Shouto is in class when the pictures are leaked. He doesn’t know it happened until after, when he walks out of class and is instantly met with stares and whispers. Heat prickles under his collar and his hand squeezes at the strap of his bag.

“What’s going on?” Midoriya asks from behind him, eyes wide and confused. From the crowd of people, Shinsou shoves his way forward and then turns to glare at them menacingly. “Get the fuck away. There’s nothing to see here.”

The crowd stare shifts from between Shinsou to Shouto but they eventually disperse, whispers still floating in the air like toxic gas. Shinsou grabs Shouto by the shoulder and drags him into an empty classroom, pushing him until he’s falling heavily into one of the desk seats.

“I need you to promise to keep calm,” he says quietly, seriously, and Shouto nods. Shinsou hesitates for a second and then, “Some pictures were leaked from your internship.” The information is bare boned and barely describes what happened but Shouto knows.

He knows exactly which pictures, which incident. He remembers the bruises left on his body and how angry his dad had been that the janitor had walked in on Endeavor shoving Shouto around in the bathroom.

Endeavor had growled threats at the man to keep him quiet and they both had thought he was too scared or cowardly to say anything and quickly dismissed him. That had been three months ago. It’s coming back to bite them both.

“The media is going crazy,” Shinsou grabs his hand and squeezes but Shouto barely feels it. The room is spinning and it’s like the floor fell out from underneath his feet. He can’t breathe-

“There’s allegations of abuse but also denial- Shouto, just don’t go online, okay? Don’t say anything to anyone and don’t fucking step even fifty feet near your dad. Everything is going to be okay but you need to keep your head down, do you understand?”

Shouto’s breathing quickens and he squeezes at Shinsou’s hand so hard it hurts. He can’t get over the fact that everyone knows. They all know and now he can’t breathe- “Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Shinsou is saying, and then there’s a hand on his cheek, grounding him.

“It’ll be fine. You’re safe and you’re not going back to that bastard, alright?” The door bursts open and Aizawa steps inside, hair a mess and clothes rumpled. His shoulders slump in relief when he sees them and then he’s striding over and pulling Shouto into a rough hug.