❝The world is merciless, and it's also very beautiful.❞
For years she'd suffered, under the bitter rain as it washed away the blood, under the scorching sun as it charred her wounds - for nature had fallen prey to the destructive march of the Allie...
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❝ Freedom is never free. ❞
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Aizawa Shouta wanted to gouge his eyeballs out.
He wasn't trying to be dramatic nor was he exaggerating his claims. His ears were still ringing from the lengthy phone call with the Chief of Hosu Police Department and an even lengthier one with his students involved in the unfortunate incident.
"The Hero Killer?" He rubbed his temples tiredly. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."
Aizawa considered himself to be apt in whatever he did. And seeing as he involved himself in the bare minimum of activities, he had no reason to falter at them.
Which is why he considered putting his head through a wall when he heard of the encounter between the Hero Killer: Stain and his three problem children.
He wasn't too surprised when he heard Midoriya was involved and injured in the incident. Getting involved in others' businesses and helping them out with their problems was something he had in common with his muscles-for-a-brain mentor, All Might — and he meant that in the most demeaning way. People who devalue their own life for the sake of justice weren't high on his respect list. He needed to have a word with Midoriya.
Laying down one's life isn't the same thing as self-sacrifice. And he wanted his students to know that.
Todoroki, he wasn't sure. He was supposed to be interning with his father. How he ended up in the alleyway, fighting against the Hero Killer without the supervision of a Pro, he only had the faintest clue. And it had nothing to do with a coincidence.
Iida, however, was a completely different story.
Ever since learning of his brother's mishap, he'd been strangely withdrawn in class. Aizawa wouldn't have minded his disengagement if not for the facade he put up in front of him. Hiding behind the carefully crafted mask of neutral smiles and empty eyes, Aizawa was reminded of his younger self in the days following Shirakumo's death. He didn't want Iida to spiral down the same madness as he did. But he wasn't fast enough, he wasn't perceptive enough. When Iida expressed the wish to intern with the Pro Hero Manual, red flags immediately went off in his head.
But he failed to grasp the depth of the chasm that opened in his student's heart. One he couldn't cross even if he tried now. And one he wasn't able to prevent from opening in his heart.
He had failed in his duty as a teacher.
He sighed and looked at the scattered files covering every inch of his desk. Reports from the Hosu Chief made up the majority of them, but there were others from the various agencies where his students were interning. He had already failed once and paid a hefty price for it.
