Chapter 15

Jessylane318

-Truth-

[Tulutho]

From Chapter 44 of TBAH: Determination. Inspired by OneWhoReadsTooMuch. :)

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Truth frowns, fingers interweaving as she considers the man before her. Aizawa Shouta. Dark hair spilling in haphazard waves, he meets her eye evenly, tired eyes set in an expression masked in boredom. He looks forcibly relaxed, stooped and stiff, and clearly no more comfortable than the first time she saw him. She doesn't need advanced degrees to understand, he was a textbook case—likely the result of childhood trauma and long years working the underground.

She had access to it all, not that she'd done more than skim. Nezu had suggested she try to help.

She didn't doubt he probably needed it.

Unwilling therapy is unsuccessful, detrimental, and cruel.

Truth gestures, curious despite that.

Rin had been doing well, her openness after visiting her brother and the uncovered files had led to deeper, much more introspective conversations. The girl had grown brightly, her confidence rising, her personality spilling forth. Her time with Kamui Woods would hopefully bring more clarity—clarity to her interests, clarity to her wants, and clarity towards her future.

Ill-suited Hero work aside.

"The kid from our last mission, Eri, is going to be living here at UA with us," Aizawa says, finally, not looking in the least bit pleased. "She's going to need therapy as well."

"That seems unwise."

"Tch, you don't say."

Sarcasm. Truth steeples her fingers, considering the hero silently. Aizawa wasn't unkind. Neither was he a man not to consider his actions fully, and, doubtless, he already knew the consequences of mixing Rin's already poor trust with another child. A child she was certain would come with her own set of issues.

So then it became a question of why.

"Principal Nezu?" Truth asks, brows furrowing.

Aizawa sighs noisily, affirming the obvious.

What the creature was up to, she wasn't even going to try to guess. The Principal of UA was known for his long-distance sight, his seemingly erratic decisions, and most notably, his success. That he was involving himself meant he either saw and judged the ends justifying the means, or less likely, he hadn't considered the human element of his decisions.

Frowning at the hero stretched across her couch, Truth feels the undeniable urge to rub her nose.

"Ah," she sighs, her mind awhirl with implications. "Very well, do you have a processed file on her? Eri, you said?"

"It's being compiled currently," the man states flatly, nose buried in his neck scarf. She wonders if he could, if he'd bury himself in the couch. "What we know so far is Eri is six, and her birthday falls sometime in December."

Opening up her notepad, Truth collects a pen and begins jotting down information, circling Eri's name at the top with today's date scrawled in neat pen underneath. To be updated.

She leaves space for questions, certain she'll have plenty and instead devotes several minutes to questions and concerns. And Aizawa responds as rational as ever, voice bland, words steady. He paints a rather bleak image, a child rescued from a monster physically experimenting and who knows what other horrid things. Rather unpleasantly, Truth finds herself even somewhat understanding of Nezu's thinking.

Aizawa would be the perfect father figure.

The problem wasn't Aizawa, it was Rin.

A little girl with that much trauma wasn't going to be easy. It would require time, energy, and attention. Attention Rin was not going to easily understand. For a teen always passed over, used, and forgotten, Rin would not take well to this sort of change.

"And there's nothing you can do to consider other placements?" Truth asks, fingers pressing to her temple. "A different foster parent? Another hero?"

"Obviously not," the hero states, voice flat and lips pinched.

Truth lets the hand drop and nods, distancing herself from the problem and allowing the professional space to eddy between them coolly. The Hero relaxes slightly, and she wants to sigh. Broken people raising broken people. That's what her mentor would have called it. But at least he was aware enough of his wounds to try and hide them from the child.

"Very well… if I can make some suggestions," Truth says, rising from her seat to examine her bookcase. She scans the texts, fingers slipping across spines until they fall on one, Siblings Without Rivals. She pulls it from the shelf, only briefly examining the others before turning back with a kind smile.

Aizawa stands, not returning it.

"This may help," she offers, passing the text before leaning against the desk contemplatively. So much taller than the man, it never fails to surprise her how her profession, not her height or skin or non-native face, is what truly makes him so uncomfortable. "You may find it helpful to set up individual time for Rin during this transition."

Folding the book under his arm, Aizawa slips into a bow blandly, expression bored when he rises.

"Understood. Thank you."

Watching him go, Truth sighs.

Perhaps it is time to go visit the principal.