TW: this chapter shows how people react after someone tries to take their lives, as well as recognizing mistakes, self-hatred, references to suicide and the consequences of various actions, so please, if this might make someone feel uncomfortable, don't read this and take care of your mental health.
Recommended OST: Calm and quiet days, Fate/stay night Heaven's Feel, Presage Flower.
Flashback: Two Days before Izuku's awakening.
Momo Yaoyorozu woke up in the infirmary, being connected to a serum saline bag in her left arm, as it gave her essential nutrients and electrolytes back to her body after her mental breakdown over Izuku's suicide attempt, which was caused by her actions, as well as those from her classmates…
How could everything change so badly?
Was there a way to return to those calm and quiet days?
In just three weeks, she lost almost everything…
Tenya, whom she befriended thanks to their class representatives' position, but she abandoned after he took Izuku's side.
Ochaco, whom she was friendly thanks to the "Girl Squad" interactions, but she ended up abandoning her after she took Izuku's side.
Tooru, whom she considered a close friend, but ended up destroying everything thanks to her betrayal… Did she truly care about people here, or was everything just a façade? She didn't really know, though she hoped to find out…
Izuku… Who was just a classmate, but a really kind hearted and supportive one, always sacrificing himself for everyone, giving advice with his notebooks and muttering a lot when he cared about something or someone…? And she betrayed him, glared at him, and scorned him without evidence at all.
Kyoka… Her most trusted friend and important person in Yuuei, the one who was always there cheering her up, sharing her hobbies like music as she did with her books covering various topics, the one who consoled her when she cried by feeling useless or unworthy… But someone who would never hesitate to help an innocent, as she did by taking Izuku's side…
Even now, she was incredibly selfish, as she thought about how she was affected by everything, rather than realizing the consequences her actions added to everyone else somehow…
"Izuku, Kyoka, everyone else… I'm sorry, I wish I could take it all back, to stand up instead of blindly trusting authorities, I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you both and the rest of your friend group…" Murmured Momo as she couldn't stop the tears flowing out of her eyes… "I never deserved to be a heroine…"
Surprisingly, she felt a hand pat her head, trying to bring her comfort and support… And it was from another friend of hers.
Itsuka Kendou.
"Would you like to talk about this, Momo?" Asked Itsuka in her big sister soft, but concerned tone.
"What could I say?" Answered Momo as she bowed her head in shame. "I betrayed innocent people, all because our teacher gave us a warning, and I immediately thought the worst…"
"Your class has suffered far more than mine, you know?" Said Itsuka as she looked away from her for a moment, before taking a breath to sort her thoughts. "The USJ Incident, some bad internships, the Training Camp Attack and Shie Hassaikai Raid, the events at I-Island and so on… I know we shared the Training Camp one but, otherwise we hadn't so many bad experiences piled up in our souls…"
"How did you know about those?" Asked Momo in a surprised tone.
"I like to see the news, as we'll need every piece of information, we can get to become better heroes, don't you think?" Answered Itsuka in a neutral, but caring tone. "Since all of you went through so much pain, and thought that Izuku was the cause of most of those problems, your defense mechanisms overreacted, forcing you to do things you would have never done otherwise…"
It was true.
The mere thought that Izuku's kind and caring nature was a trap, that he was plotting their demise so he could put himself in the spotlight as a hero, made her so angry and furious that she retaliated as punishment…
"Then… What can I do to make up for it?" Asked Momo in a confused tone. "I was thinking about buying a gift towards Izuku or Kyoka…"
"NO!" Growled Itsuka to stop her as soon as she could, before looking at her seriously. "Even if you have good intentions, that would be seen as trying to buy someone's friendship and forgiveness, and to be frank, it will make everything worse…"
"Thanks for the truth, Itsuka…" Said Momo, as she narrowly avoided the mistake her alternate counterpart did. "Do you know any option?"
"Well… A genuine apology is brought up from your heart, and is only done once, maybe twice in certain situations, and your focus is to make someone else feel better, regardless if you're forgiven or not…" Said Itsuka, knowing that Momo had a chance of not getting forgiveness, so she had to realize that as soon as possible. "Try to be there for Kyoka, respect her limits and boundaries, and if you get another chance, do your best to learn from this experience to become a better friend and person, and apply the same to Izuku and the others you wronged as well."
"Why are you so kind, Itsuka?" Asked Momo as she struggled to keep her gratitude flowing from her heart.
"Because any of us could've done the same thing, and making mistakes is human so, no one in this world can't stay they haven't made at least one, for that would be a lie." Answered Itsuka as she got up in order to leave. "Someone is waiting outside for you, so I will leave you both to sort things out."
As Itsuka left, Momo saw someone she never thought she would see again for a long time… For Kyoka stood there, playing with her earlobes to distract herself and getting calm enough to start their long-awaited talk.
"I was about to talk to you, but Itsuka said she wanted to help so… Do you feel ready now, or would you like to wait, Momo?" Asked Kyoka as she couldn't bring herself to call her Yaoyorozu, for that would hurt her a lot, but also, she couldn't call her Yaomomo, for she didn't want to do so anymore… "I didn't listen to a single word of your conversation so, don't worry about it."
"Kyoka…" Murmured Momo as her old best friend slowly approached her. "Or would you prefer Jirou? Choose the one that makes you feel more comfortable, and I'm ready to talk as well."
"Kyoka is fine." Answered as she took a seat beside Momo's bed, being ready to talk to someone who used to be one of her most important people…
"I treated you in the most horrible way I could've ever done, I abandoned you when you needed me the most, as well as hurting Izuku and his friends with my indifference and hatred, and contributing in his fall to despair… So, for all of that, I give you my most sincere apology…" Said Momo as tears started to appear in her face. "If you don't want to forgive me or be my friend anymore is fine, my only desire is to fix the damage I caused you, as well as the others, so I will respect your wishes towards this, whatever they are."
Kyoka was speechless… It was the first time they exchanged words ever since that fateful day three weeks ago, and she knew, by her heartbeat, that she was being sincere, instead of giving her empty lies and platitudes.
Logically, she knew Momo was suffering a lot thanks to her mistakes… Most of the people she was close to ended up either taking Izuku's side, like her, or were traitors, like Hagakure… Some of the few people she probably had left were Shoto or perhaps Mashirao, but they weren't that close to her, though she still had Itsuka…
Emotionally, she was still hurt, as she instantly assumed the worst towards Izuku and his supporters, rather than doing her own research and making her own conclusions… She received cold glares (though they weren't as harsh as those Izuku got from her), as well as the silent treatment… Then, she remembered that Momo was raised into believing that adults, alongside authority figures were always right, at least in 98% of most situations.
Even so… She knew that Momo wasn't truly evil, or malicious… As whatever Itsuka told her was enough to help her heal a bit, and make her ready to start fixing her mistakes towards others in the right way, so she made her choice.
"I forgive you, Momo." Said Kyoka as she put her hand in Momo's shoulder for a few seconds, before taking it away as well. "But it's going to take time for us to rebuild our bond to where it was, and being honest, I don't think I can fully trust you for now… And when the time comes, I hope you can make the same apology towards Izuku and our friends, okay?"
Momo could only not as she started to cry, thinking that she never deserved a friend as kind as Kyoka… Since they weren't best friends for now (and it would probably take a long time to recreate that bond, and even then, it could even be either stronger or not the same anymore), they could at least be normal friends so… It was kind of fine…
In that moment, a small piece of Class 1-A's peace was fully restored.
"I will, I promise." Said Momo as she struggled to dry her tears, finally taking the path needed to start healing her heart, as well as healing a small piece of her classmates' hearts.
A few hours after Momo and Kyoka managed to sort out their differences, Ochaco woke up from her sleepless dream…
Only to immediately remember the first one.
She betrayed Izuku in an alternate timeline. Or at least, another version of her did so.
That version of her stopped her fated betrayal, allowing her logic and love for Izuku to defeat her fears and survival instincts.
There was no one she could talk about this though… Even in a world filled with superpowers, things like dimensional travel or magic weren't that common, though maybe Tenya would be able to understand this situation…
Even so, she still had some work to do… If she wanted to ensure Class 1-A's bonds were restored, as well as protecting Izuku and her other friend's happiness, she needed to act fast…
After taking a shower and getting dressed, Ochaco exited her room and went towards Tenya's room, hoping to get some of his advice, as he was one of the two people who fully trusted Izuku in both timelines.
To her surprise, she was stopped by two classmates… Fumikage Tokoyami and Mezo Shouji.
"How can I help you both today?" Asked Ochaco in a neutral tone, still wanting to be respectful despite being angry towards them.
"Forgive us for interrupting you, Uraraka, but we wanted to seek advice in order to apologize to Kouji and the rest of your friends, as well as you…" Said Fumikage as he bowed, before Mezo did the same.
"I am sorry for spying all of you…" Said Mezo as he took away his mask, revealing his mouth, to emphasize his apology… "I should not have jumped to early conclusions and disrespected all of your trust, plus my selfish and hypocritical actions as well…"
While she was sure that neither of them sent those messages to her phone, to find out that they were being spied upon really shocked her to the core… Maybe did they offer a similar apology in the original timeline?
"What you both did was wrong, especially your actions, Shouji…" Said Ochaco as she finally spoke. "But I see that you truly regret what you have done, so I will try to forgive you both for now, although I don't think I can fully trust you for a while… And about Kouji, since he is quite shy, I think you need to offer him a written apology to avoid misunderstandings, to then follow it up by talking, and doing your best to support him, and never try to buy his forgiveness with gifts or something similar…"
"We never considered that idea, I can swear upon Dark Shadow." Said Fumikage, since he had a psychic link with his quirk, so even if he thought about it, Dark Shadow would've known.
"It's true, Fumi-kun never wanted to do so!" Said Dark Shadow as support. "Though I told him and Mezo-kun that Izuku didn't have a dark aura, but they didn't listen."
Both lowered their heads in shame as they accepted his statement.
"We are not doing this to obtain forgiveness and/or peace of mind, but rather, to do the right thing, to help all of you to have some closure, at least from us, and to never do something like this again, regardless if we're forgiven or not." Said Mezo in a deep, sincere tone.
"Good." Said Ochaco as she smiled a little. "That's good."
After that, she thanked them both for their actions before getting ready to enter Tenya's room, ready to have his support…
Though she had a new question in her mind… Would he hate her, just like the other Tenya probably did towards Future Ochaco?
Despite the risk, she had to do so, it was the right thing to do… He deserved to know, as well as Kyoka, Kouji, All Might and Miss Inko, though she would tell them later, since she needs more context that will probably be cleared upon further dreams.
"Well, here goes nothing…" Said Ochaco as she knocked Tenya's door three times, and started to wait for her other best friend's advice and wisdom.
Maybe they could sort things out together, make a board filled with patterns kinda like Todoroki used to do…
Also, they needed to talk to him and Asui, as they were both part of the original Dekusquad… Why did they betray Izuku?
What reasons did they have to do so?
The more context she had; the better things would be…
"Good morning, Ochaco." Said Tenya in a kind tone. "How is everything?"
"I need to talk about you, it's very, very important…" Answered Ochaco, before entering Tenya's room…
The time of revelation had arrived.
A few hours after his awakening, Shota Aizawa was still processing the consequences of his actions…
He was told again and again that he needed to trust people more, to not fully close his heart, to always think of various possibilities instead of just the worst of them, but he didn't…
Now that he thought about it… Those notebooks did truly have everyone's weaknesses… But they weren't made as a way to destroy.
They were made to help others, to give them different techniques or ways to protect themselves, to make his class stronger… But he thought the worst.
And he destroyed Izuku Midoriya, as well as everyone else's peace, thanks to it.
As a teacher, he was supposed to protect his students, to guide them and support them, but instead he did the opposite…
He spread hatred towards his class, he divided them, and caused most of them to hate people who didn't deserve it, both students and teachers alike following his example… To the point of driving his student, his Problem Child to suicide…
At the time, he was thinking in a utilitarian style…
Had he been right, he would've sacrificed one student to save his entire class, possibly even Yuuei, and Izuku's supporters would've admitted their mistake as well.
But he was wrong.
He failed.
And he had a class filled with broken children, who never deserved this amount of despair and suffering, all caused by his paranoia and mistrustful nature…
He never deserved to be a teacher… Did he?
Instead of teaching his students how to be better with understanding, compassion and uplifting like Oboro did towards him, he used fear, control and pressure to teach them, not counting the creation of a small trauma…
Being expelled by Yuuei didn't really leave more choices for students to join other High Schools, except normal ones, so those students he never reenrolled… He could've probably destroyed their futures and dreams, all because he thought of them as "unworthy" or "immature".
"What have I done, Oboro?" Asked Eraserhead to the air as he struggled not to cry again.
To his surprise, he saw four people enter the room…
"Pro Hero Eraserhead, you are arrested under the charges of false accusation without evidence, involuntary attempted homicide and torture of a minor via interrogation." Said Detective Tsukauchi in a serious tone. "You have the right to keep silent, as everything you say will be used against yourself."
After that he was handcuffed by All Might and The Detective, and they both took him towards a police car, ready to be interrogated himself for his actions…
He saw Hizashi and Nemuri, being sad as they saw him go, but they shouldn't be, as he deserved this.
Had he been more trustful, had he been kinder and more open, had he been more mature, none of this would've happened…
Whatever fate he was to face, he was sure he deserved it… For a good teacher would never drive one of their students to nearly die, just because of a misunderstanding.
He was a monster, and he was glad to be punished… Otherwise, he would've probably gone mad from guilt.
Once he entered Naomasa's car, he just kept staring into the window, knowing that nothing would be the same anymore…
Oboro would probably be so disappointed towards him…
"I'm truly sorry, Problem Child…" Murmured Eraserhead as he started to silently cry. "I'm truly sorry…"
Hello, the author here!
Sorry for the late, but here's the new chapter, we have more perspectives and point of view, and the plot begins to thicken!
Once again thanks for all the support, it really meant a lot, please take care and have a good day! :D