Suspicion

After explaining the situation to Mr Aizawa on the way back to the mainland, Estelle found that word had gotten out about her attendance at Nabu Island. She realised the extent of the chaos once the car door opened and Estelle was greeted with flashing lights and loud voices.

Physically blinded by the commotion, Mr Aizawa shielded her as he shouted for the reporters to back away. Forcing themselves through the crowd, they sighed in relief when they finally reached the gate.

"You should get some more rest," Mr Aizawa monotoned, his eyes trailing over her attentively.

Estelle gave a soft smile once she noted the concern in his eyes. "Honestly, it's okay. I have to do patrols and research."

"Alright. Can I ask, why did you refuse the help back on the island?"

Silent, Estelle didn't want to answer the question in a way that would give her pity. So, keeping the assuring smile on her face, Estelle answered. "I knew a ghoul who was a doctor in his previous life. Before I learned how to heal, he would treat me. I have disliked them ever since."

Mr Aizawa felt another wave of rage towards those within her previous world and felt his heart stop in his chest. Would there ever come a time when she wouldn't have a skeleton in her closet? It was like the clothes within them were filled with trauma that she had to block the door to stop them from toppling out because there was just so much.

He knew he shouldn't push her, but the possibilities were already whirling through his head. He had to know. He wanted to help the girl. "What did he do?"

The room filled with a tense silence as Estelle halted like she was frozen in place. Widening her eyes as the memories rushed through her brain, Estelle tried to force them away from her sight.

'Don't think about it!' She scolded herself.

"Estelle?" Mr Aizwa monotoned, his heart dropping even further from the silence.

"I will never be a mother."

Estelle could hear the hitch in her teacher's breath as the words sunk into his brain. She would have explained further, but her throat felt too tight. It was starting to make sense why Estelle loved children so much for Mr Aizawa. She cherished the thing she knew she could never have. So cruelly taken from her.

"I am sorry for your loss."

Turning away, Estelle consoled herself by stating, "It's fine. It wasn't something I wanted anyway."

Confused, Mr Aizawa furrowed his brows until it hit him. She was lying to herself. Not wanting to push the girl too mature to be called a child. Mr Aizawa ruffled her hair before ambling away, his voice ringing in her ears as he left. "Well, thank you for telling me. You're safe here. I'll make sure of it."

'I wish I was, Mr Aizawa, I wish I was.'

Flying through the skies, Estelle wasn't surprised when another call came through. Her day had been filled with them, but the main issue was the spirit attacks. They weren't as big as the previous, mainly a few public spaces. But still, now that Estelle knew this was indeed directed by another sane dark spirit. She knew that this wasn't a coincidence.

He was testing her.

Unfortunately, all Estelle could do was follow his lead at the moment until she had more intel. So, she flew to all locations and took them down quickly for her to head onto the next. The civilians were panicking slightly at the increase of spirit activity, and Estelle hated to think about what the media was saying.

Flying down to a public playing ground, Estelle stood in front of a stalker with an annoyed frown. Why send them here to a kid's zone? It was unnecessary and cruel.

Smiling to the children in reassurance, Estelle moved around the park as she whipped out her katana. Sharing a back and forth with the creature, she settled as the ash disintegrated into the air. Turning back around to leave, Estelle was startled to find the children previously cowering in fear were now crowded around her with beams of delight and awe.

"That was so cool! Thank you, miss!"

Heartwarming with joy, Estelle leaned down to boop his nose. "Of course, anything for you."

"Aw! What about us?!" The other children whined back, grabbing onto her gear like they were trying to catch her attention. Laughing lightly, Estelle attempted to calm the rambunctious children but to no avail. They grew too excitable as they tried to talk over one another.

Hearing that no calls were coming through her earpiece, Estelle let herself flop onto the ground as they climbed on top of her. Laughing loudly once again, Estelle tried to assure them through her chuckles. "Hold on! Hold on! I'm not going anywhere yet! One at a time!"

Once Estelle had gotten most of the kids off her, they eventually sat around her in a circle. The female remained in the middle as she tried to talk to as many kids as possible.

"How do your powers work?"

"You have a sword! So cool!"

"What made you want to be a hero!?"

Estelle sat with the children for a while as she answered as many questions as possible. The longer she stayed with them, the smaller the hole in her chest began to close.

It was only when a younger girl stepped forward to speak up that Estelle halted her movements. "I want to be like you one day. Powerful and strong!"

The mixture of emotions was hard to describe for Estelle. On the one hand, she felt guilty for being such a fraud. There were so many better people to look up to. But, on the other, Estelle could feel the child's hand on her heart, squeezing with such intensity that Estelle thought it could burst at any moment. She felt, touched, appreciated and strangely - the longing to protect.

Ruffling the girl's head with a soft smile, Estelle murmured, "Well, you have to work hard then! I'm sure you will be a great hero."

"Yeah, I'll show you when I'm all grown up!"

Estelle's eyes dimmed slightly with the knowledge that she would not be there to see that. Nevertheless, she wouldn't voice it to ruin all the happiness swirling around the group. Chuckling, Estelle gave another ruffle as she stood up from the centre of the circle.

"Looks like I have to go."

"What!? No!" The children cried as they jumped up to cling onto Estelle once again.

Giving a laugh, Estelle shook her head at their exaggerated expressions. Offering many of them high fives and fist bumps, Estelle voiced, "I would love to stay and play with you all, but I have work to do."

"That's right! We can't stop The Guardian from helping people!" The same little girl cried.

The children realised she was right and backed away to watch as Estelle got ready to fly. Turning back around to face the girl, Estelle voiced one last question. "What's your name?"

Brightening up, she responded, "I'm Emily!"

'Like Emelia...'

Estelle nodded before revealing her wings and shooting off into the air, smiling one last time. The children remained on the ground, waving and hooting out their cheers as they watched Estelle leave.

Estelle kept the scowl on her face as she watched the news. She knew she shouldn't have bothered, but Estelle couldn't help herself. She needed to know what the public opinion was of her to do damage control when needed.

The whole hero situation frustrated her because it wasted time that she could have spent looking into various Leeds. Unfortunately, now that spirits were roaming more freely, Estelle was stuck balancing working on the public and the otherworldly missions.

Grunting in disapproval, Estelle watched as multiple news outlets slandered her name.

"The otherworldly beings have been sighted all day in various spots in Japan. From what we have gathered, their numbers have been increasing. The Guardian, Estelle, has been sighted in these places as well. As you can see from this footage, she has managed to keep them at bay for the time being.

Due to suspicion, the number of calls has increased to the Hero Commission in terms of having Estelle removed from her hero duties. People believe that if we remove Estelle, we remove the problem. The other side of the argument is the complete opposite. Nevertheless, the public fear the catastrophe these creatures could bring.

The public is still divisive on the otherworldly hero. But, she still has the backing of other heroes, The Commission, and some people. The Guardian has been sighted helping those in need; it seems she has been swamped lately. We will continue to report as we find out more."

Sighing to herself, Estelle marinated in the profound exhaustion in her soul. The female could best describe it as a heavy burden that she couldn't find her way out of. But Estelle knew that nothing would stop despite that; she had to fix this. This was her fault, her problem, and there was no leaving without a resolution. Estelle just hoped it would come quicker than she anticipated.

The Cloaked Man was playing the long game, she could tell. He could have easily battled it out with her back at Nobu Island, but he left as soon as she was able to fight him. Why drag this out longer than necessary? She could only guess it was because he had more in store for her; she dreaded to find out what.

She could beat this; she knew she could. But Estelle was so tired. The war had drained most of her fighting spirit, but even if that was the case, Estelle couldn't leave the world to deal with this alone. They needed her right now, but as soon as they didn't, Estelle would leave them in peace.

Hearing the phone ring, Estelle had an inkling of who it was as she picked it up. The gruff voice of Bakugo rang out to her ear once she answered, and Estelle's smirked at the correct assumption.

"Hey -" He started, only to be cut off by Hagakure's distant screech.

"Hey, Estelle! How are you feeling!?"

Sighing deeply, Estelle nodded and answered, "I'm fine, and how is the rest of the class who are listening in?"

"Wha?! How did you know?" Ashido whined in the background.

"Pfft. Because you are all annoying. So, you all recovered well?" Estelle continued, remaining silent as she listened to everyone's yells of agreement.

Nodding once again, Estelle grunted out a simple, "Good."

"We're glad you're doing okay, though. We heard about your fight."

"Ah yes. It didn't turn out the way I hoped. It's okay though, I'm sure I'll get another chance," she soughed with a hint of disappointment in her tone.

"Are you sure? You were injured," Shoto queried further.

"I wasn't expecting the number of spirits to arrive on the scene. It didn't help that I flew the whole way there. No matter, it won't happen again."

"We believe you," Izuku mumbled.

"Anyways, we wanted to thank you," Koda voiced out shyly.

"Huh?"

"We wanted to thank you for coming to help us!" Kirishima repeated more enthusiastically.

"I didn't do anything, though..." Estelle responded back, her voice thick with confusion.

"That doesn't matter! It's not your fault you were caught up with stuff from your world! But, it's the thought that counts! And, we wanted to thank you for trying!"

Fealing her throat close slightly from the unexpected words. Estelle was doused in a foreign emotion, just like when she had spoken to that little girl earlier today. She felt like a fraud, but she also felt fondness and another strange longing to protect these meddling kids. It was terrifying.

The class listened to the silence on the other line with a sweatdrop. The students had no idea what Estelle was doing, and they wondered if she hung up. It was even more difficult to gauge her reactions when you only had her voice to work off from.

"Thank you, but you don't need to apologise. Especially since I have brought all these issues here. It's the least I could do."

Realising that Estelle was trying to rationalise that she flew so many miles to reach them and provide support. They knew that this was not going to fly with them. Estelle would not back out from the message she had indirectly given them. She wasn't as far away anymore, and the bridge between them began to slowly close. They only hoped that they would get the chance to reach her in time before she went back home.

Because the thought of Estelle leaving was painful. She was one of them, and without even intending to, she had ingrained herself into their lives. They didn't want her to go, but they weren't too sure if they even had a chance in stopping her. They just had to keep trying.

"Oh, Estelle! You precious classmate! Just admit you love us as much as we love you!" Ashido cried dramatically as the students hid their smiles.

Only when the line made a long beep did they realise what happened.

Estelle hung up.

Laughing loudly at the sad expression on Ashido's face. The class internally sweatdropped at her for going too strong on the jumpy female.

"Ah, you probably shouldn't do that", Izuku laughed robotically, his sweatdrop still showing behind his head.

"Awww, come on! I thought we made progress! She came all the way here!"

"That doesn't mean you speak to her like that!" Kaminari baulked.

The phone call ended abruptly, and Estelle was greeted by a disgruntled Mr Aizawa making his way into the living room.

"Estelle, I received your paycheck. You need to decide what you want to do with these since you still refuse to open a bank account."

Giving a large sigh, Estelle contemplated on what to do. The commission legally couldn't allow Estelle to work unless she was paid. She accepted, fully aware that it was useless anyway, but now Mr Aizawa was bugging her on keeping the money. She still had leftover funds from her tips back at the Beanery, which should tide her over until she returned home.

An idea hit her at that moment, and she quickly turned to face him. "Can you make them out to Kota and Eri? Put it in a bank for them to receive when they are older? Is that possible?"

"Huh? Why would you want to do that?" Mr Aizawa responded back with perplexity.

"Money is useless to me. It will do nothing when I'm back home. I might as well put it towards something good. Kota and Eri will have fewer worries with this money when they grow older."

"Are you sure? This isn't small, you know? And it will keep adding up."

"Good. Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay," Mr Aizawa murmured, his heart tightening at the selflessness of the girl. Glancing down at the cheque, the teacher was hit with an idea. Nodding to himself in agreement, the man shuffled the paper in his back pocket before voicing his goodnight. "Don't patrol too late."

"Says you," Estelle retorted, fully aware his hero schedule was practically an all-nighter.

"Hmpt."