Chapter 52 - A Logical Choice
Vlad King and the other pro-heroes arrived on the scene, along with the police and medics. While the medics were taking care of the wounded, the police and pro-heroes investigated the stadium. The only things they found were Nomu chunks, the black liquid that spewed out of Gore when it exploded, and Stonefish, who turned himself in and was taken away. The other villains, such as Death Wish and Shigaraki, had evaded capture.
As for the students, they were still in good shape, despite having taken some minor injuries. Fortunately, everyone would be able to make a full recovery. Upon hearing this good news, Matthew said a silent prayer of thankfulness to God, and then went to go check up on Shiozaki.
Joshua, while he was being examined by one of the medics, was approached by Aizawa, who was followed by two police officers.
"Joshua, as you can tell, these two are from the Hosu City police." Aizawa spoke. "They want to bring to the station for interrogation."
"I understand." Joshua replied, standing up. "Alright, take me away."
One of the police officers moved forward, and produced a pair of quirk-canceling handcuffs. Joshua willingly held out his wrists, and the officer put them on. Then he took Joshua by the arm, and began leading him away. Upon seeing this, both Jiro and Matthew rushed to Joshua's aid.
"Hang on a second, he's innocent!" said Matthew. "He defeated a villain, and he fought alongside us!"
"Matthew, Joshua is still the son of a villain." Aizawa replied. "Like it or not, he has to be taken in."
"But can't you give him an easy sentence? Like, community service?" Jiro asked. "I mean, he did help us, after all."
"We shall see." The police officer who was dragging Joshua replied.
"At least let us come with you guys." Matthew spoke.
Aizawa sighed and replied, "Alright, you two can come along as character witnesses."
Matthew and Jiro then began following Aizawa, the two officers, and Joshua. They came to the squad cars, two of them. Joshua and the officer who was transporting him went in one, while the other officer, Aizawa, Matthew, and Jiro got in the other. After they all got into the cars, they drove off.
When they got into the police station, Joshua was brought to an interrogation cell, where he was interrogated by All Might and Detective Tsukauchi, a detective who was working on the League of Villains case. They asked Joshua a bunch of questions, and he answered each one truthfully, telling the full story of who he was.
While Joshua was being interrogated, Matthew, Jiro, and Aizawa waited outside. They sat in some chairs in the lobby of the police station, all with rather tired and shell-shocked looks on their faces.
"What time is it?" Matthew asked, his tone drowsy.
"The rock concert that didn't happen was around eight, so its almost twelve o'clock in the morning." Aizawa replied. "We will probably have to cancel classes tomorrow, due to the circumstances of this situation."
"Yippie…" Jiro groaned, her voice tired.
Aizawa sighed again and said, "Look, you two better go and get some sleep."
"Where would we sleep?" Matthew asked.
"There's a couple of benches around this lobby; you guys can sleep on those."
"Okay. Nighty-night…"
With a tired groan, Matthew got up, and then helped Jiro up. The two then went over to one bench, to which Jiro lied down on it. Matthew went to another bench, and then lied down on it. As for Aizawa, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, wishing that he had his sleeping bag with him.
"Hey, Aizawa…" said a familiar, female voice.
Instantly, Aizawa recognized the voice, and his eyes shot open! He looked and saw, to his horror, it was Ms. Joke!
But, his horror turned to surprise, as Ms. Joke looked different than when he would usually see her. She didn't have a smile on her face, but wore an expression of worry. And, she wasn't wearing her hero attire; she wore a black pullover sweatshirt, dark green sweatpants, and white sneakers. Her hair was also messy, like she just gotten out of bed. Despite her bedraggled appearance, she looked rather… pretty.
"Hey…" Aizawa spoke, his tone surprised. "Did you just… get out of bed?"
"I was at home watching the news, and I saw what happened and…" said Ms. Joke, her tone worried. "I had to come and see if you were alright."
"How did you know I was here?"
"The news crews were there, and I saw you going to the police station, with your students."
Aizawa stood up and replied, "One of our students had a background we were unaware of. So we-"
Without warning, Ms. Joke suddenly hugged him. This shocked Aizawa a little, and he didn't return the embrace for a few seconds. But after a few seconds, he rested his arm around her shoulders. She then pulled away, but still stayed in his arms, and looked up at him. It surprised Aizawa even more, to see that tears had formed around her eyes.
"What's going on here?" Aizawa asked. "You're… different."
"I didn't want you to think I was coming here to fool around." Ms. Joke replied. "This wasn't something I could just laugh about."
Aizawa let her go, and she stood before him, still with tears streaming down her eyes.
"I know you don't like my jokes." Ms. Joke continued. "I know that you hated it whenever I tried to make you laugh. But, all I ever wanted to do was see you smile, just once… and not some dumb smile like when you play a trick on your students. A real, genuine smile, like you found what you were truly lookin for. But, when the news said that they found your leg, I assumed the worst and… I'm surprised to see that your leg is back."
"A student with a powerful quirk healed me." Aizawa replied. "That's why my leg is back."
"You're always so analytical, always with an explanation for everything."
"Can't help it; its my nature."
Ms. Joke sighed and then said, "Okay… I understand now; It wouldn't work out between us. I mean, I like to laugh and you're all dark and moody, it wouldn't work. So, we can still be-"
"Will you marry me?" Aizawa asked.
Ms. Joke froze for a few seconds, and then she burst out laughing. After half a minute of cracking up, she stopped, and saw the expression on Aizawa's face. His expression was serious, and he wasn't joking.
"You're… you're serious?" Ms. Joke asked, her tone dumbfounded.
"Yeah, I'm serious." Aizawa replied. "The one who healed my leg said I would make a 'logical choice' at one point, and this is what he was talking about. Not only that, but I had some time to think and… Eri needs a mother."
"Eri?"
"My foster daughter, a little girl I'm taking care of."
Ms. Joke gasp, and asked in a surprised and happy voice, "You have a foster daughter?!"
"Yeah, and she needs a mother." Aizawa replied. "One who can teach her to laugh, and put happy thoughts into her mind. Just… don't go overboard, as she's been through a lot. Start out slow, and she'll learn to accept you."
"I would love to meet her! But… is that the only reason why you're asking me to marry you?"
"No, but what do you mean?"
"Do you… love me?"
Aizawa was silent for a few seconds when she asked that. It was that Ms. Joke noticed the pained look on his face, as if he was having a hard time trying to explain himself to her. But, then he composed himself, and answered her.
"I keep my emotions under wraps, because I find them illogical in most cases." said Aizawa. "But, I've found you… lovable, and… charming, in most cases. I am without humor, and you laugh in the most dire of circumstances. You my opposite, the parallel to who I am. So… if you want to say that I love you… then… yes… yes, I do… love you."
Ms. Joke let out a happy squeal and hugged Aizawa, who was once again shocked by this. But, he returned the embrace for a few seconds, and then let her go. He then took her hand, and the two looked into each other eyes.
"Emi Fukukado… will you marry me, and be my wife?" Aizawa asked.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! YesYesYesYesYesYes!" Ms. Joke replied cheerfully.
Next thing Aizawa knew, Ms. Joke literally leapt into his arms and began kissing him! He returned the kisses slowly and kindly, a rather pleased and contented smile on his face. At one point he even chuckled, must to the surprise of Ms. Joke; she had been trying to use her quirk on him to get him to laugh, and all it took was some loving kisses in order for him to do so. But, she didn't' say anything, and she stopped kissing so he could put her down. But, Aizawa still kept her in his arms, and she leaned against him and stayed in his embrace. Both couldn't have been more happy…
And, watching all of this, Matthew smiled, and even laughed; he couldn't have been happier for Aizawa and Ms. Joke. He then turned over on the bench he was resting on, and fell asleep, a smile on his face.
When Joshua came out of the interrogation room, he was greeted by Matthew, Jiro, Aizawa, and Ms. Joke. Jiro put her arms around him and hugged him, to which Joshua returned.
"How are you doing?" Matthew asked, after Jiro let him go.
"We talked, I told them everything." Joshua replied. "They're going to decide what happens to me at some point."
"We'll defend you, Joshua." Jiro spoke. "We'll be there to prove your innocence."
"I thank you for that." Joshua replied. "Hopefully, I won't get prison. Hey, what's Ms. Joke doing here?"
A smile spread across Matthew's face, and he looked at Aizawa and asked, "You want to tell him?"
"Sure." Aizawa replied. "Emi and I are getting married."
"Emi?" Joshua asked. "That's your real name, Ms. Joke?"
"Yep! Emi Fukukado!" Ms. Joke replied cheerfully.
"Nice name." Joshua replied, a kind grin on his face. Suddenly, a shocked look came over his face, and he said, "Wait, you're getting married?! Holy smokes! Matthew, when we first met Eon, he told me that Aizawa and Ms. Joke were going to get married! I didn't believe it at first, but its true! You guys are getting married! Congratulations!"
"He really told you that?!" Matthew asked, his tone amazed. "That's what he didn't want me to know?! Wow!"
"Who's Eon?" asked Ms. Joke, her tone confused. "Who are they talking about."
"A mystery, that's who." said Aizawa. "A true mystery…"
A week passed, and Aizawa and Ms. Joke were married in a ceremony attended by Class 1-A, Class 1-B, the American students, All Might, Present Mic, and all the other teachers at U.A. The Big Three were there as well, and Eri was the flower girl. It was a grand ceremony, with Pastor Shiozaki being the minister who married the two. After the two exchanged vows, gave the rings to each other, and were announced as 'husband and wife', the two kissed and sealed the deal. Loud cheering erupted, and the ceremony was over.
Afterwards, there was congratulations to the happy couple, dancing, cutting and eating of the cake, and a little bit of partying. It was quite the party, and everyone was having the time of their lives. As for Joshua and Jiro, they were sitting at a table, and watching the festivities.
"So, the court date is in two days." said Joshua. "Afterwards, Principal Nezu will decide what is to be my fate."
"No matter what happens, we'll still be with you." Jiro replied.
Joshua smiled at that, and he said, "Thank you, Kyoka. For standing by me, and sticking with me, even though I was of evil origin."
"Of course." Jiro spoke, a grin on her face. "What are girlfriends for?"
Joshua chuckled, and the two shared a kiss. Then, the lights began to dim, and slow music started playing. Most of the students found a dancing partner, and they all began dancing.
Joshua danced with Jiro, Matthew danced with Shiozaki, Milo danced with Ashido, Sunshine danced with Kaminari, Murdock danced with Tokage, and Annabelle danced with Shishida. Also, Yusuf danced with Kendo, Nemo danced with Asui, Lucy danced with Kirishima, Ralphie danced with Yanagi, and Barnaby danced with Kodai. Peter, deciding to be nice since it was a special event, got to dance with Hagakure, and acted as a proper gentleman with her. This gained a smile from Matthew, to which Peter saw him, and even grinned a little as well.
Despite all that they had experienced, things were slowly going back to normal for the students of U.A. But, of course, there was still the matter of what was going to happen to Joshua.
But they weren't going to be that worried, as that was in two days…
