Though I'd been initially psyched to be released from the hospital, anxious not to get any more behind than I already was, waking up before school had be exhausted.
I knew no one would fault me for taking the day off, but there wasn't anything I wanted to do here either. I'd be too nervous to sleep. Yet I just felt so… drained. Sure, I'd joked about it all with Moe and my classmates. What else could I do?
But…
"I see you trying to sneak out, mister." I said from my bed, "I'm going, so don't you dare try and bring me breakfast."
He stuck his tongue out and ran.
"Hey, come back here!"
It took a lot of sweat and bribery to drop Moe off that morning. Luckily, Ms. Joke was prepared.
"Behave." I told Moe, "Ms. Joke has done a lot for us, so you need to be nice." He blinked innocently. "And, if not mistaken, she hasn't returned that sticky leather." At that, he pouted. Ms. Joke gave me aa once-over, hand on Moe's head.
"Ready for class already?" I patted my hair to make sure it wasn't sticking up. She laughed, "You only look like you fought a bear, not a villain."
"Well, that's the story I'm telling from now on." With a friendly wave, I went to class, surprised at my reluctance. In fact, I hovered at the entrance for a minute, trying to get my legs to move.
"You're blocking the door, Ms. Manderly." I spun with a gasp. Mr. Aizawa stood with his arm still bandaged, and a fresh scar under his eye, but…
My eyes welled with tears for the first time since the event.
"No need for that." He placed a hand on my head, as tender a gesture as I'd ever seen from him, "I'm perfectly fine. I'd be more worried about yourself if I were you. We'll talk about it after schoo..." A sob burst past my lips despite my best efforts. I put my hands over my face, trying to stop the flow. I was usually good at this!
"Sorry, sorry." I blubbered, inhaling sharply and holding my breath, trying to cut off the tears. "I'm okay, I'm okay, just gimme two seconds, I'll be right in."
Instead, he dropped his hand from my head and onto my shoulder and gently pulled me closer.
I hugged him tightly and cried harder, unable to stop. I was so relieved, so relieved. Here he was. When he'd been...
He sighed, keeping an arm around me while he pulled out his phone.
"Mike? Yeah, I need you to sub for me again. No, I'm fine. Okay, thanks." He hung up, "Come on." I was led out of the hallway and into a little lounge I hadn't seen before. We sat down on a couch and he let me cry for a few minutes, patting my back.
"You've been through something that would make most adults up and quit. I know you've been putting on a brave face. It's not good for you to pretend so much, Manderly."
God, how I cried in that room.
Eventually, Mr. Aizawa had me blow my nose and wash my face.
"Do you want to take the day off?" He asked patiently. I shook my head. "Of course not. Well, we still have counseling after class. Are you up for that?" I nodded, "Okay. Let's go, first period is nearly over." I cleared my throat.
"Yes, sir. Um… thank you very much."
No time to apply my post-crying make-up, it was kind of obvious when I returned to the classroom with Mr. Aizawa. The class went wild, standing and speaking and asking and-
"Everyone settle down." Mr. Aizawa said, "Manderly, find your seat. Now I know you've all been concerned, but both of us have received excellent treatment. I would like to take a moment to talk about what happened on Monday."
Everyone quieted and I sat, giving a reassuring smile to Deku when he turned in concern.
"As you know better than anyone, the USJ was attacked by villains late Monday morning. Thanks to the efforts of your class president, the authorities were notified in record time. Thirteen was incapacitated early on, but is also on her way to recovery. While I dealt with the bulk of the enemies, you were still left to fend for yourselves against very real villains who meant you harm. I am sorry you had to be in that situation at all. I am incredibly proud of all your efforts in protecting yourselves and each other. Your reaction time, teamwork, and calm under stress were all outstanding." Praise from him was almost disconcerting. "Though I'm sure this is the least of your concerns, you will be awarded full marks for the day's lesson. More importantly, however, you need to see this terrible event as an opportunity. You now have something your peers do not; real experience. That is invaluable and I urge you to hold your heads up high and use what you learned to become the best heroes you can be."
Everyone clapped and thanked him and soon I felt myself start to relax.
"Are you okay?" Asui whispered to me in between classes, "Your eyes are red."
"Ah, crap." I pulled out my makeup and got to work, "Just a little shaken, but that's to be expected. I'll be okay."
"You don't have to hide that kind of thing from us!" Uraraka said, "We were all really shaken up afterwards. Even Bakugo!"
"I WAS NOT!"
"He didn't leave the hospital until we were allowed to see you." She whispered.
"SHUT UP!"
"I got hurt too." Jiro offered, holding up her arm to show a burn. "A villain got me before I could react."
"Me too!"
"Look at mine!"
"Ah, come on, we all know I win this game." I said, "You don't wanna see my scar."
"What kind of wusses brag about getting hurt?" Bakugo asked, "I didn't get a scar cause I didn't screw up."
"Aw, he feels left out!"
"I'll give you scar!"
"Okay, okay." I said, "I get it, not everyone has the stomach for it."
"Get over yourself." Bakugo rolled his eyes and sat, "Go on." So I lifted my pant leg and showed them the shining scar. They quieted.
"They put a titanium rod into my shin." I said, tapping it lightly, "So I think that makes me a cyborg."
"That's so cool!" Uraraka said in a low voice, "That is the coolest scar I've ever seen."
"Have you designed your hero costume yet? You have to show it off!"
"Show off her entire leg? Pervert."
"Or part of it!"
We all settled down eventually when the next class began.
Soon, it was the last class of the day. Everyone had been so nice to me. Mr. Aizawa was talking about costume design when he stopped mid-sentence.
"…why is there a child in my classroom?"
Moe, who had been sneaking between desks, froze. We all collectively blinked, just now noticing him. Moe was stealthy alright. Deku went for a friendly approach,
"Oh hi, Moe!"
"Moe!" I hissed, face reddening, "I am so sorry, professor." Moe dashed to my side, holding my sleeve and eyes darting around, "This is my little brother. I'll take him back to his classroom right away. I'll be two minutes."
"No, I wouldn't want you to miss anything more than you already have." He sighed, "Yayorozu, make him a chair, please."
"Yes, sir!"
A kid-sized chair was placed beside my desk and no one seemed more surprised than Moe.
"As I was saying, your costume should start from a practical place. What elements will boost your quirk or natural abilities?" Moe wordlessly sat on the chair, mesmerized by the lecture.
"Your homework for tomorrow is to bring in a rough sketch of what practical elements you may want for your costume. Aesthetics, along with your hero name, come later. You'll be paired with a support course student to help execute the costume. Additionally, if anyone wants to receive counseling after this week's events, please email me and I'll make arrangements. Dismissed."
A few people waved at Moe as they packed up and left. I turned to him sternly.
"You need to go apologize to Mr. Aizawa for interrupting his lecture." I told him, "And then to Ms. Joke for slipping away." He sat in silence for a moment, looking at his shoes.
"…okay."
I packed up my things, but watched Moe approach the front of the room, head bowed. Mr. Aizawa stopped erasing the board, turning.
"Hm?"
"I'm sorry for interrupting, sir." But the teacher just patted his head.
"That's alright, I understand. You're welcome to sit in on my classes whenever you like, so long as you have permission from your teacher and you don't show up in the middle." Moe nodded. "You should probably go back to-"
The classroom door slammed open and Ms. Joke pointed accusingly at Moe, panting. I bit back a laugh.
Mr. Aizawa, unflinching, remarked,
"I think this one is yours."
"Eraser Head!" She said, startled, "Ah, I thought he might be here but I didn't realize you would, I mean of course you would be you have quirk counseling with Juniper." She gave a big grin, scooping Moe under her arm, "Go on a date with me."
"No."
Ms. Joke laughed loudly and Moe seemed defeated.
"You're so funny!" She slapped the man's back a few times.
"Ow."
"Look at you, acting like you couldn't care less. You're a big softie, you know that?"
"Ms. Joke, please, I have counseling. I also believe your have your own class to attend to?"
"Drinks tonight?
"I'd rather not." She laughed loudly again and spotted me, waving.
"You should get a child leash and let me use it." She sang, "Best Christmas present I could get, just saying."
"Bye, Moe!" I called, "Thank you, Ms. Joke!"
The room was a lot quieter with the two of them gone.
"Ah, sorry about him. I'll have a talk with him tonight."
"That's alright. I have some experience with students acting irrationally." I grimaced sheepishly. "Let's work somewhere else today."
He took me back to the crying lounge. There were tissues on the table.
"I'm all cried out today." I promised, "But thank you very much, sir. I, um, I…" I cleared my throat awkwardly, "I'm not used to, um… I mean, it's always been just me... and Moe, of course, when I found him. But, ah…" I shrugged, falling silent.
"You've never had someone to look after you." He finished for me, "You don't have to worry about that anymore." My shoulders slumped. "This may be uncomfortable, but I'd like us to talk about what happened on Monday."
"…okay."
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Can you please start by telling me why you thought it was a good idea to step in at all?" His anger leaked through, though I could tell he was trying very hard to hide it.
"The initial plan was to sneak past and reach Thirteen, then evacuate her." I told him calmly, "But…" I remembered him getting smashed by the Nomu. I cleared my throat. "Well, I told Asui to go get Bakugo. He's one of the best fighters in our class. I… I had this horrible feeling that All Might wouldn't come at all. Um, I saw someone that looked like him the other day, but he was… skinny, frail and the thought just stuck with me. What if All Might didn't come save us? Why wasn't he there already? I didn't plan on fighting, sir, only getting you and thirteen out."
"But you called attention to yourself."
"Yes, sir. I needed to tell Asui the plan and time was of the essence. Also… I was confident I'd be faster. Clearly, I miscalculated."
"No one could have foreseen that monster's strength and speed." I didn't answer. This sigh, though, was one of relief. "I'm relieved you didn't go there looking for a fight. Not by yourself at least."
"Of course not." I said, voice full of emotion. At that, he scoffed.
"Well forgive me, but from my point of view, and I'll admit I was dazed, it seemed you sprung right into battle."
"It all happened so fast…" I said, "I was just trying to fight them off…" I sniffled, cursing the self-fulfilling tissues on the table, "I'd be dead if it weren't for you, sir."
"Maybe." He said bluntly, "But my efforts alone weren't enough to save you. You fought off a villain that even slipped through All Might's grasp."
I felt my blood turn to ice.
"...They didn't catch him?"
Mr. Aizawa frowned.
"I thought you knew already. The Nomu was taken down but the man, Tomura Shigaraki, escaped along with his teleporting companion."
"Ah." I didn't expect the burst of fear I felt, "Well then, there goes my night's sleep." I don't know why I joked like that, and said what I was thinking. In any other occasion I would have lied and shrugged it off. But I felt this need to be honest.
"UA has drastically increased security since the event." Mr. Aizawa told me, "Especially for 1A students. And the villain was injured quite severely. Trust me, he won't show his face for a while." That did put me slightly at ease. I nodded.
He tossed a packet of crackers at me. I caught them.
"The takeaway I want you to focus on," he continued, "Is that you fought like a pro. It was incredible progress. You clearly had some sort of breakthrough." I nodded. "Well done, Juniper."
"But I…" I couldn't just take the praise, as much as I wanted it, "I didn't fix anything. I barely survived. The others had to fish me out of the lake."
"Do you remember how I said the villain left injured? If the trauma you did to him wasn't enough, All Might gained an invaluable asset from you."
I remembered.
"…surprise." I whispered, looking at my hands, "So it worked? I distracted them, at least?"
"Yes. It likely would have been a much closer fight if you hadn't. I likely would have been injured more gravely if you hadn't intervened. You yourself may not have been rescued from that lake so swiftly if you hadn't called for backup. You took every right step. I'm proud to call myself your teacher."
A few tears came from my eyes but I brushed them away, clearing my throat several times.
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."
"Before I dismiss you, today." He nodded down at the package of crackers, "Give it another try."
I took a few steps back, and he kept his position on the couch. I pulled three crackers from the package and nodded at him. He nodded back.
I breathed in, thumb on the crackers I gently moved my hand forward. I released them altogether and then guided myself to a sitting position on the ground.
Time resumed. Mr. Aizawa's eyes flashed red. The three crackers soared forward and landed on his palm.
He grinned.