.
Finally, the bell rings and she sends them on their way. She checks her phone for updates and is ecstatic to discover little Izuku has given permission to invite her for lunch.
She joins them in one of the meeting rooms off the teacher's lounge. Nemuri is certain that Izuku is the cutest nephew she could ask for. In better lighting and with more time she can see adorable little freckles and green eyes that no doubt sparkle once he gets comfortable. She wants to squeeze him.
They eat slowly and he's clearly nervous. Chewing on his lip and glancing between her and his food. She doesn't push or acknowledge his gaze. Making comfortable conversation with Hizashi and Shouta, asking Izuku for input when she can.
Finally, at a break in the conversation she can see him physically steel himself.
"Um, K-Kayama-san, can I, can I a-ask about y-your quirk?"
She can feel her grin growing wide and excited. He meets it with a nervous smile of his own.
"Absolutely, Izuku."
"O-ok, your q-quirk works faster if s-someone is physically attracted to you r-right?" She nods, "But o-obviously it works on e-everyone eventually even if it takes longer, except yourself I g-guess. Have you ever measured how much or how l-long it takes to work with different people? It'd be hard to measure exactly but you could probably get the approximate difference between sexualities at least. Does it disappear after awhile or could you store it and make bombs with it. Can you direct it or does it disperse naturally? If it does disperse naturally could you use with a support item to direct it better? It must be pretty heavy if it moves down instead of up, I wonder why that is. Is there a mutation that makes you immune to your own gas? Or something else? How does somnambulist effect your skin? Oh, I'm r-rambling, s-sorry."
Nemuri is a little blown away. That was... a lot. She hasn't thought about some of those questions.
"Well... I'm not sure I caught all of that but I'll do my best. I've never measured it exactly but the difference can be noticeable, I only trained with them a couple times since we were in different years but the couple times I practiced with Shouta and Hizashi they took a little bit longer to take down than some of the other boys." She leans in like she's telling a secret. "It's part of the reason I wasn't surprised when the idiots ended up together."
She's proud to gain a shy little giggle for the comment.
"No appreciation for my beauty! I've never tried to contain my gas or anything, I'm not sure if it would disappear. I can't direct or control it, that's why I use whips and sometimes fans. I think it's a mutation that makes me immune but I'm not sure, I never asked exactly why although I'm sure it's in my medical records somewhere. Somnambulist is very nice to my skin!"
He looks like he wants to grab something, his fingers twitching with excitement. Nemuri takes it as a good sign. She was right about his eyes, they do sparkle when he's excited.
"That's it! I'm definitely spoiling you!"
"You d-don't have to d-do that K-Kayama-san!"
"It's too late! I've made my decision! Do you like chocolate chip cookies?"
"I-I, maybe?"
"Good enough, I'm making you some." She ends her statement with a decisive nod.
Izuku looks like he wants to argue but is interrupted by the warning bell. Shouta sighs from his side.
"No point in arguing kid, she's horribly stubborn."
"That's right!" She grins and heads out to start her next class. She's going to be the best aunt ever!
Izuku's trip to U.A. has been just as exciting as he thought it would be so far. He hopes he isn't tired for his check up and meeting with Nedzu. Those are important and he needs to pay attention! Yamada-san suggested he nap in the morning before lunch since there wasn't anything going on and he's still recovering and he was able to get a little sleep but it's both exciting and terrifying to be around so many people, so many heroes. Heroes haven't ever hurt him directly but Izuku's not foolish enough to think that means they're safe.
He trusts Yamada-san and Aizawa-san but they're both proven exceptions. Kayama-san is the only other one he's met outside their initial entrance to the teacher's lounge that morning. Izuku hates being the center of attention, especially when there are so many adults.
Kayama-san was really nice though! Aizawa-san had obviously warned her about his love of quirks and she answered all his questions as best she could. She didn't even seem annoyed about it! She promised him cookies and said she'd spoil him, Izuku's fairly sure people only spoil kids they like. He's trying not to get too excited about the idea of cookies, he's never been allowed many sweets and he wants to try them! The muffins he made with Yamada-san were amazing. He wonders if homemade cookies are better than the expired pre-packaged ones he found in a dumpster, they probably are.
Now he's facing the prospect of sitting in on a class, one of Yamada-san's and one of Aizawa-san's. He's really nervous but he'll try to be brave. He has to go back to school soon anyway and at least his guardians are here to make sure no one hurts him, that, and none of the students know he's quirkless. He should be ok.
He goes with Yamada-san first, it's a more advanced English class for 3rd years, which means they'll be much bigger than him. Izuku doesn't like that but he pushes his discomfort down. Since it's the afternoon, the students are already settled in and ready once they arrive.
They're mild attention and boredom sharpens into pointed curiosity as soon as Izuku steps into the room. He really wants to take a step back into the hallway and hide but reminds himself he's safe.
Yamada-san guides him to the chair behind his desk and turns to face the room.
"Sensei!" a kid with gills and very sharp teeth raises their hand. Izuku wonders what his quirk is, his teeth look really sharp but he doesn't have any of the common features of a shark mutation, maybe a type of eel?
"Yes, Suzuki-kun?"
"Where were you? Why do you have a kid? Are you ok? Nomura over in 3-B said the 1-A homeroom teacher's been out too, his essays are awful. Did you get hurt on a super secret joint mission or something?"
Yamada-san takes the flurry of questions in stride.
"Those are all very interesting questions Suzuki-kun, but since this is English class I'm only going to answer questions asked in the language we're studying."
Suzuki grumbles at that but carefully works the first question out into English. Izuku leans forward as he notes colorful patterns on his skin mostly hidden by his uniform and marks on his face that could almost be mistaken for large freckles. He grabs a blank piece of paper and starts writing.
"I was out because I took vacation time."
The students loudly protest his vague answer before quieting down to prepare for the next question just as Izuku mutters "I wonder if his blood or skin is poisonous?"
"What?" The student in question demands, more confused than upset.
Izuku squeaks, uncomfortable with the attention after he'd finally gotten rid of it.
"I-I, um, s-sorry!"
"No, it's fine. Why would my blood be poisonous?"
"Well..." Izuku doesn't sense any annoyance from his audience or Yamada-san and Suzuki-kun seems curious so he takes the chance to go on. "Y-your quirk is eel r-related right?"
Suzuki gives a cautious nod.
"Um, it's just, s-some eels are p-poisonous and the m-markings on your s-skin are similar. Some of th-them secrete a toxic s-slime on their skin, I-I don't think that's happening, your skin doesn't look like it's secreting anything but some eels have blood that's really t-toxic."
Izuku desperately wants to hide somewhere now that he's told some random kid he doesn't know that his blood might be poison. That's bound to be insulting or annoying somehow. His shoulders start to creep up to his neck as the silence drags on.
"My blood might be poison? That's cool as hell! Hey Chiba! Wanna bite me and test it out? Hey kid, is it like kill someone poisonous?"
"Um, m-maybe? If I r-remember right it's a kind of f-food poisoning... s-so."
"So probably not, nice!"
Yamada-san does not look as excited about the prospect of testing blood toxicity via biting as Suzuki and Chiba are.
"Alright! Couple things! First off, question time is over! Second off, there will be absolutely no biting inside or outside of this classroom. If you must know, Recovery Girl would be happy to run some tests. In fact, it should probably be on your medical file so you don't give out any emergency blood transfusions. Finally, you all will be having a pop quiz!"
The class complains loudly, none of their questions were answered and Izuku can tell they're still very interested in getting answers. It doesn't feel malicious though so Izuku does his best to relax.
He spends the rest of the class theorizing about the different students quirks, he can't figure them all out but he has enough material to keep himself occupied. He manages to keep his muttering internal as well, just because Suzuki-kun thought his blood being poisonous was 'rad' and 'cool as hell' does not mean the others would be as excited to learn new things about their quirks.
Yamada-san races out the door with Izuku in tow as soon as the bell rings and promptly deposits him in front of another classroom. Aizawa-san pops up next to him a moment later and slides the door with perhaps more force than strictly necessary.
"Greetings. I'm back from my absence which is none of your business and which I will not be commenting on." Several hands reluctantly slide down before immediately popping back up at seeing Izuku shuffling in behind him. "Any questions? great. I believe you had an essay assigned, please turn that in by the end of class."
Izuku takes a seat behind the desk again and tries to ignore their piercing gazes.
Aizawa-san ends up doing a much more intentionally interactive class. He leads them along on a discussion on loopholes and difficulties with quirk use law, Izuku is enraptured. He knows some of it but he's eleven, he's never had much of a chance to encounter discussions and debates like this before. Every time someone tries to ask about him Aizawa-san picks an especially difficult question for the fool who dared. Most of the class drops it after the third student is left spluttering.
Izuku is glad he brought paper over from Yamada-san's class, he's learning so much! Aizawa-san glances over subtly from time to time, it's nice that he cares enough to check on him.
At one point, after the third student fails to answer to his satisfaction and the rest of the room starts to fidget Aizawa-san draws their attention to Izuku intentionally for the first time since he'd entered the class.
"What do you think Izuku?"
"Huh? I-I think it's k-kind of stupid to h-have the c-criminal codes so d-dependent on quirk use. It r-really sucks if you have a p-passive or m-mutation quirk where it's hard to prove you weren't using it. The c-courts have to default to assumptions o-one way or another."
"That's definitely one issue, anyone want to elaborate on where that might come up?"
Izuku is glad he drags their attention away quickly. It makes him really happy to be included and listened to and everything but... all those eyes on him make him nervous. He knows intellectually they probably won't make fun of him but he can't get the fear out of his head.
Aizawa-san glances at him from the corner of his eye periodically but seems to know that Izuku isn't feeling up to participating anymore. Once the class finishes up Izuku dutifully follows Aizawa-san out of the classroom.
"The hellions wear you out?"
He looks Izuku over and now that he mentions it, Izuku is really tired so he nods and lets himself lean into his new guardian's side. He lets himself be guided through the halls until they reach the teacher's lounge, ignoring the few wayward students blatant staring and Aizawa-san's warning glares.
Once they're back in Yamada-san's office, he doesn't leave Izuku alone. Instead, he relaxes onto the couch and pulls Izuku further into his side. It feels nice and safe. Izuku trusts that he'll wake him up in time to see Shuuzenji-san. He can rest for a little bit.
Shouta wakes up to the smell of coffee. He stills for a moment as he takes stock of his surroundings and blinks up at the cup of coffee his wonderful husband is waving slowly in front of his face.
"Up and at 'em Sho!"
He only takes a moment to grumble and gently shuffle his arm around to grab the offered coffee. Izuku comes to a moment later, startling awake before blinking owlishly at his surroundings.
"Hey Izu! Ready to meet Shuuzenji?"
Izuku looks wary, but not frightened. Shouta takes it as a good sign, he's bound to be unhappy with whatever she finds but he'd prefer if Izuku was at least somewhat comfortable with the visit. Hizashi offers Izuku a hand and he doesn't hesitate to take it. They make their way down the hall quietly, Izuku seemingly deep in thought. They're almost at the door when it bursts open and some kid Shouta vaguely recognizes races out carrying a candy in his very sharp teeth.
"Thanks Shuuzenji-sensei!" He narrowly avoids colliding into them and stops suddenly, focusing on Izuku. "You!" He points and Shouta's about to give his patented mind your own business glare when the kid continues, "You were right! My blood is poison!" When did Izuku tell this kid his blood was poison? Why would his blood be poison? "There's a bunch of cigu-something-or-other in it! That's so cool! I wonder if I could like, weaponize it somehow?" Oh, Shouta remembers this kid now, he keeps turning all his papers into AI discussions, no matter the actual topic. Support students are all little menaces as far as Shouta is concerned.
Izuku looks overwhelmed, he's probably still stressed over everything that's happened today and this is not helping.
"That's really cool Little Listener, but you'd better hurry on home if you don't want your parents to worry." Thank goodness for Hizashi, that's a much more diplomatic answer than whatever Shouta probably would have come up with. The kid, suddenly aware of how late it is, sprints off down the hall, Shouta doesn't bother telling him off for running.
-
The appointment seems pretty standard from what Shouta can tell. Granted, he was bullied into his last check up and most of his other interactions with doctors are more... urgent in nature. He might not be the best judge of how it's going.
Shuuzenji's doing an admirable job keeping him calm. Hizashi took up the space next to him once it became clear Izu wasn't letting his hand go.
Unfortunately, the longer it goes on the clearer it becomes that Izuku doesn't like doctors very much. Which, fair, let it not be said that Shouta is a hypocrite. He finds them annoying which is fine but Izuku isn't annoyed, he's scared. Is Shouta going to have to sic Nedzu on the medical establishment too? Can this child please have at least one institution not fail him horribly? They haven't even gotten him to take his shirt off yet! Shouta's been bracing himself all day for the scars he's certain to see.
Shuuzenji explains everything that's happening and why but it doesn't seem like anything is going to get him to untense, outside of leaving, which they can't do until the appointment is over. So, Shouta does his best to not react to anything, calm and stable. Hizashi whispers quiet reassurances and Shuuzenji does her best to be efficient.
He was right about the scars, there's a lot of them. He can't quite identify what exactly caused many of them but they clearly weren't born of childhood clumsiness. They're almost entirely defensive. He has burns and cuts and according to Shuuzenji, at least four healed fractures.
She doesn't have much good news for them. He hasn't seen an actual doctor in years and from what little of his medical history Shuuzenji was able to gather is behind on several vaccines. He's seriously regretting some of his basic medical knowledge since that means he knows exactly what tetanus can do. Izuku was living in a garbage dump for months, half vaccinated! He is so lucky.
He makes eye contact with Hizashi and they nod in agreement, they're fixing that as soon as possible.
The rest of the appointment goes quickly from Shouta's perspective. Shuuzenji is clearly frustrated by the medical neglect and lack of information but she's a professional and keeps it out of her expression for her nervous patient's sake. She doesn't have the vaccines they'll need on hand but reassures them that she'll get them as soon as possible.
Thankfully, there's not a lot that isn't already mostly healed. Shouta tries very hard not to think about how much healing happened after he ran away and how many of his injuries came from before. No child should be physically safer alone and homeless than with their guardians.
For now he focuses on keeping his emotions off his face and paying attention to Shuuzenji's instructions. She stuffs pages of resources on malnutrition and other potential issues into his hands and does some last minute fussing. Shouta stifles a tiny smile at how confused the poor kid looks. Staring at the candy thrust into his hand like it might explain what's going on to him.
He eats it on the way to Nedzu's office and lights up just a little. Shouta's just glad it helped.
-
Shouta is not looking forward to the next meeting of the day. He respects his boss and, unlike some of his coworkers, isn't convinced that he's trying to take over the world. Nedzu is smart enough to know that running a Japanese high school for years is not a very efficient method of global takeover. Shouta wouldn't be surprised if he could swing Japan but honestly Vlad, there are limits even to the most intelligent of beings.
Point is, Shouta isn't scared of Nedzu. He just knows that somehow he's bound to leave that office with a headache.
He knows he's right the instant they walk in, Izu unconsciously tucking himself behind Hizashi and warily looking around. Nedzu is sitting at his desk the same as any other day. Unusual is his smile, there's just a little more teeth than he usually lets show. Shouta squints a little before he realizes... he's excited.
Rest in peace to Shouta's chaos free days, there's no way that smile means he leaves this room without a headache.
"Hello! Am I a dog? a mouse? or a bear? more importantly... I'm the principal!"
"H-hello Nedzu-san. It's n-nice to m-meet you."
Shouta watches fondly as Izuku bows nervously and makes a valiant effort to unpeel himself from Hizashi's side. He has mercy on the poor kid and moves to sit down. He narrows his eyes at the offered tea, it's nicer than Nedzu usually offers his guests... suspicious.
"It's lovely to meet you Izuku-kun, did you enjoy your visit?"
Shouta is honestly impressed with how quickly Nedzu manages to coax Izuku out of his shell. Mostly by asking about the notes he took in class, Shouta is once again taken aback by the kid's analysis and excitement. Quirks are clearly something he loves to learn about and analyze. He jumps at the chance to talk about his passion with someone knowledgeable and interested in what he has to say.
This isn't what they came here for but Shouta can't be too mad watching Izu light up and ramble, for once forgetting his near constant fear and looking so much like the happy child he should be. Hizashi seems to think the same if the fond expression on his face is any indication.
Shouta had Hizashi bring Nedzu in on the investigation during his free period. Izuku knows they're working on it and they don't want to stress him out beyond what's necessary. Nedzu was more than happy to mysteriously get involved in an investigation into quirk discrimination and abuse. It is one of his specialties after all. He likes to take on a few overlooked cases every year to wreak some righteous havoc, it shouldn't be suspicious if he happens to pick this one.
Shouta suddenly realizes he may have been zoning out on the rapid fire conversation as he finds Izuku staring at him with wide eyes. He keeps looking back and forth between his face and Hizashi's with fragile hope.
"I-is t-that o-ok?"
Is what ok? Shouta was not paying attention, you know what, there's no way Shouta is making him sad or shattering that little glimmer of hope. He nods and prays he isn't agreeing to sell his soul or something.
He's a little thrown by the sudden hug but takes it as a good sign. Hizashi's a little wide-eyed but it's not like he wouldn't do anything the kid asked either. It's fine, probably, maybe.
Nedzu cackles, which is very unappreciated, he definitely knows Shouta doesn't know what he agreed to.
"Well Izuku-kun, I look forward to seeing you again soon!"
Oh no.
That's not good.
-
It turns out Shouta agreed to some tutoring. Nedzu and Izuku apparently get along great and it's not like there's many analysis programs for kids his age. It's a great opportunity and Hizashi agrees, even if they're a little wary about the chaotic potential. Izuku is a very timid child but he's also been abused and put down all his life, who knows what a little confidence might do.
Shouta's certain that exciting days await, and honestly headaches or not he's looking forward to it. He welcomes whatever person a confident, happy, Nedzu-tutored Izuku turns out to be. Hopefully they can find him some nice, calm kids his own age to balance things out... eh, he won't count on it.