Colors in the Dark

[56] Truth

It was a bit later in November when Ayami, alongside the other Work Study students, were called to the faculty lounge. When they arrived, they found the Big Three with Eri, Hadou putting the girl's hair up in twintails.

"Eri's coming to live at UA," Aizawa told them, straightforward as ever.

A smile crossed the redhead's face, especially after watching her classmates light up at the news- Midoriya especially. The others were excited to get to meet the little angel; Tsu even commented that Eri reminded her of the frog girl's younger sister.

"Our new little sister is coming to stay with the family we've found," Brizo murmured, voice warm with love. "You've finally found a home, Aya."

I know, she thought, but didn't need to say it. The violet spirit already knew she knew.

"Aya-sis, look at what Miss Nejire did with my hair! Do you like it?" Eri asked when Hadou was done, positively beaming. Ever since she remembered how to smile, she wore the grin as often as possible.

Ayami nodded. "It looks beautiful, Eri. Hadou is very talented. She's got quite the experience putting hair up," she chuckled, remembering the extravagant spirals the bluenette wore with her costume.

Midoriya seemed a bit confused on how a six-year-old was allowed to stay at a high school, but considering Aizawa was one of the only people who could prevent her quirk from going berserk, his custody of her made sense to Ayami. However, their homeroom teacher led them outside, Hadou keeping Eri company, meaning the full answer was likely not something meant for the young girl's ears.

"From what we could tell, Eri was abandoned by her parents," he explained, voice hushed. "We know the head of the Shie Hassaikai is her blood relative, but he's been in a coma for quite a while. She has nowhere else to go."

"That's not all," Mirio added. "Mr. Aizawa may have mentioned this already; the docs figured out that Eri's horn is where her quirk is released from."

Ayami nodded, remembering the swell of the protrusion on the girl's head when her body was being pulled between getting set in reverse and moving forward during the battle with Overhaul. "I was almost certain her quirk had a tell, like many others." She glanced at Eri inside. "Though it does seem a bit bigger than the last time we saw her, at the festival."

"Yup. It's slowly starting to get bigger again."

"Meaning, in order to keep an eye on her power..." Ochaco guessed, trailing off.

"Mr. Aizawa's Erasure is a sure-fire way to prevent her power form spiraling out of control," Ayami finished, accidentally cutting off her teacher. "Oops... Sorry, sir." I wish I had someone like that to prevent the spirits from going wild back when, but even Erasure itself had a negative effect on them.

He just shook his head softly and sighed. "She's right; we're bringing Eri here to keep an eye on her instead of putting her into the system." Ayami was positive he sent a split-second glance her way at that, noticing her posture suddenly becoming rigid at the mention of foster care, the same network she had been trapped in as a kid. "We'll set up a room for her in the teacher's dorm. Hopefully, she'll be happy and we can help her find a way to harness her tremendous power. This is only our first step, though; clearly, it's a long road."

"I'd be happy to help out whenever possible," the redhead told him. "Eri's just like I was at the beginning of the year; she just needs proper guidance to learn how to use her quirk instead of letting it dictate her life for her. And I'd also be fine with babysitting if you ever need a break, since I can always spare time to spend with her." My new little sister...