"An apology?" She snarled, that familiar rage and fury bubbling up again. It was moments like this where she was especially angry at the loss of her quirk. She'd give anything in the world to pass these emotions on to him, to show him what she truly thought about his apology. "You call that an apology?"
Startled, he swung his gaze back up to her, as if expecting her to fall to her knees and beg forgiveness for her attitude. "I'm sorry, Emiko."
"You're sorry?" She wanted to laugh, but her mouth couldn't form the sounds. "What exactly are you sorry for, All Might?"
Perhaps she was being cruel, and perhaps she would come to regret this in the future - but now, when her anger was boiling over and the universe had pushed her to the very edge of the precipice? For now, she was content in spewing rage and venom.
"For allowing you to get into this position. You getting kidnapped was a direct result of my involvement with UA, and I wish I could take it back from you. These villains are my burden to carry, and I wish you weren't involved in it all."
A wicked laugh slipped from her lips as she listened to him speak, but it tapered as soon as it escaped her. There was no space for laughter in her, not now. Not when her hands trembled and her brain raced with the memory of every horrible thing he'd played a part in so far.
"So you're sorry I lost my eye? Or that I lost my quirk?"
"Both, of course." He answered her question as if she was a server in a restaurant and she was asking if he was paying for one or both of the bills. "And… for everything else."
"Everything else?" Her eyes landed on his, and she didn't miss the way he winced at the coldness there. "You mean…"
She paused, waiting for him to say anything else. To acknowledge the harm he'd caused in his pursuit of greatness, the pain he'd brought upon a handful of innocent teenagers with stars in their eyes.
"I don't understand what you mean, Emiko." He said it honestly, no hint of deception hiding his voice. As if he genuinely couldn't understand what else he had done to these students to cause them harm.
"Shall we start at the beginning?" She coughed, "At the USJ? Those villains came for you, and you weren't there. Tsu almost died. Did you know she still has nightmares about it? She can still see that hand, that quirk turning her to dust at night. It haunts her, hides in the crevices of her mind. Like a curse, All Might. Did you know?"
He shakes his head regretfully, eyes still cast to the ground. "No, I didn't."
"We had to fight to kill or be killed, because not many kids know how to protect themselves like that. Shoto," she pauses, remembering the way those villains had called him a monster under their breath as he walked by. "Anyways. So many of us changed that day, so many of us lost our innocence. We lost pieces of ourselves because they wanted you, and you weren't there."
The last words come out in a whisper, remembering the fear and the panic she felt that day. The way the eyes of the villains glittered under the overhead lights, alight with glee.
"And then there's our midterm exam." The memory sits on her tongue, tangy and metallic. "Do you remember that?"
He nods, confusion in his eyes replacing the shame. He likely has not lost a moment of sleep since then, something she resents him for.
"The fact that you can't even tell me what happened tells me all I need to know about you, All Might." Her anger is fizzling, but she has already begun. She has opened the floodgates and allowed her anger to flow, and she knows there is no point even trying to stop it. "You broke Izuku's fucking spine."
She spits the last word, remembering the way the sound echoed around them. That sickening crunch echoing through the air, the way Ochaco flinched and closed her eyes so tightly Emiko knew that stars were blooming behind her fluttering lids. She could still feel the anxiety of her classmates spike as they all watched Izuku fall to the floor, unable to hold himself upright.
"You broke a kid's fucking spine, and you don't even remember it. Or, you do. You just don't think that's so bad, right?" Ochaco's gasps ring in her ears as she continues. "Because you're his teacher and the number one hero, so you know best?"
"No -" he interrupted, "I don't… I didn't mean to…"
"Didn't mean to what, All Might?" She snaps, growing tired of his innocent act. "You know your own strength better than anyone else alive. You have been a functioning, working professional hero for longer than we have been walking, talking, sentient humans. Are you honestly going to try and tell me that you truly didn't know your punch would be enough to cause serious injury to him?"
"I thought he could handle it…" he trails off, his voice wobbling slightly.
"Newsflash, All Might. We are not professional heroes with decades of experience under our belt. We are children."
Silence surrounds them for a moment, her chest heaving from the words said. These feelings, this anger? It is something she has been holding onto for what feels like a lifetime. She knows that UA is great, of course. It's a school that pumps out high end heroes year after year, one of the best in the entire world. But if she's honest, her experience has been anything but ideal. It's been rife with struggle and with pain and it's been tainted by hatred. It's stood for so much negativity, so much toxicity, so much sadness that she's not sure there will ever come a time where she can forget it.
"But not only did you break Izuku's back, you beat Katsuki so badly he could barely breathe for days after. You should know that recovery girl can only do so much, especially given how long you've known her."
She doesn't tell him about the bruises that had blossomed across Katsuki's ribs for a week and a half after, nor does she mention the way he inhaled his breaths sharply, as though a knife was being fed into his ribs each time he breathed in. He doesn't need to know that - and she's not trying to be cruel, not really. Just trying to make someone realize the hell they are going through each and every day, the way they all suffer from their actions. The way the next generation of heroes will go to sleep with images of monsters crawling through their mind, unable to erase the trauma of their childhood.
"All of this," she waves her hands broadly around. "It wouldn't be possible without you. You have done so much good, All Might and I know that."
He brings his gaze to hers, and she sees the tears dripping down his face, and her heart splinters just a touch. Just enough to allow the last of her anger to dissipate. A deep breath fills her lungs, as she steadies her breathing. She can see the remorse in his eyes, in the way his hands are shaking at his side.
"I know you have done wonderful, incredible things for the world. I know you have given more of your life than anyone should have to give, lost more and feared more than most of us can even begin to comprehend. That doesn't erase or make up for the fact, though, that you have been the direct catalyst to some of the most gruesome, horrific shit we've been through."
He shook his head slightly, moving like he was clearing cobwebs from the dark corners of his mind. He looked at her as if for the first time, his eyes wide and full of wonder. As though he'd never been spoken to like that - which she supposed was likely. Not many people were ballsy enough, or stupid enough, to confront the number one hero on his actions or the consequences of them. It was something she doubted he'd ever considered - that him setting foot on this campus, in these dorms and in the hallways he'd once spent days upon days laughing in would center the gaze of the entire world on the children he called pupils. She didn't know if it was indifference or if it was just the way he worked, but he seemed to be considering it now.
"I see…" he trailed off, scrubbing a hand over his face and letting a wobbling sigh slip from between his lips. "I suppose I never… I never considered that."
Tears still swirled in her eyes and trailed down her cheeks, though the anger had dissipated. She knew it wasn't just him she was angry at, just as she knew it wasn't fair that she'd taken her anger out on him. Sure, she was pissed at him. Anyone in her class would say the same in her circumstance. He'd protected them all for so long from afar, had sworn to protect them if it meant laying his life on the line and yet…
"I failed you all, didn't I?"
Her gaze swung to meet his, and in his eyes she only saw a broken man suddenly filled with regret. A man who, despite his best attempts, had failed. A man who was beaten down and tired, who had lost his entire career in a moment. A hero. Someone who had laid their life on the line for the greater good with no consideration. She saw him - the real him. The man behind the name All Might.
"You did." She answered, watching his shoulders raise and fall with each heaving breath. The trembling in his hands has stopped, a look of determination in his eyes as he gazes back at her.
"Let me make it up to you." He says, stepping towards her and extending his hands slightly. "Just you. Emiko, I'm so, so sorry."
She's taken aback, her eyes wide. His hands are gripped around hers and they're so warm and his eyes are alight - as if she'd just told him a joke instead of tearing him apart with her words. "I-"
She's suddenly uncomfortable. She'd expected him to step back, to close himself off further. To hide - to turn away and close his eyes to the pain he'd caused. Instead, though, he stood in front of her exuding a sense of childlike wonder - one she'd never seen from him before.
"Please, Emiko. Allow me to make it up to you. I know I can never… I can't take it back. I can't change it, I can't undo all of the pain I have caused." He rambles, turning his back to her and facing the building in front of them, the glass glittering in the afternoon sun. "I can't fix it, but maybe I can make it up to you. Maybe I can do better. I want to do better. So please, please."
"Okay," she smiles, stepping towards him. "Alright, All Might. You win. You can make it up to us."
The two grin brightly at each other, two kids with stars in their eyes and hope in their hearts and for the first time in a long time, Emiko does not allow herself to fester in anger. She lets it free, a balloon caught in the summer breeze. For today, right now, she'll allow herself to be taught by the number one hero. By the man in front of her with kindness in his gaze and a determined set to his jaw.
"I expect you to teach me everything you know, old man."
A loud laugh erupts from him, and he claps his hand on her shoulder roughly. "Whatever you say, Empath."