Chapter 1
Tsuyu Asui
She walks down the hallway with slight bounce in her steps. It wouldn't be of the unordinary; her Quirk allows her to hop and sometimes it seeps into her casual steps that she would have lightness in her walk without even meaning to. But actually, the slight bounce has nothing to do with her Quirk at all.
She turns her head towards her companion and smiles.
He doesn't smile back but that's okay. He doesn't smile very often; she can recall only with one hand the amount of time where he actually smiled. Not the creepy one but the real smile. She's fortunate to be one of the selected few that received the small smile.
Mr. Aizawa has a heartwarming smile.
She adjusts the stack of papers in her hands that had shifted to one side caused by her steps. She tries to suppress the lightness in her steps but it is near impossible. She is just happy. Helping Mr. Aizawa is something she thoroughly enjoys. He had helped her (saved her) and her friends many times, in more ways than one.
Carrying stacks of papers doesn't seem much but it is the least thing she could do for him. It's something she had recently started doing, helping him that is; be it wiping the blackboard, sweeping the floor, arranging the tables or, in this case, carrying the papers for him. The first time she offered help he turned it down but she persisted. Eventually, he relented.
It's the least thing she could do for him.
She doesn't mind the silence between her and Mr. Aizawa. In fact, she finds it welcoming. Mr. Aizawa is pretty bad with words. She doesn't even remember the time when he initiates a conversation and keeps it going. Mr. Aizawa is more of a person who speaks through his actions. And even then, he barely does anything yet it is enough to convey his message.
Mr. Aizawa prefers to keep to himself.
But she can still fondly remember his gentle pat on her head when she did something outstanding. It only happened for a split second before gone instantly after, but it happened so few and so far in between that it highlighted each moment, making her cherishing them much more.
She knows he's cares about them.
"Excuse me, Mr. Aizawa!"
Mr. Aizawa stops and turns around towards the source. She stops as well to turn around to see what is up. She sees three students she had never seen before; they could be the second year or third year. All are female, jogging towards them, or more accurately towards Mr. Aizawa while carrying papers in their hands.
"What is it?" she hears her teacher asks as he walks forward to meet them halfway. The three students stop and – much to her shock – crowd around him, right in his personal space. She tenses, but she can't do anything because her hands are full.
"Mr. Aizawa!"
"We need some help!"
"Please!"
"Alright, alright. Just show me."
She blinks.
She watches as Mr. Aizawa interacts with the unknown students. They form into a semi-circle in front of him, holding out their papers for him to check. They speak in quiet but lively voices, one that only he could hear but couldn't help themselves and be a little louder.
There is nothing wrong with that; he is a teacher after all. His job is to help the students. Those students do not have to be her and her classmates.
But…
There is this… unsettling… feeling that sits in her chest as she watches the students suddenly say "Oh!" when they make a realization. The feeling grows when one of the students knock herself in the head with a knuckle sheepishly with her tongue out the mouth. It grows even more when the students suddenly erupt into giggles.
Her grip on the papers tightens.
They… are comfortable with Mr. Aizawa.
Some students she had never seen before are being too comfortable with her teacher.
Who are these students?
Why are they so comfortable with her teacher?
"Thank you, Mr. Aizawa!"
"See ya!"
"You're the best!"
"Alright, alright. Off you go."
The students run to where they had come from, looking back to wave a hand goodbye at him. Mr. Aizawa doesn't wave back, merely turns around and walks back to her. He doesn't stop, merely walking past her and she quickly joins his side, matching his stride.
"Who were they?" she asks.
"Just some second years," Mr. Aizawa answers curtly. "Their subject teacher was sick, I was the immediate replacement."
"You seem close."
She carefully lets her voice as intrigued as one normally gets, not show any invading emotions that might betray her actual feeling.
"They have no personal boundaries," Mr. Aizawa sighs in exasperation, and he leaves it at that.
The rest of the journey is quiet. No more words are exchanged. The lounge arrives very quickly.
"Thank you, Asui," Mr. Aizawa says as she puts the papers on his table.
"You're welcome, Mr. Aizawa," she replies back. She notices him raising an eyebrow at her but she ignores it as she turns around and walks out the room. She quickly heads over to her next class, where her friends are waiting.
Along the way, her mind flashes to the second year students crowding around her teacher. Her brain replays the moment to the unknown students who seem a little too close to her teacher for her liking.
There is no bounce in her steps this time.
She's feeling very jealous.
.
"Do you want to explain yourself?" Mr. Aizawa asks her, the displeasure is evident in his tone. His arms are crossed over his chest, a finger tapping on his bicep impatiently. His tired eyes are staring down at her, freezing her on the bed in the infirmary.
"I made a mistake," she answers, not breaking the eye contact despite her entire being wants her to, because he is giving her a hard look.
"A rookie mistake," Mr. Aizawa corrects her. Now the corners of his lips turn down and his eyes hardened. "A mistake you should've overcame two months ago, a mistake you did overcome two months ago because I oversaw it personally."
Shame fills her body. She finally breaks eye contact and looks down at her lap, covered by her costume she's currently wearing. It's not even ten minutes since she got to the infirmary after Heroics class with Mr. Aizawa and All Might. It's not even ten minutes since she received a beam slammed hard to her arm and side, immobilizing her and forced Mr. Aizawa to carry her here.
"What happened, Asui?" she hears Mr. Aizawa asks. His tone is considerably softer now, but the demand and displeasure are still there. "You are among the best students when it comes to learning from past mistakes. It is unusual for you to suddenly do mistakes that you had learned from."
"I was… distracted," she answers hesitantly, not looking up at him in the eyes.
"Enough to repeat an old mistake?"
She winces.
"…I guess."
Mr. Aizawa doesn't say anything. It's quiet between the two of them. Then, she hears him releasing a sigh. She notices movements coming from her teacher and he enters into her field of view, but she refuses to make eye contact.
"Look at me, Asui," he commands. Unable to refuse, she finally looks up to him. She realizes that he had sat down in the chair right next to her bed, elbows resting on his knees as he gives her a soft but well-hidden concerned look. "Is something wrong, Asui? Do you need any help? You know I am always here to help."
'I know.'
"It's nothing," she lies easily, even though she feels her skin crawls at her own words.
Three female students rushing towards Mr. Aizawa while carrying papers in their hands.
"Are you sure?" Mr. Aizawa asks, probably knows that she had lied to him. She's aware that he dislikes liars but… she can't tell him about a childish feeling.
The three students crowd around Mr. Aizawa, shamelessly invading his personal space.
…a childish feeling that is consuming her, because she's consciously letting it fester inside her.
"I'm sure," she tries her best to reassure her teacher, even giving him a smile. He narrows his eyes at her before closing them with a defeated sigh.
"You're off from training for now," he tells her with a commanding voice, one that makes her back straight and pays attention. "Don't let me catch you training, until your injury is all healed up," he warns her while gesturing towards her left arm in a sling.
"Yes, sir." She nods her head. Mr. Aizawa seems satisfied enough.
"Good," he says. He begins to stand up and she hears multiple pops coming from his body. "I'll be going now; can't leave All Might by himself to supervise the class. Who knows what chaos he had done while I'm gone?" Mr. Aizawa mutters to himself with a grimace.
She watches him as he turns around and heads over for the infirmary door. She stares at his back as he walks away.
The students suddenly erupt into giggles.
"Actually, Mr. Aizawa?"
He pauses just as his hand reaches for the door. He turns around to face her and raises a questioning eyebrow.
"While I'm here, I have something to ask. It's about the topic we covered earlier. I have several questions. Do you have time?"
His eyebrow lowers. Then, he looks down at the ground as a thoughtful look appears on his face. She waits expectantly, hoping that he would agree to this little private lesson.
"I suppose All Might can take care of himself, if he can that is," he ultimately says in resolution.
She feels a genuine smile blooms on her lips, one that she knows that makes the corners of her eyes crest.
"Grab your books from the class. Then come to my office," Mr. Aizawa says as he turns back around and walks out the door.
"I'll be there shortly!" she says loudly as she lets herself off the bed. Mr. Aizawa is already disappeared when her feet touch the floor. Not wanting to waste any more precious, she quickly hops her way out the room and heads straight for her classroom.
Yes, she's going full blown hopping like a frog. She couldn't contain her happiness. She couldn't hold back the smile appearing on her lips. She couldn't stop herself from hopping, even if it's aggravating her arm and her side. She couldn't help herself but let the happiness consume her!
The moment she enters her classroom to grab her bag she's already exits it without a second to spare. She doesn't want to waste any precious moments. She hops her way to the teacher's lounge, a little faster this time, feeling excited to have a private lesson with Mr. Aizawa.
She stops in her track when she comes around the corner. Her lips immediately fall into a flat line, almost downward. Excitement and happiness leave her system in a blink of an eye.
Those three students are here, and they are approaching the teacher's lounge door.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah! I saw him earlier and I think he was heading here."
"Let's see!"
She quickly steps forward to intervene, because there is no way she will allow them to interrupt her time with her teacher.
"Do you have a reason to be here?" she asks confrontationally. One of them stops before her hands could land on the door handle and everyone turns towards her with eyebrows rise in surprise.
"Ah, hello!" one of them greets her, seemingly unbothered by her tone just now. "You're one of Mr. Aizawa's students, right? Do you kn-"
"What do you want with Mr. Aizawa?" she asks, interrupting the student's mid-sentence. She sees them taken aback by her tone, finally.
"We have a few questions to ask him-"
"Mr. Aizawa is busy." They are taken aback a second time.
"Are you sure he couldn't take time?"
"No."
She sees them deflates, shoulders sag down as their brightness disappears.
"We'll come by another time."
She doesn't say anything, continues to stare at them. They finally turn around and walk down the hallway, away from her and the lounge and Mr. Aizawa inside. Once they disappear around the corner, she releases a sigh she doesn't realize she was holding.
Good, her precious moment with Mr. Aizawa will be left undisturbed. She turns to the door. Without wasting any more moment she quickly slides it open. She has been here a few times, so she knows the layout quite well. It's empty right now; there are no teachers present.
Except for Mr. Aizawa, who is sitting by his desk, waiting for her.
She closes the door behind her and quickly hops over to him. She grabs the chair from the desk next to his (she thinks it belongs to Present Mic) and rolls it over to him before sitting down.
She notices him giving her a raised eyebrow.
She merely gives him a wide smile.
"Now then," he starts with a sigh. "What is it that you want to ask?"
She feels her lips stretches wider.
Hi
I'm back to share a short little fic with everyone. I hope you enjoy.