5+1 calls (My hero Academia & Bungou stray dogs)
Aizawa Shouta has gotten five calls in total from his cousin in the last 15 years.
The first call he got when he was 21. He wasn't in the best mental space then- his cousin wasn't either.
Call one.
Shouta's family was...less than ideal for many. It was stationed in yokohama, and it was known to be obsessive and apathetic. He'd call it their family motto, but that implies a sense of unity in the first place. Hell, most of them have so many different last names that they aren't sure who the original is.
Mostly his family was known to pick the one thing that makes them feel alive; and stick with it. For Aizawa it was heroics.
His family didn't care, they never really did - but they were fine with him doing what he wanted to do ; they all understood that what they were drawn to was not easy to contain. He separated himself from them - living on an island known for crime and isolation doesn't make it easy to come and go places.
That aside, they were on (mostly) good terms.
So of course, three days after being informed by a few contacts at the police station sanctioned in yokohama about his family dying in a fire, being called directly from his mothers number was eyebrow raising to say the least.
His mother was not the type to fake her own death - her desire, passion, fire, whatever - was her husband. That love never quite extended to her son in the same way. His father was similar, he was obsessed with his work. It wasn't his passion exactly, he married into the family after all - but he was a very cold person outside of work scenarios.
If his mother faked her death, she probably would never risk informing Shouta of the fact she really was alive.
So obviously, someone else is using his dead mother's phone.
The one the police mentioned was missing from the corpse.
Out of all the people Shouta expected he might hear when he picked up the call - his apparently not so dead cousin was not one of them.
"Shouta-nii."
If he was anyone but himself, he may have asked why Shuji was alive. How he got out of that fire, and why he was claimed dead in the first place. Unfortunately, this kind of..situation, was not nearly as out there as you would think. Similar massacres have occurred in the family before, learning about them and their details is an unfortunately large part of their education.
He could also ask for details, but he was never good at emotional conversations. So instead he asked a simple question.
"....Shuji? Why do you have my mother's phone?"
"Ah. See - uh, how much free time do you have right now Shouta-nii?"
Shouta paused to consider it. "I can clear up at least the rest of the night, why."
"You might want to sit down while I uh..tell you this."
The next thirty minutes Shuji explained a lot Shouta frankly had no idea about. Apparently Shuji's father - Shouta's uncle - his passion was not just 'gambling' as he claimed it to be. It was specifically organized crime actually. Shouta can understand the desire to hide such a passion - in yokohama the only organized crime worth its salt was the port mafia, and it was.. messy work. Dirty and gross in a slimy way, an organization without honor nor interest.
Shuji went on to detail that Shouta's uncle apparently got pretty high on the ladder too - but he pissed off the wrong people, and they came to his house and killed the family. Shuji only survived because the doctor that traveled with the mercenaries pleaded he lived - he claimed to want an apprentice. The next day the doctor killed all of the mercenaries while they were sleeping and reintroduced himself as a doctor working with the port mafia. Apparently the mafia had wanted their family out of the picture for ages now - and this situation was just a happy coincidence.
Then apparently - they got to the heart of the call. The doctor at one point he asked about Shouta. Not Shouta Aizawa, but Shouta Tsushima.
See - for a solid 9 years of Shouta's life, he was the heir of the family. He was the only child in the family at the time - and so logically, his name was often brought up in select social circles.
This changed, when Shuji was born.
See - Shouta never actually left the house. He was homeschooled his entire life. He never left for social gatherings. No one really knew what he looked like outside of his immediate family. Shouta - well, due to some... unfortunate circumstances it became apparent that Shouta really wasn't fit for heir. So the day Shuji was born - they decided to take their chances with a new born over him.
Officially - it was like Shouta disappeared. His parents never mentioned "Shouta Tsushima" nor "my son" in casual conversation again. Mentions of "Shuji Tsushima" appeared every so often - but Shouta was a subject they never breached. Unofficially - most people took this as a death certificate. An heir of an influential family disappearing the day the news of a newborn heir spreads? The general assumption was that Shouta's uncle killed him. Of course - such things were not mentioned in polite company; but people whispered.
Shouta's birth was off the records - so he never really got the chance to "legally" emancipate himself. When he left his family at 14 for U.A. he just bought an apartment near the school and claimed to be a disowned orphan from the slums of yokohama named Aizawa Shouta. Because of yokohama's...unique circumstances near the slums, they couldn't really fact check him.
The next best thing was to just get someone with a lie detector quirk to fact check Aizawa's story - but that's a story for another time.
To sum it up; Officially Aizawa Shouta was an orphan from the slums of yokohama. Unofficially Shouta went 'missing' at 9, left yokohama at 14, and last saw his cousin at 16 when he visited to inform his parents he made it into the hero course. The version most known to the underground of yokohama was that Shouta Tsushima 'died' at 9.
Shouta can see how this subject would be breached. Perhaps this call was a warning one - to inform Shouta a day late that the port mafia was hunting him.
But then, miraculously - Shuji defied all expectations.
"Shouta-nii I- I told him you were dead. That you had been since I was born- The doctor- He wants me to join the mafia as his apprentice- Was that the right thing to do? Did I do the right thing, lying to the man that saved my life?"
Maybe, if Shouta was a different person - he'd tell Shuji to leave the mafia's clutches while he could. No child deserves to be there - even a less than legal medical student. However Shouta knew his cousin, and knew his cousin was only like this with him. The idea of Shuji Tsushima stuttering would be a laughable notion to most of the world - but Shuji lets Shouta see this weakness. Shuji was a much colder person then he probably thinks Shouta even knows.
Criticizing Shuji's choices - Shouta doesn't have much interest in doing that. Shuji asked a question, and so all Shouta did was give an answer.
"Shuji, I'm only going to say this once - so listen closely. There is no 'right' or 'wrong' in the darker end of yokohama ; just selfishness, and selflessness. I don't personally know or care if protecting my living status was a selfish or selfless venture - but I appreciate it all the same. You don't owe anything to that doctor, no matter how much he tries to convince you otherwise.
"You said I was dead, and there's no point in taking it back now unless you suddenly want me dead. You're a smart kid - a genius even. You can figure it out just fine where you want to go from here without my advice."
"..Right Shouta-nii. You always know what to say huh?"
The call ended there. Shouta tried not to think too much about it.
He failed at that.
Call two.
Call two occurred a year or two after first.
Shouta heard whispers of happenings in yokohama - Mori Ougai rising to the port mafia leader position. Whispers of the title of "demon prodigy" already making rounds.
Shouta largely opted to ignore this. If Shuji thought he needed Shouta's help - he'd ask.
This time the call was much shorter and curt. Sudden - in the middle of Shouta's patrol while he was waiting for something to happen.
It was an unknown number - but it definitely was one of the burner phone numbers the Tsushima kept in store that Shouta was required to memorize. Shuji probably grabbed a few of them on the way out. Clever kid, that one.
"Shuji?"
A voice that was definitely Shuji's - if not a bit lower then when he last heard it - replied with "Nope! Dazai Osamu speaking.."
So an alias. Understandable.
"Ah, sorry for the confusion. Osamu then?"
"Hm, that's a bit overly personal, but I'll make an exception if it's for you senpai !"
Shuji - or well, Osamu he supposes - never called Shouta 'senpai' before - ever. Even as Shuji called Shouta after both of their parents died; he was Shouta-nii. When Shuji had been younger he would joke that Shouta had been his 'senpai' because he had been heir first, and was more experienced and ahead in education - sort of like school grades - but he never actually called Shouta that before. It never really lined up well enough for the joke to make sense.
Either Shuji had a sudden change of heart - doubtful, Shuji tended to calculate most of his moves in advance, even as a child - or Shouta's name couldn't be said at the current moment.
Ah, so someone might be listening in.
"Right." I got the message "Did you need something then, Osamu?"
All traces of humour, fake or not, disappeared from Shuji's voice. "Senpai I'm... about to do something 'bad' to a completely good person. It's for a..relatively 'good' cause perhaps, but..they probably won't see it that way. If I do it, they'll end up much happier then they would be otherwise - but they'll have issues with trust for years and be much more upset in the short-term. If I don't do it their life will be worse overall - but they will be relatively happier in the short term. What do I do?"
Shouta sighs, why does his cousin only ever contact him with moral dilemmas? "Osamu - if I thought classic advice like 'follow your heart' would work, I'd tell you that. For some reason, I don't think you'd appreciate that, though." Shouta rubs his eyes. "Listen Kid, is this the first one an act of selfishness or selflessness on your part?"
Shuji paused - no doubt remembering the words Shouta said last time they spoke. "I think.. it's a relative mix of both. The second one is much more selfless, though."
"Good. Listen kid - being just selfish or just selfless is no way to live. That first option is more neutral - therefor, it's probably more natural for you. It probably benefits you both a semi-equal amount. Never try and tip the scales too far in either direction. If I were you, I'd try and go for that first one."
Neither of them said anything for a moment before suddenly, Shuji broke the silence. "...Ah! Senpai is so charismatic! It's a wonder to me why you avoid the press so much when you're so good at speeches!"
So, the figurative mask is back on so to say.
"Yeah yeah kid, listen if you need me for anything call me back later - I think a bank is about to be robbed a few streets over."
This time, Shouta ended the call. The bank heist was actually a pretty high stress situation - so Shouta ended up being on the news for helping with it anyways. Shouta didn't break the camera of the news reporter that took a blurry shot of him detaining the villain, as sort of a present for Shuji. He didn't get a call back anytime soon, but Shouta had no doubt he saw it.
Call three.
Shuji doesn't like talking about call three. Shouta is inclined to agree.
("Shouta-nii I found-"
"-and that doctor he-"
"Shouta-nii I don't know what to do-"
"....-would it be worth it?")
Yeah, they don't like to talk about it.
Call four.
This time, he got the call in the U.A. teachers lounge.
Thankfully, it was empty - but he needed it to be quick because Nemuri usually came around thirty minutes from then.
"Hello?"
"Nii-san ! It's uh, Dazai?'
Nii-san. Nii-san. Not Senpai. Not Shouta-Nii.
So, the person listening in could know they were related, but not Shouta's name. There's- some level of trust there, he has with this person - people, plural, maybe.
"Right. What did you need then."
"Ah! Nii-san is so mean to me! And to think, I called you charismatic!"
"Did you actually need anything or not?"
They both knew Shuji needed something - but Aizawa was currently playing the role of exasperated older sibling, which wasn't nearly as hard as it should have been.
"Ah well! You know those guys I was talking about? The detectives?"
("Shouta-nii-" "what-" "explosion-" "shot-" "hate him-" "living worth-")
"...Yeah. Why?"
"Funny story! They uh- Needed proof of my education apparently! And a letter from a relative confirming my identity because of the birth certificate thing- and I thought, who better for the job then my dear Nii-san? So what do you say?"
Are you willing to be publicly related to me? Even off the files? To only the people I work with?
"....Sure."
Maybe if Shouta was a different person, he'd ask Shuji if he was sure - but Shouta knows Shuji. Has known him since he was born - he wouldn't have asked if he wasn't sure in the first place.
Shuji sighs a comical sound of relief, but Shouta can hear the real sound of relief under all of that too. "Thanks Nii-san!"
Call five.
This time, it was during one of his classes.
It was bound to happen eventually, but Shouta really wished it wasn't around the biggest (and only, but besides the point) class of problem children he's ever had the displeasure of sorting through.
The class froze all at once, and stared wide-eyed at his phone, like it made him grow three heads or something.
"Go back to work."
The class, with various levels of embarrassment and reluctance moved on as Shouta walked out into the hall.
"What is it Dazai? I was in the middle of teaching a class so this better be important."
"I got a cat! You like those, don't you Sho-Nii?"
Sho-nii. Overly familiar nickname. Annoying on purpose. That aside...
"What."
"Yeah! I got a cat! A big one! I found in a river, see!"
He tried to convey how absolutely unbelieving he was. "You found a cat, in a river."
"Okay well - it's more like the cat found me in a river , but same thing!"
"Osamu, just what were you doing in a river in the first place."
"Ah you know me Sho-nii! I was enjoying the scenery! Then this orphan boy just dragged me out of it out of nowhere!"
"I thought it was a cat."
"Cat, Orphan boy, tiger- same thing!"
"..-What was that about a tig-"
Suddenly, all at once, his tone changed. "Shouta-nii."
Aizawa almost felt dizzy from the tonal whiplash. "...Ah, what did you really need then."
"Have you heard about the man-eating tiger?"
"..I think I heard a little about it near you, why?"
"Atsushi Nakajima - ability, beast beneath the moonlight - can turn into a tiger. Has no control over his ability - is extremely malnourished, has the social ability of an eight year old at best, and has light dot-like scars around his inner arm, presumably from repeated injections of something. Claimed to be thrown out of the orphanage that abused him heavily. Did I mention he's barely 18?"
"...You're trying to get my sympathy. Dazai - what are you playing here, you know I can't get into Yokohama affairs more than I already have."
"I'm not asking you to - I just need...help. I'm not very good at handling children - I tried once or twice but well, it didn't turn out."
"...and you're asking me this because?"
"Aw Shouta-nii! I thought you were the smart one here!"
"...your point being?"
"You're the teacher aren't you? You figure it out! We'll iron out the details later, when one of your students isn't listening in to the conversation, preferably. Bye-bye Sho-Nii!!"
Shouta just sighs and puts his phone away. He walks into the class to look at an embarrassed Jirou that was pointedly avoiding eye-contact.
"Jirou, it might be wise for you to talk to the support department about getting earmuffs if you don't desire listening in to conversations you really shouldn't be listening in on. I'll start writing the slip for it now."
+ 1
"Ranpo-san?"
"Eh? Yes Atsushi-kun?"
"Not to be invasive...but who was Dazai-san calling yesterday? He sounded really happy to talk to them, but I don't think I know anyone in the agency with "Sho" in their name."
"Ah, that would be Dazai's brother,"
Everyone in the room paused. ''...What?!''
"Hey that's slander! Sho-nii is far too nice to be a direct relative of mine!"
Atsushi flushed red at being caught technically talking behind a co-worker's back. "Dazai-san?! When did you get here?!"
"I've been here the whole time! I felt soo neglected when my dear Atsushi-kun asked Ranpo a question over me.... like I wasn't even there...it was awful!"
"Wait no! Dazai-san I'm sorryy-"
Even if the topic dropped, the agency could tell from the way Dazai's voice lightened when talking about this mysterious "Sho-nii" that he meant a lot to Dazai. They resolved to do more snooping later on.
Of course, that would be after they stopped taking photos of their embarrassed new co-worker first.