Chapter 2: Broken Dreams

The trip was a solemn affair. Nedzu had finally insisted on its necessity if only to check on Kendo… and to see if she was even interested in continuing in Heroics. It was hardly fair to ask a teenager who had such a traumatic experience only a few weeks ago if they wanted to get back onto the path that had traumatized them, but Heroics was rarely fair.

The car ride was quiet, just the gentle hum of the engine and the wheels on the road. Inui had attempted small talk, trying to lighten the mood, maybe even give him some hope that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, but all Sekijiro could muster were grunts in response. His friend soon dropped the issue, and the rest of the trip was made in uncomfortable silence.

The school counselor would be making the final assessment, not him. He'd be acting as her advocate, trying to draw the best out of her, to give her a shot to show herself to be the heroine he knew she could be.

Sekijiro was not holding out much hope.

Her parents were taking her to a therapist but had admitted that they were worried about her. She was becoming withdrawn, almost barricading herself in her room for most of the day, and rarely getting a good night's rest. He could only imagine the nightmares she was suffering from. She had no social life to speak of, cutting contact with her friends from outside UA as well as her classmates. She wasn't doing the makeup work he was sending her either.

Maybe it was the fact that Stain still hadn't been captured? He truly hoped that would change soon. The Hero Killer was taking a toll and it was getting out of hand, worse still he had aligned himself with the League of Villains. That had only made things worse, giving them a lot of press and likely recruits. On the other hand, it had driven All Might to announce that he would be joining the hunt.

"We're here," Inui announced as he pulled the car over. Sekijiro just nodded. Her parents knew they were coming, knew what was coming. He wasn't sure if they'd told Kendo. It was possible they hadn't. Would they even want her to continue? Would he, in their shoes?

Being ushered in, he took a look around as her parents led them inside. He saw pictures of them, of her mother and father hugging, of her mother with a baby bump, of their family on vacation, of Kendo in martial arts gi, of a child Kendo, holding up a yellow belt with a smile. They passed by a room with a glass case with trophies in it, old ones from her mother, new ones from their daughter.

The dining room was simpler in comparison. There were no decorations, save for a small vase with an orchid in it. There were three chairs from the same set and two more that were clearly from another. He and Inui quickly took those seats, sitting down to talk briefly with Kendo's parents, reiterating that this was a wellness check due to Kendo's extended absence. There was nothing specific about Kendo being pulled out of the hero course, but the subtext was there.

Once they finished, Kendo's parents exchanged a look and her father excused himself to get her. There was nary a hint of small talk as they waited. The woman sitting across from them was visibly struggling to hide her misery. They'd both seen it too many times to miss the signs. Stain hadn't done much physical harm to their daughter, leaving no more than a scratch, but the wound he'd inflicted had hurt not just her but her family as well.

Inui turned to the door, his enhanced senses giving away his student's arrival before any words were spoken. Sekijiro opened his mouth to greet her when she walked into view, but his mouth closed with a click. Kendo, the young, vibrant, confident girl with immense potential he had known was nowhere to be seen. Before him stood a shadow of her former self, trudging in, bags under her eyes, misery writ large on her face. She gave a halfhearted wave when she saw him, clearly hesitant at that.

Any hope he had of her returning withered away as she sat down. Inui started talking, but she didn't look at him, her eyes wandering as she gave listless response after listless response. Yes, she was going to therapy, yes, it was helping, yes, she was sleeping mostly okay, yes, she had fallen behind on her coursework, but she knew she'd be able to catch up, yes, she'd be ready to come back soon, she was sure of it. Lies one and all. Pleasant ones, trying to save face for her mother and father.

Kendo didn't even notice when her mother began to cry.

Sekijiro felt bile rising in his throat. He'd played a part in this farce for too long. "Kendo," She cringed, a small shudder at being called out, "look at me." The request caught her off guard and she hesitantly began to look up at him. He waited patiently as she waivered, halting progress before the silence pressed her to continue to lift her chin. With only the greatest of reluctance, she finally looked him in the eye.

"Kendo, do you want to continue in the hero course?"

He heard a hiss from Inui even as her eyes widened in shock. "W-what?"

"Do you want to continue in the hero course?" He repeated as she stared at him like a deer in headlights. Inui cleared his voice, clearly trying to get him to break eye contact, and he was sure that her parents would be looking alarmed if he tore his eyes off of her for an instant to check. But he wouldn't, instead, he watched a war play out in her eyes. Hopes and dreams trying to rally as fear and despair washed over them.

Tears formed as her resolve broke. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She shook her head instead, letting out a sob. Her parents were there for her in an instant, pulling her into a hug. Her father shot him a venomous look, but her mother just looked relieved. It took several minutes for her father to let go of her, falling back in his seat, completely drained. Her mother all but picked Kendo up before guiding her out of the room.

Her father waited until she was gone before tearing into him, demanding an explanation and ranting about how his daughter had suffered, and the cruelty of putting her on the spot. How would she feel later, after she was cast out so capriciously?

Sekijiro let the questions and accusations wash over him, absorbing them and waiting until the man exhausted himself. He couldn't blame the man either, he was her father, he wanted her to achieve her dreams, but he didn't want to see her harmed either. And so Sekijiro bore through it, taking her father's verbal lashing until the man crumpled back into his chair, head falling into his hands.

"She deserves better," Sekijiro stated, watching her father drag his hand from before his eyes, "Kendo is an incredibly talented young woman. She was always there for her classmates. But it's obvious how fragile a state she is in now." He shook his head, "Returning her to the field would be a terrible mistake, and even continued training in the controlled setting of UA results in numerous injuries. I refuse to put her under that strain."

Inui let out a breath, shooting him a look that promised a long conversation on the ride back to campus, "If your daughter does recover enough to return, she can try to reenter the hero course. Dropping out on her own volition now is better for her than failing or being removed." He pulled a folder out and placed it on the table, explaining Kendo's options for an extended break to recover as well as options to transfer, either within UA or to another school if she so chose.

Sekijiro waited until he finished to draw the man's attention back to him, putting the last of his cards on the table, "If, after she recovers, Kendo wants to return to the hero track, I will train her personally, even if she isn't accepted back into the hero course."

It was the least he could do.

Kendo's father lingered in sullen silence before finally nodding.


Author's Note: A tough decision on Sekijiro's part. He isn't Aizawa, but not being Aizawa also gives this some more weight. If Itsuka's father seems to be of two minds, that's because he is. He knows how much she wanted to be a hero, but he also knows how hurt she is. If Sekijiro hadn't pressed her the way he did, he would have been quietly frustrated that she was still in the course.