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One of his earliest memories is of visiting his father at UA, one of the best hero schools. His dad was teaching a class there, and Hitoshi was in awe. He’d come to visit the day his father was assessing his new student’s quirks, and he got to see the show. One student ran by Hitoshi faster than he could see, and he was in awe. All of their quirks were so incredible, even if they weren’t flashy. One student was having a bit of trouble controlling their quirk, the flames that came out of his hands growing uncontrollably larger. Hitoshi remembers being frightened along with the rest of the class when suddenly the flames were gone. That was the first time he had seen his father use his quirk on anyone other than his uncle, which was usually just to get him to quiet down. This was different. His father had taken away the boy’s quirk to protect all of them, and he used that time to calm the boy down. While the students had quirks that made them physically stronger, his father’s quirk was probably the strongest of all. Hitoshi told himself then that he would come back to UA one day as a student so he could be a hero just like his father.After his quirk appeared, Hitoshi knew he’d have to work hard. He was able to control people, so long as they spoke to him. He accidentally did it to his father many times before he managed to get it mostly under control. He still slips up occasionally when he’s upset but those times are rare, especially since his father and uncle had him learn to sign. The older two had been signing for years, his uncle having learned from a young age due to his vocal quirk deafening his parents and himself. Hitoshi was eager to learn, not wanting to cause any accidentally harm to his own family. ‘It’s also useful for communicating with Deaf victims. It helps calm them to know they can understand their heroes,’ his uncle had told him. He wished his classmates would learn to sign too, so they wouldn’t be scared to talk to him.When Hitoshi was 13 he told his father he wanted to be a hero. He’d told him many times, but this time was different. They’d been discussing what he wanted to do after middle school, and for Hitoshi there was only one answer. ‘I want to go to UA like you did,’ he signed. His father told him that it wasn’t going to be easy, not with a quirk like Hitoshi’s. His dad told him that without a physical or strengthening quirk it’d be nearly impossible to get into UA’s hero course. ‘If you want to get in, you’re going to have to work harder than ever,’ he said. Hitoshi was ready.When he was 15 Hitoshi finally entered UA as a student. His father had been right when he told him it’d be hard to get into the program with his quirk. The test had clearly evolved over the years, as he knew his father wouldn’t have been able to pass the practical portion with just his quirk. The two had worked on improving Hitoshi’s physical strength, but it hadn’t been enough for him to enter the hero course. Luckily, Hitoshi hadn’t let his grades slip and managed to get into UA’s general education. He was disappointed of course, he’d wanted to be in the hero course, but his father told him there was still a chance he could be moved. He didn’t place at the sports festival, but he’d made an impact. He was the kid from general education who made it all the way to last game. He was the general education student who beat out students from the hero course. He almost defeated the hero student with incredible strength. Pro heroes were loudly exclaiming there had to have been a mistake for someone with his quirk to not get into the hero department. People outside his family were telling him he could be a hero. After so many setbacks—being called a villain by his middle school peers, not passing the entrance exam, not being physically strong enough—Hitoshi was finally able to see his dream within reach. ‘We’re so proud of you, Hitoshi,’ his uncle signed. He was 16 when he joined the hero course. Since he hadn’t been in heroics before the sports festival, the principal decided it would be best for his father to catch him up and join at the start of the next semester after summer break. Those weeks were full of general ed coursework at school and hero studies at home. It was tough, but Hitoshi didn’t care. He was finally going to be a hero. His summer studies were temporarily interrupted when one of his father’s students, the explosive one from the sports festival, had been kidnapped during the hero class’s training camp. The student had been saved (with the help of some of his father’s class, he’d heard), but the incident had consequences. The number one hero, All Might, retired and students were moved into dorms. Once he was officially transferred to the hero department, Hitoshi moved into the dorms as well. He worked on his quirk during classes and worked on his body with explodoboy, Bakugou Katsuki. If you’d asked Hitoshi if he’d ever be friends with the human firecracker before he moved to heroics, he would have told you never in a million years. A few weeks after moving into the dorms, though, Hitoshi had caught Bakugou signing to his mother over skype, and he’d never felt so stupid. ‘Why don’t you just ask my dad and uncle to sign during class?’ Hitoshi asked him the next day. Though he was already friendly toward the rest of his class, Hitoshi would say that was the moment he made his first good friend. He was 17 during his last UA sports festival. He had originally been worried he wouldn’t get far during his final year since everyone knew how his quirk worked, but he trained long hours for weeks beforehand to improve himself. He hadn’t told anyone, other than his training buddy Bakugou, that he’d figured out how to use his quirk without using his voice. He made it all the way to the final round before his classmates realized he was somehow using his quirk without getting them to speak. He came in second place that year, losing to Bakugou who knew the secret to his newfound ability was eye contact. His friend had fought him without even looking at him. At 18 Hitoshi was named one of UA’s most promising students. He could barely believe how far he’d come in the past two years. He hadn’t been able to pass the entrance exam, and now he was receiving offers from almost every hero agency. He had helped save a little girl during his internship, and she told him he was her number one hero. 'Your quirk is like mine!', she signed. He was still 18 when he graduated from UA. He’d accepted a job with his father’s old agency, who were eager to have him. It wasn’t the most glamorous job, but he wasn’t a hero for the prestige. Hitoshi had always wanted to be a hero like his father, and now he really was.Hitoshi was 19 when the group of villains he’d been tracking turned out to be smarter than they appeared. Hitoshi didn’t know how long they knew he’d been following them, but by how prepared they were he’d guess at least a week. Hitoshi was 19 when he was surrounded by villains, smart enough to know to avoid eye contact. Hitoshi was 19 when he wished he’d let his father tag along with him.-Aizawa Shouta was 39 when he walked into the church wearing his best suit, arm-in-arm with his husband. The church was full. Hundreds of people filled the pews, all dressed in their best. The purple flowers stood out amongst the sea of black, their brightness bringing tears back to his eyes. It seemed almost cruel how they were so full of life despite being cut off from their roots.He was 39 when he cursed the sun for shining so brightly. The weather was perfect, not a drop of rain to be found or a bit of chill to be felt. The grass beneath his feet had the nerve to be the boldest green he’d ever seen. He felt an arm curl around his shoulders and leaned into the touch, barely registering that someone was speaking.He was 39 when he stayed behind as the crowd dwindled away. It didn’t take long for him to be alone, no one wanted to linger in a place like this. Except for the staff, the only other person he could see was his husband. Not that he could see with the tears filling his eyes, but he would recognize that long blonde hair anywhere. He clung tightly to the man and finally let the tears free.He was 39 when he said goodbye to his son for the last time.