Collateral Damage| bnha

chapter eight| brutal

Opportunities arise everywhere, it's just up to you to seize them- or well, that is what my grandmother used to say.

My grandmother was an eccentric woman, with an even more eccentric outlook in life. She had suffered a lot in her youth, and most of her decisions led her to an even more gruesome road. It was like she could never get it right. Even before she was able to make decisions for herself she was already going down the wrong path. She was the daughter of a villain, a man bitter at the world that made it everyone's problem, especially my grandma's. She was outcasted by society because of where she came from and soon enough she had to learn to look after herself because no one else would, and when someone finally did... She ended up losing them, losing the love of her life, finally marrying an inconsiderate man just hoping to have a chance at a better future for her and her daughter.

That man my grandmother married was no better than her own father, she gave him a son, my uncle, who soon enough ended up being just like him.

I never blamed my grandmother for leaving her family. I am not sure if my mother would think the same.

The thing with generational trauma is that it is hard to see from up close. Kind of like a puzzle, if you only have certain pieces there is not truly a picture to look at, just pieces. My grandmother only had one piece, a father who hated her and a world who hurt her. My mother had two, a mother that left her and a husband that hit her. I guess you can say I have a few more. That's why I never resented them, neither of them, they were playing with the cards that they were dealt.

Despite the pain my grandma had to go through she still believed in chances, in places where the miracles existed, phoenixes rose from the ashes and bright stars led the way.

And it sucks to admit but she was right, there is opportunities everywhere.I realized that when Aizawa said that whoever failed the quirk apprehension test would get:

"EXPELLED?" the class yelled in disbelief

Aizawa had led us outside with our P.E uniforms and informed us he was essentially going to test our abilities, and instead of doing normal orientation like most classes do, we were going to do eight physical tests in which we could use our quirks. Blonde guy stepped up to the plate and used his explosion quirk to blast the ball a short amount of 700 meters. Everyone seemed excited, until Aizawa reminded us he could run his class however he pleased, therefore whoever got last place will get expelled.

One thing is to quit, one thing is to run away when things get difficult (as I usually do), one thing is to go back to my house and tell Tamotsu I couldn't stay in UA because I didn't like my classmates and three of them could potentially tell the whole school that I was a monster. One thing was to tell my father that my homeroom teacher was Shota Aizawa and I simply cannot risk being in his class, or in his presence. Another completely different thing was to get expelled because UA is such a hard academy and I couldn't keep up.

Such a brutal place, right?

"First up, 50 meter dash!"

I am pretty sure that when my grandmother talked about opportunities she meant those that could put you ahead in life, those that will boost your chances, not hinder them. But she never made the awful decision to enroll into a hero academy and instantly regretted it. So what does she truly know about opportunities? I decided right there and then that why should I wake up every day worried about going to school, when I could just get expelled the first day of classes.

The easy road is there for a reason, why not take it?

"Four seconds" Aizawa said in a monotonous tone after I finished the fifty meter dash I don't even remember starting. I turned behind me and a trail of dust was the only trace I left.