It is often said that certain people have the lines between their daily life and work so blurred, they never fully switch off from work. Aizawa didn't want to admit being one at first, when he was living by himself.
But, with an added responsibility as an adoptive father on hand, he finds that all sorts of thoughts have jumbled up together in his mind. Even the walls of his private living space fail to ward them off.
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Aizawa sighed as he threw Arata's first examination results to his work desk. As expected, the results weren't looking good. At this point, it might be even better to put her out of school, train her during the remaining time, and have her take U.A.'s entrance exam next year.
But, then again, considering the resources they all have for now, the most feasible option was to let her progress with 1-A. If she still couldn't catch up with the rest of the class by the end of the school year, they could have her retake the first grade of high school.
"Why look so disheartened, Aizawa-kun." All Might turned his office chair and pasted a grin, his sharp cheekbones protruding underneath his skin. "Arata-shoujo's capabilities can improve with intense training! Look how far Midoriya-shonen and other students have come!"
Rolling his dark eyes in irritation, Aizawa wanted to retort back that the only time he had seen Midoriya using his quirk without inflicting self-injury was during the recent rescue training race. He had to admit that All Might actually had a point though, Midoriya had indeed come a long way.
"How come someone can be so bad at controlling their own quirk?" the younger teacher grumbled and crossed his arms. "It is an innate physical ability."
"Considering her situations, we can regard Arata-shoujo as a quirkless girl who has just developed a quirk all of a sudden," All Might said. "It will take her some time to get used to her new power."
Those who didn't have the privilege to experiment with their quirk were rarely able to control it with ease. Like quirkless-born Young Midoriya with his One For All, or Young Todoroki with his dormant fire half. In a way, Young Arata was similar to them.
Of course, the learning rate differed from person to person. And, there were some exceptions like All Might himself, who had had no difficulties to unleash the full capacity of One For All since the first time he received it from his predecessor. Not to say that it didn't feel odd and unnatural at first.
Sensing Aizawa's focused glare on him, All Might continued, "For normal people like you, using quirk might feel like a second nature. But, for her, it might feel like growing an extra limb. It hasn't become a muscle memory yet. She has to call upon it and control it deliberately. Just give her time to adapt to both her surroundings and quirk."
Instead of thanking him for his stellar advice, Aizawa glares at him in suspicion. "Why do you know so much about that? It's not like you were born quirkless, were you?"
Uh oh, the corners of All Might's smile twitched, almost crumbling in an instant. He quickly covered it up with a boisterous laughter, which didn't get along with his current skinny form. "What are you saying, Aizawa-kun? Youngsters these days, so funny!"
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While other kids have had some directions and training during their younger years in the junior high, elementary school, or in the family, Arata—his adopted daughter—is a blank canvas. Not a single factor ever influenced her quirk development progress. No doubt, whatever change Aizawa—no, they both make now, will have a substantial impact in the future.
Then, should I start with this little thing? Aizawa exhales, stirring a bowl of greens in front of him with a pair of chopsticks. Next to him, Arata is waiting patiently on the other side of the dark sofa, refusing to reach for her own dinner before he starts eating.
"Are you trying to make a miniature rainforest using all these vegetables?" Aizawa grouches. "Next time, put more meat in the meals."
"Oh, right... I'm sorry." Arata grimaces sheepishly as he begins munching. She often forgets that vegetables aren't difficult to get here, unlike when she was still with the Shirayuki.
"You can't develop muscles if you only have fiber and carbohydrate in your body." Aizawa swallows and glares behind his bowl. "More protein, remember that."
"Yes, Aizawa-san."
"So, how's your study group earlier?"
"It's nice." Arata pinches small bits of the rice and vegetables with her chopsticks. "Everyone is a great help and I've managed to finish my homework."
Not a bad start for her new life as a student, but not sufficient to introduce the outside world to her and vice versa, Aizawa reaches into his pocket, rubbing along the tips of his fingers on the folded I-Expo invitation. Is it time to take things to the next level?
By next level, what he actually means is dropping Arata right into a world-class event. One might argue that his methods are quite extreme. But, Aizawa believes that if a person can handle two opposite extremes, they also should be able to withstand any situation within the range.
"Does that mean you have nothing to do tonight?"
"Um... I'm doing the laundry?"
"Forget the laundry, you can do it later." Aizawa raises one eyebrow and puts down his empty dish on the coffee table. "Look up some info about I-Expo, I-Island, and air travel on the internet. Well, all about them if possible. Let me know when you're done."
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Aizawa thinks he has dropped enough clues for her to deduce what's going on, but it seems that Arata doesn't grasp his intention. He is a bit surprised when a couple of hours later, she asks him how many pages of essay he wants it to be.
Leaning on his door frame, he stares her down and pulls out the I-Expo invitation. "It's not homework."
"Oh." Arata glances at the dark-colored card in his hand, her eyes tracing the pretty embellishment along its sides. "Um, so... you're going to the artificial moving island for a day? Do you want me to prepare anything for you?"
"Not me," Aizawa says shortly. "You are going there, and it's not only for a day. Pack your things."
"Me?" Her bright green eyes widen in genuine surprise and confusion, flicking from the invitation to his face. "Do you want me... to go? But, you aren't going and— and what about... here?"
"What do you mean?"
It is true that Aizawa didn't expect Arata to joyfully jump and wave her hands in the air, but he also didn't expect her to act so averse to the idea. What's wrong? Did I miss something?
"Aizawa-san..." Arata's voice turns lower and lower, her head bowed. "Is this... because of my bad results in the routine examination? Are you... Are you giving me up? Like… my mo— Hanakiri did?"
Stunned and suddenly wide awake, Aizawa straightens up his posture and thinks back. He is very sure he didn't look that upset this morning, but apparently Arata picked up even the tiniest details.
Does she see them as a warning sign? To anticipate something so distressing just because something so trivial...
Well, maybe part of it is his fault for mincing his words, which in turn could be interpreted in multiple ways. "Arata," Aizawa sighs, rubbing his own forehead. "It's a roundtrip ticket. You'll come back here after spending two days—not only one day—there."
Peeking from behind her bangs, Arata mutters in a timid voice, "Then, why— why aren't you going?"
"I have meetings and things to take care of for the upcoming training camp with Principal Nezu and Vlad King," he clarifies. "I-Expo is a big event with a lot of quirk-related technologies and entertainment to see. I just think it will be a suitable place for you to learn and explore. We also don't have to worry about Hanakiri getting to you there, because I-Island's security is top notch."
"So... I will go there?"
"Yes, the plane will depart tomorrow night."
She still looks doubtful and apprehensive, and there is a small part of his heart that is breaking. Has she been caged so long that she is afraid of passing through an open door? Is there a growing fear in her mind that once she passes through it, she can't go back again?
Aizawa's thoughts drift to the concept of home, the weight of her past experiences heavy upon his mind. Home, he mulls over, shouldn't be a cage. It is unfortunate that the Shirayuki and Hanakiri imprinted an incorrect notion of home upon her, although they had never actually given her a home. A real home is a nest, where the members can return anytime they want or need to.
"Look, Arata," Aizawa calls her again, drawing her attention to him instead of the floor. "You are to come home afterwards, understand? You have to start training and work hard if you want to get anything other than bad results next month. I won't go easy on you, so enjoy the last holiday you'll be having in I-Island. Do you copy?"
"Copy that," Arata breathes out and nods. "I will come back home, Aizawa-san."
"Good, then pack your stuff. We'll talk about this again in the morning."