#c1a

Mirio is quick to reach out to Eri, to tell her it wasn’t her fault, realizing that saving her is not finished when she’s physically out of danger, but how he continues to behave - despite his own crushed dreams - will have an effect on Eri. 

Mirio putting on a brave face after his tremendous loss is a deliberate act of courage and heroism - living up to Sir Nighteye’s last words, keeping Eri’s well-being on his mind even before Eri utters a single word about how she feels. The hero, Lemillion, who set out to save a million people, may end up only saving one, but he wants to see it through all the way - defying whatever demons haunt him. 

This is a stark difference between him and All Might, who saved thousands already at his debut and many more during his long career - but has never really followed through with any of the victims long-term.

So when he sees Bakugou after Kamino for the first time, he doesn’t at all think about what Bakugou must be feeling, despite the very naked emotion on Bakugou’s face, and the fact that he approaches All Might.

Of course Bakugou is unable to communicate his feelings as openly as Eri is, so they have a completely dysfunctional conversion (about Deku), and at the end Bakugou walks away feeling shut out. 

Even his gratitude is not acknowledged.

All Might who is so wrapped up in his own loss of power, worrying about the fall of the Symbol he wanted to be is unable to see that saving Bakugou is not quite finished yet, because he carries the shadow of AFO’s destruction, the hurt heroes inside him, just like Eri kept carrying the shadow of Overhaul’s violence with her. 

But unlike Eri, Bakugou gets no reassurance - All Might’s silence is a damning confirmation of all the self-recrimination he feels. In his head, All Might is not saying anything because he’s too nice to blame Bakugou out loud, when everyone already knows that All Might’s end is his fault as it becomes obvious during his breakdown.

And of course, All Might is not thinking that. Actually, All Might is not thinking about Bakugou at all... The young student was saved - right? Hero work is all done. The man who wanted to save everyone with a smile seems kind of oblivious of the importance of saving the victims’ smile. He wants to be everybody’s hero, the Symbol that brings smile to everyone’s face - and in that big picture it’s easy to lose sight of one kid.

It’s not that he’s incapable of making the connection between his loss of power and people blaming themselves for it, but only in respect of Midoriya - to whom he reaches out and hurries to reassure that none of it is his fault. 

It takes Bakugou’s full-on breakdown for All Might to notice him finally as someone who is also a child dealing with tremendous guilt and trauma and who craves reassurance and acceptance. 

And I think this realization transforms their relationship a little bit like how Mirio keeps taking care of Eri. All Might realizes that saving Bakugou is not done - that the boy still needs him, needs to be seen, and if you think about it like this, it makes a lot of sense why All Might starts to invite him to the secret meetings with Deku and tries to make him feel included. All Might - despite his loss of power - can still save people, as Aizawa tells him. He’s made himself the personal hero of many - and he can still reach out to them.

I think All Might’s journey is to accept that despite what he told Izuku in the beginning is that one can be a hero without a quirk too - something that Mirio seems to understand and embody instinctively. As Sir Nighteye tells him - he’ll be the finest hero, no matter what. He already is. His desire is to save a million, but that doesn’t make him lose sight of the one in front of him.

Aizawa’s behaviour towards Bakugou is even more remarkable if you read Vigilantes and know that in UA he was kind of tormented by a guy with a blast quirk. 

Their relationship starts with Aizawa laying down the ground rules. And that was an important moment because up until that point nobody seemed to put limits on Bakugou’s violence. 

An early and very underrated moment is after the Battle Trial when Bakugou starts doubting himself, Aizawa doesn’t tell him all the ways he’s screwed up - he tells him instead to stop wasting his talent. In a backhanded way reaffirming that Bakugou’s problem is not talent, but attitude. 

I think Aizawa’s teaching style really mashes well with Bakugou’s personality. Aizawa doesn’t coddle or overpraise his students, he puts a lot of emphasis on self-reliance, but also looks at mistakes as something to overcome. Aizawa speaks directly to the talented young man inside Bakugou, while ignoring the childish brat and all his tantrums. Those are not worthy of his attention. It’s a very effective way of bringing out Bakugou’s better side. 

And during the Sport Festival it became obvious how well Aizawa understood Bakugou, and while he showed absolutely no favoritism among his students (and even other classes, like recognizing Shinsou’s potential), he did not hesitate to speak up for Bakugou when the mood was turning against him. 

This was another really inspired choice by Aizawa - not only pairing up Deku and Bakugou, but specifically putting them against All Might. Even without knowing the details, I think he realized that All Might has something to do with the hostility between those two and also I like how he’s calling subtly All Might out about his favoritism. This fight was important for All Might to even notice or consider Bakugou and also to see not only his faults but his heroic qualities too - which will eventually culminate in the moment where he recognizes Bakugou as equally part of his legacy. 

This is probably though the most important moment of their relationship, when Aizawa expresses his unwavering faith in Bakugou as a hero on live television, and Bakugou watches this while captive, hearing all the naysayers. It was visibly reaffirming for him and his respect for Aizawa goes way up after that.  

The relief just bursts out of Bakugou that Sensei believes in him. 

Aizawa also good at understanding Bakugou’s tsundere way of showing that he cares (maybe because a bit like that himself).

Then comes Aizawa’s twin-star speech, which again is something that Bakugou doesn’t hear, but it shows Aizawa’s growing appreciation not only for Bakugou’s skill but also influence in the class, as someone who can inspire others. 

After this build-up though, I really missed Aizawa’s reaction to Bakugou failing the exam. He didn’t say anything and even the fight with Midoriya, he never mentions it. 

But it seems that he accepts All Might’s subtle criticism that they both failed to watch out for Bakugou after his kidnapping and didn’t care enough about his emotional well-being. This is probably why Aizawa goes so easy on Bakugou only giving him a 4-day suspension. 

During the Overhaul arc, Aizawa’s attention shifts away to Eri, Mirio, Deku and the others who were part of the raid, and he’s training Shinsou on the side, but he hasn’t forgotten about Bakugou. I love the detail that he sends All Might and Present Mic to babysit the remedial kids. 

It’s also implied that he went with Todoroki and Bakugou before, and he sends not only Present Mic as a bodyguard, but All Might, who is more of an emotional and moral support. 

Ever since, Bakugou’s relationship with All Might has been more in the focus, but I think Aizawa was essential for him in the early stages to integrate in the class and to clean up his bratty ways. Aizawa also treated him fairly, respecting his abilities, and putting limits on him without trying to punish or humiliate him. 

I think Aizawa is someone Bakugou respects and trusts above all, and I really hope we will see more of their relationship in the future.