SSD III: Silver

74. The Eyes That Know Better

AN: Just a pre-warning that this chapter is only mostly beta read. I've recently made some additions to this and the next few chapters and my beta reader hasn't had the chance to get through the changes. Pretty much, if there are any long rambling sentences that don't make any sense, please tell me!

WARNINGS: mentions of sexual assault, there's nothing graphic, it's literally just that it's mentioned.
Summary below for those who want it, please take care of yourselves! :)

Chapter Summary:
Silver has been avoiding Aizawa. She even misses all but heroics classes so she doesn't have to see him. The class have noticed something is going on, especially as she hasn't said a word to him or Keenan, but Silver won't tell them what's going on.
     A meeting with Hound Dog ends in the man telling her she isn't required to come back for their counselling sessions anymore. His hope is that she'll choose to return of her own free will when she comes across something she can't figure out alone, and that not being forced to come to the meetings will make her more comfortable with sharing. She spends the day distracted and Kirishima notices, but he thinks it's because the fake parents Silver made up for Aizawa's terrible bet didn't adopt her as she'd once said was planned. She barely manages to muster up a half-decent excuse about it being too soon to adopt, about wanting to make sure she settled in with this new family comfortably first.
     Silver is forced by Nezu to finish her first internship with Aizawa. She is not happy about it. Despite everything going on, Aizawa still tries to be a good teacher. She wishes he would shut up.
     Chaya, the shadow hero, (the same woman Shinsou is now doing a work studies with after his successful internship not so long ago) has requested the help of Eraserhead and his intern. Together, the four of them are going to be working on a case to take down a serial killer. Such a case would normally be handled by greater numbers and more well known heroes, instead it's being dealt with by two unknown pros and their students. Silver knows it's because the killer's victims are all quirkless. Silver agrees to be used as bait to lure the killer out, since she's the closest thing to a quirkless hero there is. Eraserhead and Shinsou— hero name: Psyche— both argue against the idea, she shuts them down.
     Chaya takes Shinsou and Silver to UA, having a short conversation with Silver as Shinsou falls asleep on the train. It's revealed that Silver and Chaya know each other, Silver acting as an info-broker of sorts to the underground hero back when Silver was taking out abusers. Chaya questions whether Silver will be able to work with Aizawa when the bad blood between them is painfully clear (when it's obvious Aizawa must've done something pretty shitty to land so firmly on Silver's bad side). Silver says she's a professional and will be fine. Chaya is doubtful but moves on.

Chapter 74: The Eyes That Know Better

She did not want to be here. It was fact and she had made it very clear. Nezu though, did not care. The little shi- Rat-Bear. The little Rat-Bear had threatened to tell the courts that she'd missed multiple days of school (which she'd felt was justified considering). Since part of getting WMD, sans herself and Keenan, arrested had meant confessing to a whole lot of bad herself, the condition of her being allowed to live free— proposed by Rat-Bear, naturally— had been for her to remain in UA's hero course while Keenan stayed under the heroes' watchful eyes as the weapons' master there. Her being missing for multiple days wasn't exactly a good idea when the courts were wary enough of giving her as much freedom as they had, but what they weren't told couldn't hurt them.

Never trust a rat, huh?

And sure, she didn't care about being chased down and hunted like the criminal she was. The Japanese authorities could do what they liked, she could be in Peru by tomorrow morning after all, but— loathe as she was to admit it— she'd prefer to leave that as her last resort. She'd grown attached. Attached to Eri, whose disappointment she doubted she would ever be able to face. Attached to her friends at the club who could really go either way for opinions on Silver's less-than-legal past. Attached to Kirishima... and maybe some of her other classmates who were really starting to grow on her.