My Hero Academia: EMTs

The Boy in the Glass

Henry:

"I'm not wild about it, but I won't forbid using it for now..." says Yuka when I tell her about the new learning style I'm trying to employ. She wipes the remains of some eggs off my cheeks as she smiles at me. "Playing the odds will get you to graduation if you do it right, sure, and it's better to have a plan than to just throw yourself at things without thinking. But please don't rule out excelling, okay? You're too special to accept just "getting by."

Time has finally been passing like normal for me. It's been two weeks. I've finally been getting into a routine, and honestly, I'm not too upset with it —I'm just afraid it won't last.

Sometimes, I must pause and go through it all in my head. Why? I get why I was allowed to be here. My sister is worth a fortune, and the briefings I give on weekends on the inner workings of gangs will probably save lives and effort. But if that's all people want from Tori and me- then pressure Tori and let me drift to the point where the best I can do as an adult is work the fry counter- keep me out of trouble, get them their money, and help maintain their system- that would cover all the bases with minimal effort. Making it so Tori and I even CAN fail is counterproductive if they want the profits from having us, and if this is about maintaining fairness even while trying to get those profits, then why give me and Tori special treatment at all?

It's almost like... like the people around me have their own goals. Hotaru says they care about us, and I try not to tell her that it can't be that simple. Letting us fail- under any circumstances- means that care only goes so far. I can believe that Yuka and Hizashi aren't compromising in their care for me and Tori after I can't figure out what they're getting beyond that. Maybe Hizashi got some kind of finder's fee that I'm unaware of. But even a finder's fee for good students wouldn't explain ongoing commitment.

But UA will let us go if we mess up. That means that, as an institution, I doubt UA could care less.

It all adds up to only one teacher I trust, Vlad. He's harsh- I mean SUPER harsh- but the crap he puts up with from me... I constantly question him, I don't have the best grades, I'm STILL working on that dang obstacle course (he keeps moving the equipment and changing the obstacles... I'm starting to wonder if I'm even supposed to pass, but... eh, whatever) and I've been involved in three fights so far cause I don't know how to back down. Still, he answers my questions, shows me where I went wrong on my papers and gives me ideas for new learning strategies, pats me on the back after those courses (I technically got within two seconds of beating it yesterday!), and sends me to detention when I mess up like everyone else.

If you're wondering, I mean to be a hero, so I'd go to bat for anyone, but who would I lay it all down for, no matter the circumstance? Tori (obviously), Hizashi, Yuka, little Yukari, and Vlad King. Hotaru is probably my best friend outside my family, and she's getting up there with how often she goes out of her way for me, but... I don't know, she's not quite there yet, okay? I can't explain why.

Every day after school and sometimes before, I meet with my new mother, Yuka, in the family room made for my family. I do my workout with Vlad, and he decides if I'll have time to meet with my family before class; today, I do.

As Yuka talks about my grades and the "playing the odds" strategy, which I started a while back, Tori packs up her bag and plays a goofy game with Yukari. Yukari runs at Tori, and Tori grabs her and slams her on the couch, holding her in a non-forceful way until the eight-year-old squirms away and restarts the bout, sometimes getting tickled for her efforts.

I look around the room, my eyes falling on things starting to mean so much to me. Tori's flower collection- which Yuka constantly supplements from the countryside- is on the coffee table along with Yukari's fake comic book about the Purple Bandit... like I said, I would take a bullet for that little brat. A couple of plastic dinosaurs and cars that I use to amuse myself and my siblings are piled in a corner whenever I can escape my studies.