I'm No Hero (My Hero Academia Fanfic)

Chapter 31

"Surely your parents would've understood as well," Raiden agreed.

"You're not mad or—or shocked?" I asked.

"Shocked, yes, but I could never be mad at you, Tami-tan!" Sakura exclaimed. "Besides, you've got to know what you want to do, not what anyone else wants you to do, and go for it."

I smiled as I looked at her. There wasn't an ounce of spite in her, like she had in the nightmare I had the other night. Sakura truly meant what she said, and if that wasn't enough, there was a warm smile spreading on her face.

"Thanks Sakura," I said, before I turned to look at Raiden to see what he would think.

The boy leaned back in his chair as he shook his head. "It makes sense. Here, I thought you weren't trying your hardest because your Quirk limits what you can do, but that wasn't it at all. It was because you didn't want to get caught, but didn't want to look like you didn't at least try, wasn't it?"

For once, someone figured me out. I looked down at the table as I wrapped my arms around my stomach. Out of all the ways I had expected this to go, I didn't think people would ever catch on as to why I did what I did. My plan was to fail out of U.A., meaning I would have to change career paths. Never have I ever imagined someone would realize how I truly felt about everything and why I did the things that I did. It wasn't supposed to end up that way.

Things would've been so much easier if I had just flunked out already, but flunking out this early would've been impossible. Not to mention, it would've been suspicious. My family would have thought I just wasn't trying. That was why I wanted to be decent in my classes. If I was decent in my classes, then it would just look like I had just fallen behind and just wasn't cut out to be a hero.

I just wasn't sure how they would react knowing that wasn't the case, that I just never wanted to be a hero. Now, I had even more reason for not wanting to be one. It wasn't because of what I went through. It was because I had learned who my father was.

He was a hero and had fallen deep into the dark side. If I tried to continue down this path, I would do the same thing. I was certain of it.

"Is that true?" Sakura asked.

Slowly, I nodded my head. "Sorry for being such a failure, and for disappointing you guys. I-I'd understand if you guys didn't want to talk or even—"

"Are you kidding? Tami-tan, we've been friends since we were like nine! I don't expect to find another BFF anytime in the future. Even if you don't want to be a hero, that's cool. After school, or even on weekends, we can still hang out," Sakura said. "Besides, I need someone to go shopping with."

Her comment made me chuckle. I looked up at her just to see her holding out her fist. It was a small gesture she had always done as she knew how much I hated physical touch, but wanted to show her support in some way. But that wasn't the case, at least, not after what happened these past few days.

It wasn't that I was afraid of touch. For years, yes, but was it because I didn't like it, or was it the fact I was scared of forgetting something again? I would give family members hugs without a second thought, but when it came to someone else, I hesitated.

The memory of seeing Raiden for the first time in a long time came flooding into my mind. I didn't think twice about pulling him into an embrace. It wasn't horrible either, not as much as it could have been. The sounds, the memory, everything that made physical touch so horrible didn't seem to happen back then. It was almost as if that was gone.

Looking up at Sakura, I took a deep breath as I slowly opened my arms.

Her eyes widened for a moment before she smiled and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a hug. For a moment, I could feel my body tensing up, but I didn't have any reason to. Sakura had accepted me for who I was, and that was enough.