Chapter 1: Morning of her first day
Dark red eyes still heavy with sleep, Akane entered the kitchen, all dressed up in her official U.A uniform. Aizawa was already eating at the counter, absently finishing a bowl of cereal. Seeing Akane, he arched an eyebrow.
"How late did you train last night?"
Akane walked past him. She pulled an energy drink out of the fridge and cracked it open.
"Late."
Aizawa sighed. "That explains it. You look like crap."
Akane turned. "You're gonna lecture me about looking crappy?"
Aizawa smirked. He gestured to the seat next to him, watching closely as Akane grudgingly sat down. His bloodshot eyes scanned her up and down before landing on her hands, covered up by a trademark pair of short black leather gloves.
"Let me see," Aizawa said.
Akane sipped at her energy drink, avoiding eye contact.
"Akane."
Swallowing, Akane's jaw hardened. It was time to accept defeat. She put the drink down and pulled her gloves off, one after the other, exposing her raw and bloodied knuckles.
Aizawa sighed. "As I thought."
He stood up, bringing his empty bowl to the sink. Akane stayed seated, waiting until he returned with a first aid box, not saying a word. She knew there was no point in arguing. It was hardly the first time she'd trained so hard it left her body a little messed up. She hid the damage from Aizawa as much as she could, but on her first day of school at U.A, it wasn't surprising he'd figured it out.
Aizawa pulled out an antiseptic wipe and took Akane hand. He looked up at her.
"Ready?"
Akane nodded. Face blank and hard.
Aizawa disinfected her knuckles gently but thoroughly, checking Akane's face every few seconds to see how she was holding up. If it hurt, she didn't show it. He often wondered if she was able to feel much pain at all anymore. Once that was done, Akane pulled back. Aizawa gave her a look.
"Hey. Not done."
"It's fine."
"No, kid, it's not."
Rolling her eyes, Akane put her hands back out.
Aizawa pulled a couple pieces of gauze from the first aid kit and started to wrap it around one of Akane's beaten hands. Even focused on the task, he knew he had to say something.
"Pretty nervous, huh?"
Akane shrugged. "I guess."
"You remember everything I told you? You're in class 1A, with me. No one knows who you are. No one knows your quirk. No one knows you're my kid."
"Adopted kid."
Akane's face was dark. She stared down at her messy fists. In a tight voice, she continued.
"If I was just your kid, I wouldn't have to worry. It's my other family I have to worry about."
Aizawa stopped. He tried to get Akane to look at him, but she was too tense; frozen in place. He stopped binding her knuckles and just held her hand, softly.
"Those people aren't your family anymore. I know you miss them, and that's normal, but you've got me now."
Akane gave a short, bitter laugh, shaking her head. "Cool. Except if I don't worry about my adopted family, or about my dead family, then all that's left to worry about is the high-profile gang of villains I worked under for the last five years."
"Akane." Aizawa held her hand just a fraction tighter. "Look at me."
Slowly, after a beat, Akane forced herself to meet his eye. She seemed to be on the brink of tears. Seeing her, Aizawa's chest twinged. His features softened.
"Listen. No one said this was going to be easy. You've got more than enough right to be scared, so I won't tell you not to be, but I promise I will keep you safe. No villain is going to lay a single filthy finger on you as long as I'm around."
Akane kept looking at Aizawa. She gave a half-smile.
Aizawa smiled back. "No idiot student is going to screw with you, either."
"Aren't I meant to be making friends?'
Aizawa scoffed. "You haven't met the morons I deal with in 1A."
He finished binding her fists, keeping the wrapping as thin as he could so she'd still be able to fit the gloves on afterwards. As he packed up the first aid equipment, he snuck glances at Akane, trying to see if her mood had improved.
"They hurt?" He asked.
Akane shook her head. "No."
He rolled his eyes and tossed her a packet of painkillers.
"Take two."
Akane opened her mouth to protest, but stopped at his deadly look.
"Don't argue."
Sighing, Akane downed the painkillers with a swig of her energy drink. A couple more sips and she'd emptied the can, chucking it in the recycling bin before heading for the bathroom. Seeing her leave, Aizawa snapped her with his scarf.
Akane turned around, eyebrows raised in question.
"Redbull is not breakfast," Aizawa said. "Take a damn banana and hurry up. We're going to be late."