~~~
"Sir, I-" Kira starts, only to be halted by a firm hand.
"I've been lenient and understanding with you, given your recent encounter with the villain, Toga," Aizawa says bluntly. "But the time has come for impudent behaviour on my part, I'm afraid."
Kira didn't like the sound of that one bit. If after all this time, her usually strict teacher claims he's been showing his nicer side, then she knows she's about to feel his wrath.
"I've overlooked your claims about being the potential traitor," her teacher continues. "After all, I have other suspects in mind, one's with a greater reason to betray their companions." He pauses, gathering his thoughts it seems, before looking Kira in the eye. "The fact of the matter is, I've taken your past honesty under advisement, but for now, your deceptions have not gone unnoticed. Not only that, but your advancement in your training has been sorely lacking."
Akira blinks at her teacher, his brazen tone seeping into her core. It feels like she's been punched in the gut. She feels sick. Not only has Kira been doubting herself and her Quirk, but it also seems her teachers have been too, as it appears they've taken into account her unwillingly holding back against Bakugou when they fought in the gym.
"Mr Aizawa..." Kira begins but is lost for words against her teacher's spoken truths.
"You failed the provisional license exam, Kiriya," he tells her, even though she knows this aching fact already. "And that won't do here at UA."
Another punch to the gut. This one hurt more than the others, as though he just outed her to the world. Her hiding certain secrets won't go unnoticed in the eyes of underground heroes, it seems. But, his last line hurt the most, like it's suddenly put her failures into the bigger picture. Was she not taking this seriously? She felt like she was.
Kira feels light, her legs like jelly and flops backwards onto the top step of the dorms. Aizawa sighs heavily, like he usually does and crouches down in front of the girl, balancing on his toes.
"Kiriya," he says, a little softer, but with a hint of discontent. "Is there anything I should know?"
Aizawa waits patiently for an answer, unmoving as he balances on his toes, only the gentle breeze brushing his loose, black hair over his eyes. Kira hugs her stomach close to herself, her knees scooting up to her cheeks.
There's only so much she could tell Aizawa even if she wanted to. How much would he understand? Would he resent her for her mistakes? Would he expel her without a second glance? Would she get arrested for her pathetic crimes?
"I..." She starts, her voice cracking. Aizawa turns his head a fraction at her response. "I can't."
Aizawa nods slowly, almost sadly, before looking down at the bottom step. But he doesn't move more than that, as if offering her another chance to spill her guts.
A few more seconds pass, before Aizawa speaks again, his voice barely audible. "If you refuse to give me a straight answer... there's only so much I can do."
Kira snaps her head to her teacher. She knows full well what he's insinuating - expulsion.
She watches Aizawa stand up and head up the steps, his feet tapping on the cold concrete beside her. Her chance at becoming a hero is slipping away by the seconds, all because she's been stupid, she's made mistakes. She's keeping secrets.
Too many at this point; her fathers reappearance, her fatal mistake during Kamino ward, which in turn led to her failing the licensing exam, Bakugou's confession in the other reality, she's even keeping her relationship with Kirishima kept silent (or at least trying to).
She feels like screaming - her heads about to implode with the pressure and the stress and the intensity that she calls her now secretive life.
Perhaps she's being dramatic, perhaps she's overthinking it all. If she just tells Aizawa everything that's happened, he's sure to understand, right? After all, he must have done or witnessed worse than her doings. Right?
The window closes faster and faster, her heart beating rapidly and she hears Aizawa open the door behind her. Her eyes widen and she leaps to her feet, spinning to her teacher so fast, she gets a splitting head rush in the process.
"Wait!" She yells and Aizawa turns to her lazily, his hand resting on the handle of the now open door.
Inside the dormitory, she spots All Might, Midoriya and Bakugou staring through the small gap in the door with intense curiosity. It seems All Might has found bandages of some sort and has placed them on each of the students faces, but that's not what peaked her interest. Each person displayed a completely different emotion, completely opposite of their behaviour personality traits.
All Might showed confusion in his hollow, sunken eyes, which is strange because he's always been certain of everything. That's just who he's always been. The number one hero who's always smiling and sure of every situation he's in.
And then there's Midoriya, his expression only revealing distrust. Distrust of her. He doesn't have the full story. She did say she would tell him everything once they completed the exam and they have. He deserves to know the full story, especially if all he knows now is nothing but the bad.
Bakugou. He's always been reckless and insensitive with his actions and his words. But now, something's changed. With the slightness of the open door and the vague darkness of the living room inside, Kira glimpses his face, concerned and apprehensive. Yeah, that's probably the most accurate description of his expression at that point in time.
However, there were factors that disrupted her vision, like the gap in the door, the terrible lighting, even the bandages on their faces. It was impossible to declare what they were truly feeling in that moment then and there. After all, they had just been caught fighting out at the Training Grounds. Over what? Kira will never know.
That lasted miliseconds, before Aizawa released the door and she was left staring at her own astonished reflection on the door.
"You've come to your senses?" Aizawa asks, a brow perked up in interest.
Kira nods, still lost for words after what she may or may not have just witnessed. "But, there's too much to say. Where do I even start?"
"Start at the hardest part."
So, she does. Kira fills Aizawa in on her incident with the boy and his father, leaving the adult behind to fend for himself after having witnessed the boy's murder. She fled. Leaving the man all alone, never knowing if he made it out of there, or not.
She explained that that is why she failed her exam. Because she panicked and fled, again. It's a signature move of hers now, it seems.
"I see," Mr Aizawa says slowly. "So, what are you doing out here?"
"I'm sorry, sir?" Kira frowns at her teacher. After everything she just told him, this is what he wants to know?
Aizawa glances at a small watch on his wrist. "It's nearly half three in the morning, dammit," he sighs angrily. "It's an unsuitable time to be out for a stroll."
Kira hesitates, her mouth hanging open in search for an answer. "I needed to clear my head," she decides to say. "I failed the exam and now that's weighing on me along with everything else I just told you."
Akira's quickly decided that Mr Aizawa absolutely cannot find out about her father's reappearance. He'll probably hunt him down or something, claim him to be a villain, just like Light Bringer when it was actually Toga in disguise.
But, this time Kira's sure of it - that is her real father.
Aizawa hums at her response, narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously. Kira waits patiently for a reply as Aizawa mulls over everything he's been informed. It was a lot to discover all at once.
Finally, Aizawa approaches Kira once again, crouching before her and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Listen," he starts, his voice soft. "I'm not going to reprimand you for your mistakes. On the path to becoming a hero, we all make mistakes. I have. All Might has. Present Mic. Midnight." He pauses, removing his hand. "What matters is how we can improve and evolve from these mistakes. I don't want to see you dwelling on it - that's not going to make a difference in developing your Quirk."
"Are... are you serious?" Kira scoffs. "I was-"
"I'm not finished," he cuts her off sharply. He's clearly disappointed in her previous actions. He stands up with another telltale sigh, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now that All Might's out of the picture, the new generation of pro heroes need to be as strong and capable as we can get." Aizawa looks off to the side as if he's contemplating something huge. "If it weren't for All Might's retirement, I'd probably expel you on the spot." He turns his head back to the student. "So, you should probably thank him for that."
"You're really letting me off the hook, aren't you?" Kira questions, slowly standing up off the top step.
Aizawa frowns at her. "I never said you weren't going to be punished for your actions."
"But, you just-"
"There's a difference between a light scolding and an actual punishment, Kiriya," he tells her. "First of all, you need to make reparations for your mistake that day."
Kira's head lowers in shame at the memory. She's going to hate herself until the day she dies for what she's done.
Aizawa jerks his head to the side, beckoning her to follow him inside the dormitories, where All Might is still assessing Midoriya and Bakugou's injuries. Kira tries to keep herself focused away from the battered pair and pay attention to her teacher as he continues to inform her of her punishment.
"Of course, that mistake cannot go overlooked," Aizawa was saying, heading over to All Might. "Then there's the simple matter of being out of the dorms past curfew" - he eyes the boys with hostility - "and as you can see, you're not the only one who has decided to ignore that rule, Kiriya."
"Uh, Aizawa," All Might says hastily, stammering over his words slightly, before moving away from the boys to the teacher. "Like I said earlier, perhaps you shouldn't be too harsh on these two, especially seeing as their reason for fighting is partially my own doing."
Aizawa looks at All Might harshly, before turning his attention to Midoriya and Bakugou.
"Is that so?" He says, his teeth gritted. "And how is that?"
All Might steps over to Aizawa to explain, out of earshot from the boys. "It seems young Bakugou has been feeling like he was responsible for my retirement. He had to face the licensing exam with those pent up emotions and then his inferiority complex exploded and this happened. It's all because I didn't realise I was being negligent. This whole fight was brought about because of the failure of his teacher."
Kira looks over at Bakugou as the two adults converse, discussing what type of punishment they should receive. The blonde looks up slightly when he notices Kira avert her eyes to him. His eyes then shift away, glaring at some spot on the ground.
His fault?
Kira's had it set in stone that All Might's retirement was her fault. After all, if she hadn't jumped in the portal after Bakugou back at the Training Camp, the villains never would have used her as leverage to thwart their escape. Without her there, Bakugou would have easily blasted them all to hell and back and would have easily escaped without merely a scratch. But, because of her, that never happened.
"This wasn't my fault," he says plainly, tears welling up in his eyes.
All she can do is frown in reply. She hasn't the faintest what he's referring to: All Might's descent, them being captured? What? She wants to ask, but the shock at realising his distraught expression has her speechless. Not once has she noticed Bakugou portray these emotions, and not once did she expect him to.
"You hear me?" He adds, growing more irritated, but with her or himself, she'll never know. "This was your damn fault. "What did you think was gonna happen? You were gonna save me and it would all be happily ever after? Compared to those damn villains, you're weak!"
His words ring in her head, the first day they arrived at the dorms. He was adamant that it was all her fault, but thinking back on his expression, the way he said it - was he just projecting all that emotion on to her in the first place? Was she too blind and distraught to even notice and took those words to heart?
After all, Bakugou's always been straightforward with his sense, never one to hide a double meaning. This time, it must have been too much for even the strong-willed blonde to handle.
However, Bakugou did confess his authentic feelings when they were both snatched into another reality.
He finally snaps - all this pressure must have ultimately been too much for him to handle. After all, he is only sixteen. "It's not what happened to me!" He bellows, his head dipping even lower as if to hide any fleeting emotions. "Don't you understand, you idiot!? It's all my fault! Not yours! I'm the reason All Might had to retire!" He grabs her wrist away from her neck. "It's my fault for everything! Don't you see? They didn't do anything to me! I wasn't lying! They did... nothing."
Did she forget about this?
Bakugou tends to go back on his thoughts, it seems. If she were to confront him about this again, he'd probably dismiss that this ever happened and blame her for everything that happened again. So, who's really at fault? They both have their opinions on who exactly deserved the accusation, but neither one of them are wrong.
They're both at fault, but at the same time, they're both merely victims.
After all, Akira and Bakugou have already been through so much since their capture: the Pirate Panic game incident; her confession when they were both summoned to the teacher's lounge; their somewhat 'civilised' conversation the night Kira had her very first nightmare; when they both fought at Gym Gamma and Kira went 'easy' on him without meaning to; when that villain sent the both of them to another reality and even their small conversation in the medical wing at the provisional license exam.
Through all of that, how did Kira not notice that Bakugou had something this massive weighing down on him? His character is so jaded that it makes it nearly impossible to read him and understand what he might be pondering about.
Bakugou slowly looks up once again, eyeing Kira as she stares back at him. She would try to look sympathetic, but Bakugou would probably only assume that she's pitying him, or perhaps even mocking the boy. The last thing she wanted was for the hothead to aim his dangerous sights at her. So, she forces her eyes away and back to the teachers, just as they finish their conversation and face the students.
"I understand that you three felt you had to break the rules," Aizawa says bluntly, skipping the concerning small talk. "But this isn't something I can just ignore. There must be a suitable punishment. You two" - Aizawa turns to the boys - "who threw the first punch?"
"I did," Bakugou says without hesitation.
"I also went pretty hard," Midoriya adds. "It wasn't just him."
"You're both on house arrest!" Aizawa yells, the exhaustion creeping up on him. "Four days for Bakugou, three for Midoriya!" Aizawa then whirls to Kira. "Two days for you, Kiriya! During that time, you'll clean all the common areas and the dorm morning and night. Plus I want a written apology from all three of you!" Aizawa turns his attention to the boys once more. "If your injuries need to be checked out, head to the infirmary! But, don't rely on the old lady's Quirk this time! Figure out a way to heal yourselves."
The three students are taken back by their homeroom teachers' sudden outburst. He was so calm and collected until just now.
Aizawa sighs heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If that's all... go to bed."
Without another word in fear of a much worse punishment, the three of them speedwalk to the lift and Kira can hear All Might say something along the lines of: "don't you think that was a bit much?"
Kira swallows heavily as they pile into the lift and Midoriya jams the button for the first floor and then presses number four for Bakugou and Kira.
Bakugou and Midoriya must be beyond curious why Kira's also out and about at this time and why she's receiving a punishment alongside them, but they both keep quiet for now, their own past few hours of regret and anger fueling their brains. Kira side-eyes them - they both look deep in thought, so she keeps quiet too, even though she has a billion questions racking her mind.
The lift finally dings at the first floor and the doors open, but Midoriya doesn't move. Kira thought that Bakugou would be angered by this, but he didn't make a sound.
"Midoriya?" Kira croaks. The uncomfortable silence is killing her.
He hums quietly, still deep in thought, his eyes cast down to the ground. The doors are about to close, so Kira slaps her palm against them and they ding again. The sudden movement springs the green-haired boy from his trance and he looks up at Kira.
"What were you doing out here?" He wonders.
Kira's stunned that he's asking that now. She frowns at the boy. "I could ask the same of you. Both of you."
"I thought that was obvious," Midoriya replies, his voice thin and impatient.
"It is, kind of," Kira shrugs with one shoulder. "Especially after hearing what Aizawa and All Might said."
Bakugou looks up then, but still hasn't said a word, not even a frustrated grunt. Perhaps he's just as curious as Midoriya about Kira's whereabouts.
"Look," Kira sighs irritably, her arm getting sore from holding the doors at bay. "We're all on house arrest tomorrow. Plenty of time to talk about everything then."
Midoriya doesn't look sure. But, who can blame him?
Kira decides to look Midoriya dead in the eye, ignoring Bakugou's watchful gaze. "I told you I'd give you the answers after the licensing exam... and I will. Tomorrow is the perfect day for it, wouldn't you say?"
"Fine," the boy grumbles, stepping out of the lift.
Kira finally releases the doors and they close immediately, leaving her in the silence with Katsuki Bakugou.
The lights above the doors tick to the number two and then three, before Bakugou makes a sound beside her.
"What the hell does that damn nerd wanna know?"
Kira turns her head to him, noticing the blonde avoiding eye contact and staring at the ground.
"Why?" Kira avoids the question. "You got something on your mind too?"
"It got something to do with your second Quirk or something?" Bakugou questions, his tone harsh and suspicious.
Kira hesitates before replying. "No, not really."
In the corner of her eye, Bakugou raises his head and she can practically feel the anger radiating off from him.
"You idiot," he says lowly, his voice dangerous and menacing. "You gonna give me a straight answer, or not?"
The lift dings for the fourth floor and Kira looks at the boy as the doors open. "Or not."
Kira quickly steps out of the lift before Bakugou has the chance to obliterate her to ashes. She can understand that he's exhausted and impatient and possibly aching all over from his battle against Midoriya, but she's aiming to explain herself tomorrow to the both of them. Perhaps this way Kira will be able to lighten the load and be able to move freely once again.
She should also inform Aizawa about her second Quirk. But any information like that brings everyone one step closer to figuring out about her father.
She doesn't want him to be taken away from her.
Kira approaches her dorm room door, her hand hesitating on the handle. She sighs heavily, slowly turning around to the room opposite her own across the hall.
Her eyes widen when she notices Bakugou copying her movements - he too waits with one hand on his handle and turns to Kira, his expression unreadable in the dark hallway. Kira's breath catches in her throat and they simultaneously enter their rooms without another word.
~~~