Chapter 8: Burdens
Aizawa glared down at a sheepish Midoriya while All Might badgered him with questions. It took all of the homeroom teacher's will to not slap the teenager around with his scarf and, instead, he chose to merely keep the young man tied in his scarf, increasing its grip every time Midoriya gave half-assed answers to All Might's questions.
Eveline and the others were with the principal, working on negotiations for six strangers to stay at UA. At first, Nezu wasn't too pleased with the newcomers, but Eveline, perhaps without realizing it, managed to convince him by explaining to him what had happened. However, he was still concerned about how this could affect the other students so the group followed him to his office so that they could think over their accommodations more thoroughly.
Aizawa didn't mind the new group as much as Midoriya thought he would but that was mostly because he was more interested in punishing the problem child of 1-A. Even so, he was being partially merciful.
"How many times do we have to tell you to not tackle problems like this on your own?" Midoriya lowered his head further as All Might scolded him. "We're here to help you, why is that so hard for you to understand?"
Midoriya wanted to argue, wanted to say that he understood that they were here for him, but he resisted. He knew that he only had himself to blame for this; he should have said something but he was worried that telling anyone about Eveline would have negative consequences. I should have had more faith in my teachers….
"Your new friend has asked to take some of your punishment since she felt this is her fault," Aizawa snapped, "But you're not getting off that easy. For the rest of the month, you're on cleaning duty in the dorms and you're not allowed to leave the school for any reason."
Well, that's not too bad...I'll be behind in my homework but-
"And YOU have to explain to your mother what happened."
Midoriya felt heart stopped a second; had his mother been informed that he was missing?! If she knew then he'd have to leave UA!
"No one told her yet," All Might added softly, "we didn't have any clues to go off and we thought that we should have something more to tell her. You came back just as we called her over. She should be here soon."
"O-Oh…" Midoriya's body began to quiver with dread at the thought of explaining to his mother that he had been abducted from his own room. Yes, that was going to go over well with Inko Midoriya, wasn't it? And then explaining that a very pretty blonde could talk to him through some telepathic link that he still couldn't explain? If she didn't force him out of UA she certainly was going to have a heart attack.
"From now on," Aizawa growled as he removed his scarf from Midoriya's body, "you will tell us everything that is going on. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir!" Midoriya answered quickly, fearing that a delayed or hesitant response was going to change the staff's mind on the group of six staying at the school.
"Good, now go back to the dorms." Never in Midoriya's life had he run out of that office faster than he did at that moment. He was grateful that none of the other students were out to see him and his classmates were still going about their regular activities so he had time to collect himself and think over his impending conversation with his mother.
As he entered his bedroom, he wondered if he should ask Eveline for help with his mother. She knows more of what happened to me, which is kind of weird but I guess she's used to Merlin's antics. That and there's something calming about her presence too. It might help….
You want me to talk with your mom?
"AH!" Midoriya involuntarily yelped aloud before crying out to Eveline, I wasn't even directing that thought at you!
I told you, you talk to me without meaning to all the time. Eveline giggled, he could imagine that she was smiling to herself. Besides, since space and time are no longer separating us, this link of ours is stronger than it used to be. I can hear you a lot better than when we were first talking.
Midoriya blushed, he really needed to learn how to block her from hearing his thoughts. He thought that so long as he didn't direct any questions at her she couldn't hear him, but it appeared that he was just lucky or she chose to stay quiet.
Either way, Eveline added with a light sigh, I'd help you with your mom, but Mr. Nezu said that you have to do everything by yourself since your teacher assigned you that punishment.
"I should have guessed." Midoriya pressed his back against his door, feeling a little defeated. Honestly, he wasn't sure how to approach the topic in a way that didn't make things worse. I'm worried that she might force me to leave… How do I explain what happened…?
Just be honest. Eveline responded, No matter what you say, she's going to get upset. It's what mothers do when their babies are in trouble.
Midoriya smiled slightly; he couldn't deny that he was his mother's baby, Her only child. She took her mothering instincts to a whole new level with him, though he never helped with that. With all of the injuries, he gave to himself, it was a miracle that she hadn't needed to go to the hospital.
My mother used to nearly have heart attacks every time I'd go off on my little adventures with my friends. I'll admit, I was a trouble magnet.
You don't say… Midoriya's smile widened before falling again. He remembered the bottle that Mael had given him and wondered what he should do with it. He could drink it now, but would that be a good idea. Hey, this bottle….should I drink it?
Considering your mother's coming, I'd recommend that you don't. Eveline admitted softly. Mael wanted it to affect us both and trust me, you'll anger your teachers if you just pass out.
Is that what it'll do?
It'll allow us to see his memories using our spiritual bodies, meaning our physical bodies will be unresponsive until we've seen everything he put into the bottle.
I see… Midoriya couldn't help but wonder as to why things regarding Eveline had to be so complicated. But then again, that might be because she's so different from him and his world.
Your principal is letting us live in your dorm building, my room will be on the fourth floor, next to a girl named Ochako Uraraka. Bryan will be on the same floor, next to Katsuki Bakugo.
What about Zelda? And the boys?
We all decided that it was best they not live in the dorms. Namely, because they were afraid of Tristan getting into a fight with some of the other boys in your class.
Kacchan hates little kids…
Yeah...we figured that out a little bit ago. Hehe…
Midoriya could only imagine what had happened between the overly protective and obnoxious Tristan and the harsh, hothead Bakugo. There was probably a lot of yelling, near infanticide, and probably Aizawa wanted to flay Bakkugo alive for trying to murder a child.
Either way, Zelda's really good with kids and that little girl, Eri, she's living here too.
"Eh!?" Midoriya shot up, his door making a noise as his weight was taken off of it. "Eri's here…?"
She moved in while you were gone, I saw her in passing. She's living in the teacher's dorms which is where Zelda and the boys are going to be during our stay. The same with my grandfather.
A slight smile spread across his lips; at least things were working out in their favor for the time being. The next hurdle was dealing with them until they could go back.
"IZUKU!"
Scratch that, the next hurdle was calming down his mother! He hurried down to the common room, finding his mother flooding the room with her tears.
"Mom!" Midoriya weakly smiled at his mother, earning another round of sobs as she demanded to know what was going on. "Mom, please don't cry. It's nothing terrible, I promise."
Mrs. Midoriya was in a little too much emotional distress, so Midoriya decided to calm her by taking her to his room to show her what it looked like. His line of thought was that his room looked nearly identical to his bedroom back home; seeing something that familiar might ease her nerves a bit.
"Look, mom," he smiled as he showed off his room. "It's like it was back home, right?"
His mother was calmed by this, commenting on how his room was arranged and she enjoyed the veranda. However, she wasn't easily distracted; she wanted to know what had happened because something had to have happened.
"I-It's a long story, um…" Midoriya looked around, suddenly wishing he was like Sato with an oven in his room and the talent to make delicious treats or like Yayorozu with her tea. He was tempted to text them and ask if they could be of assistance but he decided against it. He didn't want to cause any more trouble. "Okay...I should bring snacks but…"
"No, no!" His mother insisted, "I can't eat right now, just tell me."
Midoriya shifted slightly, "Let me get you water at least. Okay?"
Though Mrs. Midoriys didn't want to be in the dark any longer, she accepted his offer and Midoriya quickly went back to the common room to get a bottle of water for his mom. When he came back, he had a good idea of what to say to her.
What do you mean she's freaking out?
I tried to be honest with her and she flipped! I don't know what to do!
Eveline let out a slight sigh before standing up from her seat. She had been with Nezu and Aizawa, discussing how she and her friends could use UA's facilities for their own purposes. Nezu thought it would work in the students' favor to go against completely different enemies, so he suggested that Aizawa and Vlad let Eveline, Zelda, and Bryan participate in training exercises. Aizawa wasn't totally sold on the idea, but he was slowly warming up to it.
"Is something the matter, Liones-san?" Nezu asked softly.
Eveline smiled sheepishly, "Ah, I- Midoriya is panicking because his mother is upset."
"Is that really bothersome to you?"
Eveline shrugged, "A little, but I should help him." When she noticed that Aizawa was about to argue, she quickly added, "I'm aware that this is part of his punishment for not being honest, but you have to realize that what he's telling her is a lot and he hardly knows how to explain it. Besides, this is my fault as well."
She politely bowed to the duo and left the room, hurrying as quickly as she could to Midoriya's room. Having their link guide her to her destination, she was outside his door in no time.
"Izuku Midoriya, I will not have this!" Eveline cringed as she heard 's voice through the door.
"It's not as bad as you think, I swear!" Midoriya's voice was so high pitched that Eveline almost confused him for a girl. "Mom, it wasn't the school's fault!"
"Then whose fault is it then?"
Eveline had her hand up, ready to knock on the door, but paused when she heard his mother.
Who was to blame? She was. She had always been to blame for the misfortunes that happened. Her family disappearing? That was her fault. Flora dying and Anna becoming a puppet? That was her fault. And Midoriya's current predicament? Her fault too…
With a deep breath, she forced back her feelings and knocked on the door. The room went silent, feeding into Eveline's growing anxiety. She almost ran away from the door when she heard footsteps, but the second she saw it open, she put on her best smile.
"Eveline….!"
A/N: I apologize for not getting this chapter out sooner. I had this chapter written out but it needed several rewrites to get it to where I was aiming. It's still not perfect and I'll most likely come back and rewrite it at later date but it's out at least. I'm trying to write out more of Eveline's character, which is something I feel needs to be expressed.
I'm going to try and get another chapter out before June ends. I hope I can keep this promise!
