"Take care of yourself, and don't get hurt again."
"Yes, ma'am."
With the nurse's words behind her, she left the hospital.
Ritsuka had to take a bus from there to her house, but her feet went to the other side of the bus stop.
After walking for a while, she saw a car coming from the front. Ritsuka stopped when she saw the person in the car.
The car gradually slowed down and came to a stop next to Ritsuka.
The window of the driver's seat opened. A woman came out of the window and said.
"Ritsuka, I'm home."
"Welcome back... Long time no see, mom."
Ritsuka put her luggage in the trunk of the car and got in the back.
"Thanks for picking me up. Did you come directly from the airport?"
"Yes, I did. Your father couldn't make it home. He's so busy with work this time of year... sorry."
"No, it's okay. I'm sorry I worried you too. You have to came all the way from England to..."
"That's right! I thought I am going to faint when I heard on the phone that Ritsuka had been kidnapped by villains and are badly injured! Are you okay now?"
"Yeah, I'm totally fine."
"I hope so. I've got a home visit coming up, so it's probably a good time for me to come home, although I won't be able to relax much..."
Then Ritsuka's mother stopped talking once.
As if she hesitated a little, she softly told Ritsuka.
"Hey, Ritsuka... do you want to live over there with your mom and dad...?"
"..."
Ritsuka did not reply to those words.
In her hands were several documents that had been delivered to her during her hospital stay. Ritsuka looked at some of them absentmindedly.
"U.A High School Transition to all-boarding school system"
Ritsuka's eyes caught sight of the words written in the headline.
.
.
.
.
.
"Okay, I guess this is the end of all home visits for 1-A. Good job! Aizawa-sensei."
"No, I have one more house to visit."
"...? Ah, the Fujimaru girl. But her parents..."
"They went to England for work, but only her mother came back because of this.
...I'm going to explains to her what happened at the camp, in addition I'll be coming with her homeroom teacher, and to talk about the relocation to the Hero Department."
"I see... well it will be different to take care of someone from the Regular Course rather than the Hero Department. Aizawa-sensei, I'm rooting for you!"
"See you later, All Might."
When Aizawa met up with Ritsuka's homeroom teacher and headed for his destination, he found the person herself already waiting right in front of the apartment.
"Fujimaru, how are you?
Ritsuka nodded vigorously as her homeroom teacher called out to her.
"Yes, I'm fine. Aizawa-sensei, hello."
"Oh."
After exchanging a brief greeting, we entered the apartment with Ritsuka in the lead. It must be a fairly new apartment building, because it had an auto-lock system and an elevator. The homeroom teacher seemed to feel the same way and raised his voice in admiration.
"You live in a nice place. Fujimaru lives alone, right?"
"My parents were worried because I am a high school student living alone, ...but the room was surprisingly small."
After getting off the elevator and passing through several doors, Ritsuka opened the door.
"Mom, the teachers are here!"
Hearing her voice, a woman who looked like a mother came over and exchanged greetings with the homeroom teacher.
Aizawa also made a quick introduction, and the four of them sat down at the living room table. At first, the homeroom teacher went through the process of making a home visit, which he must have already done in other houses. Aizawa waited patiently and thought about it.
(Fujimaru's mother, I believe...)
Aizawa had talked to Ritsuka's mother once, but only over the phone. At that time, she was in tears, expressing her anxiety about her daughter.
However, the mother and daughter in front of him now were not what Aizawa had imagined, and they seemed to be getting along just fine. However, there is no doubt that the woman she had talked to on the phone is her mother.
When she introduced herself at the door, she certainly looked uncomfortable for a moment when she heard the name Aizawa.
Even if she is in a period of emotional instability, she probably regretted telling a strange teacher of all people that she distrusted her daughter. He didn't make much eye contact with her when he greeted her.
"That's it, I guess. As I believe was enclosed in the materials, I will ask Aizawa-sensei to summarize and explain about the boarding system."
It seemed that the home visit as a Regular Course is over. Aizawa, who had been left in charge, straightened his back.
"As written in the document, in light of the recent commotion, U.A has decided to introduce a boarding system. Originally, it would have been enough to ask the pros and cons about it.
Aizawa broke off and said in one breath.
"This time, I took the opportunity to ask Fujimaru-san whether or not she wanted to relocate to the Hero Department, which I had already told her about. This talk was still planned for the future, but if you want to relocate, this boarding school will be a good opportunity. As soon as the summer break is over, you will be transferred to the Hero Department."
The reason that boarding school is a good opportunity is half true and half false. In fact, none of the other candidates for the transfer of the Hero Department had been told about it. Ritsuka Fujimaru is the only one.
There are various reasons for this, but ostensibly, it's to ensure the safety of the students who were involved in the disturbances in Kamino Ward, fearing that they might have been targeted by villains.
And the most important reason is known only to Principal Nezu, All Might, and a few other teachers that
As I've been told, that Ritsuka Fujimaru is a person who needs to be monitored.
Of course, I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just that there are a lot of unexplainable aspects to her quirk, and for that reason it's more convenient for her to be in the Hero Department, where she can be watched. But in the end, it's all about her own will.
Aizawa looked Ritsuka in the eye and told her, half-certainly.
"Do you wish to relocate the hero department?"
"Yes, sir."
She answered immediately. The mother next to her looked puzzled, as if she hadn't been able to reach an agreement with her daughter. Ritsuka turned to her mother and said.
"Mom, I'm not going to England. It's not that I don't want to go, but... I'm not sure I want to go yet."
"But Ritsuka, you never said you wanted to be a hero, moreover you were hurt badly this time..."
"...are you worried?"
"Isn't that natural!"
Ritsuka's words were answered emphatically by her mother. But Aizawa felt a moment of hesitation before she answered. The mother must have been aware of it. She glanced at Aizawa as if she is afraid. But she immediately turned her face back to Ritsuka.
"What if something like this happens again...? You might not just get injured next time..."
"That's what the boarding system is for, right? Besides, we're in the Hero Department, so we're bound to get hurt."
Ritsuka replied in a calm manner. It seems that her mother couldn't answer anything when her daughter spoke on the assumption that she had already been transferred to the Hero Department.
After stammering for a while as if thinking about something, she finally gave up and said in a weak voice.
"Ritsuka, Just where did your stubbornness came from...
...Don't be too reckless."
"I will be reckless, I'm a hero.
But thank you. I'll be careful."
"So, with the consent of your parents..."
"Well, now Fujimaru-san is a hero, huh? I'm going to miss you."
The homeroom teacher smiled carefree.
However, Aizawa did not feel relieved that the conversation had gone well.
The mother seemed to have made up her mind from the beginning that she is going to break, and the daughter secretly understood it.
It was as if he is being shown a kind of short play.
Aizawa thought secretly.
The relationship between the mother and daughter is much more twisted than he had imagined.