My Hero Academia: Next Gen

Chapter 35: Who's Watching

Aizawa was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees with his hands propping up his chin. The crowd around him was separated by the private box he had reserved, which he was thankful for. The screams and cheers would have been far too irritating if they were right in his ears. Instead, they were just mildly annoying.

Six chairs sat empty in a row beside him, which he eyed in annoyance. The five who had been there had left fifteen minutes ago to get snacks, and still hadn't returned. He turned his attention back down to the arena where the first year students were making their teams for the second round of the competition.

His eyes followed his daughter, her silvery blue hair moving between the students as she was pulled along by a girl with green hair. Keiko Matsumoto, he remembered. The girl with endless energy and the luck quirk. Not the brightest student, but dedicated and determined. They work well together, if I remember correctly.

"Shota!"

Aizawa rolled his eyes and turned around to see Kaminari grinning at him, his hands full with chips, Pocky, and sweet and sour gummy worms. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that in public?" he muttered as his junior came and sat next to him.

"Aw, but come on! We're both teachers now! I should be able to call you by your first name!" Kaminari playfully nudged Aizawa's shoulder as he spread out his snacks at his feet. "Gummy worm?"

"I'm good."

A moment of silence passed between them before Aizawa asked, "Where is Jiro? Is she still back with the others?"

Kaminari stuffed six gummy worms into his mouth at once as he nodded. "Mm mm. She gert sturk terkun ter th' curshir."

"I didn't understand a word of that."

"She was talking to the cashier," Kaminari finished when he'd swallowed. "Apparently, it's someone she knew in middle school, so they're catching up. Izuku and Ochaco should be here soon though, they left shortly after me."

Aizawa hummed in acknowledgement, once again searching for Eri in the arena below. Had she found a complete team yet? Who was she with? Who else would compliment her abilities? Perhaps someone from his own class would fit well with her. He looked back up at the scoreboard to see where his own students had placed, not at all surprised to see Henka in first place.

"Hey, Eri did pretty well in the first round, huh?" Kaminari said, bringing Aizawa out of his thoughts. "Top twenty is pretty good! I remember my first year I only got twenty-fourth in the first round."

"Hmm... That low?"

"Hey! I was proud of myself!"

Aizawa chuckled. "I know. I was proud of you too... All of you."

Kaminari looked down at the students and sighed. "Being a teacher is stressful," he said suddenly. "It's only my second month teaching and I'm already so attached to all of my students... I can't help but worry about them every time I see them doing something dangerous."

"...How are they? Your first class?"

"They're great kids," Kaminari started. "Bright, motivated. They push each other to be better and they work well together. And now they have shared trauma to bond over!" He said it with a smile on his face, but Aizawa recognized the tenseness around his eyes.

Aizawa looked away from him, quiet for a moment before saying, "It's tough when your students go through something you can't control. I know that better than anyone."

Kaminari let out a short laugh. "Don't I know it... We gave you a lot of trouble our first year."

"And I've never regretted a moment of it." Aizawa watched as Eri chatted among her teammates, but was unable to see her face from the distance he was at. "When it was the moments I couldn't control, I just had to have faith in what I had taught you. I had to have faith in you. And now that you're a teacher, you have to do the same. Have faith in your teachings and your students. There isn't much more you can do."