The Next Successor

How do you feel?

"Where's Bakugo?" Aizawa questioned as he stared into the sea of students. Everyone looked around the class, not sure if they wanted to tell him the truth, or make up a lie.  "Don't make me ask again." Aizawa threatened from the front of the class. Kirishima let out a defeated sigh before replying.

"He never came back to the dorms last night." Kirishima said nervously with a shrug.

"At all?" Aizawa questioned as he raised his eyebrows.

"He could have come back after we were asleep last night and he could have left early before we woke up?" Ashido offered. Bakugo was already going to be in trouble for skipping all his classes today, nobody wanted him to be in more trouble for not going back to the dorms.

"It doesn't matter." Aizawa stated as he turned his back to the class. "I'm not wasting my time teaching anyone who doesn't want to be taught." He replied simply with a shrug. "I'm giving an essay due at the end of the class." Aizawa stated, making up a random assignment. The class groaned as they heard they would be doing another essay. Their fighting and training had been put to a minimum ever since Midoriya had left the class and they hated every second of it.

"What is the essay about sir?" Iida questioned as he began dragging out his notebook. Aizawa stared at his class without an answer. His lessons haven't been planned anymore. He spent all most all of his free time searching for his student that left with the league. It still doesn't make sense to the pro hero. Nobody was putting in the effort to search for him like they did when Bakugo had been taken by the league only months before. Something wasn't adding up and Aizawa knew that.

"I want you to write a three page essay on how you feel about Midoriya right now." Aizawa said, causing the class to look back with wide eyes. The room grew extremely quiet as the class processed what their teacher had just said. None of the teachers spoke about Midoriya since the day he left. They refused to answer any questions and avoided the topic if it came up.

"So just how we feel about him?" Mineta questioned from the back of the class.

"Pretty much." Aizawa shrugged as he walked towards the door. "I'll be back." He said before quickly walking out the door and down to the principles room. Something wasn't adding up and he was determined to find out what it was. Meanwhile, the class struggled to put into words how they were feeling about Midoriya leaving to live out his life as a villain. It still came as a shock to everyone that he was really gone. Everybody still expected him to walk through the door with a smile plastered on his face like he always did.

After about ten minutes, everyone was writing slowly, pausing every so often to change a word here and there. Uraraka was the only student who couldn't find the words to write down. She couldn't put how she was feeling into words, she could barely put them in her thoughts. She struggled for another 30 minutes before deciding she just wasn't going to do it. She quickly put her things away as she looked to the clock. She sighed quietly when she saw she still had to sit there for another hour and twenty minutes to go.

Meanwhile down the hall, Aizawa was having a very heated discussion with Nezu about the situation.

"I just don't understand why nobody is bothering to look for him!" Aizawa exclaimed. His calm and not caring demeanor had been broken. "You guys tell the media we are, but nobody is really looking at all! I haven't heard of a search party or a raid."

"You have to understand that he doesn't want to be found. That is why he left with the league that day. He's done with us, he is done with hero's." Nezu reminded as he calmly sipped on his tea.

"That's a lie." Aizawa spat as he leaned his head down, causing his hair to cover his face. "He wanted nothing more than to be a hero." Aizawa reminded. "I can see some kids dropping out of the program, but I could never see any of them becoming a villain." Aizawa spat through his clenched teeth. "Especially Midoriya. He worked so hard and trained his quirk very quickly to not get expelled. He has said he loves this school several times. It doesn't make sense." Aizawa groaned as Midoriya consumed his mind. Nezu took a deep breath before replying.

"Losing his mother was very hard on him." Nezu said quietly. "Then we couldn't find his father, so he was going to end up in foster care and could possibly have left UA."  Nezu explained sadly. "He lost the most important person to him, then realized he possibly couldn't have stayed at UA. There was nothing left for him to do."

"So you're saying that you are okay with him throwing his life and potential away to become a villain?" Aizawa spat coldly. Nezu stared at the teacher with sadness.

"I'm not saying I am okay with it, I'm just saying I understand it." Nezu replied. Aizawa had decided he had heard enough. He turned to walk out the door, but Nezu wasn't finished yet.

"You didn't fail." The mouse spoke up from behind his desk.

"What?" Aizawa spat.

"You didn't fail him or as a teacher, just so you know." Nezu said softly. He knew why Aizawa was really beating himself up. His concern wasn't just for Midoriya. He was also concerned that he could have done something to prevent the boy from leaving. Nezu knew this was not the case. However, the unknowing guilt was eating Aizawa from the inside. "Don't forget to bring me your answer sheet for this weeks homework." Nezu reminded.

The teacher quickly walked out the office and back to his own classroom, ignoring Nezu completely. Was there something I could have done? Could I have helped prevent this in any way? I saw his grades fall, I saw him slowly lose interest, but I didn't do anything about it. What kind of a hero does that make me? Aizawa questioned to himself as he pushed his door open.

"Who's not done?" Aizawa spat towards the class of 18 students. When Aizawa didn't see any hands or hear anyone, he made his way to the center of the room. "Good." He spat as he looked to Kirishima. "Kirishima, give me the most powerful word that describes how you are feeling because of Midoriya." Aizawa ordered from the from of the class.

"What do you mean?" Kirishima questioned with confusion and horror.

"Give me one word that best describes how you feel right now because of Midoriya leaving." Aizawa ordered once more.

"Um, mad I guess." Kirishima replied nervously as all eyes were on him.

"Why mad?" Aizawa questioned as he raised his eyebrows. Kirishima nervously scratched the back of his neck with a sigh.

"I'm mad because we weren't enough for him." He said sadly as he lowered his hand. "We were supposed to be his friends.. and he left like we didn't matter. We weren't enough for him and I'm mad about it!" Kirishima's voice grew louder with each word as he felt the weight on his shoulders grow lighter. Everyone stared to him with wide eyes, shocked that he was feeling that way.

"Anyone else?" Aizawa questioned. One by one, the class began to talk about how they felt about their good friend. Most people said they were upset, mad, or confused. Not a single person said they felt betrayed, which was what Aizawa was trying to test to begin with. The class felt happier after getting their feelings off their chests. They felt like they knew each other a little better and knew how to handle their feelings a little better.