Our Reasons

Chapter 8

Placing his head in his hands, Shinso closed his eyes in anxiety as the empty commission office attempted to swallow him whole. It had been only about an hour since Amari and Shoto had gone to meet Keigo but even still, he could feel the emptiness of their absence immediately.

He didn't want them to go but the man also understood why they had taken such a risk. This was Bakugo Amari they were talking about, the most stubborn person he had ever met so any attempt to stop her would've been foolish in the first place.

She was always like that, even in high school. Hell, that woman would probably always run head first into danger if it meant saving someone dear to her. And he admired that reckless quality of hers, more so then she'd ever know.

It was both a blessing and a curse, always leaving him in a constant state of worry.

Suddenly, the doors to his office slammed open as a very familiar voice entered the space, sounding just as anxious as he currently was. "There you are! Have you just been sitting here this entire time?"

Shinso then lifted his head only to catch a flash of white in his vision before softening at the sight of his adopted sister. "Eri? Aren't you supposed to be gathering information in the public eye?"

Eri only rolled her eyes though, her annoyance ever present. "How can I when I've been hearing lies about Amari all day? The things they are saying about her, the assumptions they are making because of that villains' video, I couldn't hear anymore."

Reaching her hand into her bag, the woman then pulled out a stack of gossip magazines before slamming them on his desk. "It makes me sick. They think that Sissy has been lying to us, that she's a villain like All for One and Overhaul. They don't realize that she's not a villain, she's a victim like I was.."

And although the gossip made Shinso sick to his stomach, the man only pushed the magazines away before frowning. "I know that. We all know that."

Nodding to herself, Eri replied. "Then tell them. Quell the crowds, you're the commission president. You can't just sit here and let them say these awful things about her. Use your power to make them stop."

In a perfect world, her explanations made sense. Amari was indeed a victim of All for One, that much was proven but unfortunately even Shinso knew the world's fragile mindset when it came to villains. "Eri, it's not that simple.."

Raising an eye in question, the woman felt a wave of anger course her throat. She had heard firsthand what kind of warped ideas the world had for her Sissy, and Eri wanted nothing more to stop it, and the fact that her brother wasn't doing the same made her pissed off.

She fired back a moment later, disbelief in her tone. "What do you mean? She's your best friend and she needs you. What's the use of being the president of the public safety commission if you don't help those you care about?"

Shinso only glared back though, not liking what she was implying. The truth was, he was desperate to break Amari's chains but the position he was in was like a cage of his own.

Shaking his head the man sighed roughly. "Look, I want to help Amari more than anything, but the minute I try to defend her the world will pull up my records and use our friendship against us. They will see our lack of evidence and call for my removal, and I am of no use if I'm replaced."

The man then softened his gaze. "For now, I have to remain neutral, even if it kills me. The facts are, there, is no evidence, which means Amari is under suspicion until then. I have to treat her like every other suspect in order for the world not to call corruption."

Eri's face began to fall at that. She had come here to demand her brother to help his best friend but it seemed things were far more complicated then she first imagined. "So she's stuck in the commission until we prove her innocence?"