Goddess Wink | Various!BNHA x Reader

70 ♡ infiltration

Given the sort of horrible information that had come to light, it went without saying that everyone's spirits were at an all-time low.

"We had no idea," Uraraka mumbled sadly. She had been clued in on the situation, along with the rest of the students. They all knew that you, Izuku, and Mirio had been right in front of Eri, yet she had still slipped from your grasps.

"She was right within reach," Mirio muttered. He wasn't smiling the way he usually did. "She was so close... but we couldn't save her in time."

"You couldn't have possibly known," Uraraka protested. "You, Deku, [Name]-chan... I'm sure you all made the best decision in the moment. You had to be careful not to raise too much suspicion. Still, I wasn't actually there, so I get that I can't act like I understand what you guys are going through..."

You would've been lying if you said you were suddenly over it. If anything, discovering what Chisaki was doing to the poor girl just made you feel infinitely more guilty. But you had already come to terms with the reality of things. You couldn't magically erase Eri's past suffering, but at the very least, you would do everything in your power to give her the life she deserved.

Tamaki nudged you, with a pained expression in his eyes. "I've never seen Mirio look so down before," he whispered. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"The only thing we can do is face forward," you said. "I don't think the regret we feel will ever disappear... but maybe that's a good thing. It'll motivate us to do better from now on. Right now, the only thing we need to focus on is helping Eri. Our feelings are secondary. We need to devote ourselves to making a difference. Isn't that right, Mirio-kun?"

You smiled gently, and it was just for a moment, but Mirio managed to lift his head. Perhaps he was blaming himself even more than you'd first thought, especially since he was the one who'd insisted on stepping away from the situation so as not to raise Chisaki's suspicions. He was also the student with the most seniority out of your internship trio. He probably felt that the responsibility lied almost entirely with him.

Of course, regardless of how he felt, it wasn't the truth. The only one to blame was Chisaki himself-and whichever other scumbags were involved in the abuse of a little girl.

"It looks like you guys are holding a wake or something," a deep voice mumbled. You turned to find Aizawa walking towards you and the rest of the students. He was still able to maintain a stoic expression, despite the chilling tale he'd just heard. It was no doubt the mark of a true professional. "To be honest, I had originally planned on suspending all of your internships today," he admitted.

"What?!" Kirishima exclaimed. "But why now, of all times...?"

"You heard that there's a possibility that the League might be involved. That changes things, especially for our class."

For just a second, you started to panic, but then you stopped to pay more attention to the phrasing of his words.

He just said he'd originally planned on suspending our internships, not that he was actually going to follow through with it.

Sure enough, Aizawa let out heavy sigh, thus confirming your suspicions. "That being said, I'm not an idiot. I've had my fair share of trouble dealing with you problem children, and if I force either one of you to step down, I get the feeling that you're just going to defy my orders anyways. The best thing I can do is to keep a close eye on you for the remainder of this operation. As your teacher, I owe you at least that much."

The relief on Izuku's face was clear as day. You couldn't help but empathize with him. If you had been forced to back off now, after hearing everything Eri was going through, you knew for a fact that you wouldn't be able to sit still.