Chapter 1: Birth of a Struggle

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It's been four months since the dismantling of GEHENA, and almost a year has gone by since the first time I met Pr. Aizawa... Shota. The district's atmosphere has changed, and the Lycans have taken ownership of eliminating the remaining damage caused by GEHENA's long era of ruling.

So what happened after the takedown? Once things calmed down again, the Lycans had their hands full of new duties. Among other things, they were working undercover with the cops to eradicate the occasional criminal offenses still happening.

Aizawa came to visit once in a while, but I tried my best to avoid him. I had a hard time facing him after confessing my feelings to him, only to get bluntly rejected. I kept having these recurring thoughts and questioning myself; Did I miss something? Am I such a novice in matters of the heart that I misunderstood our interactions?

When I confessed to him, he told me that he wasn't interested in a teenager and that he was sorry if there had been anything in his behavior that might have led to me feeling that way. I knew the age gap between us was pretty problematic to most people, but I thought there was more to it.

It's like he completely messed up my mind, and I couldn't think straight. But I was probably led astray by my internal gordian knot, which ultimately caused me to believe in some alternate reality.

A wise philosopher once said, "The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of," and I kept wondering how someone as rational as me could be fooled so profoundly by my heart. It would be deceitful to pretend I wasn't disappointed. You see, disappointment is a sneaky bitch, and it finds its way to crawl into your mind and heart. I passed through different stages of heartbreak, self-doubt followed by anger and rage against him, then me.

Eventually, after anger and disappointment passed their way, I started seeing the bright side. Facing that rejection made my skin thicker and my heart stronger. I unwittingly learned that love is a disgusting irrational little trick your heart likes to play on your mind, and I promised myself not to fall for it again and make sounder choices, should my heart ever flutter once more.

I made sure that whenever he came by, I wouldn't be around. However, Lyra kept telling me that he would ask about me regularly.

She leaned to the frame of my bedroom door, "You should at least stay in sometimes and say hi; it's rather childish behavior, Odin... I mean, you had your first crush on an older man, and unsurprisingly he did not requite your feelings, that's one thing, but for hell's sake, lassie, you've been through tougher situations," Lyra hinted annoyingly.

Her statement was harshly true, but I just gritted my teeth in pride and shifted my gaze sideways, letting out a caustic gasp, "So why, pray tell, is this gorgon-like mutant still showing up here, huh?". I could see she was irritated with my demeanor and a little worried about the following topic she was about to bring up to me.

She took in a deep breath and entered my room, closing the door behind her. "Listen, Odin, the reason behind Aizawa's visits these last few weeks is that he's been trying to convince me to... talk you into passing the entrance exam for U.A...." She lifted her eyes only to meet my shocked gaze. I was standing in front of her in utter disbelief after hearing what she just said. Finally, Lyra's voice snapped me out of my jittery state, "Jesus, kid, pull yourself together!"

I shook my head sheepishly and glared at Lyra, "What is that supposed to mean Lyra? How can you approve of this?"

Lyra raised her palms towards me, gesturing to quiet down, "Relax, Odin, just hear me out. Admittedly, when he first brought it up, I gave it the cold shoulder. You already know what I think of heroes these days. Aizawa didn't give up though and was rather tenacious, always presenting himself with new arguments." I listen to her half-heartedly but was curious about what she'd deliver next.

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