My Hero Academia: Overcoming Fear

Getting Released

Hikari

When I woke up, my chest was hurting, but by now I was almost used to it. Daylight was streaming through the window, and Todoroki, Iida, and Midoriya were sitting up eating breakfast.

The first thing I remembered was my hysterical sobbing from the night before. I sat up, grimaced, and bowed my head.

"M-my deepest apologies for my actions last night," I said, shutting my eyes. "I'm so very sorry if I caused anything bad to happen. Please forgive me."

When I opened my eyes and looked up, I noticed that they all had bags under their eyes and their eyes were red. I pressed my hand to my mouth. 

"Oh my gosh, did I seriously do all this...?" I asked, my eyes wide. 

Iida waved his hands. "Oh, it's fine..."

"My apologies that I ruined your sleep," I said, bowing my head again and pressing my hand to my ribs. "My behavior last night was awful, I'm so terribly sorry."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and three people stepped in. One of them was Manual, the hero who Iida was interning with. Another was an old man in a bright yellow costume, and the third was the chief of police, Kenji Tsuragamae who I only recognized because my father would talk to him after saving people or stopping villains.

"I heard that you all were the students that took down the hero killer, right?" Tsuragamae asked us. 

"Yes," Todoroki said. He and Iida were on their feet, but me and Midoriya stayed seated because of our injuries. 

"Regarding the hero killer we arrested... He had fairly serious injuries, with burns and broken bones, and is receiving treatment under strict guard," he said, and at the end he let out a small bark.

"Since you are U.A students, I'm sure you already know that when superpowers were becoming the norm, the police attached high importance to leadership and standards and made sure quirks were not used as weapons. And then, the profession of 'hero' emerged to fill that gap. For an individual's use of force and power that can easily kill others... actions that normally would be appropriate to denounce, to be accepted officially is thanks to early heroes who followed the ethics and rules of the profession.

"Even up against the hero killer, for uncertified individuals to cause injury with their quirks without specific instruction from their guardians or supervisors is a clear violation of the rules. The four of you, and the pro heroes Endeavor, Whiteout, Manual, and Gran Torino must receive strict punishment."

I sat there, shocked and silent. We had helped capture the hero killer, and now they were punishing us for doing so?

"Wait a minute," Todoroki said angrily, clenching his fists. "If Iida hadn't tried to confront the hero killer, then Native would've been killed. If Midoriya hadn't come, the two of them would've been killed. If Hikari hadn't taken that knife for Native, then he would've been dead, too. No one realized that the hero killer had appeared. Are you saying we should've followed the rules and watched people get killed?"

"Are you saying that as long as it turns out all right, it's okay to bend the rules?"

"Isn't it a hero's job to save people?" Todoroki's voice was becoming more of a shout now.

"That's why you are not a full-fledged hero yet. Goodness, what are you being taught by U.A and Endeavor?"

"You dog!" Todoroki said, starting to walk towards Tsuragamae.

"Stop it. He's absolutely right," Iida said.

Then, Gran Torino stepped in front of Todoroki and held out his hand. "Hang on a minute. Hear him out until the end."