My Hero Academia: Aspirations

Chapter 68

Aspirations
Chapter 68

You got part of your wish. When the elevator doors opened up, Endeavor wasn't immediately there to greet you and Todoroki. Said hero was facing both Midoriya and Bakugo. From the sounds of it he was giving them their weekend assignments - the aspects of training they should focus on. But you weren't completely in the clear either. Todoroki casually walked you over to his father.

His fiery eyes moved over towards you and Todoroki as you approached from the side. You saw as his eyes flickered down to where Todoroki was still holding your hand. And if you weren't mistaken, the flames on his face got a little more intense. Your eyes narrowed on him as you frowned. You had a feeling that you knew what he was thinking and you weren't happy about it.

"You're late," Endeavor admonished as he turned completely to look at his offspring.

You half expected Todoroki to give one reason or another. Maybe tell his father that the receptionist downstairs had delayed his arrival. Or even say that he'd been escorting you up in a way that made it clear that you were the reason why he was late. A mixture of both would have been accurate. Todoroki said nothing, however. Instead he just continued to stare up at his father. Any more attitude and he would have been showcasing some defiance. As it was he'd kept his less than subtle attitude and silence just barely on the side of acceptable.

"The three of you will cover patrols in all sections of the city today," Endeavor said in a serious tone. "Your task is to prevent or stop criminal activities before they escalate."

You were surprised that the teenage boys were being turned loose so unceremoniously. Though perhaps you shouldn't have as the Safety Commission had already been pushing for first year students to fill in for heroes. It's why they had all been on Nabu island to begin with. But the fact that they were having to work just like the adults even though they were, at their oldest, sixteen years old was not a comforting thought.

You hadn't been exaggerating to Aizawa when you'd casually mentioned child soldiers. To you that's exactly what this felt like. These kids were being forced to grow up way too fast because of the failings of the adults around them; because the heroes that had flooded Japan in the last generation or two were of lesser quality than they should have been. More and more of them were about ceremony and being in the spotlight than doing their jobs which made more work for the ones that had to pick up the slack to keep society peaceful. And with everything happening, the new drugs on the market and the oncoming war, that meant kids were being used to fill in the cracks like fodder.

You suddenly felt sick standing in the middle of the hub of the number one hero of Japan. You clenched your fist, squeezing Todoroki's hand in the process, as you took in a deep breath. You swallowed the bitter feelings that rose up as quickly as you could.

And as you felt Todoroki squeeze your hand back, you realized that coming to Endeavor's agency probably hadn't been a good idea. Not only because you were accidently blurring the lines for the youngest Todoroki but because your emotions were going haywire. You hadn't been inside of a Hero Agency in a long time; not since you had to help your father dissolve the one your mother had built up. And there had been a reason for that. You might have admired hard working, earnest heroes who put their lives on the line for others but you hated the political bullshit that played a part in it all. Such as the reality of training teens to step up before they were of legal age.

"Is something wrong?"

You could hear the worry in Midoriya's voice. Which meant that you hadn't pushed down your sudden, seemingly inexplicable, reactions as quickly as you would have hoped. You tried to take in a deep calming breath and let it out slowly but that backfired. You felt it coming out shaky.