Chapter Text
Midoriya Izuku was having a good day. Or, at least a normal day. School had just let out; they had played a game sort of like hide and seek for hero training. Hagakure won, of course. It was kind of inevitable, no one can beat her when it comes to stealth. Uraraka and Sero tied for second place; no one even considered looking up until the end of the game. Midoriya figured he had done alright through the whole game. Instead of finding a hiding place like everyone else, he opted for trying to stay behind the seeker and out of sight. Present Mic, who was acting as the seeker, didn't find him until other kids were found, and they became seekers. Once half the class was looking around, it was kind of hard to stay hidden. Still, though, he did pretty good.
And so it was a little bit surprising when Aizawa asked to see him after class. Midoriya didn't really have a clue as to what he was in trouble for. Maybe because he didn't exactly find a hiding place for the game? Did he somehow find out about-- No, he couldn't have. Midoriya walked stiffly down to Aizawa's classroom, wringing his hands. He cracked his knuckles, trying to prepare himself for whatever conversation was about to happen, and opened the classroom's door.
“Midoriya.” Aizawa stated, as soon as he heard the student walk in. It looked as if Aizawa had been grading papers, their tests from last week were strewn across his desk. As Midoriya walked closer, he searched the desk for his, trying to figure out his grade. He found it, but it hasn't been graded yet. So, this conversation probably wasn't about that.
“Yes, Mr. Aizawa?” Midoriya responded. Aizawa didn't look up from the papers. He scribbled on one of the tests in red pen. Lots of red pen. Midoriya felt bad for whoever that test belonged to.
“Monoma Neito, from class 1-B, has a quirk that allows him to copy the quirks of others.” Midoriya nodded, knowing the student. Most people in 1-A knew him, Monoma made his disdain for the entire class well known. “He’s volunteering at a daycare, and recently came up with the idea of copying little kids’ undeveloped quirks in order to figure out what they are. We need someone who's good at analyzing quirks. Can you think of anyone who fits the bill?”
As soon as Aizawa said the phrase ‘analyzing quirks’, Midoriya was almost vibrating with excitement. Aizawa exhaled through his nose in amusement.
“I'm pretty good at analyzing quirks,” Midoriya said, beginning to pace. “I know that maybe someone more experienced would be better suited but oh my god please let me go, this is what I was born to do, quirks are like my thing , Mr. Aizawa for the love of god please --”
“Why do you think I asked you to come here in the first place?” Aizawa asked drily. Midoriya stopped pacing, and turned to face Aizawa.
“Thank you so much I won't let you down when can we go?” Midoriya asked, making direct eye contact, and still kind of shaking in excitement. Aizawa sighed.
“We're having the kids brought over today. Some of the other teachers and I will be supervising. Head down to the back of the school in about a half hour. You're dismissed.”
As Midoriya walked away, eagerly anticipating this unique chance to see tons of new quirks, and have the opportunity to take notes on them and be invited to analyze the quirks, and god, Midoriya was going to have a field day. Every new generation had more and more complex quirks, which was always interesting. A typical class at UA a few generations back would have students with quirks such as ‘water manipulation,’ ‘telekinesis,’ or ‘strength’. Now, though, quirks were a lot more unique and versatile. As quirks combined, and children were, ah, made, quirks developed and really, Midoriya thought the process was so incredible. He had always wondered what kind of quirk he could have developed, with his mom's telekinesis, and his father's fire breathing. Maybe moving fire around? Telekinesis with a fiery aura? Midoriya couldn't really come up with anything too complex, but he assumed the options were endless. Well, now he needed to find a way to wait out the half hour until the kids arrived.
Who was he kidding, he was just going to wait behind the school at the hero training area until everyone else was there.
__________
“Alright, is that everyone?” Aizawa asked. A group of 13 children, most of them around 3 to 4. Most of the kids at the day care Monoma volunteered at had developed their quirks by now. These kids were the only ones young enough to not have their quirks, and who's parents consented to their children’s quirks being discovered by someone else. Generally, someone using their quirk for the first time is like a baby's first steps, or first words. Definitely a special moment most parents would want to witness. A crowd of excited parents sat a bit away from where the children were gathered in a group of chairs set up earlier. Midoriya stood a bit closer to where the action would be, giving him a better view.
“Yup, that's everyone,” Monoma responded. “Ready to get started?” Aizawa, All Might, Present Mic, and Midnight gathered next to where Midoriya was standing. All Might sent Monoma a thumbs up. Monoma walked over to the group of the 13 kids, and grinned.
“Who wants to go first?” Most of the kids seemed pretty nervous about the whole ordeal. After all, there was a lot of people. No one looked like they wanted to be first. Monoma studied the group for a second, and came to a decision. “Watanabe, would you do me a favor and go first?” Watanabe blinked in surprise, then grinned.
“Yeah, alright!” Watanabe puffed out his chest, and walked over to the chalked out circle. Monoma followed him, and activated his quirk.
“Alright, first I'm gonna check and see if you have an emitter quirk…” Monoma said, trailing off. He held out his hands towards empty air, a precaution in case he emitted something dangerous. He tensed his entire body, holding the position for a few seconds, then relaxing. “Alright, looks like it probably isn't an emitter quirk. Write that down, 1-A,” he said, glancing at Midoriya.
“Let's check for a transformation type quirk next,” Monoma said, widening his stance. He breathed in slowly, then exhaled. Starting from his hands, scales formed up his arms. They glimmered in the light, and continued to spread.
“All right, there we go,” Monoma said with a smile. “Watanabe, you've got a really cool quirk!”
“I didn't expect anything less!” Watanabe said proudly. Monoma flexed his arms, and the turquoise scales pointed outwards. He relaxed, and the scales relaxed as well.
“Hmm… I wonder…” Monoma pointed sharply, flexing his finger. A scale shot from his finger, and imbedded itself into a nearby tree. Midoriya scribbled madly, and Watanabe grinned. “Who wants to go next?” Monoma asked, releasing his hold on the quirk. 12 hands shot up as the scales disappeared.
__________
About 5 other kids’ quirks had been checked by now. The coolest one, Midoriya thought, was the quirk that Monoma used to turn into a giant wolf. That quirk belonged to a little girl in a tutu, which wasn't what Midoriya thought she would have had. She seemed thrilled, though, so that was a lot of fun.
What wasn't fun is that the current quirk Monoma was trying to figure out didn't seem to be appearing. Midoriya was kind of afraid of this. It wasn't a very good way to break to a kid that they were quirkless. Monoma had tried everything he could think of. Eventually, Midoriya started yelling out suggestions, which Monoma wasn't happy about. Now, though, Midoriya figured that he should just give up. He was fully prepared to go up to the poor little kid who was trying their hardest not to cry, and try to convince them it wasn't so bad to be quirkless. Monoma tensed his hand one more time, clenched his eyes shut, but nothing. He sighed.
“I'm sorry, Saito,” Monoma began, turning to the poor kid. “I--” Aizawa inhaled sharply, then collapsed. Monoma quickly turned to the slumped over teacher, and stared at his hands in confusion. “O-okay, Saito, you definitely have a quirk,” Monoma said. “I felt that, and…” Monoma's head jerked up, and to the right. His wide eyes met Midoriya’s. “You--!” He began.
Midoriya wasn't quite sure what happened next, because his vision blurred, and his feet gave out. Darkness swam in his eyes, and the last thing he heard was an “Oh, shit!”
__________
A few hours later, and neither Aizawa or Midoriya had woken up. The whole event was called off for now, the parents and the kids sent home. Aizawa and Midoriya were put in Recovery Girl's office so she could watch over them. They had been breathing normally, pulses are normal, eyes darting around as if they were in REM sleep. They were just left to sleep, and hopefully would wake up in the morning. Uraraka had promised to take notes for Midoriya, and Midnight promised to sub for Aizawa. All in all, the next day would most likely go on as usual. It wasn't as if Midoriya hasn't been injured before. Before bed, Midoriya’s ‘squad’ came to visit him. Iida, Uraraka, and Todoroki sat in chairs near his bed. Really, they were used to him injuring himself by now, but this wasn't caused by the usual recklessness. Whatever quirk that kid had could be affecting Midoriya and Aizawa horribly. It definitely was pretty scary.
But, just when the three were about to leave and go to bed, deciding that there wasn't really any use in sitting there and staring at his body in glum silence, Midoriya groaned. The three immediately turned back towards him.
“Midoriya, are you alright?” Iida shouted. Recovery Girl sent him a look, and Iida immediately quieted down. Recovery Girl is scary.
“Yeah, Deku, you just fainted out of nowhere! Mr. Aizawa is still asleep, over there,” Uraraka said, gesturing towards Aizawa.
“What?” Midoriya said, holding his head. He looked up at them, and squinted. His expression… was strange, to say the least. It was like he had no emotion, at all. Usually, Midoriya was pretty expressive, wide eyed and well, Midoriya-ish. Now, though, he had a flat expression. He made direct eye contact with Uraraka, and furrowed his eyebrows.
“Are you alright, Izuku?” Todoroki asked him.
“ What .” Midoriya asked, his voice dripping with disbelief.
“Um, uh, Recovery Girl, I think something's wrong with Deku,” Uraraka started. Midoriya turned his head sharply to glare at Aizawa.
“ Fuck, ” He cursed. “I swear to god, this can’t be happening.” Iida swallowed, and glanced towards Todoroki as if to say ‘Something is horribly wrong’. Midoriya doesn't swear. It just wasn't something that was allowed.
“Language,” Recovery Girl said, walking over. She took a flashlight, and shined it into Midoriya's eyes. She seemed satisfied, and set the flashlight down on a nearby table.
“Well, Midoriya, you seem to be alright. The child's quirk that Monoma used must have just been one that caused you to faint. I would recommend resting for the rest of the day, and coming back to see me if anything unusual happens.”
“Shūzenji,” Midoriya said to Recovery Girl.
“Midoriya! That is incredibly disrespectful! You shouldn't--” Iida reprimanded.
“Shūzenji, something has gone terribly wrong.”
Before Midoriya could elaborate, Aizawa shifted in his bed, which drew everyone's attention. Midoriya was acting incredibly strange, so Aizawa could possibly bring some understanding to the situation. He coughed, and opened his eyes. Seeing Iida, Todoroki, and Uraraka, he sat up.
“Oh hey guys! What time is it?” Aizawa asked. Then, he glanced over at Midoriya, sitting in the other bed. Aizawa's jaw dropped. He looked at his hands in disbelief. Then, he started screaming.
“ OH MY GOD WHAT OH MY GOD HELP HELP HELP HELP WHAT THE HELL NO WHAT OH MY GOD PLEASE HELP” He gibbered. Aizawa began wringing his hands and hyperventilating. Recovery Girl hurried over to Aizawa, concerned due to this uncharacteristic behavior. Midoriya sighed.
“Alright, it seems like that kid has a quirk that swaps bodies,” Midoriya said. Everyone in the room froze. “Monoma swapped me and Midoriya's bodies.”
“ HHHHhhhhHh ,” Aizawa responded.
“So, er, you,” Uraraka said, pointing to what looked like Midoriya, “Are Mr. Aizawa, and he's Deku?” Midoriya, who looked like Aizawa, nodded with a tight smile.
“Yup, uh huh, I'm in Mr. Aizawa's body, ahahaha!” Midoriya said. “Recovery Girl, could you please do me a favor and sedate me? I don't want to be conscious right now.”
It was extremely weird, in Uraraka's opinion, to see Midoriya's expressions on Aizawa's face, and Aizawa's expressions on Midoriya's face. Midoriya’s face was flat, lifeless. He didn't have the eye bags but his face just screamed Aizawa. Aizawa sighed, for about the 40th time today.
“Midoriya, this could have been a lot worse. Tomorrow we can just ask Saito's parents to bring him back to UA so that Monoma can fix this.” Aizawa got up out of the bed. “Now, if everyone’s done panicking, I'm going to go home.” Recovery Girl nodded.
“Really, the best thing for you two would just to continue with life as normal until you can switch back. Now, I have other patients to attend to.” She walked away, because really, there was nothing she could do in this situation.
“Are… you okay, Deku?” Uraraka asked. He laughed weakly. Okay, she was never going to get used to Midoriya expressions on Mr. Aizawa's face.
“Nope, nuh-uh, definitely not, Mr. Aizawa is in my fucking body, haha oh my god,” Midoriya said, babbling.
“Midoriya!” Iida said sharply. It was still wrong for him to swear, even if it technically came out of Aizawa's mouth. “There's no need for that kind of language! The situation does not warrant this much distress!”
“Alright, imagine if you were in Mr. Aizawa's body, and he were in yours,” Midoriya stated flatly. Okay, that expression looked more like Aizawa. Todoroki shuddered.
“Alright, I suppose I see where you're coming from,” Iida conceded.
“Yeah, that would… really suck,” Uraraka added. “Guess that doesn't really help, sorry.”
“I think I should be allowed one or two fucks, considering he's in my fucking body ,” Midoriya said, his voice a pitch higher than usual. “Shouto, can I talk to you about something?” Todoroki blinked in confusion, and nodded. The two left Recovery Girl's office, with a goodbye to Uraraka and Iida. They started walking towards the dorms, while Midoriya worked up his courage.
“Shouto, he's going to see the--” Midoriya cut himself off and grimaced.
“Probably. But it'll only be a day, so there's always the chance that he won't see them,” Todoroki responded. “I wouldn't mention it unless Mr. Aizawa brings it up first.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Midoriya was quiet for a moment while they walked towards the dorms. “Do you think I'll get kicked out of UA if they find out?”
Todoroki stopped walking, and turned to stare at him in disbelief. For a second, he's confused because he has to look up to make eye contact, but he shakes off the weirdness of the whole situation. “Izuku, they wouldn't kick you out for--”
“I know, I know, I just.” Midoriya stared at the ground. “Heroes are supposed to be strong and… I just, I don't know.”
“It'll be okay, don't worry. I'm sure you aren't the first hero to--” Todoroki glanced around, looking for any people nearby. Todoroki saw Present Mic speed walking towards them.
“Shouta!” He shouted. “There you are! I was so worried!” As Present Mic made it to where they were standing, he moved to embrace Midoriya in a hug. Midoriya shoved Present Mic off of him, backing up.
“Sorry Present Mic,” Midoriya apologized quickly. “But nope, this is just way too weird.” Present Mic looked hurt, and deflated a bit.
“Hizashi, I was looking for you,” Aizawa said, approaching the three. “Are you ready to head back to the apartment?” Needless to say, Present Mic was very confused. First, his boyfriend shoves him off when usually he's happy to be hugged, or at least tolerates it. And now, what looks like Midoriya Izuku shows up and asks if they want to go back to their apartment, and generally, Present Mic just wasn't sure about this situation.
“I, er, what?” Present Mic said. Aizawa slapped his head, while Midoriya stood next to Todoroki Shoto, cringing. “Aizawa, what?” Present Mic asked, turning to fix the man with a confused stare.
“I'm uh, Midoriya,” Midoriya, in Aizawa's body, said meekly.
“They were hit with a body swap quirk,” Todoroki stated.
“Oh, gross, eugh. Is it going to like, wear off?” Present Mic asked.
“It was a three year old's quirk, so we don't really have an idea of what's going to happen,” Aizawa said. Present Mic huffed.
“You're sleeping on the couch until you stop looking like a 15 year old.” Present Mic stated. Midoriya sputtered.
“Wait, you two are…?” Todoroki asked.
“Say that a bit louder Hizashi, I don't think all of our students heard you,” Aizawa said pointedly. Midoriya gagged.
“Oh, shit, sorry kids,” Present Mic apologized. “To answer your question, yes, we're dating, and yes, you should pretend like you've never heard any of this.”
“Wish I could pretend I never heard what goes on in your apartment at night!” Midnight called out as she left a nearby building.
“Alright, I've heard enough, I'm going to bed.” Midoriya turned and kept walking towards the dorms. Todoroki followed, grimacing.
“Well, at least we know the rumors are true now,” Todoroki said to Midoriya.
“I do not want to think about it.”
__________
Aizawa walked up to his car, and dug in his pockets for his keys. He panicked for a second when all he pulled out was lint, thinking that someone pickpocketed him, when he remembered. He probably didn't have his keys, because these weren't his pockets. Or his pants. Or his legs. Why was he so short? Aizawa guessed he should just ask Hizashi for a ride home, and he could pick up his car later. Usually, they drove to UA in different cars, because Hizashi likes to wake up at 6 am and Aizawa most certainly does not like to do that. Hizashi was currently unlocking his car, a few parking spots away.
“Hey, Hizashi,” Aizawa said to him.
“Er, yeah, Midor-- Shouta?” Present Mic fumbled.
“Can I get a ride back to our apartment? I don't have my keys.”
“Haha yeah, that, and you're too short to drive,” Present Mic said, opening the car door and getting in. Aizawa walked to the other side of the car and opened the passenger door.
“Eugh, fuck,” Aizawa said, grimacing. He grabbed at his wrist.
“What's wrong?” Present Mic asked.
“I don't know, but my joints are killing me. Probably the results of Midoriya's quirk.” Aizawa said, climbing into the passenger seat. He fastened his seatbelt, and rotated his arm, checking it out.
“Oh man, that sucks. Wait… can you use Midoriya's quirk? Cause’ like, you're in his body.” Aizawa stopped, and pondered the question. He glared at the windshield for a few seconds, then blinked.
“Definitely can't use my erasure quirk,” Aizawa confirmed. “Don't want to try to use Midoriya's, because that could tear up what's left of his ligaments pretty fast.”
“Yeah, true. Anyway, let's go home. Sorry you have to deal with the whole body swapping thing,” Present Mic said.
“I don't want to think about it. Seatbelt,” Aizawa reminded, nodding at Present Mic. He sighed, and put on his seatbelt. He stuck his key into the ignition, and started up the car. Aizawa found himself staring through the window, much in the way someone does when they're pretending they're in a sad music video. Midoriya's teenage hormones appear to be affecting him. Present Mic started driving.
Today really wasn't a very good day. It started out alright, but god, this was weird. It would have been strange just to be in any other body besides his own, but being put into a 15 year old’s body just felt so incredibly wrong. Aizawa had no clue as to what was going to happen tomorrow. He didn't want to miss out on teaching for another day. Last time he took a sick break was after USJ. Well, compared to that, this situation didn't seem that bad. Still pretty terrible, though, Aizawa thought.
He looked down at his hands. Well, perhaps, not his hands. He looked down at Midoriya’s hands. They were incredibly screwed up, pale scar tissue flickering across the skin of his palms like flames. What kind of quirk did that kid even have that would destroy his limbs so thoroughly? He seemed to have a handle on the quirk by now. The damage had already been done, though. Aizawa grasped his wrist again. The school uniforms the students were required to wear were apparently itchy. Aizawa had never been a fan of uniforms, or suits. The last time he had worn a suit had been after Bakugou Katsuki had been kidnapped. If Aizawa could help it, he would never wear a suit again. He longed for his purposefully comfortable hero gear. He lamented the fact that he would most definitely have to sleep in this scratchy-ass shirt, considering he sure as hell wasn't changing. Aizawa groaned and leaned back in his seat.
“What’s wrong, kiddo? Ah, shit, uh, I meant Shouta, sorry,” Present Mic fumbled.
“Isn’t much fun swapping bodies with a 15 year old,” Aizawa stated.
“Hey, don't worry, Mi-- Shouta, we can get it fixed tomorrow. It’ll be alright!”
“Yeah,” Aizawa sighed, looking back into the window. This was going to be a long night.
__________
Aizawa and Present Mic's apartment was quiet and completely dark, save for the TV's sound and the light it shone onto the teachers’ faces as they sat on the old couch. Present Mic reached over to the small table that sat to the left of the couch, and grabbed the remote. He turned down the sound. Aizawa yawned, staring into the TV. He wasn't that interested in whatever was playing, but instead considered the evening in content silence. Weak bruises littered his limbs, caused by most of the furniture strewn throughout the apartment. They haven't moved any of the furniture for long enough that Aizawa could move through it blindfolded and not bump into anything. Now, though, the proportions of his body were all wrong. Steps he took in the dark were half as long as they used to be. He found himself stumbling into every table and chair placed in the apartment. Eventually, though, Present Mic and him had sat down and started watching TV. That didn't take as much wandering around.
After a few fun hours of watching Netflix with Present Mic, Aizawa figured it was probably time for bed. He was tempted to distract himself until dawn so that he could collapse easily, but that wasn't really the healthiest thing to do. He stood up from the couch. Present Mic was still wrapped up in an episode of… Whatever it was that they were watching. So far they'd dug their way through everything they could find that looked remotely interesting, and so now they were onto what remained. Needless to say, most of what was left of the Netflix selection didn't capture Aizawa's attention very well.
“Alright, babe, I'm going to bed.” Aizawa said, walking towards the hallway. Present Mic coughed.
“Uh, wait. First off, please don't call me babe when you look like a 15 year old. And second, you are not sleeping in there. That would just be weird,” Present Mic said.
“Fine, I'll take the couch. You should go to bed soon, it's getting late.”
“Yeah, I guess you're right. See you later, Mi-- Shouta.” Present Mic stood up, and walked past Aizawa into their bedroom. Aizawa turned around, back to the couch, and sat down. Sleeping on the worn-down couch always hurt his back, but luckily a younger spine would most likely fare better. Gah, the uniform was still uncomfortable. Aizawa decided to roll up the sleeves, because that would at least help a bit. No sane person would sleep with long sleeves. As he rolled up the sleeves, Aizawa stared down at Midoriya's arms again. The scars caused by his quirk continued all the way up his arms. They were thick, short, jagged. Looked as if his skin had torn itself apart. Higher up on his arms, though, were scars that were a lot thinner, and longer. These ones most likely came from after Midoriya had learned more about his quirk. Aizawa had seen a sudden and drastic change in the kid's ability after field training with… Grand something, as far as Aizawa remembered. Most of the other students had improved considerably afterwards, but Midoriya had a complete change in style, it almost looked as if he had a different quirk.
As Aizawa looked down at his arms, contemplating the kid's growth, he had a realization. The change in style wouldn't really have changed what the scars looked like, right? It wasn't as if he damaged his limbs in a different way. Fuck.
“Hey, Hizashi?” Aizawa called. Present Mic walked out of the bathroom, a toothbrush in his mouth, and a cup in his hand.
“Yeah?” He garbled, toothpaste foam spilling onto his shirt. Aizawa stood up, and walked over to him.
“What do these scars look like to you?”
Present Mic glanced down at his arms, and then jolted. He took the toothbrush out of his mouth.
“Yeah, that's about what I thought,” Aizawa said. He sighed.
“Those are…?” Present Mic asked.
“Self harm, from what it looks like,” Aizawa confirmed. Present Mic shook his head in remorse.
“It might not be,” Present Mic said hopefully. “That kid gets hurt more than the rest of 1-A combined,” Present Mic said, spitting toothpaste into the cup he was holding. “Lemme look at your arm closer,” he suggested.
Aizawa pulled back his sleeve further, and held his arm up as Present Mic walked over. His arm was covered in the thick, jagged, scars that were caused by overuse of his quirk. The scars appeared to stretch all up his arms, like a spiderweb of pale skin. Over those scars, thin lines of white, all parallel to each other, covered the back of his forearm. From a distance, the scars were nearly invisible.
“Well, at least they don't look fresh,” Present Mic said.
“The thin cuts are over the quirk scars, though,” Aizawa stated grimly.
“So these were made sometime after his quirk developed, so he must have been at least 4,” he said.
“Best case scenario, Midoriya got help a long time ago and he's fine now.” Aizawa sighed. “Worst case, he cuts somewhere else now.”
“Fuck,” Present Mic cursed. “You're right.
“We should probably bring this up with Midoriya tomorrow,” Aizawa stated. “Should we refer him to one of the school counselors?”
“Wait, we have those?” Present Mic asked.
“Hopefully!” Aizawa said, throwing his arms up. “God, maybe we should just pass the information along to Nedzu, and let him deal with it.”
“You could try talking to him? Try and gauge how bad he's doing, see what the problem is?” Mic suggested.
“Yeah, I guess,” Aizawa sighed, walking back to the couch. He slumped over. “Might just pass the information along to All Might. God, I'm just going to go to bed now.”
“I hope the kid's okay. Night, Shouta,” Mic said, walking back to the bathroom. Aizawa supposed that he could deal with this in the morning. Sigh.