Narration POV
"Well then, let's begin," Aizawa said from the front of the classroom. He was surrounded by bandages like an ancient mummy brought to life, white cloth wrapped around nearly every visible part of his body. His right arm was encased in a cast that extended from his shoulder to his fingertips, held in place by a sling that made even the simplest movements awkward and painful.
However, the more important, and more concerning, thing was that his right leg was encased in a cast entirely, a bulky white prison that forced him to be in a wheelchair.
The students of Class 1-A sat in uncomfortable silence, their usual morning chatter replaced by worried glances at their teacher's condition.
Some fidgeted in their seats, others stared at their desks.
Aizawa didn't want to worry his students, but the truth was something he couldn't escape from, no matter how much he tried to push it to the back of his mind.
He would never be able to walk right again.
The bones in his leg had been shattered beyond what any normal medical intervention could repair, the fractures spiderwebbing through the bone like cracks in glass.
Even Recovery Girl's powerful healing quirk had reached its limits with his injuries.
The fact that he hadn't died because of Nomu 2's devastating hit was a miracle in and of itself, something that defied all logical explanation.
After all, he had been struck at speeds no human should have been able to withstand, speeds that should have liquefied his organs and turned his bones to powder. Thankfully, his capture weapon had been able to absorb and redistribute most of the kinetic energy, the specially designed fibers acting like a primitive shock absorber.
Without it, there would have been nothing left of him to heal.
But even with that protection, his hero career was effectively over. He might be able to walk with the help of a cane eventually, maybe even run short distances if he was lucky and dedicated to physical therapy.
But the days of swinging through the air on his capture weapon, of engaging villains in close-quarters combat, of being the underground hero known as Eraserhead, those days were behind him now.
"So I think we must first begin talking about yesterday," Aizawa continued, "You all experienced your first ever fight against villains yesterday. I want you to know that you all did great. Each and every one of you showed courage, quick thinking, and the kind of heroic spirit that U.A. looks for in its students."
He paused, letting his gaze sweep across the classroom. Bakugo sat with his arms crossed, his usual scowl tempered by something that might have been concern. Midoriya was looking down at his desk twirling his thumbs.
Each and every one was doing something to take their minds off it.
"However," Aizawa continued, "you not only experienced your first battle with villains, but rather you witnessed the grim reality of this world. The truth that every pro hero must eventually face, you can't save everyone."
Arthur shifted in his seat.
"Sometimes you will have to make impossible choices. Sometimes you will have to kill to save others. And while I know some of the more idealistic among you may have problems with this concept, this is the harsh truth of the world we live in. Heroes are not perfect beings who can solve every problem with a smile and a catchphrase. We are human. We make hard choices. We bear the weight of those choices."
The classroom was so quiet it felt like an entirely different place.
Aizawa bowed his head towards Arthur's seat.
"All I can say is thank you, Arthur. Thank you for protecting your classmates at all costs."
Arthur bowed his own head toward Aizawa, slightly, almost nothing at all.
"Now," Aizawa said, straightening as much as his injuries would allow, "let's move on from the grim reality we all live in. After all, the battle still isn't over."
This got several worried reactions from the students.
"It isn't?" Uraraka asked, her voice slightly higher than usual.
"Wait, battle?" Kirishima echoed, his usual enthusiasm dampened by concern.
"Please tell me it's not more villains!" Mineta practically shrieked from his seat, already looking around for places to hide.
Aizawa allowed himself a small, tired smile, not that they could see it underneath the bandages.
"U.A.'s Sports Festival is approaching, boys and girls."
The shift in the classroom's atmosphere was immediate and almost comical. The tension dissipated instantly and smiles suddenly appeared upon the students' faces.
"Oh yeah, I completely forgot this was a school!" Mina yelled from her seat, slapping her forehead dramatically.
"Wait, hold up," Mineta said, still shivering in his seat despite the change in topic. "That sounds like something villains will try to infiltrate, right? I mean, if they got into USJ, what's stopping them from attacking during a public event?"
It was a valid concern, one that had undoubtedly been discussed extensively by the faculty and administration. The USJ attack had shown that U.A.'s security, while impressive, was not impenetrable.
"On the contrary," Aizawa replied, "since we're going ahead with the festival, it means that the school is confident it has all its ducks in a row when it comes to crisis control. The administration, the Hero Public Safety Commission, and local law enforcement have all worked together to ensure maximum security. I hear police presence will be five times greater than normal, for example."
Some classmates looked at each other still worried, mainly Midoriya and Mineta.
"What you all should be thinking about is what a huge opportunity the U.A. Sports Festival represents for each of you. This isn't some event that'll be brought to a halt by the likes of villains. This is your chance to show the world what you're made of."
"No, please," Mineta whimpered, "if villains can appear anywhere, can we halt it? For the love of god?"
"Hey Arthur," Kirishima called out, turning in his seat to face the blonde boy, "you ever seen the Sports Festival before?"
Arthur looked up from where he had been staring at his desk, seeming to come back to the present moment. "Not really, no," he answered honestly. "At least I don't remember ever watching it."
"Huh, really Arthur?" Mina said as she leaned back in her chair, making it balance precariously on its back two legs. "You live under a rock or some shit? You never tried Coke, never watched YouTube regularly, never seen the U.A. Sports Festival?" She paused, counting on her fingers. "Man, you're bucket list must be huge then."
Arthur released a small smile but didn't say much.
Kaminari, ever the diplomat of their friend group, quickly jumped in. "Hey, that just means you get to experience all this stuff for the first time! And you'll experience it by actually being in it, I mean you have to admit that is pretty cool!"
Aizawa's voice cut through their chatter before the conversation could continue down that path.
"Our Sports Festival is one of Japan's biggest events!" he announced. "In the days before quirks became mainstream, the Olympics was the sporting event that whipped the entire nation into a frenzy of enthusiasm! Athletes from around the world would gather to compete, and the whole country would stop to watch."
He gestured with his uninjured arm.
"But now, as you all know, those international competitions just don't cut it anymore. When everyone has superpowers, the old records and achievements seem almost quaint by comparison. So what has taken the Olympics' place in Japan? What event captures the nation's attention and imagination?"
"The U.A. Sports Festival," several students answered in unison.
"Exactly. The U.A. Sports Festival.".
"The country's top heroes are sure to be watching," Yaoyorozu said eagerly, her formality gone for just a second, she hadn't even raised her hand to speak. "They'll be scouting us for potential recruitment into their hero agencies."
This sparked a new wave of discussion among the students. Kaminari leaned to the side.
"I'm thinking I might follow the tactic of going as a sidekick for a pro hero's squad after graduating!"
"But there's loads of people who get stuck as sidekicks and miss their chance to break out as solo heroes, and you seem just that type of dumbass, Kaminari."
"UGH!" Kaminari said gripping his heart.
"The important thing," Aizawa interrupted, bringing the class back to focus, "is understanding what this opportunity represents. Naturally, entering the squad of a famous pro hero will get you higher status and more experience."
He paused, letting his words settle like a stew.
"But remember this, time is limited. You have three chances to get noticed by pros during your time here. Three Sports Festivals. That is all. You only get this chance once a year for three years. If you truly want to be a pro hero, if you want the best agencies to fight over you rather than settling for whoever will take you, this is where you must shine."
With that sobering thought, the class ended. The students moved through their subsequent periods, second period with Present Mic's instructing English, third period with Ectoplasm's teaching mathematics, and finally fourth period with modern literature taught by Cementoss.
As the morning classes concluded and lunch period approached, the conversations naturally turned back to the upcoming Sports Festival. Groups formed and reformed as students discussed strategy, worried about competition, and shared their dreams of which heroes they hoped would notice them.
"Come on, man," Kirishima said as he slapped Arthur on the back with perhaps a bit more force than necessary, trying to jar his friend out of the melancholy that had seemed to settle over him like morning fog. "Stop being so gloomy! You haven't said more than ten words the entire day. Get excited! Three weeks! Then it's time for the U.A. Sports Festival!"
Arthur looked up at his red-haired friend, managing a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I know, I know."
"So what pro hero would you guys want to get noticed by?" Kaminari asked, trying to keep the conversation moving in a positive direction, he didn't like seeing his friend bummed out.
"Crimson Riot!" Kirishima declared immediately, not waiting for others to answer first. "It would be so damn manly to work under him! The way he never backs down, even if he's sacred, it's so... it's so... MANLY!"
Tears actually appeared at the edges of his eyes as he spoke about his idol, the passion in his voice unmistakable.
"Isn't he on the verge of retirement?" Tsuyu asked with her usual directness, her large eyes blinking slowly. "I heard he's been talking about passing the torch to the next generation."
"So?" Kirishima shot back without missing a beat. "It's even manlier for him to keep being a man among heroes at his age! Experience like that is priceless!"
"I'm not sure about a specific hero," Mina chimed in, her chair still balancing on the back two legs, "but getting noticed by Ryukyu would be sweet. Having a female role model in the top ten would be amazing."
"So Arthur," Kaminari asked, "how about you? What hero would you want to get noticed by?"
Arthur was quiet for a moment, the truth was he didn't know, much about heroes. He knew the top 10 sure, but he didn't know what they specialized in or anything like that.
"A hero that goes to any crime, no matter how small. That's who I want to get noticed by."
It was a simple answer. Still it couldn't have been a more Arthur-like reply.
"That sounds like Endeavor, doesn't it?" Toru suggested.
"Yeah, he has more solved cases and arrests than even All Might," Kaminari added, nodding thoughtfully. "Being number two in the hero rankings isn't just for show. Guy's a workhorse apparently."
Arthur however didn't really engage much with the rest of the conversation. He knew it was rude to tune out his friends, especially when they were clearly trying to include him and lift his spirits, but it was hard for him to act... normal.
Especially since he could tell, in the subtle ways people looked at him, in the tiny pauses before they spoke to him, in the careful way some classmates chose their words around him now.
The way some students looked at him had changed since USJ.
Not all of them, his core friend group remained the same, but others now looked at him like he was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Like he was something dangerous that happened to be on their side.
It made him feel awful.
He knew, logically, that they were probably just trying to process what had happened, same as him. Killing someone, even a villain, even somthing like Nomu, wasn't something that should come easily to anyone.
But understanding something intellectually and feeling comfortable with it emotionally were two very different things.
Kaminari, Mina, Toru, Kirishima, and Tsuyu had all made efforts to treat him normally, to include him in conversations, to act like nothing had changed. He was grateful for that, more grateful than he could express. But he could also sense the effort it required, the conscious decision to not let the events at USJ color their interactions with him.
As students began to file out of the classroom and to the cafeteria.
Arthur found himself walking alongside Tsuyu.
As they both got out of class, Tsuyu turned toward Arthur. Her large eyes blinking slowly and her froggish features were accentuated against the brightness of the hallway.
"Thank you, Arthur," she said simply, a smile gracing her face. "For saving me."
Arthur looked at her. He smiled back.
And for the first time since the incident, his smile reached his eyes.
"Any time," he replied, and meant it completely.
Tsuyu nodded once her smile widening, before she began to walk toward the rest of their group.
Arthur watched her go, and as he did, he felt something settle in his chest. A certainty that cut through the doubt and self-recrimination that had been plaguing him since yesterday.
It was worth it.
A/N: Sup ladies and gents. I know sorry about the inconsistency don't have much of an excuse and for that I apologize. So on to this chapter. Yeah some students are kind of scared of Arthur, I mean the power he showed was on another level.
Some of course don't really care mainly people like Bakugo, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu weirdly enough Shoji and a few more, but as you can expect some others do, cough Midoriya cough.
Either way, I had two choices. Write the three weeks leading to the U.A. sports festival or skip it. I was kind of leaning to the former ngl, but now seeing as we are approaching the 50 chapter mark, I'm thinking I won't.
We'll head straight to the sports festival, maybe I write one intermediary chapter, maybe, but don't expect an arc or something like that.
That's pretty much it for today. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Oh and send those stones lol, they really get my dopamine going, same with comments, basically anything that lets me see you dudes and dudettes are enjoying this.
Author out