Expect the Unexpected: Mei Hatsume x reader (BOOK 2)

Chapter 22: Two sides of the Same Coin

Aizawa dropped to the floor, you instantly sitting down to help him. He pulled you into a hug and sobbed into your shoulder, something you'd never seen happen before.

"Please don't die like he did, I can't lose you as well," he begged, voice cracking with every word.

"You're not the only one who has a family to return to," you reminded, running your fingers through his hair. "I promised to Eri and all my friends that I would survive, no matter what."

You pulled him away to show him your necklace.

"Unbroken promises," Aizawa whispered, relief present in his voice.

"Shota-kun, you used erasure for a long time, are you alright?" Mic asked from behind him.

"I'm fine, it's just dry," he sighed, wrapping his arms around you once again.

"I won't die, Aizawa-Sensei," you mumbled.

In all honesty, you could call him by his first name and often did when you were at home. He'd adopted you when you were five and you'd known him since before that.

But it didn't feel right to do it now.

Shota was a name Mic and Oboro used for him, even most teachers didn't use it. He already saw you as Oboro's shadow, you didn't want to increase that.

Not to mention, you wanted to put some distance while simultaneously knocking sense into him.

He had to know that seeing your brother trapped behind the fog, struggling, was a shock for all of you. You weren't downplaying his trauma, you knew how much the death affected him. You were simply saying subtly that you needed space to process the whole thing.

"Right, I've got a class," Aizawa sighed, getting up. "All Might better have made them do the work or else-"

"Shota-kun," Mic sternly responded. "Don't take your anger out on him."

"I won't," Aizawa mumbled, still holding you close.

"Ok, you two can talk this out, I'll get the guards and Tsukauchi," you whimpered, pulling out of Aizawa's grasp and running off.

It was suffocating being in the protective presence of Aizawa, because the small encounter had made him hover around you to make sure he didn't lose his last family.

While you didn't blame him, you did want to escape it momentarily.

"Tsukauchi-San!" You called once you reached the open.

"Coming!" Came the response.

Before long, both Tsukauchi and Gran Torino had navigated their way through the treacherous halls to find where you stood.

"It was him, wasn't it," the veteran hero asked.

You looked up at Tsukauchi, who simply had a sad smile on his face as he walked past you, ruffling your hair.

"I truly am sorry, Cloud Nine," he mumbled.

You couldn't bear to go back into the room.

The room where your modified brother sat, plugged to machines that monitored his every move. Where Aizawa and Mic still mourned over their long lost friend. Where you'd seen your brother for the first time, only to find out that he fought for the other side.

You crumpled to the floor and broke down crying, Tsukauchi and Gran Torino long gone.

They'd gone back into the room you wanted to escape, leaving you alone in the halls, the cold walls surrounding you.

"Hey," a voice called you after what seemed like hours. "We'll avenge him."

"Promise me you won't go?" You asked, crying into Shota's shoulder. "If you turned out like him, I'd never forgive myself."

"I'm not going anywhere," Aizawa mumbled soothingly, running his fingers through your hair. "Oboro would kill me if I left his sister alone."

"Oboro would kill you because you stood wrong, he's unpredictable," Mic grinned from behind. "That's what made him amazing."

You smiled softly at that, glad that even in the darkest of times, there was light somewhere that you could rely on.

You just had to search for it and remember to turn it on.

You followed them out to the car waiting for you, this time willingly as you were about to make your way back home.

It was a shame they were separated and became a solo act, however traces of them were still seen in the present.

One was hot headed and would do anything to protect his friends, no matter how reckless and how low the chance of survival was. He would do anything except admit that he cared, and that he was wrong. His goal was to win to save others.

The second was the polar opposite, protecting anyone and everyone with as little casualties and fighting as possible. He believed in peaceful operations, knew they rarely happened yet tried to stay optimistic about it. His goal, on the other hand, was save others to win.

Two ideologies, two sides of the same coin, but two completely different meanings.

Of course, there was the glue that tied them together.

One who could think up battle plans in seconds and execute them with astounding precision, he fought to save those that had been neglected.

And the other who spent longer to think and evaluate plans, often coming up with smarter and more concise plans that all those around her could help execute. She fought to spread happiness.

Complete opposites in almost every way possible, yet closest of friends on the battlefield, ones that blindly trusted each other with their lives.

Because they knew the other would always find a way out.

You smiled softly as you sat in the car, leaning against the door frame as you drifted off to sleep. The warm feeling filled your heart, glad that your brother's legacy had found a way to worm itself into your own.

"You'll make him proud, kiddo," Mic grinned. "I'm counting on it."

"Yeah," you mumbled, stifling a yawn. "We'll make you guys proud."

And so, you dozed off due to exhaustion, the last memories being the Four Pillars of Class A.

A building required its pillars to stand, if one was removed, the ceiling would fall. So these four students would support each other as well as their friends, to make sure the ceiling they admired so much didn't fall on them.

That was the power of the pillars.

QOTD: who's excited for all the chaos that's going to happen soon, I know I am

A/N: so last few chapters have been pretty slow, but we're getting to the action soon. Lots of foreshadowing, I put in two elements on purpose, tell me if you found it!

Have a great day/night :)