Leave Your Mark | Various!BNHA x Reader

30: The Future Awaits

"Wow," Eri marvels, eyes glossy and wide as she watches you peel an apple for her. "They look like little bunnies!"

"They're cute, right?" you hum.

"But... I can't eat the bunnies," she says with a slight frown. "That wouldn't be nice."

"They're not actual bunnies. I just thought it'd be cute to make them look that way. Don't worry. These are still slices of a yummy apple. Your favorite! Look," you grin, taking a big bite out of one of them, only for Eri to reel back in horror.

"You ate the bunny," she gasps.

"Sure did. And now it's your turn!"

Eri lets out a little squeal as you shove one of the pieces in her mouth, but of course, the tasty treat soon overshadows any previous concerns she might have had, and she proceeds to happily munch away.

"How did you get to be so cute?" you beam, affectionately patting her head. "I'm starting to worry that you might actually be cuter than me. It's getting dangerously close."

"I don't know. This is just how I am," she shrugs, and she replies with such nonchalance that you can't help but laugh.

A few months have passed since Big Sis and Eri moved back to Japan. During that time, she's been in your care, along with Aizawa's. The nature of her Quirk was looked into (you had to feign ignorance the whole time), but with Aizawa here to look after her, you have no reason to be worried. She's as safe as she'll ever be. She hasn't had to endure any form of abuse, and she's able to smile just like any other kid her age.

Big Sis isn't quite back to her old self yet. Her husband's death clearly hit her hard, and she's still grieving. Still, she stayed true to her word and hasn't tried to abandon Eri. Even if she were to run away now, at least you and Aizawa would still be here to look after Eri, but it's important for a child to have a mother in their life. You want to keep them together at all costs. You want both of them to be happy.

Even though you weren't able to prevent Eri's father from dying, you still have reason to feel optimistic. These past few months have been good. Not just for Eri, but for Chisaki too. It finally feels like he's on track to becoming a better person, and as long as you keep him far away from Eri, there's no reason for history to repeat itself.

You can't help but feel proud of the fact that you've potentially saved not just one, but two people in this world.

And if you become a hero, then surely, you'll save countless more.

"Oh, good, you're awake." Aizawa yawns as he steps into the kitchen, rubbing the morning fog out of his eyes. "I see you cut up some apples for Eri. Did she have a proper breakfast first?"

"Auntie [Name] made scrambled eggs with bacon and toast," Eri replies.

"Because I'm the best auntie ever," you proudly grin.

"She also accidentally broke one of the bowls. But she cleaned it up really fast so that you wouldn't find out."

"Is that so?" Aizawa mutters, narrowing his eyes in your direction.

You nibble on your bottom lip as you crouch down to meet Eri's gaze. "Hey, Eri, that's not cool. You're not supposed to rat me out like that. We need to have each other's backs, okay?"

"I don't know what that means."

"It means that when one of us makes a mistake, we cover it up, so that neither of us has to get in trouble!"

"That's called lying," Eri sighs, flashing you a pitying look. "It's bad to lie, Auntie [Name]. You're older than me, so you should know that."

Dear lord. The attitude on this little girl. She's lucky she's so freaking cute.