Their Hero Academia – Chapter Ten: Isamu Haimawari Sits This One Out

Isamu Haimawari was feeling pretty good. Sure, he'd gotten injured yesterday (not a conversation he was relishing having with his parents and really, one he was hoping he could put off as long as possible), but he'd actually done all right in the Heroics lesson up until then. And more importantly, he'd made up with Izumi Todoroki, who'd been laboring under the impression that he might blame her or hate her. Since he wasn't about to do either of those things, forgiving her had been easy and seemed to put her at ease.

Was it a little forward to take her hand? Maybe. But it looked like she needed it and, well, his dad always said that small acts of kindness matter just as much as the big heroics. It was what made him and his convenience store such a fixture in the neighborhood. People knew that if you needed help, you could talk to Koichi Haimawari and he'd do what he could. Even if he wasn't the Crawler anymore.

He looked up just in time to see Kirishima-Bakugo bolting out the door. She looked… scared? That was weird. He didn't think she had any mood other than angry. His friends may have claimed she had a softer side and he trusted them, but he hadn't seen any sign of it yet. Still…

"Ah… I think your friend's unhappy about something," he told Izumi. "Kirishima-Bakugo."

Izumi frowned. "Katsumi is frequently unhappy. She usually finds a way to take it out on something. …Or someone."

"She fan out of here pretty fast," Isamu said. "I'd say she bolted."

Her eyes went a bit wide at that. "That is… not good," she said after a moment. She pushed back from the table and stood. "Thank you, Isamu, but I should really check on her before…"

Isamu just nodded. He'd seen enough of the explosive blonde to understand at least some of what could follow "before."

"Sure thing," he said. He wondered if he should wish her good luck, but decided against it. It would probably have been rude. Either way, she headed for the door and after Kirishima-Bakugo.

It was a shame that he'd been benched from Heroics Class for today. Even after being hurt, he was actually looking forward to it. He'd done pretty good yesterday, he thought. Sure, he'd been a little scared the whole time, but he'd actually done his part in taking down some of the robots. And he already had some ideas on how he could do better. Plus, eventually, they'd get to the point where they'd be taking on human opponents and he'd do better there.

Well… he'd just have to take the few days to recuperate and go from there.

And then the building shook like a bomb had gone off, knocking Isamu from his chair and landing on the floor. He really had to work on that grace under pressure thing. Were they under attack? Had a gas main exploded? Had Kirishima-Bakugo lost it and done something truly explosive?

All right, he didn't really think the last one was true.

Probably.

"Haimawari?"

"Y—yes, Midoriya?" he asked.

"I'm sure the teachers are already aware and on their way, but you're the fastest on land. Go find one of them."

He gave Midoriya a thumbs' up. "You can count on me!"

Outside, he dropped into a three-point stance and took off, racing along the sidewalk towards the main school building. There'd have to be someone there. Mister Aizawa was always there before any of them were. Given that he always had a sleeping bag with him, Isamu wondered if he actually ever left.

He banked left and right, dodging around students from the other classes who had come to gawk at the giant hole in their dorm. There, up ahead, he could already see some of the staff running towards the building too. He skidded to a stop, and stumbled, nearly falling, managing to right himself at the last second.

And nearly planted his face in someone's cleavage!

He backed away quickly and fell on his butt again. He looked up and his eyes went wide. "V—V—Vice-Principal Midnight!" Oh, he was in so much trouble…! "I'm… I'm so…"

The Vice-Principal reared back her head and laughed, before fixing him with a mischievous stare. "Oh, you are a bold one, kid! I love it!"

What… what was happening?

He recognized the others with her, Sugarman from the cafeteria (and Sato's father), the 1-B homeroom teacher, the Bouncing Hero: Super Ball, and the 1-C homeroom teacher, the Furious Fighting Hero: Battle Fist.

"Relax, kid," Battle Fist said. "You've from 1-A, right?"

"R—right," he said. "Midoriya… he sent me to get help, while he went upstairs to check out whatever hit us…"

"Kenta…!" he heard Sugarman say, and he, Midnight, and Battle Fist were off like a shot.

"You still want to help, kid?" Super Ball asked him. When he nodded, the Hero went on, "Go to the Medical Building and get Doctor Izumi, okay?"

"Got it," Isamu said. And he was off again.

Even if he didn't get to participate in the Heroics exercise, at least he got to wear his costume. Isamu's had thick soled red boots that joined protective padding around his knees, blue leggings with red stripping on the edges, a blue padded tunic with red snaps and red shoulder pads, red gloves that came halfway up his forearms, and red protective pads on his elbows. He topped that off with a red bandanna that covered the lower half of his face, and big crimson goggles to protect his eyes. Maybe not as flashy as some of his classmates, but he liked it. And with his Quirk, the padding was absolutely necessary, like the protective gear used by professional cyclists or skateboarders. He'd run into enough things to know it could really hurt, especially as he got faster.

It definitely did its job of making him feel more heroic. Even if he felt good about it, his heroic career so far also seemed to be nothing but one embarrassing moment after another. He needed all the help feeling like a Hero.

When Midoriya's group won the exercise, he let out a cheer. His friend had gotten a little battered by his victory, but he'd given it his all and pulled it off. Midoriya had a confidence Isamu could only wish he had, second-guessing everything he did.

The next group up was Takuma Sero, Kenta Sato, Takiyo Aoyama, and Kimiko Ojiro. Not really the most balanced group, he thought, lacking for the most part in mobility (save for Sero's ability to swing along on his Acid Tape) and limited in firepower beyond Aoyama. He wished them luck. If nothing else, at least they looked good in their costumes.

Sero's costume was a bit plain. Black boots and a black body suit, with a white stripe that started on the inside of the legs and went up the torso and down the outside of the arms, before ending in white stripes at the elbow, leaving his forearms bare so he could use his Acid Tape. He finished it off with a helmet with a clear visor.

Sato was brightly dressed in red and yellow: a red bodysuit, yellow gloves, trunks, and boots, faceless cowl that left his hair exposed, and a downward pointing yellow wedge on his chest, with a white tooth insignia in the middle. Isamu had been told insignias were in right now for Hero designs, but hadn't been able to come up with anything he liked.

Aoyama was, of course, sparkling, even indoors. His leggings and sleeveless tunic were a dark blue, leaving his arms bare save for the reflective bands that took up his entire forearm. Tall white boots, along with a white, high collared cape, and a reflective belt completed the outfit. The belt and armbands were Support items, designed to help him focus his power.

And finally, there was Ojiro. For someone invisible, she was dressed incredibly flashily. High hot pink boots, practically neon green leggings and a tunic, with a hot pink leotard over that, along with hot pink gloves that went three-fourths of the way up her arms. She finished it out with silvery-goggles of unspecified purpose and a small utility belt. Isamu guessed that when you were invisible, you wanted to stand out.

For now though, he was sitting in the stands with the rest of the group watching. Just for today, fortunately. He still felt a bit worn out from how Doctor Izumi had rewound him, but she had assured him he would be fine by the next day. He sat with Shota Shinso, and Asuka Tokoyami, who he'd started thinking of as his friends. He didn't have a lot of those, having been thought of as the weird, awkward guy during middle school. Though if he was honest with himself, he was probably still the weird, awkward guy. But at least almost everyone here was a little weird.

At least Izumi seemed happy enough. He'd only know her a few days, so he couldn't claim to know her well, but after she'd run after Kirishima-Bakugo that morning, she'd seemed lost and distracted. He wondered if her change in mood had anything to do with whatever Kirishima-Bakugo had spirited her away for at lunch. Midoriya seemed to know something about it, but he wouldn't say anything about it. If he was a braver person, he would have asked her about it. But it seemed… personal. He didn't think they were close enough that he could really ask. But she and Kirishima-Bakugo were sitting together and were joined by Midoriya when his group returned, so he supposed it was all right.

His thoughts were interrupted by Mika Mineta leaning over from the row behind him. Her costume consisted of brown chaps, a purple vest over a low cut and sleeveless brown tunic, thick, fringed purple gloves, and a small purple domino mask. A thick purple belt and a lariat finished it off. Leaning over put her considerable cleavage near his head.

"Looking good in that costume, Haimawari," she said. "You like mine?"

Various thoughts and impulses went to war in his head. On a purely visceral level, Mineta was extremely attractive. And he had no problem with assertive women; his mother certainly was one. But Mineta was also unsettlingly aggressive and made him feel a bit like a piece of meat.

"It's… ah… it's nice, Mineta," he tried, desperately.

"You know where it would look even better?"

Nope, nope, nope, he wasn't finishing that thought.

Thankfully, Tokoyami came to his rescue. "Down, girl, *chirp*." Frog-Shadow materialized and gave Mineta a shove back into her seat. "Thank you, Frog-Shadow."

"No problem!"

"Thanks, Tokoyami," he said. He considered, then decided to err on the side of politeness. "And Frog-Shadow."

The bird-headed girl shook her head. "Don't worry about it. You've just got to firm with her."

Yeah, being firm with attractive women throwing themselves at him? He wasn't sure that was going to happen.

Things weren't going well with the group going through the exercise either. They hadn't even found the flag before they were overwhelmed by robots. Sero's Acid Tape was eating through a few of them and Sato was taking bites out of any that got close, but neither was making a lot of headway. Aoyama and Ojiro weren't having much luck either. The former's lasers were effective against the robots, but it looked like he wasn't managing his power reserves well; his glow was already diminished and his blasts were becoming less and less effective. And in the crowded space, Ojiro's invisibility wasn't especially effective either. Nowhere to go meant nowhere to hide.

The buzzer sounded. Time was up and the second team had failed the exercise. Well… at least they hadn't gotten knocked out? That had to count for something, right? Either way, he'd need to think of what they might have done differently. Since they weren't participating, he and Izumi had to write up critiques of the other teams.

Frankly, he'd rather have been fighting robots. He had a hard enough time figuring out what he should do, let alone what someone else should do.

Classes long done and homework battled as much as his brain could stand, Isamu's fingers hovered over the call button on his phone, the contact picture of his parents staring back at him. He should have called them yesterday, honestly, but he was afraid of what they might say, what they might think. But how did you even begin to tell your parents that you'd suffered burns over 90% of your body and nearly died, saved only by the fact that the school's chief doctor had a Quirk that let her rewind you?

His parents understood the cost of heroics. The man who had taught his father, the vigilante called Knuckleduster, was dead, killed in the line of duty. And his father had been badly injured helping people, his leg broken in such a way that even after it healed, he never walked right again, ending his career. His mother had made it through it all unscathed, but had retired in solidarity with his father.

It was one thing to have been injured in the line of duty, in saving people. It was another to have been so badly injured in training. He wasn't sure how they would take it, or what they would say, or what they would do.

In spite of it all, the one thing he knew that he didn't want to do was go home. Sure, he'd nearly died. And sure, he'd barely made it in to begin with. But… he had friends here, people who believed in him (not that his parent's didn't). He had a chance to be a real Pro-Hero, and he didn't want to give that up.

He hit dial. If Izumi could stand up to her parents… then he could stand up to his.

It rang once, twice, and then then voice of his mother, Kazuho Haimawari, came on the line. "Isamu! Three days, young man! Three days! What, are you too busy being a Hero already to call?"

Yep, that was his mother all right.

"N—no, Mom, just… had a lot of stuff going on."

"Stuff?" Oh, crap. Her mom radar was probably already pinging. "What kind of "stuff?'"

In for a penny, in for a pound. "I'd, ah, I'd really only like to tell this once, Mom. Is Dad around?"

"I don't like that the sound of that," the former Pop*Step said. "Hang on, I just heard him come in. Let me get him." There was the sound of the phone being put down and then, "KOICHI!"

There was the sound of rushing in the background, and he could tell his father had used his Quirk to speed into whatever room his mom was in. He wasn't in good enough to use it for heroics anymore, but for short bursts, he could still manage. "I'm the guy who answered your call!" he heard his father say. That was followed by the sound of his mom smacking his dad upside the head.

"No time for your corniness! Isamu's on the phone!"

"Oh, hey, kiddo! How's the big Hero in family doing?"

"It's… It's good, Dad. I'm doing good. But I really do need to tell you what happened…"

He swore he could hear the temperature on the other end of the line drop by several degrees. He must have impressed upon them how serious it was.

"What's going on, son?" his father prompted.

"I… I got hurt yesterday," Isamu said, after a long moment spent gathering his thoughts. "One of my classmates, she's got this Quirk where she absorbs heat and makes ice, but she has to let it out. Only, she overused it and collapsed. And I didn't want her to hit her head or anything, so I raced over and caught her… only she hadn't let go of all that heat yet. So when she passed out, it kind of all came out at once. As fire. I got burned. Like… all over."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the call, though it was quickly broken by his mother. "What the hell, Isamu?!"

He quickly tried to press on. "I'm—I'm okay, Mom. The school doctor fixed me right up, like I wasn't even hurt at all. They got me there in time."

"No, seriously, what the hell? You waited over a day to tell us this? That you almost died?! Who's the kid? I'll sue their family for every penny they've got! I'll sue the school! I don't care what waivers we signed!"

"Pop…" his dad said. "Maybe you could calm down, just a little?" It was clear his dad was worried too, but keeping a better level of control over it.

"Calm down? Calm down?! Our son almost died and you're telling me to calm down? What! Is! Wrong! With! You?!" From the sounds on the other end of the phone, she was probably smacking him.

"Ow, ow, ow! Hey, stop it!" Yep, definitely smacking him. "I need that arm, Pop!"

"Uh… Mom? Dad?"

The smacking sounds stopped.

"Look, I didn't tell you right away because I didn't want to worry you. That's one's on me. But I'm okay. Really. Got a day excused from Heroics, but I'm okay. Even made nice with the girl who burned me. She was more upset than I was. But if I'm gonna get hurt… at least this was because I was doing the right thing."

Silence again, then, "He's got a point, Pop."

"You're just saying that because it sounds like something you'd say. You never held any grudges either."

"You do that enough for both of u-ow!"

"You sure you're all right, Isamu?" his mom asked.

"I'm fine, Mom," he insisted. "Looking forward to getting back to Heroics. Plus… I've made a bunch of new friends. You'd like them. One of them's even Deku's kid."

"Wait, Deku's kid? All Might's grandson?" his father asked. "…Any chance you can get an autograph or two?"

Isamu squeezed the bridge of his nose, fighting the urge to laugh. "I'll see what I can do, Dad."