TIME TRAVEL - I ADOPT A BUNCH OF BRATS

CHAPTER 39 - KAMINO

Shouta sat stiffly in his uncomfortable suit as cameras pointed at him, and microphones were shoved in his face. This was hell.

"WHAT DOES UA HAVE TO SAY TO THE PARENTS OF THE CHILDREN WHO WERE CAUGHT UP IN THE ATTACK?!"

"DO YOU THINK UA FAILED IN THEIR DUTY AS HEROES BY ALLOWING THE STUDENTS TO BE PUT IN THIS SITUATION?!" The questions were fired at him as he sat alongside Nezu onstage. They had to fight in order to maintain their stoic faces. They couldn't let the media exploit anything.

"We are of course, regretful that this could ever happen, but this situation is unprecedented. We are working alongside the heroes to get Bakugo back as soon as possible." Nezu's voice answered the questions calmly, and Shouta was struck by how grateful he is that his old mentor-now boss- was beside him. He was never good at public speaking. It wasn't important in being an underground hero, and he never practiced the skill. It was coming back to bite him.

Sitting still and not yelling back at the reporters was one of the hardest things he had to do. All he wanted was to be at the forefront in retrieving his student from the villains, but he had to stay here as bait. Shouta was never bait. He was always the hero using the bait to ambush villains.

Shouta clenched his hands into fists under the table, his nails digging into his palms. He let the pain drive the anger clouding his mind away. He couldn't break now. He had a student depending on him to keep the villains distracted. Just as his blood began to coat his nails, Shouta felt a small squeeze. It stopped him from clenching his hands any further.

A quick glance under the table shocked him. Nezu's ha-paw held his gently as the other pried his fingers open. Once he was no longer digging his nails into his skin, the principal softly stroked his hand before retreating. An unspoken "stop hurting yourself" exchanged through the brief glance they shared. Shouta felt like laughing and crying at the same time. His teacher would never change. Trust Nezu to both remember his social anxiety and do his best to help even when the world seemed against him. It was exactly the sort of thing the chimera would do when he was still a student. It made him feel warm that Nezu would still care enough to make sure he was ok.

"WHAT ABOUT THE STUDENT THAT WAS KIDNAPPED, KATSUKI BAKUGO?!" The good feelings receded and Shouta was hit with another wave of guilt. They were right. He failed his student.

He was nudged by Nezu to answer the question.

Taking a deep breath, Shouta reminded himself of his goals.

'Shouta, you need to remember that the villains will be watching, and you need to do everything in your power to both minimise the fallout of their attack and keep their attention enough so that they won't do anything to your student or notice the heroes gathering outside.' He mentally gave himself a smack to the face to wake up and see the truth. He couldn't afford to be quiet. Not with Bakugo on the line.

Bringing himself to his full height, Shouta levelled a quirk-enhanced glare at the reporter that had asked the question.

"Bakugo is a strong student. He's one of the best in class, I have no doubt that he is alive and will be able to be rescued soon." Shouta started before another question was shouted, this time from the back.

"DO YOU THINK BAKUGO WAS CAPTURED IN ORDER TO BE RECRUITED TO THE VILLAINS' SIDE?! WE ALL SAW HOW HE FOUGHT DURING THE SPORTS FESTIVAL AFTER ALL! THE WAY HE FOUGHT WITHOUT CARING ABOUT THE DAMAGE HE COULD DEAL TO OTHERS IS POSITIVELY VILLAINOUS!!"

Shouta snapped.

"And what, do you think he did that was so villainous?" Shouta didn't yell. He didn't even raise his voice, but all chatter stopped as the reporters all stared at him. Shouta knew that had his hair not been tied up, it would have been floating above his head.