Eraser Head slammed his hand onto the table.
"What were you thinking?!" he roared. "Brawling with an upperclassman?!"
He was glaring at Luke, who was bound in Aizawa's capturing weapon from head to toe, barely able to peer through the narrow gaps in the cloth.
Half an hour ago, a patrol robot had spotted Midoriya and Bakugo trespassing inside Ground Beta.
It had immediately alerted Aizawa, the homeroom teacher of Class 2-A, to which both students belonged.
Just as Eraser Head had stormed out of his quarters to deal with the nuisance, he had run into All Might, who had insisted on tagging along.
However, before they had even reached Ground Beta, explosions had begun echoing through the fake city.
If that hadn't shocked the sleep out of Eraser Head already, the sight of not two, but four students brawling with each other drove the point home.
Surprisingly, students fighting recklessly with clear intent to injure one another wasn't even the worst part of this mess.
It was the involvement of Rikuya Saionji — a third-year student from Class 3-I!
By now, All Might had already escorted Midoriya and Bakugo away, assuring Eraser Head that he would handle them, while Class 3-I's homeroom teacher from the Management Department had whisked Rikuya away after taking the boy's formal statement.
That left Eraser Head alone with Luke, the signed incident report glaring up from the desk behind him.
"Speak, dammit!" Aizawa hissed, hauling Luke forward by the binding cloth.
The boy looked back at him through the strips of white fabric wrapped around his head, but otherwise kept his mouth shut.
And what could he even say?
From Class 2-A to 3-I, and from 3-I all the way to Ground Beta, dozens of security cameras had caught Luke confronting Rikuya, punching him, and dragging him away before proceeding to have an all-out brawl with his stepbrother.
The only reason neither pair had been stopped sooner by staff was that curfew had not yet officially set in — the hour after which students were strictly forbidden from leaving their dorms without explicit permission and teacher supervision.
That leniency was going to change now, Aizawa knew.
All because of four unruly boys.
"You don't understand the gravity of this situation, do you?" Eraser Head asked, feeling a migraine building behind his eyes. "Not only is Rikuya your upperclassman, but he's also in the Management Course. As if that doesn't automatically give him the advantage, his statement clearly claims you initiated the attack, forcing him to defend himself. All the security footage corroborates his story — a story you haven't said a single word to refute.
"Midoriya and Bakugo… those two idiots have always had friction, but they're classmates in the same hero track. You won't be walking away with mere house arrest. So… speak. If you have something to say, say it now!"
Knock-knock.
"Aizawa—" All Might's deep voice carried through the door, "—it's me."
Eraser Head opened the door and let All Might take a good look at the restrained Luke, blood seeping through the white cloth here and there.
All Might sighed, slumping heavily into a chair.
Aizawa couldn't blame him.
A part of him just wanted to get this over with, too.
"Midoriya and Bakugo… they will be fine," All Might began, sounding thoroughly drained. "I know I shouldn't say it, but what happened between them tonight happened at the right time, and for the best. Now they can finally move past the resentment they've been carrying… I believe."
"Knowing Bakugo, I doubt that," Aizawa muttered.
"Haha…" All Might gave a dry, raspy laugh. "… I doubt it, too. But… it will be different moving forward. Trust me."
"I… don't think… I should be listening to this…" Luke mumbled through the bindings.
That tore it.
Eraser Head cuffed the back of Luke's head, making All Might wince on the boy's behalf.
"Don't you think we know that?!" Aizawa snapped directly into Luke's ear. "And if we know that, can you guess why we are still having this conversation in front of you?!"
All Might motioned for him to loosen the restraints.
Once Eraser Head unwound the cloth from the boy's chest and head, the former Symbol of Peace gestured toward an empty chair.
"Luke…" All Might began gently. "Do you remember what you told me when I asked why you wanted to become a Hero?"
Luke's fingers clenched into white-knuckled fists.
"You said you didn't want to be a Hero," All Might answered for him, drawing a sharp, surprised glance from Aizawa, who was hearing this for the first time. "You said you leaped off the eightieth floor of a skyscraper to catch that boy simply because you were sick of standing on the sidelines. Because you wanted to do more… far more than what anyone expected of you. Do you remember?"
Luke gave a faint, reluctant nod.
"Over the past year, those expectations haven't vanished, Luke — they've multiplied," All Might said. "Your classmates, your teachers, even I… we all expect you to stand tall whenever crisis strikes. Always. To be the pillar we can rely on without a second thought. No hesitation. No doubt. No regrets. Complete, absolute faith. That is the figure you have built while walking this path as you see it. Knowingly or not… you have begun carrying the weight of a Symbol."
Luke kept his eyes glued to the floorboards, his knuckles throbbing.
"Sigh…" All Might shook his head. "Your stepbrother maintains that this was strictly a private family matter. Even so, the faculty cannot allow this to set a precedent for the rest of the student body. I expect you to resolve whatever conflict is troubling you… over the coming weeks, preferably before this semester's final exams."
Luke looked up, bracing for the verdict.
"You are suspended," All Might said gravely. "Use this time to reflect on your conduct and your priorities. I have full faith that you will return as a better version of yourself. Now, report to the infirmary, and then go straight to your dorm room."
Moments later, Luke was limping down the quiet corridor toward the infirmary.
[That went rather well,] Miss Justice's voice chimed inside his mind. [We finally have uninterrupted time to ourselves instead of wasting hours sitting through basic lectures. For a moment back there, I truly thought you had lost control while brawling with your brother and Bakugo. A well-orchestrated performance.]
Luke remained silent.
Had he really been bluffing?
Had his words meant nothing?
Had he truly been himself while threatening to burn Singularity to ashes?
Luke didn't have the answers.
Nor did he have the energy to care tonight.
All Luke knew was that All Might had been right about one thing.
When this suspension was over…
… Luke would return as a better version of himself — an advanced one.