Frozen Heart

Chapter 13 - Regret

Eri watched Ayla sing, she had a way with commanding attention when she got on stage. It didn't matter what song played you had no choice but to be hypnotized by her. Maybe if things had been different, maybe if her Papa was a better caring decent human they could have been a real family. She looked over at Aizawa and reached for his hand. He gave her a small smile and placed his other hand on top of hers.

Was she doing the right thing? It was true that he can be cruel at times but he has been stressed ever since Enji died. His goal of being the head of all the clans was taken from him. She only ever wanted to make him happy for giving her the best life she never thought she could have. Before he found her dying on the streets her life was meaningless. She had ran away from her abusive guardian but with nowhere to go. She was living on the streets, looking for food in the dumpsters behind restaurants, sleeping in abandoned buildings. She had nothing except the clothes on her back. When Aizawa found her she could barely lift herself up. She was on the verge of dying, at the time she had hope she would just die.

She remembers waking up in a warm soft bed. At first she was scared of him but he never pushed. He would bring her warm meals and set them on the table, say a few kind words and give her space. She had her own bathroom and all the toys she could ever want as a child. Then a few days later she asked him to sit with her while she ate. After that she was always by his side. She would ask him a ton of questions and he would always answer her. Having someone treat her with such love and kindness was foreign to her at first but she learned that he was the only person she could trust.

When she got a little older she had asked him why he helped her. He told her a story from when he was a boy, he found a hurt dove and he tried his best to help it. He brought it home, hid it in his room and tried to nurse it back to health. No matter what he did he just didn't have the knowledge or skills to heal it, a week later is dies. So when he saw her tiny frail body he felt a pull to help her.

Then she met Hizashi and she immediately connected with him. Uncle Shi would always play with her,  they would brush each others hair and play tea party. As she got older she learned that he was always protecting her from what Aizawa's job was. One time she had seen him hurting a woman and ran to stop him. He struck her and was about to hit her again but Hizashi ran in to protect her. He used his quirk to stop Aizawa in his tracks. He didn't say a word but she could tell Hizashi was mad at Aizawa. She ended up staying with him for a few weeks. Hizashi refused to let Aizawa see her, after some time she was allowed to see him again. That's when Aizawa had shown up crying asking for forgiveness. When she went back home her room was filled with all new toys.

After that he had tried to explain what he was doing with these people. Then he told her that she could help them by using her quirk to make it all better. Of course he was manipulating her but she just saw it as him trusting her and letting her be a part of his world. She saw the letters and understood that these people were willingly coming to him for help and that this was how they made their payment to him. In her eyes these people were asking to be put through all of this for a better life. She told herself that her life was saved by Aizawa so who was she to judge someone that was willing to go above and beyond for a better life.

Aizawa glanced over at Eri and she looked troubled. Her face was wrinkled with worry as if she was having an emotional battle with herself. He squeezed her hand and she briefly looked at him and hung her head in ... shame? Something was wrong, he had let his guard down thinking about Hizashi and Ayla but now he could sense it. It had to be that thorn in his side, he needed to get to Ayla fast but without causing a scene. Was this all set up by Eri? How could she betray him like this? Did she use Ayla too or was Ayla a part of this? He looked at Ayla, no she wouldn't have been a part of this. He squeezed Eri's hand harder and leaned down to whisper in her ear.