A Life Worth Living (Aizawa x OC)

30 - New-found Determination

The next day, Himari was sitting alone in the teacher's lounge, sipping on a coffee and waiting for the lunch break to start.

She had already been at Chiyo's office to apologize for yesterday's hasty exit. They had talked for a bit, and Himari had spoken about her little outburst, telling her mentor about her feelings and thoughts including her grave visit yesterday. Naturally, she had excluded the gym hall part from her narration. That goes without saying.

But for the first time, she hadn't been completely honest with Chiyo and she felt incredibly bad about it, leaving her in a conscience-stricken state. Himari had paid scrupulous attention to not give away too much information. Not that Chiyo wasn't trustworthy. Chiyo was probably the only person in her life she wholly confided in. She would entrust her life to the old lady, completely without any doubt. However, Himari was certain that Chiyo would aspire to stop her plan if she knew about it. Well, her plan wasn't even something you could call a plan yet. It was more an ambitious scheme, but she was already dead set on it.

Chiyo had attentively listened to everything without interrupting her, even the poor excuse the woman scarred for life had made up for her injured hands, which she couldn't hide. Somehow, the brunette was convinced that Chiyo had seen through her all the time, but yet, she had decided to say nothing. But who was she to complain about that?

After a petty quarrel, Chiyo had forced a smooch on her to completely heal her hands before Himari could leave, even though she had protested, stating that the injuries weren't even worth mentioning. Luckily, their appointment hadn't been as time-consuming as Himari had feared it to be.

That's how she ended up in the teacher's lounge, where she started to contemplate on the best possible way to approach her new ambition, fuelled by a feeling of new-found determination.

There was an awful accumulation of aspects she needed to consider – much to her regret. Coming week would be the last week of the current school year, followed by a two-week break. The start of the new semester, which also marked the start of the new school year, was drawing nearer with each day. And with the new school year, she would finally start her job here, which would probably keep her very busy, especially at the beginning. She couldn't afford to let things at school slide.

Himari knew that she would have to ensure that her private investigations remained undiscovered. In addition to that, it was of crucial importance to not attract attention out there. If these guys knew about her identity, she wasn't safe at all.

Considering that at some point she would find the masked guy and encounter him a second time, she had to pick up her training again. Not only jogging and the basic stuff to stay in shape. It was necessary for her to resume her combat training. The next time she would face this guy, she wouldn't lose. She won't allow herself to lose. She had to train more seriously.

Wait. Aizawa's offer.

Just when Himari started to ponder on accepting his offer to train with her, she was torn from her thoughts. The teacher's lounge's silence was broken as Cementoss, Snipe, and Ectoplasm entered the room, chattering while doing so.

"So, we still don't know who has smashed the mirror in the restroom on the first floor?", Snipe asked, approaching his desk to put down several books he was carrying with him.

"No, not yet. I bet it's that problem kid with the aggression problem from 3B.... if you ask me", Cementoss said, replicating his colleague's actions at his desk. "I mean, who would just randomly destroy a mirror? Tsk. Future heroes..."

Himari's eyes widened in terror as she processed the conversation, intuitively lifting her butt a bit and swiftly placing her hands under it before sitting down again. Although her hands were totally fine by now, she hadn't thought about shedding the bandages that were still carefully wrapped around them.