Chapter 10
Mt. Lady
BOOM!
"Goddammit!"
Yaoyorozu looks at his teacher when he suddenly sprints towards the massive crash, the source of the sound, but quickly chases after him when he didn't tell a single order to her, which usually means to follow him. Initially, she thought Mr. Aizawa was on edge, battle ready. But she knows the tone he was using, being on the other end of the emotion almost all the time, and that confuses her a bit.
Mr. Aizawa is somewhat exasperated?
They quickly arrive at the source of the boom. She notices that a good chunk of a tall building is missing, seemingly obliterated. There are giant potholes on the road they are standing in and the pattern suggests they are footsteps. She quickly comes up with possibilities what could cause it.
"Hey Eraserhead!"
She doesn't need to think further anymore, because hanging high up from a bent beam by the uniform is none other than Mt. Lady, waving enthusiastically down at them.
She quickly knows that it is the Hero who had caused it all.
"Mt. Lady," Mr. Aizawa greets back, the exasperation is even more evident now. She guesses they know each other, possibly regular colleagues or some sorts.
"What're you doing here?" Mt. Lady asks, seemingly oblivious to her current predicament, or at least ignoring it.
"Here to get you down," Mr. Aizawa answers as he throws his scarf upwards to wrap it around another beam that looks sturdier. With expert ease, he pulls himself up really quickly with only his arms. She can't help but watches with awe.
With Mr. Aizawa's help, she might achieve something like that.
"Wow, really?! You went out of UA just to get here?! You're so kind!" Mt. Lady squeals just as Mr. Aizawa arrived to her level.
"I was nearby with my student when you caused havoc," Mr. Aizawa corrects her as he balances himself on the scarf with his legs. Now with his hands free, he tries to get Mt. Lady off from the beam. "If I had not been around, who knows what else you're going to destroy."
"So mean! GAH!" Mt. Lady shrieks when she is released from the beam but Mr. Aizawa quickly managed to grab her before she falls to her death. He holds her under his arm by the waist and gracefully slides down his scarf. Once they are close to the ground, Mr. Aizawa releases Mr. Lady who expertly lands on her feet.
"I'm on my way then," Mr. Aizawa says as soon as his feet touch the ground. "I do not want the press to arrive when I am around," he adds as his scarf winds itself around his neck.
"You're leaving already?!"
"Your mess, your problem. Come on, Yaoyorozu."
"Eraserhead, come on!" Mt. Lady whines as she follows her teacher, who is quickly walking away as fast as possible without leaving her behind. She looks back to give Mt. Lady an apologetic look. Just as they got far enough, people start to gather around the site, a mix of Heroes, police and the media.
"Is she going to be okay?" she couldn't help but ask.
"She can handle herself," Mr. Aizawa answers, who finally slows down now that they are safe. "It's not her first rodeo anyway."
And she knows that information very well because of how frequently Mt. Lady shows up on television, mostly about the destruction she had unintentionally caused.
Thankfully, Mt. Lady looked unharmed.
.
"Today's rescue training will be different," Mr. Aizawa starts as she and her classmates follow him on their way to the USJ. They're approaching USJ pretty quickly. She could see it in the distance. "A special guest will be present today, though unfortunately she will only make the situation more difficult."
Mr. Aizawa sounds pretty displeased. But then again, since when he is not?
Suddenly, the ground shakes. Everyone immediately stops in their tracks, bracing themselves on their feet to prevent from falling down.
"What's going on?!"
"Earthquake?!"
"Mr. Aizawa?!"
BOOM!
Something comes out from the roof of USJ. She readies herself for an attack, thinking it's another invasion. She notices her classmates are doing the same. It's definitely the source of the earthquake. This could not be good because that means they somehow managed to bypass UA's security. This could be bigger than the last-
"Mt. Lady!"
"Sorry!"
Mr. Aizawa pinches the bridge of his nose with a scowl on his face while the giant size of Mt. Lady sheepishly rubs the back of her neck, partially coming out from the roof of USJ. She relaxes now knowing that everything is fine and there are no Villains.
The only thing that is not fine is that USJ is unusable again.
"We had gone over this, Mt. Lady!" Mr. Aizawa says much louder than usual, probably for Mt. Lady to hear considering the distance between them. "You need to get a better control over your Quirk!"
"I'm sorry! It's so hard!"
"Just-" Mr. Aizawa cuts himself off to slap his hands onto his face. She could see the utter frustration coming off from him. She had never seen him this frustrated before. "Just… return back to your original size before you cause the usual amount of damage," Mr. Aizawa orders with a much calmer but a lot more exasperated tone.
"So mean!" Mt. Lady pouts before her body begins to shrink. The pout stays the entire time until she disappears back into the USJ, leaving a giant hole on the roof. Mr. Aizawa releases another sigh, significantly more tired this time.
"And that is our special guest," her homeroom teacher says to them over his shoulder. She could see the pure exhaustion from his eyes poking out between his hair locks. "Let's get going then."
She and her classmates follow him to the entrance of the USJ, pace much slower than before. When they finally enter USJ, Thirteen is there waiting for them, who looks quite anxious.
"Thirteen," she hears Mr. Aizawa greets. "Where's Mt. Lady?"
"Uhmm…" Thirteen nervously starts before pointing a finger at the massive gaping hole in the ceiling a distant away.
"Hey, Eraserhead!" Mt. Lady calls out, waving down at them from the edge of the hole. Her form is hanging limply, seeming like getting stuck on a broken beam.
She senses a feeling of déjà vu.
She turns towards Mr. Aizawa and sees him massaging his temples, taking in measuring deep breaths.
She feels sorry for Mr. Aizawa.
"Can I get some help here?" Mt. Lady asks, giving them an apologetic smile.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Mr. Aizawa growls out. He steps away from them and walks over until he is directly below the hanging Hero.
As she stares at Mr. Aizawa throwing his scarf up and climbs it until he reaches Mt. Lady, she begins to think that they are not just merely colleagues. It shouldn't be surprising right now considering how many she had met before.
Her thought process gets cut short when she hears a scream from Mt. Lady who is plummeting down to the ground fast. Before she could land hard, Mr. Aizawa's scarf quickly wraps around her waist, stopping her from her inevitable demise.
"ERASERHEAD!" Mt. Lady screams upwards to Mr. Aizawa, who is now casually sitting in a loop of his scarf, one leg over the other, an elbow on his knee and supports his head with his hand. He looks completely unbothered as he shrugs his shoulders.
"My hands slipped," he casually answers. Then, like an elevator shaft, the scarf moves in a way that lowers Mr. Aizawa down while sitting in it (she is still impressive at his control over his capture weapon, an enigma to someone like her and even Midoriya).
"Like I would believe that lie!" Mt. Lady replies as she struggles with the bind around her, trying to let go of herself. She still has a few inches between her feet and the ground. "Could you release me?" she asks as soon as Mr. Aizawa lands right next to her.
"We'll begin our training now," Mr. Aizawa tells them, ignoring Mt. Lady. "Let's not waste any more time." Hearing his commanding tone, she and her classmates quickly dash over to where their teacher stands.
"Eraserhead, could you release me first before-"
"Our guest here will demonstrate the proper ways to rescue missions," Mr. Aizawa cuts Mt. Lady off as if she didn't talk in the first place. "The best way to do it is to not follow her example."
"Hey!"
"We had lost quite a considerable amount of precious time and, if you couldn't tell, there is a giant hole in the ceiling above. I truly wonder what could have caused that."
"I'm sorry, okay?!"
"We are unfortunately forced to cut corners for today's lesson, only giving you the utmost necessary instructions within our limited time." Mr. Aizawa then turns his head towards the still bound and still hanging Mt. Lady. "That means no funny business," he says with a threatening voice, accompanied with his hair floating, one that causes her and her classmates straighten out of instinct.
Mt. Lady cringes away from him out of pure fear.
Without any other words, Mr. Aizawa releases Mt. Lady and lets her fall onto the ground without warning.
"OW! Eraserhead!"
"We will make up the lost time for another day. Let's get to it then."
She begins to think today just might not be for Mr. Aizawa.
.
BOOM!
"MT. LADY!"
She begins to think today just really might not be for Mr. Aizawa.
.
Training today was quite… interesting to say the least. There were some lessons learnt but most of the time Mr. Aizawa was making sure Mt. Lady didn't cause destruction… which didn't go very well.
She tries not to look back at the USJ, or what is left of it anyway thanks to Mt. Lady.
"Hey, I need some extra hand for some shopping later! Mind giving me a hand?"
"Ask someone else."
"But you're that someone else!"
"Ask some other one else."
"Come on, Eraserhead!"
There is no way to she couldn't eavesdrop the conversation since Mr. Aizawa and Mt. Lady are literally right in front of her and her classmates, leading them back to the dorms. Mt. Lady's costume is quite ragged; for someone who could cause collateral damages she is surprised her costume is not strong enough to withstand such destructions.
"Please?" Mt. Lady leans towards Mr. Aizawa, looking up at with a puppy look.
"It's still no, Mt. Lady," Mr. Aizawa quickly shoots her down. The female Hero deflates with a sigh.
"Y'know, it's been a while since we last hang out," Mt. Lady suddenly starts as she straightens up.
"I wonder why."
"It was fun with you around," Mt. Lady continues as if Mr. Aizawa didn't say anything. "Fatgum was right, you're quite a guy to be around with because you're so different from many."
"Still no, Mt. Lady."
"Damn it! And I was being all sentimental too."
She will admit that had fooled her quite a bit. She thought Mt. Lady was for sure genuinely reminiscing about the "good old time" but Mr. Aizawa saw right through it.
"Go inside and get clean up," Mr. Aizawa suddenly starts and turns around towards them. She then realizes they had already arrived to their dorm. "I do not want the dorm to be wrecked of stench again."
She cringes.
Mr. Aizawa does not need to remind them of that.
"Am I understood?"
"Yes sir, Mr. Aizawa, sir!"
"Aye aye, Eraserhead sir."
"Shut up, Mt. Lady."
"SO MEAN!"
.
"Yaoyorozu!"
"Yes?"
"You wanna join us for shopping?"
"Did you get Mr. Aizawa's permission?"
"We did! We asked him last night!"
"I would love to."
"Then get going! We're leaving immediately!"
.
"Takeyama! Takeyama, stop!"
She quickly stops in her track.
"Come on! They'll run out soon!"
"Watch where you're going, Takeyama!"
She knows those voices.
She quickly turns towards the source of the voices, looking through the crowds.
There, jogging from one store to another, is Mt. Lady in disguise and Mr. Aizawa in casual clothes. Mt. Lady has a number of bags hanging from her arms and Mr. Aizawa, who is chasing her, only carries two.
"We need to hurry, Aizawa!"
"Careful, Takeyama!"
So Mt. Lady did succeed in persuading Mr. Aizawa? Well, he's there with Mt. Lady, so she guesses Mt. Lady must've won him over with something.
Then, suddenly, Mt. Lady trips forward. She would've fallen right straight onto her face if Mr. Aizawa hadn't suddenly lurched forward and grabbed her by the waist. She notices something within the split second reaction timing.
The way Mr. Aizawa reacted… it's as if he had anticipated the fall before Mt. Lady tripped.
"For the last time, be careful, Takeyama," she hears Mr. Aizawa growls out as he pulls Mt. Lady back onto her feet.
"Aww, we missed it!" Mt. Lady whines with a pout. "I guess we have to get it another day."
"There are no we in this when that day comes," Mr. Aizawa snaps, which doesn't affect Mt. Lady at all who seems to be busy scrolling through her phone.
"There're a few more stores to drop by. Let's go!"
"Takeyama, stop running!"
Mr. Aizawa chases after Mt. Lady when she suddenly takes off to a direction, almost bumping into a seven foot white clad man.
"There you are!" she hears Ashido's voice coming from behind her. "Where were you? We've been looking around!"
"I apologize!" she quickly says to them, putting her hands together. "It's just that I saw Mr. Aizawa and Mt. Lady."
"No way!"
"They're here?!"
"Yes, they went that way." She points towards where the pair had run to.
"Should we follow them?"
"She should not!" She scowls at her friends. "That's a breach of their privac-"
.
"There they are," she whispers, peeking around the corner inside a store. She feels her friends press against her, following her action.
Mt. Lady is looking at the wall of items as she walks down the aisle, one hand to her chin while the other carries the basket. She turns around and walks over to the other wall of items, unintentionally knocking over a few stuffs off the shelves. Fortunately Mr. Aizawa quickly save them all and put them back up.
"Do you think this is good?" she hears Mt. Lady asks.
"My opinion is meaningless here," Mr. Aizawa grumbles, arranging the items accordingly. Mt. Lady shrugs her shoulders and puts a few stuffs into the basket in her hands.
Mt. Lady turns to walk down the aisle but her basket suddenly catches onto the shelf. It pulls her back, causing her to stumble. She would've hit her head onto the edge of the shelf but Mr. Aizawa quickly manages to catch her.
Again, Mr. Aizawa reacts before Mt. Lady got caught. It's as if he expects it to happen.
"Watch your surroundings, Takeyama," Mr. Aizawa sighs.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Mt. Lady waves him off as she pushes herself off of him and onto her feet, seemingly unaware that she almost got smashed in the face. "I have some more stuff to buy. Come on!"
"Just… Just be more aware of your surroundings, Takeyama," Mr. Aizawa tells her, following the other Hero in disguise.
"Did you gals see that?" Ashido asks to them. "Mr. Aizawa saw it happen before it even happened!"
"Yeah! He was already reaching out for her before she was falling."
So she wasn't the only one who saw it.
"It's as if… he knows this would happen," Uraraka comments.
"Do you think he had done this many times?" she asks her friends.
"I bet," Hagakure says confidently. "I just didn't expect Mt. Lady can be so clumsy."
"Well, she did break a lot of stuff when she goes on as a Hero, though."
"…Yeah you're right on that one."
.
She and her friends didn't go very far to catch the two Heroes in disguise (at least in Mt. Lady's case. Mr. Aizawa is very fortunate that practically no one recognizes him), who are actually resting on the bench just outside the store they were in. Mt. Lady is leaning back, swinging her legs back and forth, while Mr. Aizawa is rest an elbow on his knee to support his head in his hand and holds a phone in the other.
"That's a good break after a long day," she hears Mt. Lady starts with a content sigh. Mr. Aizawa doesn't answer, or at least, she could hear his answer; maybe he gives his usual hum. "Thanks for coming with me, Aizawa," Mt. Lady says, giving the black haired man a warm smile.
"Please don't invite me ever again," she hears Mr. Aizawa replies, not taking his eyes off from his phone.
"Well…" Mt. Lady hesitantly starts, gaining Mr. Aizawa's attention. He finally looks up to stare at her with a raised eyebrow. "…I didn't just want you to come with me just because no one else can."
"I don't understand." Mr. Aizawa frowns. She notices that Mt. Lady's smile lessens and the Hero in disguise looks down at the ground below her; her legs finally stops swinging.
"The reason I always want to bring you is because I know I am safe with you. I need to be very conscious of where I go because I could cause damages or hurt someone, or even myself. But… when I'm with you, I don't have to be so overly aware of my surroundings because I know I will be fine when you're around to save me and those around me, because I can blindly trust you without a shadow of a doubt."
She couldn't help but puts a hand over her heart, deeply touched by Mt. Lady's words. The trust she has on Mr. Aizawa… that was so beautiful; a tragic kind of beauty…
"…Thanks," Mr. Aizawa says awkwardly looking away and scratches the back of his neck, causing Mt. Lady to giggle.
"You're always bad with words," Mt. Lady comments before she gets up to her feet. "Come on, we have one store left."
"You said that five stores ago," Mr. Aizawa replies in exasperation as he gets up to his feet as well.
"I promise this will be the last one. Let's go!"
"Just give me a sec." Mr. Aizawa looks like he's typing something on his phone before pocketing it. Then, he and Mt. Lady grabs the bags and head off, probably to the "last" store.
"Come on, le-"
BRR! BRR!
BRR! BRR!
BRR! BRR!
BRR! BRR!
Everyone stiffen when all of their phones vibrate at the same time. They all look at each other as they take out their phones together.
'Be sure to return back to the dorm before I do'
It's a text from Mr. Aizawa.
He knew they were spying on him and Mt. Lady.
"We should get going."
"Yeah, we had been out for too long."
"…But you gotta admit, that was cute!"
BRR! BRR!
BRR! BRR!
BRR! BRR!
BRR! BRR!
'No words of this to anyone'
They made it back to UA in record time.