A Ray of Hope for Tenya Iida

Conversation

[AN: Spoilers for a manga chapter are included because it's too good not to include, sorry guys.]

(TW: Poor mental health, confrontation, and mentions of attempted suicide [light, mostly just mentioning Tensei])

Iida's pov: "What?" He'd just asked me why I solve other people's problems and not my own, really? I solve other people's problems first because I need to help others in order to be a good Class Representative! I had to take care of my other classmates instead of focusing on any selfish reasons. I didn't have any problems that needed solving or could be solved, that's why. I had so many reasons racing through my head, they were all jumbling up, so it was hard to understand any single one of them.

"Problem child, you focus so heavily on everyone else that you've started to break down and not be able to take care of yourself anymore. I can tell you haven't been sleeping and you've missed multiple meals. You have a random bruise you won't explain, you left school without warning anyone, and no one's seen you drink water at all today. I'm worried about you, Iida, and it's surprising you haven't seen the issues I see right now. You won't even express how worried you are for your brother, and we all know that you must be worried sick, especially since you were the one who had to handle the phone call. I want to know what's been bothering you and why you won't let anyone help you." I wasn't letting people help me? This is the most I've ever let people see my struggles; I was letting people help me practically all the time! I almost never did everything alone, so it didn't make sense that he thought I didn't let anyone help me.

"Sensei, I understand your concern, but I'm alright, really. I know that they caught Tensei in time so that he'll survive and be fine, so there isn't much reason to be too concerned about his physical wellbeing. I'm concerned about his mental wellbeing, yes, but I know that there are ways to help with that. Nothing else is the matter, I can assure you, Aizawa sensei." Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Alright, problem child, just make sure to take care of yourself. If I continue to see an issue, I WILL be handling it, though. You HAVE TO take care of yourself."

"Of course, sensei, don't worry! I understand." I smiled at him, then went back to paying attention to Tensei. Aizawa sensei left, and I let my smile fall again since I was alone. I had to stay strong for my brother, take care of my class, keep my grades up, and now I also had to work harder to keep suspicion down. This was going to be a chore. 

Aoyama's pov: I'd seen everything, the entire conversation between Aizawa and Iida was interesting. The concern I saw coming from Aizawa was genuine, no doubt about it, but Iida didn't seem to understand that he was being offered help. If he did understand it, he was doing the dumb thing by not letting someone help him, but at the same time, people with a lot of trauma do hold onto it for a long time without letting other people help. I had to write down what I understood, it was too important to leave out. Without Ingenium in the way of Stain, it would be a bit easier for the league to attack UA and the other heroes. Along with that, the class rep was dealing with issues and struggling to take care of himself, he was a problem the last attack, so pushing him farther to the edge might help get a student out of the way. I didn't want to do be doing this, but since I had no choice, I was getting my job done. It's nice to see you after such a long time, the person writing this is way too lazy in my opinion. Have you taken care of yourself? Are you done with the work you need to do today? Have you had food, water, a bath, sleep, and a break from technology recently? If not, go get that done, we'll be right here when you get back. Have you been reminded how absolutely stunning you look today? Not enough? Well, you're a rose in a sea of grass, you're a diamond in a sea of salt, and don't you forget it.

Iida'd been staring at his brother for a while now, I decided to leave him alone since he needed that privacy, but he began to cry after about 30 minutes. He must've been worried sick for his brother, it was probably for the better he was crying, but he cried for a while and it was difficult to watch. He was such a strong person that it was hard to see when he was struggling. I'd most likely let Aizawa sensei in on the secret at some point through an anonymous tip. I couldn't help but wonder what exactly had pushed Iida this far other than what was going on with his brother, it didn't seem like this would be the only contributing factor for him since it was really difficult to get him upset. Should I let someone know other than Aizawa? Who was someone who really paid attention to this kind of thing and would already be working on it a bit? Bakugou was pretty nosy, Midoriya cared a lot, and Denki was directly involved in the situation already, so it was a tough decision. I'd have to think about it on the way home. For now, I had to think about how to help from the sidelines, he needed support, though he wouldn't accept any. I didn't even know how much or little he'd been taking care of himself, but maybe giving him something he enjoys could help? I could look for a puzzle or book at the store, he seems to enjoy those a lot. I could find something he could use for training, like a better training suit for if he's training alone, or I could get some very durable running shoes, it seems like he'd need those.