Brave Heart ((TENYA IIDA X OC))

Chapter 2

"Oso.."

"Osoro...."

"Hey! Earth to Osoroshi!"

Averting my gaze from the car window, I turned to Hiroe. From the look on her face, I assumed we had been parked in front of U.A. longer then what was necessary.

"Did your overuse mess with your ears too?" She joked, pushing open the driver side door.

Forcing a smile, I shook my head. "N-no.. just a little nervous."

Before replying, Hiroe climbed her way out of the car and maneuvered her way to the passenger side door.

"Don't be," she smiled reassuringly whilst helping me into my wheelchair. "If your classmates are the way Aizawa said they were, then they'll understand."

"How can anyone understand," I gestured to myself. "This?"

Hiroe sighed gently as she proceeded to push me through the gates of U.A. The morning air was brisk and refreshing, something that I desperately needed to get myself through today; especially with the wandering eyes of students scattered around the courtyard. I didn't know how long I'd last with the constant staring.

"Don't pay any mind to them, Osoroshi," Hiroe demanded sternly as we made our way down the hall. "I'm sure they're only curious."

"Yeah," I agreed sarcastically. "As to why I'm still here."

"Cut that out," Hiroe huffed, making a stop in front of class 1-A to look at me. "You aren't any different from how you were a week ago, or a year ago. You're still you, and if your classmates have any common sense in their heads, they'll understand that."

"Sure," I looked away from her pleading eyes in favor of the window. "But there's still a possibility that they won't."

"That's true," Hiroe agreed, crouching down in front of me and taking one of my hands. "But you can't think negatively in times like this, kiddo."

At that, the immediate thought of Iida telling me to 'look on the brighter side of things' popped into my head. I didn't know why, but it was comforting and I found myself wanting to go inside the classroom where I knew he sat at his desk like he always did, stiffly waiting for Aizawa to show up and commence the lesson for the day.

I turned back to Hiroe, and forcing a smile, I nodded.

Her face lit up at that. She swiftly got to her feet and slid the door open, prompting the chatter from within the room to halt. Sending me one last, reassuring glance, Hiroe took my wheelchair by the handles and gently pushed me inside. As we entered, every eye in the room darted over to me.

The silence ensued for only a second before everyone abruptly got to their feet.

"Yuki!"

My name bounced off of the walls, and before I got the chance to react to the noise, I was swallowed into a hug by a pair of familiarly muscular arms.

Instinctively, I wrapped my arms tightly around Iida's waist and squeezed my eyes shut to prevent the overwhelmed tears from falling down my cheeks.

"I'm so glad to see you." He whispered against the noise of my roused classroom.

Smiling, I pecked his cheek before pulling away to look at his face. "I'm glad to be back."

"Hey, Iida, move over! Best friend coming through!" The sound of Karafuru's voice prompted a goofy smile to cross my lips.

She pushed passed Todoroki and leapt over Mineta before crashing into me and nuzzling her nose into my chest.

"Jeez," she exhaled breathlessly. "You had us all worried sick! And seeing you in a wheelchair doesn't make it any better." She pulled away to frown at me. "What happened?"