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You were definitely going to be late, really late for english. Having Present Mic as the sensei definitely did not make things easier.
Reminder: do not arrive at lunch rush 15 mins before class.
Speed walking to class is not easy when all you have is an urge to run. Though the very next moment you came to a halt. A sniffle slowly resonated in the hallway, another one soon following it.
You were going to be late, really late, but surely you cannot leave someone who may be in a bad state alone, especially if they might be hurt…
Making up your mind, you turn on your heels and seek out the source of the sound.
A tiny little girl stood there, standing against the wall and trying hard not to bawl out loud. It broke your heart seeing this scene.
‘Who would leave such a cute girl alone,’ you huffed in your mind.
You slowly walked towards the girl and kneeled down in front of her.
Looking closely, she had flowy silver hair with a single mini horn as well as beautiful ruby eyes that glistened with unshed tears.
Glancing at you, the girl became more scared by the second. Curling into herself, her sniffle became louder. She acted desperate to protect herself.
‘She has some trauma,’ you thought.
So you kept both your hands within her sight and spoke with a soft voice with a smile on your face.
“I am Y/N L/N, a student in U.A from class 2C, what is your name?”
More tears welled up inside her eyes as she stared at the floor without a word.
“I know it is very scary, right?” you said trying to get her to open up.
A soft “hmm” sounded from her.
“You know I am also scared of bigggg mean people… especially if the hurt others” she looks up as you continue speaking, “but I also love chocolate and swimming, what about you?”
“Really?” she said quietly, so quiet you almost didn't catch it.
“Yes, really.” You said to reassure her.
“I am-I also don’t like biggg scary people but I like apples.” She said, stuttering a bit.
“Righttt, apples are so tasty! I want to help you so you won’t be scared and then we can get some apples, so can you tell me your name?” you said with a soft expression.
Calming down a little, she replies, “Eri.”
“That is such a good name for a brave girl , Eri chan. Now, can you tell me who you came to UA with?”
She looks up at you and says, “I came with Luh Million and Aizawa,” softly but louder than before.
Out of the two you could only recognise Eraserhead’s name, him being frequently mentioned by your English teacher.
“So Eri chan, Will you go to the teacher’s office with me?” You said with a smile.
Sounding confused, she said, “Aizawa san said not to go anywhere with anyone.”
You smiled, remembering the golden rule taught to every kid.
“You are absolutely correct, but has he said what to do if you are lost?” You reassured her while figuring your next steps.
“No-o” She whispered.
“So how will they find you Eri chan?” You said trying to get some more information.
“I-I don’t know,” she said with tears threatening to spill. Poor girl, it is definitely a scary situation for her.
“Can I wait here with you? I will try and protect you from any big mean guys,” you said, coming up with a plan.
“Oh-k” she replied.
Taking out your phone, you messaged your friend F/N who was the most likely to be free.
‘Please go to the teacher’s room and tell them a child named Eri is with me’
You quickly looked around and added,
‘I am near class 603’
A quick ‘ok’ was received
With at least 5-10 minutes to pass you decided to talk with the girl.
“Eri chan do you like rainbows?” you said excited to show her a surprise
“What is a rainbow?” She said curiously.
There is definitely something wrong with her parents, and you were going to have a word with them. Moving on you showed her your favourite party trick.
“Look over there” You said pointing towards the sky, as you control the water in the air to make mist near the sunlight creating an instant rainbow
“Wowwww, it is so pretty!“ She said in awe.
That reaction never gets old, does it.
“Was that your quirk?” She asks, curious.
Creating an apple sculpture in your hands with water, you reply
“Yeah, I can control water.”
“That must be so good,” She said with a somewhat distant feeling.
Did she not like her quirk? You could help, maybe.
“Can I tell you a story about my quirk?” you asked her.
She hummed yes back.
“So, when I was like you, brave but small; I was really scared of my quirk…” you said.
“Why?” she asked
“Well, I was scared of water. A small amount of water like this is fun but sometimes I would fill the entire room with water.”
“Imagine, if you can’t breathe or swim… that was scary for me”
“I also hurt my brother once like that, so I became really scared of hurting people also.” You said, recalling some memories.
Eri looked curious with hopeful eyes as she asked,
“So what did you do?”
You gave her a smile and replied,“I tried training my quirk, so I trained and also learnt swimming.After that when I knew I could control my quirk I was not that scared anymore.”
“So you are not scared now?” she asked again with hopeful eyes.
“No, I am still scared of hurting people which is why I decided to become a quirk therapist rather than a hero.” You said, deflating her hope.
“Why? Heroes don’t hurt people, they rescue them, like me” she said feeling confused.
So she is away from the trauma you thought but it doesn't hurt to re-check. You replied to her hoping to give a good explanation.
“Of course they don’t, heroes are good people but they have to fight the big mean guys to protect us. But I am scared of fighting them also…”
“But you have a good quirk” she instantly replied.
“Eri I will tell you something, there are no good or bad quirks, just good or bad people who use those quirks. And even if you have a powerful quirk it doesn't mean you have to use it and that you should not be scared.”
“But it doesn't work that way. Yes we can work to get over those fears but no one can tell you that you are scared of nothing. You should decide what you want to do, because it is okay to be scared sometimes. You can tell me, or the people around you when you are scared.”
“She is right, Eri!” A loud voice came from above.
“Aahh!!” you squealed as you fell from your kneeling position. You looked up to see a man with blonde hair and blue eyes who stood there with a massive smile on his face.
“You can tell any of us when you are scared and we will always help you!” he said with the same boisterous tone.
He looked down at your fallen figure and offered a helping hand, and said,
“I am so sorry, my lady. But I really agreed with what you said and got a little too excited.”
You took his hand and stood up. Then, you remember Eri's trauma symptoms. You don’t know who he is and how he is related to Eri. Though he did have a uniform on but better be safe than sorry. So you formed a protective stance in front of Eri.
“Who are you? And how are you related to Eri?” You said while keeping an eye on Eri’s reactions.
Seeing her happy expression, it seemed she knew him well. So you loosened your stance and looked up at the guy.
He seemed amused with your actions and said, “My name is Toogata Mirio, I am from class 3B”.
Giving him a handshake, you said, “My name is L/N Y/N, I am from class 2C.”
He then asked you, “You seemed protective right now, why is that?”
If Eri was being abused by other family members you felt it was right to inform him, especially considering the scars on her hands.
You replied, “After observing Eri I found several signs of child abuse, thus I had to consider you may be the assailant but looking at Eri’s reaction confirmed you were not the one”
“Ahh, she was indeed rescued from an abusive household.” he said, giving a sad smile.
“You did an amazing job, working to combat your fear,” he said, changing the topic.
“So you heard the conversation,” you said, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes I am sorry that I eavesdropped” He said bowing a bit, but the continued to say,
“If it is any consolation, it is amazing that you are going into quirk therapy. From what I heard, you handled Eri’s case really well. You will do a great job.”
“T-Thank you” you stuttered out at the unexpected compliment, blood rushing to your cheeks.
You look down at Eri and notice she seems a bit feverish. Concerned you place a hand on her forehead slowly and indeed it was hot.
You kneel down a bit and ask her, “Can I pick you up Eri?”
She nods, slightly out of it from the fever.
Picking her up, you say, “You are a bit warm aren’t you? I am making you a cold water patch.”
Placing it on her forehead, you look at mirio’s concerned face you say,
“let’s take her to recovery girl”
“Should I carry her?” He asks.
You say it's okay and walk together towards recovery girl’s office
“It's all good, she just needs some rest. It was a stress induced fever.” Recovery girl said after examining Eri.
Both you and mirio release a sigh of relief.
You turn to him and ask what you were curious of,
“How did she get lost in the first place?”
“Well I am not sure since she was with aizawa sensei, but it seems she went out looking for me.” he said while scratching his neck.
“Oh ok, at least I got to meet this cute little ball of sunshine,” You said feeling happy.
“Though, she did seem to follow the golden rule of not following anyone, anywhere pretty well though.” You said giggling at her previous refusal to move.
“She did?” Mirio said looking proud.
“Absolutely refused to go to the teacher’s office with me. It makes sense but you should also let her know of a backup plan in case she gets lost or hurt.” you said, giving some advice for the future.
“I will convey that to Eraserhead, I guess she can’t understand the nuances yet.” Mirio said contemplating on what to do.
“Well, no child can. Once my mom said ‘Do not open the door for anyone while I am Gone.’ leaving me home alone for the first time. I took it a little too literally and refused to open the door for my father when he came home in the afternoon to get some documents. He was so angry at my constant refusal, Goshh that made my mom laugh so much when she came home.” you said laughing at the memory.
“At least you were just following orders.” he said laughing with you.
“Y/Nnn” Eri mumbled out from her bed.
“Yes Eri?” you replied.
“Can I see you again?” she asked with trepidation.
“Of course, here take my number” you said, taking out two pieces of paper and writing your name and number.
“You can call me anytime you want or need, ok?” You said while giving a piece to Eri.
“Yes,” Eri replied, looking really happy
You then gave Mirio also the same sheet of paper and said,
“I would love to meet her again so call or message me ok?” you said with a smile.
“Will do” he replied with confidence.
Giving a snicker, you decided to shoot your shot;
“You can message me even if you want to meet me,” you said, giving a wink.
That made Mirio blush so hard as he stood there shocked for a second before replying with the same confidence as earlier, “Definitely”
You wave him and Eri a goodbye and head towards the door.As you leave the office, and rush towards class you realise you forgot to ask for an excuse slip from Recovery Girl. Holding your head in frustration you continued to speed walk.
Boyy, You are going to definitely get scolded.