Heart, Mind, and Soul (BNHA)(ON HOLD)

Chapter Forty-Six

Mushu guffawed at his expression, "I know I'm good, kid. But, I also must have drilled in your head that you couldn't be angry. And that's not right." Izuku tilted his head curiously as the dragon continued, "Feelings of anger, sorrow, desperation... those are all normal feelings that every person goes through, you shouldn't feel like forcing them away... I want you to listen to me carefully... just because I tell you to keep a level head and focus, doesn't mean you can't feel those negative emotions. In fact, it's okay to feel those things.

"Izuku, the reason I have you meditate is to keep your soul in peace. The reason I have you relax is so you can stay focused, and the reason I tell you to keep calm is so that you can anticipate the unexpected. But none of those things ever implied that you needed to hold back negative emotions, it's not like that at all. Sometimes a situation will require some rage, frustration, agitation or whatever and that's fine. As long as you don't lose yourself to revenge and hatred... and as long as you don't sway from your path of justice, it is completely okay to feel that way."

Izuku felt like his eyes and lungs had been opened, "So I can be angry, yet still be level headed...?"

Mushu nodded and patted his shoulder, "And now, we have something new that we can work on. It's not an easy feat, but it's not impossible."

His door slid open before anything else could be said and revealed Kaminari peeking through, "Ah... you're awake, Izuku." he opened the door completely and the entire class of 1-A, with an exception of a few, came in. "Have you turned the TV on at all? It's kind of messy..."

"We got you some snacks..." Mineta lifted the basket to his vision and offered a nervous smile, which Izuku kindly returned.

"Sorry for giving you so much trouble, sensei..." Tokoyami took it upon himself to apologize. He bowed first followed by the rest of them, causing Izuku to flush red and immediately twiddle with his earring.

"No no no! I should be the one to apologize." he looked at his bandaged hands with a solemn smile, "I was blinded by conflicting emotions that I failed to work with myself and keep everyone safe. I'm sorry, but this just means I need to get stronger." he clenched his fists and looked at Mushu with determination. The dragon nodded in return.

"Is everyone here? How are the injured?" he turned his attention to Tenya who straightened up and gripped his shoulder comfortingly.

"Jirou and Hagakure are still suffering the effects of the gas, but the doctors said that they'll wake up soon. Yaoyorozu on the other hand, suffered a very bad head injury, but she did wake up from consciousness. Other than them, everyone else suffered minor injuries."

"And Bakugou's gone..." Todoroki added bluntly, stabbing Izuku right in the heart as Ashido tried to subtly scold the dual-haired boy.

It took several seconds of silence before Izuku spoke up, smiling somberly, "All Might once said that you can't save the ones that you are unable to reach..." he looked at his hands once again, as tears welled up in his eyes, "So you have to save the ones that you are able to reach, but..." his voice cracked and he tried not release a sob, but it was proving difficult, "... Kacchan was right there. My power... I tried so hard to save him, but my emotions blinded me to the point I was rendered immobile...

"I... I couldn't move any longer. And because of that... I couldn't save him..."

"Well then this time, we'll make sure to save him."

Izuku's head snapped up to face Kirishima at lightning speed as he understood exactly what he meant upon seeing the serious expression on the boy's face. "Wh... What are you saying...?"

"Todoroki and I... we were actually here yesterday..." Kirishima's face stayed completely serious, staring right into Izuku's eye as he spoke, "We just... We just couldn't sit around any longer! So when we went to go visit Yaoyorozu, we overheard her conversation with Detective Tsukauchi and All Might.