My Hero Academia: Next Gen

Chapter 29: Trust

Eri couldn't sleep.

She lay in bed, eyes wide open, staring up at her ceiling. The little glow-in-the-dark stars that she and her dad had painted on the ceiling when she had first moved into the house with him glowed dimly. She remembered what he had said when they put them up. 

"I won't always be able to be right next to you," Aizawa said, crouching next to Eri's bed. "But when you look up and see the stars glowing down at you, you'll remember that you don't have to be afraid."

Eri, eight-years-old, nodded and pulled the covers up to her chin. "But..." she began, "what if they come back for me?"

"They won't. Not as long as I'm here."

The green stars didn't twinkle like the real ones outside, and they didn't glow nearly as brightly, but they somehow managed to calm her mind in a way that the night sky never did. Maybe it was the memory of painting them up there together, her sitting on her dad's shoulders with the paintbrush, her tongue sticking out as she concentrated on getting the points just right.

Sighing, Eri turned on her side. Tomorrow she would be using her quirk for combat for the first time. Tomorrow, at eleven o'clock in the morning, she would be using her quirk on someone she knew and trusted.

Her jaw clenched. As much as she hated the idea of hurting them, she knew that her dad was right. Not only did she need to get control of her quirk in order to become a hero, but she would be surrounded by people who cared about her. They wouldn't let anything happen.

They wouldn't.

Thoughts raced through Eri's mind all night, never once letting up to allow her to drift off to sleep, and when her alarm went off in the morning, she hadn't gotten any rest. Sitting up in bed, she stared down at her hands. She had to get out of bed and get ready. People would be arriving soon. But she couldn't find the motivation to get up.

A knock on the door made her jump. She quickly threw the blankets back over her as the door opened, trying to slow her breathing to make it appear like she was still asleep.

"You know that doesn't work on me," her father said dryly. "It has never worked on me."

Eri groaned. "One day, I'll fool you."

"Yeah, okay. You keep thinking that." Aizawa leaned against her door frame. "Are you going to get up or do I need to drag you out of bed?"

"How about neither?"

"Eri..."

"I know, I know. Just five more minutes."

He walked over to her and pulled the covers off, removing her bubble of warmth. He ignored her indignant squeak and said, "How about no more minutes and you get up and get dressed? Breakfast will be ready downstairs in just a few minutes. Do you want to know who's coming or do you want it to be a surprise?"

Eri peeked up at him. "Who's coming?" 

Read: How presentable did she need to be today?

Aizawa smirked. "Well, there's me; your friends from last night, Matsumoto, Torredo, Ha, and apparently Sasayaku now; one of the girls from your class, Amano; Midoriya and Uraraka; and Midnight said she might be able to make it."

So, she would actually have to look half-decent, Eri thought. Then she frowned. "Wait, why is Amano coming?"

"Her quirk would be useful if things started to get out of hand. It's another buffer to make you feels safer using your quirk." Aizawa put a hand on the top of her head, lightly rubbing her silvery-blue hair. "I don't want you to ever feel like we weren't taking as many precautions as possible."