Era

26

Shuzenji was staring at him. Hands on her hips, lips pursed, eyes narrowed in a fierce scowl. Shouta sighed, leaning back against the wall of the building and wincing where the concrete put pressure on his bruises.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"What the hell are you teaching those children?" Shuzenji exploded with a wave of her cane, and Shouta winced at the noise.

"I already told you this has nothing to do with me."

"Well it must be someone's fault, because that child is—"

"I know." This was shaping up to be yet another very long day, and Shouta was starting to feel the telltale signs of exhaustion seeping at his bones and pressing against his temples.

"Oh, you know?" she snapped. "You know, do you? Well that's just great. What are you doing about it, then?"

"It's a complicated situation—"

"Then why haven't I heard about it."

Shouta bit back a groan. "Not everything has to pass through the nurse's office," he said as delicately as he could manage. Judging by the look on Shuzenji's face, that wasn't good enough.

"They're my students too. Or did you forget that?"

"This isn't a medical situation."

"Then what is it? Because from where I'm standing it looks like a child on the verge of a mental breakdown. And you're dragging her onto the hero track."

Shouta resisted the urge to grind his teeth, instead sticking his hand into his pocket and fiddling with the cap of his eyedrops. "It's complicated. You're going to have to trust that I know what I'm doing."

Shuzenji scoffed, glaring up at him menacingly. "The last time I did that, you decided to spar with a student immediately after I cleared you for light activity. Or did you already forget?"

"I am an adult."

"Then act like it." Slamming her cane into the ground, Shuzenji bustled forward and grabbed his arm none too gently. "You know, I've had to deal with people like you my entire career. You aren't special."

Shouta sighed, resigning himself to this lecture. "I know."

"You underground types are the worst of the lot," she continued, rolling up his sleeve and poking at the bandages beneath. Shouta bit back a hiss of pain as she rolled her finger over a particularly nasty bruise. "I suppose I should count myself lucky that you don't try to treat your own injuries."

Shouta decided that he wouldn't mention the well-packed medical kit beneath his bathroom sink, or the scar along his thigh where he'd given himself clumsy stitches for the first time. "I know."

"You're going to give your students bad habits."

"I know," Shouta snapped, pulling his arm back. "I know. I'm aware."

It wasn't rational, would only exacerbate his injuries and lengthen his recovery time, and he was well aware of that fact. But he couldn't just... sit still. Couldn't rest. Whenever he closed his eyes he just saw that fucking beaked villain again, looming over him with its lifeless grin. Or worse, over his students. Breaking them.

It wasn't rational. And yet.

Shuzenji looked him over intently, her gaze softening as she stepped back with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I forget how young you are"

"I'm thirty years old," Shouta grumbled. "In this field that's practically ancient."

"Yes, well." Shuzenji sounded amused, a smile tugging at her lips. "I suppose the young always think themselves wise."