My Hero Academia: EMTs

Program Change, Learn Your Place

"Yeah, well..." his voice lowers, as if he feels guilty and... no, no, that's not guilt I hear. It's resignation. "What's my punishment?"

"You think that's all I'm going to do, don't you? You're not a thug hurting people for fun. I'm not aiming to blast you to make you feel the pain. What would be the point of that?"

Now I see it, the confusion in his eyes. He's still not getting what we want from him.

I look at the confused child over my paws as I hold up my head. What can I do to get through to him? His desires aren't evil, but he needs to understand where he is. He needs to be humbled, but if I have him hurt directly, he'll only associate my school with the abuse of those who entered his life before me.

"I'm not going to punish you. I'm going to change your program. You need something that makes you see how far you've come- and how far you still have to go." I shake my head. "Go, comfort your sister and be with your family. You need each other in trying times."

The boy gets up, but as he does, it strikes me that there's one thing no one has said to him this entire time—one thing that might make a lot of difference.

He holds his head down as he reaches for the door, and I say, "Thank you." He freezes.

"What?" He asks, looking back at me.

"Thank you. As much as you need to be trained and understand your place better, you risked your life and well-being for my school. You preserved your sister for years alone, and she's one of my most promising and important student assets. Thank you for all you've been trying to do. The efforts are not unnoticed."

"Yeah, well... you've been doing so much for me..." he looks back into my eyes, some of that resignation fading. "I mean, it's just what I owe people."

"Ha! My boy, you've been working hard to earn your place here, and giving my teachers those briefings is already payment. Watching over my students and school is beyond that. No one should ever risk their life and not be thanked for it. Your life and heart are valuable. I don't want you to think otherwise. I just want you to understand your place. Still, you're a good person, don't think I don't see that." He gives me a small smile. "You can go."

(***)

Henry:

The next day has come. I'm still feeling a little numb from talking to my father over the phone. Yuka still hasn't woken up, sure enough. I want to... to do something, I don't know what. Hold her hand?

Once again, I'm getting close to finishing my obstacle course, but I'm just barely not there. I'll get there, though. Just wait.

I walk into class on time, but everyone is already seated. I look around, confused.

"Ah- the man of the hour has arrived," Mr. Kan says. "C'mon up here, kid."

I'm confident, but that has its limits, as the entire class is staring at me. "Did I... miss something?"

"Nope, we were all just talking about you."

"Am I late?"

"Nope, you're fine. The rest of the class has just been talking in your absence. We've agreed that we've been underutilizing your particular skill set." As he talks, I stand before everyone and bite my lip. "You were once a villain, weren't you?" he asks.

"Um... yeah? Not my proudest moments, but it's all anyone focuses on..."

"Stop that. You know people look at more than that," Vlad says, passing off my complaint. I guess he's right, but in my defense, my head's not in the best place right now, considering what happened yesterday. "You're going to be OP4 for today's hero training."