The following morning came sooner than Aizawa wanted, but it mattered little. Forcing his sleep-deprived body off his wrinkled and sweaty bed, he knew there were things he ought to take care of before the classes began. Considering the images of his brutalised student seemed permanently engraved in his subconsciousness, it was hardly surprising that he had spent most of the previous night twisting from side to side. The teacher wanted nothing more than to change into his usual black clothes and run towards the medical ward. That thought, however, was nearly immediately overwritten as he needed a shower to clean off the sticky sweat off his skin. As much as he despised prolonging his departure, he had an entire day filled with classes. If it were his off day, he would not care an ounce. But … it was not the case. With that in mind, he marched into the bathroom, opting for the coldest shower he had ever had.

Soon enough, the Eraser Head left his room, heading straight towards the medical wing. Even though Bakugo's state was no longer critical when he had seen him the last time, he could not help but dread that something might have changed overnight. Driven by guilt, the dark-haired teacher sped up, reaching the ward in record time. No matter how much All Might would have wanted to take the responsibility for what had happened solely onto himself, it was a lie. The number one hero had sought Aizawa's opinion, after all.

Strangely enough, the man abruptly stopped right before the closed door behind which he expected his injured student to sleep soundly, most likely still in a coma. Mustering enough courage to enter the room took him a good few moments and heavy sighs. He knew it was a cowardly move to still, but this trivial act felt inexplicably difficult. He put his weight onto the handle with one more exhale and slipped in, only to freeze immediately. The dark-haired man could feel his blood being drained from his face, leaving it akin to paper, white. He found the impatient and usually rude blonde's bed empty and ready for the next patient. Within a few seconds span, an uncountable number of conflicting and destructive thoughts crossed the teacher's mind, leaving it vulnerable and chaotic. Aggressively shaking his head, Aizawa discarded the worst-case scenario. It was highly improbable for Bakugo to die; even less, nobody informed him about it. Still … he needed to find out what happened with his students; after all, he was responsible for all of them.

Before the Eraser Head could turn around, he heard the door's soft click, announcing someone's arrival.

"I knew I'd find you here, Shota," All Might's voice was quiet, but thankfully, he did not try to hide any negative emotions. No matter how excellent a hero he was, he could hardly contain his emotions. At least, this was a positive development.

"Where is he?" Aizawa went straight to the point.

"We transferred him to his room a few hours ago," the number one hero said plainly after a short pause. "He's so stubborn. Even though we offered him a few days of rest, he said he wouldn't miss any classes. Can you believe it, Shota? With such extensive wounds, he shrugged them off."

"I can see that," the dark-haired man responded slowly. "If anything … it might be Bakugo's way of coping with things. Some people cry, others try to rest, but Katsuki … I would not be surprised if he doubled down on his training," he added, sighing heavily. "That being said … I would have preferred him to lay low for a couple of days. Physically, he will recover sooner than we anticipate, but I worry how much this humiliation will affect his mentality," he voiced his concerns.

"He's used to winning?" All Might questioned, but Aizawa deemed it rhetorical.

"There are only two students better than him in terms of grades," the Eraser Head retorted reservedly. "In terms of hero capabilities, only Todoroki and perhaps Midoriya can match him. As I said previously, he might very well be a definition of a prodigy. As far as I have heard from other teachers, he is naturally good at pretty much everything," he explained.

Author's notes section:

As I have mentioned previously, the main focus for June and July 2024 will be rewriting as many "My home is where my heart lies" chapters as possible. I'm currently working on rewriting the 5th chapter. As it will take me quite a while to finish, I'm providing you with this piece. I hope you will end up enjoying this chapter while waiting for another rewrite.

I'm struggling with the rewriting process ... hence, here's a WIP to take my mind off it temporarily.

Please note that the dialogues written in italics are thoughts.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)

Changelog:
[2024-07-20] - A preview was released.

References:
- Alter Bridge - Broken Wings

End of the author's notes section.