bunny love [k. bakugo x oc]

53. A Teacher's Worth

Yes, she could just make one of her passions her career! The smile on Kuri's face generated by this suggestion slowly faded as she tried mentally listing her interests, only to realize she had nothing usable.

Kuri's life was dominated by all things hero for her entire life, so she never had many chances to pursue hobbies. When she thought of subjects besides heroism that she was skilled at and enjoyed, the only thing that came to mind was academics. Kuri was incredibly adept at writing, math, and science, but she couldn't just keep going to school forever.

"I can't think of anything I could do instead," Kuri said. She chewed on her lip and scrambled to remember anything else she enjoyed, only to draw a blank. Kuri had invested her whole life into heroism, to the point that it was all her brain could consider. She recalled topics from her nighttime discussion with Katsuki and the thinking she'd done after the fact. "Another idea I had was to stick with hero stuff in the long run but take a break for a bit."

"A break would be good. Your wounds are still fresh," he said, referring to her kidnapping. "It's unreasonable to ask you to rescue others."

Kuri glanced at her bare left forearm. She wished that anyone could have said this two years ago and spared her the additional trauma wrought by her missions with Endeavor Agency.

"Before you transferred to UA, there was a large-scale attack on the class at the USJ," Aizawa said. Kuri was familiar with the incident since her friends had mentioned it before. "I sustained severe injuries during that battle, but came back to teach class after a very short recovery period because they needed me to teach. The difference between me in that situation and you is that you're a kid, and I'm an adult."

"So, you're saying I'm not ready because I'm young?" Kuri asked, raising an eyebrow at the paradox. "Then why are we all in school to become heroes?"

"I'm trying to tell you that hero society is flawed because it pushes children to test their limits when that does more harm than good."

"Yet you're training us until we faint?"

"UA teachers are part of hero society, too, aren't they?" Aizawa asked with a sarcastic smirk. Kuri gave him an annoyed look, and he sighed. "Look, it's not easy to mend the institution, even from within, but I'm trying. Nezu's even loosening up, having us come here, so I'm sure next year the training plan will be less intense."

"Well, I won't be here next year, so that's not my business," Kuri said. "I just want to know if you think I might as well leave the hero course altogether."

If Kuri got her teacher to kick her out, that would override her parents' wishes (though she would totally get in trouble).

"Most teenagers aren't well-equipped to handle the emotional burden that comes with saving others, yet we teach them how to be heroes," Aizawa said, shaking his head. "You may not like it now; however, with time, you might recover and come back to the hero scene. Happens with a lot of people."

"Anything's possible, I guess," Kuri said with a shrug.

"In any case, you only have a few months left at UA, so I think you should stay here until graduation."

"Then, would it be ill-advised to quit my work study?" Kuri asked. That was really the root of all her issues in recent times. Her first few months at UA were like floating down a calm stream, then a tsunami hit and pulled her under wave after wave of resurfaced trauma. She needed to get out of Endeavor Agency, but would that screw her over?

"Yes, if you plan to start hero work immediately after graduation. Otherwise, there's no harm in working shorter shifts or finding a different agency," Aizawa said.