Monster

9 | The All Might Plush

- TENKO -

Zu clung to me, hiding behind my back once again. We were standing in the classroom, some students here while others were presumably late. Aizawa said this was normal, as a result of the villain attacks recently. Something about the villain attacks causing his students to have nightmares or constant paranoia at night.

I understood to an extent. Zu still had nightmares about Overhaul, always tensing up and hugging me tighter in his sleep. He's still scared of people, much like I am, always trying to cling onto me or hide behind me whenever we have to meet them. I assumed it was from how many different people we had met over the years, each one sharing the same profession and goal.

And, what was to say that these students weren't the same as them?

Zu clung to me tighter. I looked at him, seeing the terrified look in his eyes. Carefully, I turned around, bending down a little to meet his gaze. "Zu, what's wrong?"

He shook his head a little. "People.. too many people..." He shook his head a little more. "Sc-scientists... Overhaul.. " He began to tear up. "Th-They'll get us ag-again.. th-they'll take you a-away from me.."

He started to cry, tears now rolling down his cheeks. Cautiously, I put my arms around him before bringing him into a hug. Quickly, he accepted, wrapping his own arms around me before crying onto my shoulder.

"Zu, it's okay." I reassured. "Aizawa is going to protect us if anything like that happens. U.A. has a high security system too, so Overhaul has no chance of breaking in without alerting any of the Pro Heroes here." I pulled him away slightly, looking him in the eye. "I promise you, we are safe here. I, Katsuki and many others here will do anything to protect you from that man. Alright?"

He nodded, burying his head into my shoulder once more. He was still scared, the constant shaking and trembling of his body confirming that. I rubbed circles on his back, attempting to calm his nerves as more students trickled into the classroom.

Aizawa slid out from under his desk, wrapped up in a bright yellow sleeping bag. "Is your brother alright?" he asked, voice soft and quiet.

I nodded. "He's just.. afraid of people right now. Every time we met someone new at the lab, it would always be a new scientist, there to experiment on us further. They were always associated with Overhaul, always having the same goals as him." I explained, now caressing his hair. "I guess after all that, we both can't trust that people are different from them. That people we meet won't immediately hurt us or separate us for the day."

Aizawa stood up now, sleeping bag falling to the floor. "We can talk more about it when you're comfortable. For now, I'll guide you both to your seats."

"But, I thought there were no spaces left? Aren't classes supposed to be full at the start of the year?"

"The spaces became available last week, just days before we found you. The student in seat eighteen was moved to Class 1-B after a student was expelled from that class and they had no filler students. Then, the student in seat nineteen was expelled for constant inappropriate behaviour. Thus, two seats were made available for you both to join the course."

I nodded, standing up with Zu before following Aizawa to our seats. They were the two seats behind Katsuki, each one next to a window. Outside, we could see the landscape U.A. had to offer.

"Zu, sit down behind Kacchan, then I'll sit behind you, okay?" I whispered.

Hesitantly, he nodded, before settling down in seat eighteen. He was still trembling slightly, but hopefully with Katsuki now in the picture, he could calm down a little. Maybe he knew other ways to calm Zu down, other than the ones I picked up in the lab.