Guilt: The Trial of Izuku Midoriya

VI

This is the final chapter that needed to be fixed up. Going forward: every chapter will be using Grammarly to check and fix errors. As frustrating as the fixes are at times. I am pleased to see that my efforts are not only welcomed but have been received well.

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Guilt: The Trial of Izuku Midoriya

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Original version story written by: Isaac

Edited and re-uploaded with permission by: LordXG3

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Chapter Six: You are not alone

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Ochako struggled to sleep that night, tossing and turning in her bed as her thoughts were plagued with worry about her friend and crush: Izuku Midoriya. She wasn't alone, of course, as several of her other friends were all worried sick about their friend's current state of mind. But only Ochako knew more than she had previously led on. Whatever was currently haunting Izuku involved the night they were attacked by the gang of Hero Student Hunters inspired by people like Stain.

'There wasn't anything I could find online about the night,' she thought as she turned to face the ceiling with a long frown on her face. 'I even tried the Hero Network, but nothing came up...I wonder if this is part of it?'

Ochako turned to her side in frustration, trying hard to find rest in the comfort of her bed, her eyes shifting to her phone.

'I wonder if I could even just send him a text...anything to let know that we...that I'm here for him.' She could feel the urge, the need, the desire to reach out, call, message, anything to just reach out to him, but doubts began to cloud her mind. 'What if I just get in the way? Is it possible I could just make things worse?'

This and much more continued to revolve around her mind until she began hearing a gentle knocking upon her door.

Knock knock knock

Ochako froze, shifting herself up from her bed, and looked at the door with a confused expression. 'Am I hearing things or did...?'

Knock knock knock

The sound was clear and coming from behind the wooden door, forcing Ochako to investigate. She gingerly walked towards the door, removing her sleeping mittens out of instinct, checking the peephole, and found no one there, leaving her quite perplexed.

'Oh, gods...am I hearing things now?' She wondered, taking a step back.

Knock knock knock

Ochako whipped her head back to the door, 'I definitely heard that.'

However, there was something different about the knock now that she was closer to the door. The source was lower; rather than around the middle, meaning it was someone short who was knocking. Ochako unlocked her door and slowly opened it, peeking out the crack to find a familiar shock of long white hair.

"Eri?"

The little girl raised her head, revealing tears had been running down her tired eyes. In an instant, Ochako dropped to knees looking over the child with worry.