章 52: Reminiscing.

"11 :23 : 28 : 00"

In retrospect, she couldn't say this wasn't

warranted.

The new arrangement wasn't completely unfamiliar, she'd give em that. She knew the basic protocols that followed situations like this. Necessary methods additional to daily living that made life a little unsavory, but she knew how to swallow it down. I mean interdwelling surveillance, social separation, quotidian check-ups, most heiresses knew the routine down to a tee. ~ And it wasn't like she had any doubts that this wasn't completely necessary. She and a lot of other people had been hurt. Indirectly or not. The pit was still in some way involved and there was a handful of villains who recognized her just by a face. She didn't even use her fire, they knew her with just a glance. And that in itself was already troublesome.

But, more troublesome was the fact that after she had passed out from the shock of Masuku's death (or the detrimous amount of vomit she had forced out of her system.) The villains in question just...gave up.

Midoriya described it as an "unplugging." As if the moment she collapsed a cord had been snatched out of their backs and they were rendered completely ill-functional. They stopped fighting, didn't even block themselves from the still coming attacks as they just stared at her. Matching the same blank, anticipative expression as one by one they were taken down. Inevitably, obligingly forced to surrender.

Well, all except for one. One ran away.

And for that reason, this double down had been tripled. Someone was out there with knowledge enough to report her to a superior. Someone was out there with not only Izuku's face but Katsuki's. Someone was out there, who knew that she was hidden among heroes, that she could be at U.A.; that she just may be toying with those ideals again. - And God knows she knew what happened the last time that got out.

So that brings her to this new arrangement. - A meeting with principle Nezu, co-led by Aizawa and the rest of all included staff. As well as the two boys sitting next to her.

"You've been given an assigned schedule better fitted to secure these new measures of protection. If in any case these should fail or be deviated from, we may have to resort to more "Off-campus" measures,"

"Miss (Y/N),"

She picked her head up to meet his eyes, forcing down a rocky swallow as his ears twitched above his head.

"I'm sure you know what that means."

That's where the problem was,

it felt like a punishment.

Maybe it was because she's only met principle Nezu a handful of times, as opposed to his scruffy faced coefficient. Maybe because in regards to their few introductions, the matter of their visits always consisted over the topic of her inheritance. - Maybe it was because he was the smartest adult she knew, and because of that, the subtle tinge of scrutiny in his voice always got to her.

It wasn't like he wasn't a nice man- rat- thing. A lot cooky in the eyes, yeah, but you'd probably find yourself respecting his better judgment over anyone else's. I mean he was the principle. It's just... She knew how it went the first time she tried to apply to this school. She knew what he thought about her, what everybody thinks of her when they know what she is. - If anybody could recognize her face, it'd be him.

He gave her a smile when she made her way to the hall of his office, right before the entrance.

Congratulated her on her bravery.

And then he closed the door in her face.

It goes without saying that there might be some residual feelings of resentment.

Aizawa cleared his throat. 'As much as he disfavored the idea of making a very serious situation more toothsome, the tone his superior was taking came off a bit more bias than it should have. "Again, these measures are merely being enforced to the insure the safety of not only the three of you but the rest of our students," He reiterated.

"U.A. has previously dealt with breaches in the past, as well as the few temporary destitutions of the school's integrity, we're not going out of our way to instill these methods." He addressed lazily. "Bakugou, you should know that from personal experience, (Y/N), you should recall that from the form we read over before your admission here at U.A. ~ It's nothing new, it's just our responsibility."

Midoriya leaned over to read the paper in her hand. "What does..."Inhouse refinement" mean?" He shook his head. "What's this list for?"

"It's a...pedagodgic system-"

"It's homeschooling." Katsuki growled.

Nezu raised a furry finger above his head. "Well no, not entirely. You're still attending on U.A. soil. As well as-....Well, not everything can be done in the confinement of your own dorm-"

"It's just most things." Midoriya gibed. "That's not fair."

"This isn't about fair, Midoriya-"

"Then what is it about?" He bit. "Wha- Because you think she's a danger to our school? A danger to any of us? When was the last time you've even seen her use her fire? - When was the last time her relation to The pit had even been directly eluded to, Sensei?" He pressed. "When until now?"

"That's not-"

"Do we not get a say in this? It sounds like it." Midoriya sat back in his spot. "It sounds like you think that we, three near graduate heroes, are not capable of handling something like this ourselves. And If this is really about the school's integrity, then with all due respect; this is just poor on your part."

(Y/N) looked over her shoulder at him.

"I'd...have to agree." Katsuki grumbled. "He might be on to something, Sensei. ~ By pulling something like this you might just be undermining the ability of three seniors. Let alone screwing up my classmate's ability to learn at an appropriate pace." He reasoned. "Finals are up this June. With that being so close, pulling her from her classes could just be indirectly sabotaging her... 'It doesn't take two brain cells to see that. "

Aizawa furrowed at that last comment and Katsuki rose both of his hands half-heartedly.

"All I'm saying is, this just doesn't seem like the right choice. " He defended.

(Y/N) nodded tepidly at the two of them. 'As nice as it was of them to intervene, she didn't regularly make a habit out of critiquing the decisions of her higher ups.' What was said to be necessary was necessary, and in any other situation she would have just taken these conditions and went on her merry way. 'The points made by the two boys on her sides were viable, but the look she'd gotten from her furry-faced superior almost negated that.'

She let her eyes wonder the various faces in the room as she took her time to carefully add-in. Purposely swiping over the face in her Sensei's lap as she shifted in her hospital bed.

"If my two cents account for anything, I'd say that being so abrupt in your efforts may do more harm than good." She stated softly. "I'm more than aware of how unpleasant this situation may be for all of you. As well as... I can sympathize with your uneasiness to let me continue to attend beside my peers. But I can assure you that these problems are still very much outside the gates of U.A.'s Staff and students. Any conflict pertaining to The pit, to my father, to any of his associates, I can assure you will and can be taken much outside of the bounds of my fellow classmates."

"Well, all besides myself." She added.

"But I didn't apply to this school for no reason." (Y/N) pressed. "I'm here to become a hero. The best one I can be. ~ Taking such extreme measures will no doubt hinder that. And I don't wanna leave here not knowing as much as I could of- not being as much as I could of." She argued. "There's no way to get to number one if I'm not experiencing heroics at it's fullest."

Katsuki raised a brow at that.

"But that very much excludes your other directives, I promise," She skimmed the booklet in her hands. "Those are more than reasonable. Without a doubt. I have no problem following these instructions and keeping faithful to these schedules. I just-" She breathed. "I ask that you reconsider. Know that you can put your faith into us to do our part in mitigating this situation for all of you."

Titling back a small glance to the two of them, she laid a hot hand on each of their shoulders as she passed a determined look to the room.

She pulled back a rusty grin. "I mean, we're heroes."

Heroes don't usually sob in their hospital cots when they're sure no one's around to see them.

Heroes don't usually own criminal empires. Or have a quirk toxic enough to corrode glass. - They don't usually take on the face of the first villain they lose to. Carry him around like some twisted souvenir and let the scars he's given them soak into their skin until they're no more than a jumpy, skittish mess. A victim. Whose traumas have been weaponized and redistributed. Turned into faults and false prophecies. Following her around like a grey cloud that rains in these moments of silence. Thundering out her sniffles and singeing away her woeful blubbering.

She barely hears Aizawa when he walks through the door.

The stutter in his steps as he catches her swollen gaze has her too frantic to wipe her tears away. Silently cursing as she turns her head for the window and hunches over to tuck her agonized expression out of his sight.

The scrape of a chair tugging out at her side makes her stomach curl into a fist. Tighten as she straightens her back against the headboard and lighten over her shoulders as her smoke rises out of anticipation. If she could be anywhere but here. Disappear when the tile lights over her head flicker and never reappear again. Maybe then life could be more livable. Maybe then she wouldn't have to acknowledge the piercing umbers jaded over on her side front. ~ Bismaling under wilted eyelids and probably expecting so much more from her.

(Y/N) fights the need to sniffle as her lips quiver an unsteady frown. Counting the stars gleaming through the pitch black sky and blinking away tears as she avoids the other reflection in the glass.

His chair crackles as his voice smooths forward. "How's your head?"

"O-Okay..."

"Mh." He tugged a piece of skin off his bottom lip. "That's good."

(Y/N) tucked a chapped lip into her top teeth as she nodded, still shamefully turned away from him; she let out a shuttered sigh.

Aizawa leaned back in his chair. "Out tomorrow?" He flipped through the clipboard on his side. "Midoriya taking you back? Or do you need a ride?"

"I uh..." She sniffed. "Actually, Katsuki's my ride back. ~ Midoriya's staying back at the dorms to make sure everything's comfortable when I get there." She wiped a few stray tears off of her jaw. "As much of a fuss he put up about it."

Aizawa raised a lazy eyebrow at her. Huffing as he raised his back forward to tug a few tissues out of her desk box. "Katsuki? You his mother? Or his girlfriend,"

"His soulmate." She corrected him. "As weird as it is- Who wouldn't be on a first-name basis when you're practically glued to each for forever." Or so she had hoped.

He shrugged. "I suppose."

Aizawa tapped a rough hand against her side to pass her the wad of tissue. Staring at the stained whites in her eyes as she stared off - but, slightly weighing into his jaw when the gesture elicited a small flinch.

(Y/N) whispered out a timid 'Sorry.' as she took the tissue. Meek as she folded them in troubled squares and misshapen triangles, crinkling as they trembled in her unsteady hands. He tried hard not to grimace as they shook beneath her eyes. Wetting as fast as they had dried and tugging the swollen skin underneath it.

He supposed this was a glimpse of what could have been. Raising the nine-year-old now well asleep at his best friend's house and seeing what could've been of her if he hadn't gotten to her sooner. Letting a child be raised in an environment like that. Teaching her that that was all she could ever know; to expect something. To be prepared for something. To hide, to be afraid, to clench up and take it. ~ A glance at her portfolio and you'd see that the two were identical in a lot of ways. Two broken paths that scattered a portrait too similar. - I guess that's why he never introduced them to each other.

"I wanna talk to you about something." He leaned forward.

(Y/N) nodded. "Okay-"

"But you have to look at me first."

(Y/N) paused before she conceded. Begrudgingly turning her head in his direction as her eyes slipped in and out of his gaze. Following a tearful mug that looked worse from the front than it did the side. It made bringing this up all the more harder.

Aizawa let out a long sigh. Hopefully no more transparent than the clammy fingers fidgeting around his knuckles. "It's been a year since...It's been a year." He started. "You know that."

"And there's no sense in beating around the bush," He added. " Seeing you like this- All of this...I can't be the only one who thinks this all looks familiar."

(Y/N) grimaced.

"-We've backtracked." He wiped his palms on the knee of his sweats. "Ran in a few circles and ended up in the same place we started. ~ Except the only difference is," He sighed. "You're a year older and I'm not looking at you through a wall of medical plastic."

But the in-patient rooming is no different than the intensive care unit. A symphony of wheezing machinery and a diminuendo downwardly descending a hope that fleets every time he walks in. Every time she wakes up screaming, every night that passes, just as dismal as it is sleepless. It's a foreboding and a keepsake. Before her admission, when the camels back broke and the snakes came slithering in. Bringing back a body from the dead- he sees her and hopes that a higher power can only be so merciful. He hopes that his eyes stop working and he walks in to find the bed empty. ~ But nothing is ever that easy, and sitting in a room like this together feels like opening up a healing sore.

"You know I don't like this bringing this up," He shook his head. "And I wouldn't if I didn't feel like I had too."

"Aizawa-"

"Let me finish."

He kept the piece of skin in his teeth taught until the slab inevitably gave in. Eyes tracing out something foreign in the wall as the wound bled and dipped into his mouth again.

"It can't happen again." Chastising, it sounded - but what followed shifted the tone into something more mournful. "You don't know how you'll come out this time. You don't know if you will."

"You and I and every hero worth giving a damn, know what these people are capable of. You know what lengths these people will go to. You know what they've done and what they're willing to do. I don't think-" He was nearly barking, he had to catch himself. "I don't think either of us is ready to go through that again."

He let out a hard allaying sigh as he fell back in his chair. Deflating himself through pursed lips as the hairs not held in his ponytail threw themselves upward before falling again. Lazily fisted atop his head as the other hand reached for the clipboard on his side.

The breath he pushed out this time blew a few papers up with it. Not quite a flying wind but, enough to make slipping them over his thumb a little easier. ~ Tiresome, according to his lethargic efforts but more urgent as each article flew up with an audible snatch, barely ripping around the edges as they folded over the peak of the clip.

(Y/N) watched as his eyebrows clashed against aggravated creases. Bent over waning eyes and scouring deep browns that hardened as they lazed over the sheet paper. Blown out quiet breaths, louder as she watched his chest rise and fall; and the dread that grows as the silence lingers. Only disrupted by the monitor beside her.

She instinctively grazes the numbers on her wrists and sinks in on herself when she remembers she's her own again. Eyebrows crinkling in as her head dips - it's abandonment in its purest form. Living your whole life knowing you're not yours until you're someone else's and finding comfort in it. Like a safety net, or a best friend you'd never lose. ~ In times like this, even before they'd connected, she'd look to her wrist and know there was always someone there listening, someone there participating, someone there caring for her before they'd ever met. Someone stuck to her. It's selfish but it's better than this. Better than the alternative. Better than looking to her wrist and finding nothing.

"There's-" (Y/N) picked her head up to find a face she couldn't quite understand. "-Some ....tearing in a few old wounds," He let the papers lay on the clipboard again. "Had to jury-rig your quirk to open you up again and tighten a few staples."

"That-...Hole in your side took weeks to heal when it happened." He cracked his knuckles. He didn't like remembering how it happened. "Still hasn't. ~ Had to put in some new stitching."

(Y/N) opened her mouth to apologize for that, but opted for silence instead. It was becoming a habit at this point. God knows where it came from. - God knows where it could've come back from.

"You have to be more careful." He pressed. "All that grunt work you did during that attack could've resulted in something a lot less favorable. ~ Try to be more conscious of that in the future."

"Which," He added. "Also leads me to a follow-up."

For the first time since he'd entered the room, Aizawa fixed himself in the seat to straighten his back against the chair. More upright in his posture as his back nearly neated to a 90° angle, he kept his shoulders confident as he set the clipboard aside. Meeting her eyes faithfully.

"What you did in that museum was stupid. You should've gotten out right away."

The near instantaneous scowl she gave him was hard enough to be disrespectful. And probably was, hopefully she softened it before he could notice. It's just-...She didn't expect that? She didn't want that. After what had just happened. After how hard she tried and how miserably she failed. Sure, she knew that the way she went about it wasn't exactly the smartest but, she wanted- needed to save a life. She put her all into it. Did what she did because that was what she was meant to do, that's what she lived to do. And all else besides that was for not.

She opened her mouth to protest but was cut short. "But-"

"I don't care. You should've exited that building immediately. The minute you got up." He admonished. "You were in no condition to do what you did, and the fact that you did it? Unacceptable."

"You're not heroes yet. As much as you students like to believe you are." He crossed his arms. "Sidekicks, the best of you. - But with this type of behavior you won't even make it that far."

"What use does this school have out of a dead student, (Y/N)? I'm asking you. What would that've accomplished?"

(Y/N) didn't know what to say to that. Other than sit there and silently seethe like a child who'd just got berated for something she should have easily known. Eyes off of his again as her lips tightened a guilty grimace and fiddling with the soiled tissues nearly torn in her hand. I mean, when you say it like that it does sound pretty stupid.

Aizawa stared at her from his spot for a long silent moment. Resonating in the quiet to let it get his point across as he kept his arms folded against his chest.

But faltered with a long sigh eventually. After a whole minute, how the hell do people sit like that for hours? And let his back finally fall into the chair again.

Still, he kept his voice stern. "I'm not All Might. I'm not going to reward you for endangering yourself. You were hurt, you barely functional, you were half your way into a coma. -You don't do that again, you don't ever do that again."

"I don't care if you choose to dedicate yourself to saving lives with or without your heroes license. I'd be a hypocrite for telling you you can't."

(Y/N) looked up at him again.

"But if that comes at the cost of your own life, drop it. ~ I'm not Senseiing a martyr." He chided.

"This won't happen again." Aizawa warned her. "Do you understand me?"

She nodded. "I do, Sensei."

"Good."

"Then onto more pressing issues." He started again.

"Let's talk about your boyfriend."

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