The Burden of Time [Aizawa x OC]

- ten -

The next morning, July and I returned to Gym Gamma to continue class 1-A's ultimate move training. They had exactly one week left until the provisional license exam. That also meant July and I had one week until our supplemental course on Hero Ethics to earn our Japanese teaching license.

Walking through the threshold with my usual coffee in hand, my eyes swept the room. It appeared as if every student had made adjustments to their hero costumes to compliment their new ultimate moves. Must be nice. The United States regulates our hero costumes down to the thread. We never got to choose ours. I could only dream of such creative freedom.

"Kirishima, unbreakable stance, let's go!" July yelled, walking over to the red head. I laughed to myself. July never fucked around when it came to his mentees. Kirishima immediately took his stance, ready to follow July's next instructions.

Aizawa was lazily standing at the front of the room, hands in his pockets. I stood next to him, taking a sip of my coffee. I didn't bother to acknowledge Aizawa - I knew he was not a talker, especially in the morning.

"Aizawa, how are things progressing?" All Might sounded from behind us. We both turned toward his voice.

"You're back again?" Aizawa asked lazily. "We're getting there. Some of them have finally solidified their fighting styles. And there are those who are already putting together multiple special moves."

My eyes focused on Bakugo, who was perfecting his AP shot. His AP shot effectively took a chunk out of the center of the rock. "HAHA! I DID IT!" Bakugo shouted, fist raised with pride.

"No surprise that young Bakugo is doing well, as usual." All Might commented.

"Uh-huh." Aizawa confirmed.

I could see the corner of the rock Bakugo had just shot, cracking all the way through. The corner would fall. All Might was directly in the line of debris. As soon as the realization entered my head - the corner broke off, beginning its descent toward All Might's weakened form.

"HEY! WATCH OUT!" Bakugo yelled.

Aizawa lurched forward, a gasp escaping his lips. There wasn't much he could do. The chunk was heading right for All Might. I immediately sucked in a breath, stopping time. "July!" I yelled, remaining mindful of his presence so that he wouldn't be frozen. A secret ultimate move that no one could know about, as directed by the United States. As long as I was continuously mindful of their presence, up to two people would not be frozen. It took a lot out of me, though, but it was extremely helpful. "I need a force field, NOW!"

July ran forward, placing a force field above himself and All Might. I let go of my breath, resuming time. With incredible reflexes, Midoriya launched himself in the air, kicking the shard of rock and effectively shattering it. He eliminated the threat completely. July released his force field as soon as the miniature shards of rock from Midoriya's kick hit the ground.

All Might wore a huge smile. "You did it, kid." He whispered. He looked beside him, noticing July's sudden close proximity. "When did you get here?" He asked July.

July was taken aback for a brief second but quickly recovered. "Great reflexes." He shrugged.

All Might's gaze lingered for a few seconds too long, but then seemingly decided to dismiss it. A pang of guilt hit briefly in my stomach. All Might had shared his largest secret with us, yet I was still keeping a secret from him. A few, actually. But who's counting?

"You okay All Might?" Midoriya ran toward us. "That was close!'

"Yeah." All Might confirmed, his smile returning. His successor was proving himself by the minute and it was clear All Might could not be more proud.