Chapter 4

He stayed rooted on the spot, limbs not responding. He wasn't even aware of his surroundings.

The only thing he was aware of was the voice in his head yelling he had failed. He had failed to protect his friends, he had failed to be a good trainer, he had failed at being a hero. What kind of hero lets his fear take the upper hand on his good sense and watches his friends get killed by his own trainee?

The sight of red and oranges threads dancing in his peripheral vision pulls Shota out of his stupor. He moves his gaze in their direction to realize they're Kyoko's hair, floating behind her running figure like fire in the sunlight.

She's running away and nobody tries to stop her. Even though she's dangerous, even though she almost killed someone… And then he understands. He sees their faces, the teachers'. They're not afraid, they're not worried, they're not mad. They're sad, they're sorry.

It's not the first time this happens…

Of course, he should have thought about it. That's certainly what happened when she discovered her quirk… And she… No…

So he runs behind her, ignoring their calls and their attempts to stop him. He follows her in the woods, listening to the sounds of her feet and her sobs. He didn't know why he was running after her, he disliked her, she was everything he hated, weak, fake… So why was he running after her?

He just wanted to know… to know what had happened… yeah.. must be that.

He should have stayed with Hizashi and Oboro, that would have been the logical thing to do. To see if they were ok, to apologize for not reacting faster. Let the teachers take care of her and her problems…But he had promised Nezu he would look after her…

She was driving him crazy…

Of course he lost her for a while, but he kept searching.

Now, he wasn't expecting to find her like that.

Kyoko's face was pale, her eyes wet, bloodshot and swollen, her makeup was smudged, staining her cheeks with black stripes. Ugly, really… But her shining pink lips… they were parted in a fond genuine smile, a laugh even, he had never seen before. All the smiles she had given him had been strained, sarcastic or sad, and her laugh always sounded bitter for him.

He gets closer to see the object of her affections, to see what could have so easily soothed her terror. And he sees her, sitting crossed leg on the floor, with a small black, white and ginger ball of fur on her lap. She's petting the kitten, laughing at its antics despite the tears still rolling down her cheeks, and babbling to him in her mother tongue that he couldn't understand. It was a cute sight, he had to admit that.

A cute sight he admired from afar for a long while, thinking about nothing, just watching them. Her. Was that the real Kyoko? The young girl, with her long hair hastily tied up with a ridiculous white dotted red scrunchy, babbling happily to a kitten with a stupid high pitched baby voice? How could she be so… sweet, when she was all sarcastic, cold and proud when she was with him? How thick were those walls she was hiding herself behind?

The quiet moment is broken when he steps on a twig. Her head snaps to him and he holds his hands up in a peace gesture.

"Sorry, I…" he begins but she cuts him, all tense and gloom again.

"How long have you been here?" she asks with a frown.

"Long enough." he smirks after a beat. He squats in front of her, at a reasonable distance for not putting her ill at ease, but close enough to make her understand he wasn't hostile. She snorts at his answers, and bows her head to hide her blush of embarrassment and wipe her face.

But if there is one thing she doesn't have to be embarrassed of in front of him, it's of being a crazy cat person. They were his weak point too. He extend a hand in front of him, waiting for the small ball of fur to come and sniff it. The little thing comes shyly and bumps his fingers with its cold pink snoot.

"Hello there miss." he says softly. The blue eyed calico looks at him and rubs herself against his still fingers, he dares move them in her soft fur and she begins to purr. She must not be old, barely two months judging by her size, and a stray, judging by her knotted and dirty fur.

"A softy for cats huh?…" her teasing is back, but it lack the usual aggressiveness. "I… Aizawa-senpai, I'm sorry." she whispers looking at the kitten between them. It's the first time she uses the appropriate -even if he's not really fond of those formalities – name for him. He should be glad for it, to finally get the respect he deserves, but he doesn't. It sounds wrong.

"No. No, I am sorry. I shouldn't have brought them here. Not without asking you first. And I was too slow…"

"Too slow? You could not have been there at all! And I would be all alone in that field waiting for the police to take me to Tartarus by now. No it's all on me. Always will be… I'm no hero…" tears gathered in her eyes again as she spoke.

"You have the perfect villain background, the perfect quirk… And yet you're here. I don't think that's what a villain would have done." he said in a no nonsense tone.

"But..."

"And you got Nezu and the teachers' trust. That enough for me."

"Thank you…" she flashes him a small smile. The first real one directly addressed to him, and he feels weirdly warm about it. "So… Peace?" she adds after a beat, outstretching her hand that isn't petting the kitten back on her lap.

He watches her hand for a second. That would indeed be for the best, their childish behavior had certainly not helped her. And she wasn't that bad after all, he shouldn't have judged her only by the fact that she was stealing his time. She needed him, and he wanted to be hero. That's what heroes do, helping people…

"Yeah, peace." he shakes her hand briefly. Her skin is soft but cold, and her palm is covered in cat hair.

"Friends?"

"I wouldn't go that far…" she snickers as that, and the sound is strangely nice to his hears. "Does she have a name yet?" he nods toward the purring ball of fur.

"Hum, not really. I've been calling her chaton -kitten-, not really outstanding…"

"Let's see… She's a girl. Calico fur…" he states, rubbing her little belly and getting his fingers nibbled in retaliation.

"Calico? Cali?"

"That's… Simple. But it works." he shrugs.

"That's settled then. I should ask Nezu about taking her in… she's so small…"

"She made it so far, it can wait until tomorrow. And she's safe here. Come on you should go home, it's getting late and they were all worried about you." She nods and takes the kitten -Calico – in her arms, babbling to her again in her silly voice. He doesn't understand but at her tone he guesses that she must be saying goodbye and telling her to be careful, as useless as it might be to talk to an animal.

This time, he accompanies her all the way back to her room, flat or whatever that is. He had never really asked. They walk in a quite comfortable, even if still a little awkward, silence.

And of course, there is a welcoming comitty waiting in the middle of the hallway. He stops at the top of the stairs, a little scared by the faces of Nezu, Gran Torino and the school counselor.

"Hum… I'll go back then."

"Oh, okay. Thank you." she bows her head with a smile, takes a deep breath and walks to her room. He doesn't wait to pry on their conversation. That's none of his business. Instead he gets back down and waits in front of the building.

There is still one last thing he has to do.

As always, feedback, kudos and other comments are highly appreciated.

I know this chapter is short, and it's not the best, but it was necessary and the best is coming!

xoxo