Chapter 6: damage control

Back home, the front door securely closed behind her, Akane finally had the guts to check her phone. Just as she anticipated, there were at least a dozen texts and voicemails left from one very concerned Mr Aizawa. She sighed.

WHERE ARE YOU?

ARE YOU SAFE?

AKANE. IF YOU'RE THERE, RESPOND.

Oh, God. She was in trouble.

Resigning herself to her fate, Akane dialled Aizawa's number. The poor man had a right to know what was going on. And sure enough, he picked up hardly a second after the tone.

"Akane. Where are you?"

"I'm fine, I'm at home."

"Explain. Now."

Akane couldn't help it. Even though she knew Aizawa was only concerned for her wellbeing, his hard tone of voice made her chest tighten. She gripped the phone.

"Midoriya, he…he knows."

There was a pause. Then, lowly, "How?"

"It's a long story."

"Stay exactly where you are. I'm coming to you."

Akane nodded, but he had hung up before she could find her voice. Her gloved hand shaking, she put the phone away, and sunk to the floor before her legs could give out. What if he was angry at her? What if he was coming home to punish her? She'd messed up — let herself get found out. God, how could she have been so stupid? So weak? She lost track of time, curled up against the wall in the corner of the living room, so stuck in her head she couldn't see sense.

At the key rattling in the front door, Akane's breath hitched. She pulled her legs closer into her chest, holding tightly.

Aizawa burst through the door, urgently scanning the apartment layout. "Akane?"

Akane remained glued to the corner, unable to speak, let alone stand and approach him.

"Akane?" Aizawa said, concern rising in his voice. "Are you here?"

It didn't take him long to find her, his keen eyes landing on the shaking figure huddled in the living room corner in moments. Aizawa's face fell. He rushed toward her and crouched down, reaching out to grasp Akane's shoulders before he reconsidered. Trembling, hidden, avoiding eye contact. She was in no space to receive touch.

So, instead, Aizawa stayed close to the floor in front of her, and made a conscious effort to soften his voice.

"Hey, it's just me."

Akane pursed her lips, hard, still unable to meet his look.

"I'm…sorry," she managed to get out.

Aizawa tilted his head. Realization dawned on him and his heart sunk — she was scared of being punished for what happened. She's scared of me.

"Listen to me," he murmured. "I promise, you are safe here. No one is going to hurt you. Not on my watch."

At Akane's silence, Aizawa finally took the plunge: very, very carefully, he reached out to place a gentle hand on her leg. She flinched, but if nothing else, it shocked her into meeting Aizawa's look. He smiled.

"No one, especially not me."

Akane stared at him, like she was waiting for a catch. "But…I screwed up."

Aizawa shook his head. "I should've anticipated Midoriya would catch on. He's a real fanatic about this stuff. Probably knows every hero and villain to ever make the news in Japan." He sighed. "Whatever happened, it's not your fault."

Akane swallowed, slowly letting herself relax. If it wasn't her fault, she wouldn't need to be punished. And Aizawa promised he'd never hurt her — she knew, deep down, she could trust that. The situation wasn't great, but she was safe. At least for now.

"Having said that," Aizawa continued, "I am going to need to hear the whole story."

After a moment, Akane nodded. She owed him that much. So, she told him what had happened today leading up to Midoriya's discovery: going to lunch with Bakugou, the bullies a couple tables over, the conversation between her, Todoroki, Iida, Bakugou and Midoriya right before class. She recounted every relevant detail, as much as it stung just to remember and relive that painstaking moment of pure terror when Midoriya called her by her past name. When she was finished, she took a breath, and forced herself back into the present moment, where she was safe with Aizawa.

But, at the flash of rage in his eyes, she shrunk away again.

Shit, Aizawa thought to himself, I need to stay calm.

"Akane," he said, "it's not you I'm angry with."

She frowned. If not her, then who?

"Those kids at lunch, the ones making fun of you. Has anything like that happened before?"

Akane considered. "I guess."

Aizawa took a restrained breath, trying to keep his anger at bay. Some dumb students at his school had the nerve to bully his kid? He had to battle the urge to press for physical descriptions so he could gather names and enact the proper punishment. There would be a time and place to figure all that out. Right now, he just needed to look after his daughter.

"Let's get you up," Aizawa said at last. He took her hand and pulled her to her feet, holding on for a moment until she was steady. Even though she was calmer now, there was a distinct discomfort on Akane's face. Aizawa tilted her head up by the chin. "Akane?"

Frowning, she had to ask, "What happens now?"

"Hm." Aizawa also frowned. "Honestly, I'm not sure."

Akane pursed her lips, seemingly resigned to defeat, until Aizawa smiled.

"But we'll figure it out."

Figure it out. Somehow, even with her past out in the open, they'd have to find a way to keep Akane safe as well as every new person in her life. They'd have to keep not only the villains off her back, but the public as well. If the news got word about Tombstone's new life at U.A, they'd have an absolute field day.

"Life isn't going to be easy," Aizawa conceded. "That being said, we can make things as normal for you as possible."

Akane tilted her head. "Normal?"

Aizawa should've known better. Normal for this girl meant death and trauma. She wasn't like the other people her age, for whom 'normal' just meant friends and family and school. He hadn't been her father for long, but he was determined to use his new role to change things. No matter how much time and work it took.

So he ruffled her hair, still smiling. "Trust me, will you? I've got your back."

And then, finally, Akane smiled back.

That night, Aizawa contacted the staff at U.A to let them know what had happened, and advised campus security to stay vigilant in case anything got out. He also arranged a meeting with all the students who were present at Akane's exposure: Todoroki, Midoriya, Iida and Bakugou. They had been summoned to classroom 1A before class the next morning to talk things over.

Midoriya was already there by the time Akane showed up. Aizawa said he'd catch up — he needed to talk to a couple of the teachers in the staffroom first. Upon seeing Midoriya, upright in his desk, Akane stopped in her tracks.

Midoriya jumped up. "A-Akane!"

Balling her gloved fists to strengthen her nerve, Akane walked into the classroom. Her face was flat and hard.

"I-I just wanted to say how sorry I am," Midoriya gushed. "I heard the word 'villain' and I spoke without thinking, it was so stupid, I can't even begin to imagine how much I hurt you."

For some reason, seeing him standing up at his desk made Akane both nervous and angry. Was he trying to threaten her, or apologize? Dumb kid was too earnest for his own good.

"Sit down," she monotoned.

Midoriya blinked. "What? Oh. S-sure thing." He fell back into his chair, but kept right on staring at her with those big green eyes. She did her best to return the look, but couldn't help the rising nausea she felt at the fear in his expression. Clearly, it wasn't easy for him to maintain eye contact with a red-eyed, scar-faced, ex-villain teenage girl.

"You could at least try to look less scared," she said.

"What? No, I-I'm not…well, okay. Maybe I am a little scared." Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry. It's not that I'm scared because you're scary, you're not scary at all! I mean, you're a little intimating, sure, but in a good way, and I never want you to think I'm judging you based on your past, not that I know much about your past anyway, and I —"

"Oi, Deku!"

Instantly, Midoriya and Akane turned. Standing in the doorway, Bakugou had his arms crossed, sneering viciously. Todoroki and Iida stood behind him, struggling to get in.

"Excuse me, Bakugou," Iida said, "but as class rep, I must insist you mind your tone!"

"And, you know," Todoroki added, quietly, "let us in."

Like he hadn't even heard them, Bakugou growled, storming forward. He grabbed Midoriya by the front of his shirt and lifted him out of his seat.

"You're dumb enough to blow her cover, and then go and piss her off even more?!"

Midoriya's eyes popped. "I-I wasn't trying to—I didn't mean —"

"Bakugou!" Iida shouted. "That is enough!"

Completely ignoring every other person in the room, Bakugou shook Midoriya, rattling the poor kid back and forth. He roared, "Do you even have any idea what you've done, you bastard! Don't you know how to think before you open your damn mouth?!"

"Yes! I mean, no! I-I-I —"

While they were squabbling, Iida frantically waving his arms around and telling them off, Todoroki wandered over to Akane. He took care to keep a comfortable distance between their bodies, but got close enough for her to hear him over the racquet.

"I'm sorry," he said, very matter-of-fact, "about yesterday."

Akane's expression remained blank. "You didn't do anything."

"I know. I'm sorry anyway."

"For what, exactly?"

He shrugged. "You were exposed. It was bad."

After a moment of silence, the two simply watching the messy spectacle between Midoriya, Bakugou and Iida, Todoroki continued.

"I'm sure the brief summary I gave didn't help much either."

Immediately, Akane remembered the summary to which he referred. Midoriya brought up Tombstone, and Todoroki made an instant connection to "the little girl recruited by that villain gang a few years ago". Hearing those words aloud wasn't exactly fun, she'd give him that much, but it didn't really matter. The truth was out as soon as Midoriya said the word. Todoroki's contribution didn't make things better, but they sure as hell didn't make things worse.

What made Akane far more uncomfortable in this moment was Todoroki's apology. What did he want from her? Was it fear? Was he trying to get on her good side? Was it pity?

She clenched her fists.

"Whatever."

Meanwhile, Midoriya continued to struggle in Bakugou's grasp, but to no avail.

"Kacchan, I-I swear, I never meant to hurt her, it was an accident, I —"

"You think the villains are gonna care what you meant to do?" Bakugou snarled.

"What's done is done!" Iida asserted. "Bakugou, I must insist you cease and desist this positively brutish display of behaviour!"

"You stay out of this, four-eyes!" Bakugou said. "You think you're any better? You heard 'assassin' and practically crapped your pants — how do you think that made her feel?"

Iida blanched. "Well, I-I most certainly did not."

Finally, Todoroki decided to step in. "Ease off, Bakugou. It's not like any of us are going to tell."

Bakugou bared his teeth. "Oh yeah? What makes you think I trust a single one of you bastards?"

"Kacchan, please —"

Out of nowhere, a white carbon scarf snapped across the room like a whip, wrapping Bakugou and Midoriya up in one lightening-fast movement. Iida gasped and Todoroki sighed, but the other boys — their faces bound — could only grumble and groan. Across the room, the door slammed behind a glowering Mr Aizawa. Hair floating and eyes glowing red, he looked to Akane. She was safe, at least. So, begrudgingly, he let Midoriya and Bakugou go.

The boys coughed and wheezed, leaning against the desks. Mr Aizawa's hair fell back into place and his eyes relaxed.

"All of you, sit. We need to talk."

Smart enough to heed his instruction without speaking, the group took their seats.

Aizawa took his place at the podium and slumped against its surface. He sighed, examining the troublesome group of students before him.

"I trust you all understand the delicate situation we're in here."

A muted chorus of "yes, sir" answered him. He nodded.

"At this point in time, our top priority is Akane's security and rehabilitation. Word about her past gets out and there could be trouble. Villain trouble. Understand?"

Another round of "yes sir", this time much much more sombre.

"The question is," Aizawa said, "can we put our faith in you students to take this priority to heart?"

Akane stared straight ahead, trying not to notice as the the boys exchanged uncertain looks. It was hard enough for her to trust Aizawa, the man who had helped save her and taken care of her for the past two years, let alone a group of kids she'd only met a few days ago. Even if they agreed, how was she ever supposed to feel safe here again?

But then, Midoriya stood up. Even with his head bowed, his voice came out strong and sure.

"Mr Aizawa, and Akane, I understand the position I've put you in, and I'm deeply sorry." Finally, he looked up, his eyes bright with conviction. "But I promise you, I won't let anything bad happen to you because of your past. Your secret is safe with me."

Iida stood. "And me."

Todoroki just nodded. "Of course."

All that was left was Bakugou, who sat slumped in his chair, legs crossed atop his desk. He scoffed.

"You're all a bunch of losers. Like you even need to ask." He sat up. "But next time Deku does something that stupid, you'd better bet I'll blast his ass to hell."

Aizawa considered. "Sounds fair enough to me."

Midoriya jumped. "What?"

Todoroki gave a soft halfway smile. "Look at it this way, Midoriya. It means Bakugou has a heart after all."

At that, Bakugou did stand up, blushing and fuming like crazy. "What the hell are you talking about, icy-hot?! You wanna go?! I'll end you!"

"Everyone, please!" Iida insisted, waving frantically about again. "Control yourselves!"

With a final look at Akane, who couldn't conceal her shock at the genuine care exhibited by her new classmates, Aizawa nodded.

"That's it from me. I suggest you all disperse." Nothing more suspicious than seeing Bakugou hanging out with these guys before class.

He made to leave, ready to return to the staffroom to relay the meeting's outcome, before turning around once more.

"Anything happens to Akane, or if I hear word has gotten out about her…" His eyes flashed a terrifying red. "You'll have me to answer to."

Stunned into total silence, the students watched him disappear. Midoriya gulped. Iida pushed up his glasses. Todoroki blinked. Bakugou just crossed his arms again, sneering to conceal how damn intimidating his homeroom teacher could be. Akane couldn't help but smirk — her dad was such a badass. He'd managed to prove to her that not only did he have his back, but these bunch of idiots did, too.

Akane stood up. "See you in class." She headed out of the room, planning to take a break on the roof. She needed some air.

"Akane," Midoriya stopped her.

Reluctantly, she turned around.

He smiled, however nervously. "Just so you know, you can trust me. From now on, I'll do everything in my power to be someone you can call a friend."

"Well put, Midoriya," Iida said. "The same applies here."

Akane scanned their faces, all so earnest. She couldn't help but struggle to believe their conviction, now that they knew who she was. What she'd done. She didn't deserve their trust, let alone their friendship. Her fists tightened, but she kept her face blank and hard. She couldn't have her weakness exposed — not again.

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Back up, extras. She gets the point."

Todoroki frowned, also noticing the girl's discomfort. "Would you like some space, Akane?"

Akane swallowed. She managed to get out a blunt, quiet, "Thank you", before briskly exiting the classroom.

Once she was gone, Bakugou scoffed. "You idiots."