Chapter 5 – Nuvole Bianche
Aine pinched the bridge of her nose as she looked at the laptop computer screen again. She hadn't even begun looking through the stack of student files that HoundDog had brought her (he asked that she call him his hero name if students weren't around, it was easier than switching back and forth) and she already could feel her head reeling. Just from reading news reports!
Villain attacks, kidnappings, multiple severe injuries, and that was all within the first few months of the term! What in the world are they doing with these kids?!
Sighing, she pulled the first stack of files towards her. As the hours ticked by, she looked through file after file making notes on the students she wanted to create priority time slots for and the ones who would be able to sign up for her general time slots. Nedzu had said that every student was going to be required to attend weekly sessions unless she or HoundDog evaluated that they could be excused.
She already had several students listed down on her "mandatory" list: the boy with obvious anger management issues who had been kidnapped was an obvious choice, one student who had family affected by the hero killer, one with a mind control quirk and, from the nature of his quirk, some possible former bullying issues and then there was the child who seemed to possess absolutely no self-preservation, possibly even a death wish. On her evaluation list she had included every work study student who had helped with the yakuza raid, especially those who had been in close contact to the pro-hero that was killed.
And the majority are all from a single class. She rubbed her eyes as she heard the bell ring. Judging from the low position of the sun, it must have been the end of the school day.
Aine had begun packing up her computer to take with her when a soft knock followed by the sound of an opening door caught her attention.
"Good afternoon, dear!" Recovery Girl walked into the room, smiling, "I wanted to come and check on your wrists."
The elder woman had been to the hospital several times to help heal Aine's wound so that now there was just the faintest hint of pink where the scars would surely remain.
"Oh! Yes! Just a moment," she shoved the laptop into it's accompanying case before walking over.
Recovery Girl turned Aine's hands over inspecting the healing wounds, "Everything looks to be healing well. I think you will be fine to finish the healing on your own in a day or so." Her smile turned slightly serious, "You are still monitoring for any spikes in fever or strange readouts on your monitor, correct?"
Aine nodded, "Yes, thank you for everything."
"Just glad you are okay, dear. Now, I'm going to head back to the infirmary just in case my little frequent flier shows back up."
"That's the kid named Midoriya, right?"
"The one and only. I'm telling you, that child is going to make me an even older woman yet." she shook her head and waved as she stepped back out the door. As she disappeared around the doorframe, Aine heard another soft knock on the doorframe. There stood Nemuri, no longer in her hero costume but in a simple sweater and jeans. Her dark purple hair was pulled back in a ponytail and the signature red cat-eyeglasses of pro-hero Midnight had been replaced by a non-descript pair of rounded glasses.
"I thought I'd come by and see how you were doing."
"Much better. Thank you again for this morning." Aine shrugged the laptop case strap on her shoulder and picked up the 5 files she was taking back to her apartment.
Nemuri smiled then turned serious, "It's not the first time one of us has had to pull you out of an episode, it's nothing really. Listen, I'm not sure exactly what 'Zashi said to you in the hospital, but you do know he doesn't speak for all three of us?" When Aine nodded, she continued, "I meant what I said about wanting to hear your side of the story but only when you are ready. Mind if I walk with you back to the dorm?"
Aine didn't know if Nemuri fully forgave her or was just being kind because of the events from that morning. Either way, she was glad to have the company just in case she ran into a certain loud blonde.
During the walk to the dorms, Nemuri was telling her a few more details about the students whose files she carried in her hands.
"… between Midoriya and Bakugou constantly."
"And Shouta hasn't expelled one or both of them yet?" Aine shifted the files as Nemuri opened the dorm door for her.
Nemuri gave short chuckle, "Personally, I think he has a soft spot for this class. He's only expelled one student this year and that even took longer than I thought it would."
Aine went through the door with Nemuri close behind, the common room was occupied by a small handful of teachers chatting on sofas. They walked past and headed to the elevator. Aine pressed the number for her floor and Nemuri pressed one for 2 floors below.
They rode in comfortable silence to Nemuri's floor. Before she got off, she turned to Aine, "I hope you know that I really am glad you're back. I'm sure the boys will be too. Just give them time."
With that she stepped off the elevator and headed down the hallway. As the doors closed, Aine leaned against the back wall and felt her eyes begin to sting. I hope you are right; gods above do I hope you are right.
Once Aine had slipped from sight behind the elevator doors, Nemuri's anger flared. She stormed down the hallway to a familiar door and knocked – restraining the urge to bang as hard as she could.
The door opened, "Nemuri! Come on in I just – " Hizashi stopped mid-sentence as she forcibly pushed him backwards into the room with her hand on his chest using the other hand to close the door behind her.
"What did you say to her?!" she hissed, crossing her arms. "At the hospital. What–did-you-say-to-her?"
He stared at her; his green-tinted yellow eyes wide. His mouth opened and closed several times, starting and stopping several sentences from beginning.
"I'm waiting."
Hizashi took a breath, it quelled the lioness inside her to see it shake slightly. "All I said was if she was just going to run again to go ahead and do it…and….Imighthavetoldhernottoexpectustoforgiveher".
The lioness roared back to life, "YOU WHAT?! Hizashi Yamada, please tell me I heard that wrong!"
He threw his hands up in defense, "If it means anything, I didn't go there to say that. It wasn't until I actually saw her…. I got angry. All I could think of was how much it felt like….like…." he sagged, and his voice dropped to almost a whisper "We both saw it, Nemuri. We almost lost him again….like when…"
Nemuri sighed, "like when Oboro died."
Hizashi nodded and a shared silence stretched between them.
"She had a panic attack today. Not sure how long she was down for this time." Nemuri leaned against the door.
"When?"
"I found her curled in the middle of her office right after the staff meeting. I didn't have a class first thing this morning so I…"
Now it was Hizashi's turn to cross his arms, "You went to give her a piece of your mind, didn't you?"
Nemuri glared at him for a brief second before rolling her eyes, "Maybe." another beat of silence, "She feels guilty about it, leaving like she did. I'm positive that is why she came back."
Neither of them spoke.
"Has Shouta said anything?"
"Nothing, and we both know he won't say anything either." Hizashi shook his head.
Aine stared at the email on her computer screen addressing the teachers of the priority students. She wanted to get those 4 students scheduled before she had the other students begin signing up for times.
Already, she knew the class she would have to visit first. The class that seemed to be in the middle of everything.
Class 1-A.
Shouta's class.
The next couple of days drug by in a blur of student names, files, histories as Aine poured over the student files in her office and at home. Friday morning, her stomach felt like rocks. Today was the day she went to the classes to finish time sign-ups and to introduce herself.
Today she wore a red long-sleeved blouse under a light grey suit. She debated over pulling her hair back or leaving it loose ultimately deciding to tie it back with a red ribbon, she could always take it down later if she wanted.
She glanced at the clock as she grabbed her laptop and the last pile of student files to take back to her office. As she went through the common room, she contemplated grabbing a cup of coffee but changed her mind.
I can always get some from the teacher's lounge later.
The crisp morning air danced along her face as she walked from the dorms to the classroom building. After depositing her belongings in her office and printing up the sign-up sheet, she made her way down the hallways to her first room of the day.
Class 1-A.
She had emailed the campus reminding the teachers that she would be coming by today, several had replied. Almost all, in fact, except one but if she was honest with herself, she didn't expect him to respond. Nedzu had sent a copy of the class schedules to her so she at least could attempt to not disrupt academics too much.
It was about 15 minutes before class would start and she still hadn't seen the homeroom teacher. Surely Shouta had gotten her email, everyone else had responded, he must have seen it too.
"E-excuse me, miss"
If she would have been a cat she would have went screeching to the roof, instead she barely stifled a squeak as she turned around and saw a mess of green hair and green eyes that looked almost as startled as she did.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't hear you!" she chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck, "I'm actually waiting for your homeroom teacher. Have you seen him?"
The boy pointed to a yellow cocoon laid behind the teacher's desk in the classroom facing away from the door, "Uh, it looks like he's already here, Miss…"
"Satterfield." she smiled at him even as her heart thumped, Get ahold of yourself!
"Oh...th-the new counselor, right?"
She nodded as more students began to filter into the classroom. As the bell rang and the last student bounded past into the classroom, she saw Shouta step from the sleeping bag and to the front of the room. He looked at her before addressing the class.
"Everyone sit down, Kaminari put that away."
She stepped to the doorway, watching as the students settled into their desks.
"As some of you already know, UA has decided that all students will begin attending mandatory counseling sessions. I know some of you don't think it's necessary to talk about your problems but - "
"Even pro-heroes use therapists, Blink."
She heard the voice in her memory as the same time as he spoke to the students.
"To help handle the workload, UA has hired a second counselor." Aine stepped into the room as he finished the sentence, he looked her way for a ghost of a moment, "This is Miss Satterfield, she is the new counselor who will be working with all 1st year students while Hound Dog will be handling the 2nd and 3rd year hero course students."
With that, he stepped away from the lectern to lean against the wall. She pushed past the thudding of her nerves and stepped up to the front of the classroom.
"Good morning! As Mr. Aizawa explained, Principal Nedzu has brought me on to meet with each of you on a weekly basis." She heard a loud "tsk" from the side of the room followed by a hushed "Kacchan!"
"What? We all know why they hired a fucking shrink." the spiky haired blonde sat with his feet up on the desk and his arms crossed, right now he was glaring at her like a challenge.
"Language, Bakugou!" a tall young man with glasses close to the back of the room stood up.
"Whatever, they just want to make sure none of us go nutso after all the bullshit this year. So they hire a fucking shrink to get us to talk about our goddamn feelings."
"We will see how that goes when I see you next week, Bakugou." Aine shot a challenging look right back his way, she swore she heard a muffled half-chuckle behind her before turning to address the rest of the class, "Some of you have already been signed up for time slots, the rest of you will need to sign up on this sheet I am passing around." She handed the sign-up sheet to the young blonde boy closest to the door.
"You should know that these counseling sessions are not just to talk about your feelings. It is an open time for you to discuss anything and everything you need from time-management issues to basic lifestyle advice. Anything discussed will always be treated with confidence."
The paper made it's way around the classroom and back to her, "Thank you for allowing me to visit your class, Mr. Aizawa." She gave a short bow to the class and to Shouta before turning to leave.
"Thank you, Miss Satterfield."
She turned, stomach twisting as dark eyes hit her hazel ones. Smiling, she gave a short wave before retreating down the hallway.
Well, I survived that one, she glanced over the sign-up sheet, piece of cake.
The rest of the morning went without a hitch, she had managed to make it to all of the classes before lunch. She had just settled into her office when she heard a knock at the door. Looking up, she saw Nemuri standing with 2 bowls in her hand, "You know, eating is just as important of an activity during the day as work."
Aine laughed, "I was going to go get something, I swear!" Nemuri set the bowl down in front of Aine and then sat down across the desk from her. Her stomach rumbled as the smell of the beef stew in front of her poured into her nose.
"So, how did it go this morning?"
"Well, I got all of the students signed up minus a couple who were absent today from the support courses and I managed to not have a panic attack being in the same room as Shouta so there's that." she said in between spoonfuls of stew.
They made small talk as they ate, mostly about the campus and things that Aine hadn't had a chance to explore yet.
"Mmphf!" Nemuri exclaimed as she quickly swallowed the bite of food she had in her mouth, "Were you still doing gymnastics while you were gone?"
Aine tapped her spoon absentmindedly on the bowl, "Every day I could get access to the equipment. There was a gym just down the road from the university that let me use theirs' for a small fee as long as no classes were in session. On the days they didn't though, I just used the city rooftops as a practice gym."
"You should ask Cementoss about setting up a time to go to the gym. He can set it Gym Gamma for anything you need!"
"I'll keep that in mind," Aine scribbled a quick note to herself so she wouldn't forget.
The bell rang shortly after, Nemuri gathered the dishes, "What are you doing after work today?"
"Probably going over these files to be ready for Monday."
Nemuri paused as though she was going to ask something but thought better of it, "Okay, I'll see you after classes let out!" and with that she left.