It's a Friday when Shouto comes to him next, just two days after their impromptu meeting. This time, Shouto talked to him in class and scheduled a meeting, right after Kirishima's.

They nod to each other as they pass by, Todoroki and Kirishima. Aizawa briefly wonders if they're good friends or not. He doesn't know the dynamics of his students outside of the classroom. He can see that Todoroki at least tolerates him, which is good, he guesses.

Todoroki sits in the same seat as last time, and Aizawa picks up his pen, drawing a little tick mark next to Todoroki's name. He has two now, which is a lot more than before.

"Talk about whatever you want, kid."

Todoroki sucks in a breath, "Yea, okay. I can... do that."

And then he's quiet for a long, long time. Aizawa, at first, assumes he's just nervous. It sounded like there was a lot to unpack about his father, the real nature of their relationship. Endeavor did something bad, Aizawa's probably gonna figure out what in one of these meetings.

Todoroki clears his throat, "My father... he..."

"Take your time, you're the only other student besides Kirishima who asked for a meeting. I've got all night," Aizawa assures with a nod.

With the time it takes Todoroki to gather himself, Aizawa grades some more papers, occasionally looking over to Todoroki to make sure he's still alive in there. He looks contemplative, unsure. He doesn't change anything about his posture or position except for where his eyes rest. They started on the ceiling and have moved from the door to Aizawa to a pile of textbooks and back to the ceiling.

His office, however unused it usually is aside from his desk, has a lot of features that make it comfortable. A sofa, a coffee table. And of course, what would a coffee table be without a coffee maker on the other side of the room for a fresh cup when Aizawa has a long day? He's got blankets for needy students and for long nights he spends here. Pens that keep going missing because Kaminari seems to be fixated on stealing all of his resources.

"I... don't want to get in trouble," he says childishly, clearing his throat. Aizawa looks up from his work, pen slowly being set down in his desk. "I also don't want Endeavor to get in trouble. He's... changed. He says he has. Fuyumi says so too."

Aizawa nods, and he almost says something. But that might have them waiting another thirty minutes for Todoroki to speak.

Todoroki picks at his cuticles for just a second, before correcting his own behavior and tucking his hands underneath his thighs. "If I tell you anything, you can't tell anyone else. It's all in the past, so I'm okay now."

Aizawa puts his hand up to pause Todoroki. "Let me tell you, if I find out you're in danger or anyone else is, I'm going to have to involve other people."

Todoroki nods, "I know that. And I promise I'm not, I'm just confused. I'm not here to tell you Endeavor is a bad parent just because I feel like it. I... I trust you, Sensei. I think you can... well, maybe I'll understand him a bit better if you can dumb it down for me."

Endeavor a bad parent?

He can definitely imagine that. He's wondering the extent.

"Todoroki, in order to help you, I think I should know what you're mad at him for."

Todoroki folds his knees up to his chest, curling in on himself. "Yea. I... don't know where to start."

Aizawa doesn't know how to help him. Maybe this is one of those times that he has to call someone else in.

"My mother," he starts, and finally, they're getting somewhere. "She's in a mental hospital. She has been since I was five." He pauses, before hugging his knees. "He put her there because he drove her insane."

Aizawa did not know that. He assumed that the absence of Mrs. Todoroki could be explained by divorce or something simple like that.

An insane mother... that can't have been easy growing up.

"That's what I really can't forgive him for," he explains, gritting his teeth. "He took away the one person I had that had never hurt me. He made her hurt me. Just so he had a reason to get rid of her."

He should stop this here. It's not harmful to be told all of this, but it's not especially beneficial, either.

Todoroki's eyes dull a bit. "He used to blame me for it. He told me that my face made her leave, and that's why she did it."

Aizawa's not entirely sure he's being spoken to directly anymore. It sounds like Todoroki's reminiscing.

He takes a deep breath, "I believed him and I never visited her. I was afraid she would hate me still. I went ten years without seeing my mom, and I spent every second of them with Endeavor." There are too many implications behind that statement. Aizawa almost doesn't ask.

"Can you tell me what that was like?"

Todoroki shakes his head, "No."

Aizawa cringes, "Okay. Go on, then."

Todoroki's hands fold and unfold in his lap, nervously fidgeting as he forces words out. "I don't know exactly what I expect from you, Sensei. I want to know if all of that is forgivable, I think. Or maybe I want to know why he thinks like he does. Or why my sister forgives him so easily and why I can't seem to no matter how hard I try."

Aizawa nods, "I can't answer those for you, you know. But you're coming here to talk to me is already an improvement on your part. Sometimes having someone just listen while you make sense of everything out loud is good enough for the time being."

Todoroki's hands find their place underneath his thighs again, but now his knee is bouncing up and down, "Oh. So if I just talk..."

"It's not guaranteed, but it might help you out."

Todoroki gives a look of hesitance.

Aizawa holds his hand to his heart, "I promise not to tell, and so that means it can't hurt, can it?"

Todoroki nods, leg bouncing even quicker than before. He's too nervous, maybe he needs water, or tea? Coffee might not help his jitteriness. But a blanket?

"My dad hits me."

Oh.

Oh.

Aizawa can see how one could be confused on how to forgive that.

"Or... he used to. When he was made the official number one of Japan, he stopped." Todoroki's left hand comes out, fingers spread as he stares down at his palm. "Whenever I did something wrong, or someone said I did something wrong, he'd... beat me," he says cautiously, eyebrows furrowed. It's with worry that Aizawa observes Todoroki.

"Should I call someone? If you're still being hurt I-"

Todoroki shakes his head. "No. I'm fine." A pause, Aizawa understands.

How terrifying would it be to have someone so much bigger and stronger than you, treating you in such a way?

"He just... stopped, one day. We went home for visits and I heard him coming and it scared me. So I dropped a plate I was holding and he... he didn't hit me that time. He just told me to be more careful and handed me the broom. I don't... I don't know how to handle that."

That's the appropriate response to an accident so small. Aizawa might expect a little more, maybe making sure his son was okay and not cut.

Aizawa grew up with that approach. He can't imagine anything other than that. And to hit a child for dropping a plate.

"He didn't hit me again when I got a question marked on my test. But he offered to tutor me. I never even answered his question, we ended up yelling at each other."

Aizawa tilts his head, "You yelled at him?"

Todoroki's nod is firm, "I usually do. He would beat me whether I talked quietly or shouted so I just did what I wanted."

Aizawa trails back to the possible questions Todoroki has for him. Is any of that forgivable? It sounds too much like Todoroki's referring to his whole childhood, which is terrifying. Endeavor is too tall. He's too strong and too powerful to be beating a child. Some of the villains he fights don't come out the same. All either traumatized or vegetables on hospital beds.

"Don't feel bad, Sensei." And that forces Aizawa to match Todoroki's gaze. "I didn't come here to get pity from you. I just want to know if I can forgive him for that."

"I..." Aizawa swallows, throat dry from shock. "I told you, already, kid. I can't answer those questions for you. Do you think you can forgive him for that?"

Todoroki gives a reluctant shake of his head. "I don't think I can. I don't know if I should. Or if I should at least pretend."

"You don't have to do anything for him," Aizawa says firmly. "Just do what you feel is right in the moment."

Todoroki sighs, "I know that already. Sensei, if you were in my place, would you forgive him?"

Aizawa can see it as if he were there. Turquoise eyes staring down at him. Endeavor's figure is big and god-like compared to a small child. If he messes up, pain ensues. A wrong word, a slap to the face. A plate dropped to the ground, another hit he has to take. No explanation, no way to learn what he might've done wrong except for the expected hit. Like a dog, trained to take undeserving hits.

Aizawa's parents are so different than that. They scolded him but only to teach him. They never laid a hand on him that wasn't there to help. They were gentle, he can't even imagine being hit by them.

It's all that Todoroki knows.

"No," he blurts out. "I wouldn't. Not at all."

Todoroki seems fairly surprised, but he nods anyway. "Then... neither should I."

"If... if that's what you want, then no. You absolutely do not have to. And... if you ever need help, Todoroki, please talk to me. We can... do something about that."

Todoroki stands, bowing to Aizawa with a respect Aizawa isn't sure he's earned. "Thank you, Sensei."

Aizawa doesn't say anything back, words caught in his throat.

He sleeps through twists and turns that night, images of his student being harmed in his dreams.

Despite the night's never-ending-ness, Aizawa manages the walk to school and a flight of stairs to get to his classroom. He plans on taking it easy, letting them take notes on something Iida can click through.

For whatever reason, Todoroki's what catches his eye upon entering the classroom. Aizawa doesn't give his usual 'Get in your seats', instead, he finds himself staring at the boy, hitting his hip on his podium and wincing.

"Be careful, Sensei!" Iida waves his hands around, and it looks like he's about ready to pull a pamphlet on classroom safety out.

Mineta raises his hand. "Is Todoroki in trouble?"

"Yea, why are you so intent on looking at him?"

Aizawa raises a hand to quiet them, "Enough. Iida, there's a slideshow today, please guide the class through it. Take notes, and if I can't read your handwriting, points taken off."

A signature groan from Kaminari and Iida's taken over as teacher.

Time moves slowly throughout class, Iida's yelling manages to keep him awake, his eyes occasionally drifting over to Todoroki, who's a diligent note-taker, by the looks of it. Unlike the rest of the class, he reads a larger amount of information and then takes note of it, his head moves less than the rest of them. It's probably more efficient.

How many times did Endeavor hit him until the pain finally communicated to memorize easier?

He hates that he can imagine it. His student, in so much pain because he was born into a family that didn't know how to take care of him. Bruised because Endeavor knows how to show rather than tell.

And if Todoroki was raised that way, how is he doing so well? It's... it's terrifying just to think about. A man with hands that large, beating down on you as a lesson.

"...Sensei?"

Aizawa shakes his head, blinking. "What?"

Iida stiffens his posture, the rest of the class is packing behind him, backpacks on their desks and binders being shoved into them, Kaminari's is filled with loose papers and odd sticky notes. Todoroki's is neat, a book bag with one strap to go across his chest. He tears his eyes away, looking to the time.

"Everyone is dismissed, good job."

The strange looks he's given are nothing like the turquoise stare he's seen on TV so many times. Is that what Todoroki sees, right before he's -

"Aizawa-Sensei," a calm, collected voice asks. Aizawa can only look up and see that Todoroki's gripping the strap to his bag, knuckles white. Does he think Aizawa will hurt him? Should he back away?

"Did I... disturb you, by telling about what Endeavor used to do?" He asks it too carefully, and Aizawa makes no sudden movements. If he scared Todoroki in any way his father used to, there will be no amount of apologies he can give.

Aizawa shakes his head, "Of course not. Why would-"

"Well... I lied, if it makes you feel any better. I made it up for attention, my father has never laid a wrong hand on me."

Aizawa's stomach drops, "Todoroki... I believe you, you know. It's okay that you told me, and no way do I believe you lied to me."

"Well, I did. And... I'm not supposed to talk about it anymore." He lets out a breath. "My sister says it's good to leave some things unsaid, and there isn't anything to say. I got the attention I wanted, I'm satisfied now." He bows, "Have a good evening, Sensei."

"Todoroki, if your dad is still hurting you-"

"Sensei, I really was faking it. I made it all up one night."

He's got to be kidding.

But then, does Todoroki seem the type to joke like that?

"I'm sorry, Sensei. Have a nice lunch." And he disappears past the corner.

That's bullshit. No way he faked it. No kid, especially one of Todoroki's personality, fakes a story that serious. And his scar... a burn, no doubt. How'd Endeavor give that to him? What innocent thing did a little Todoroki do to deserve that?

Aizawa doesn't know if he should leave it or not. He doesn't know if Todoroki really even talked to his sister or not, it might've been a tactic to make it seem like he was telling the truth. Or maybe she's just like Endeavor, and she protects him by telling Todoroki to lie. And... and what?

Aizawa only found out about this recently, when it's been going on for years.

He packs his things, getting the room ready for Present Mic's next class. When he's finished, he walks through the halls and into the lounge.

Usually, the sight of his friends calms his nerves. The lounge is mostly desks but the open design and the windows make it seem so spacious. And the people inside are even better. Mic, his best friend since he was attending the school, Midnight, who always seems to have some sort of liquor up her sleeve. Cementoss and Snipe, Ectoplasm, they're all nice to be around.

But now, he feels embarrassed. He must've made Todoroki uncomfortable with his offer to talk. Or maybe Todoroki never wanted to, maybe he felt pressured to.

And now he's lying about lying and Aizawa's lying to himself if he says he doesn't care.

"Shoutaaa! What's for lunch, dude?" Present mic flicks his hands around in that present mic way of his, all finger guns and rock signs.

Aizawa sits at his usual seat next to Mic, having Midnight scoot over from where she's stealing his sandwich. "I think I've got some reheated rice and..." he opens his box, "Leftover chicken."

"Since when do you cook," Midnight asks, fingers approaching a strip of grilled chicken.

Aizawa slaps her hand away, "I've always known how to cook. And eat your own food."

"Forgot it," she sighs, a pout in her eyes. "Wouldn't you spare just one-"

"Save it," he stuffs the chicken in her mouth to shut her up, "I'm not hungry anyway."

When he sets the box in her lap, she hungrily takes it, muttering a small thanks before digging in. There's no way Aizawa could eat anyway, not with his heart in his stomach and a problem he's got to fix.

"Heya, what up? You're not sad, are you?" Mic pokes his forehead, and damn he's annoying.

"Nah, just thinking. I talked to one of my students and they just rescinded everything they told me."

Midnight points to Aizawa, "It was Bakugo, wasn't it? That kid can't admit anything for the life of him."

Aizawa throws a stern glare her way, it doesn't do much to scare her off. "No, and I don't think I should just say who it was. They came to me in private and I'd like to keep that confidentiality."

"So why tell us if you're not gonna tell us?"

Aizawa bumps his forehead on the desk, letting it rest in the cool plastic. "Just be quiet, please. I need to think."

And they do, taking his request seriously, surprisingly enough.

Todoroki probably won't seek him out on his own again, and Aizawa isn't sure he should meddle in that. And to think they were actually getting somewhere.

Sure, some people honestly do better keeping that stuff to themselves. It's easier to cope when your business is yours and yours only.

Others, need to tell someone. Once the thoughts are out and materialized into words and descriptions and admissions, it's scary but it makes sense. Like writing a grocery list instead of trying to remember on your own.

"My dad hits me."

How did he not see that? Even at the Sports Festival, when he was looking through the security cameras and saw Endeavor cornering his own son. He didn't think anything of it; just that Endeavor was doting.

He was probably threatening him, then.

And how distant Todoroki was after the Sports Festival. He refused to be near anyone for a week, probably to hide injuries from a beating. Bruises and scars and... and burns? Does Endeavor burn him? Has he ever?

Revealed to him, it all makes sense. Todoroki's behavior in class, out of class, during training and lunch, and when he went to talk to Aizawa in the middle of the night. He must be terrified of every new person, every adult whether or not they've wronged him.

Aizawa isn't sure what to do, what's best for Todoroki, but he knows he should remain a shoulder for Todoroki to lean on. Whether or not Todoroki chooses to trust Aizawa again, is something only time will tell.