It's Not So Bad

Chapter 3 Part1

*Time Skip to after school on Friday*

I am nervous. The last bell sounded just a few minutes ago so now I have to go my house. I was about to start walking when someone tapped my shoulder. I flinched and turned to see that it was Bakugo. “Oh, hey Firework. Did y-you need s-something?” I asked. This weekend was not something I was looking forward to. I could tell he knew because I stuttered when talking. I don’t stutter when I am talking to him or Izu.

“The second it gets really bad; you call me or find a way to let me know. I will come get you. Since I can’t do anything without you agreeing, this is all I can do for now.” He said in a muffled voice. I just nodded my head even though I knew I wouldn’t. “Alright, I have to get going before I am late, and I get in t-trouble for that as well. I will be back late S-sunday night. When my p-parents are asleep. See ya.” I said. He nodded his head, and I started my walk to the house I was raised in.

*A TW and some harsh words against Lesbians*

It was about 30 minutes later when I had just reached my front door, and I could already hear the yelling. I braced myself as much as I could and opened the door. I was immediately met with my parents staring at me with angry expressions. Now I know I am in some deep s**t. What for who knows. Probably because I was breathing.

“KIIARDA AKIYAMA!” Mrs. Akiyama yelled. If you are confused, I call my ‘mother’ by her name because she refuses to be called ‘mom’ by me. Same with my ‘father.’ It’s okay though since I don’t see them as my parents. “WHY THE HELL WEREN’T YOU HERE ON TIME! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE FIVE MINUTES AGO!” she yelled. I flinched and took a step back.

“OH, YOU WANT TO RUN AWAY FROM YOUR PUNISHMENT?!” Mr. Akiyama screamed. “But-“ I started to say before I was slapped. I stepped back, and that was yet another mistake. “DON’T TRY TO RUN AWAY FROM HER!” he said as he punched my stomach. “WHY COULDN’T YOU BE HERE ON TIME! THE LEAST YOU COULD DO SINCE WE RAISED YOU IS TO DO THE SIMPLE THINGS WE ASK YOU!” she said as she kicked my side. I fell to the ground, holding my side while trying to keep my wings in.

As a protective mechanism, my wings can sometimes come out of their own accord and wrap around me like a shield. It takes quite a bit of energy and concentration to keep them in. Mr. Akiyama started kicking my back repeatedly as he yelled, “AND NOT EVEN THAT! YOU HAD TO MAKE IT WORSE BY BEING A LESBIAN! HOW COULD I HAVE MADE SOMETHING LIKE YOU! ME AND YOUR MOTHER ARE DISGUSTED! YOU DAMN FAG!”

I stayed on the floor curled up in a ball. It was the same thing every time. I would come home, get in trouble for something, get beaten for it, get beaten for my sexuality, and it would continue until they had enough of me. Then they would drag me to my room and throw me on the floor and leave me there until they wanted to ‘play’ again.

After a while, they finally stopped hitting and yelling. I couldn’t move any part of my body because I was in so much pain. I feel like my body was tossed into a meat shredder. One of them picked up my arm and started dragging me to my room. The only thing I could do was whimper as I tried to keep all the tears from leaking. I can’t break down right now. It would only make my situation worse.

Once we arrived at the door of my room, Mr. Akiyama opened it and threw me inside. “We will continue your punishment for being late tomorrow. You are not here during the week so you can’t be punished for anything until the weekend. That means you will be punished only on the weekends for all the s**t you did wrong over the week.” He said. Just as they were about to walk away, Mrs. Akiyama said, “Don’t die overnight.” Before closing the door and walking away.

I sat there for a few minutes, hearing their footsteps fade as they walked away. After I was sure they were far enough away, I let my wings out and used them to cover my whole body. I can’t tell you how many bruises there will be tomorrow morning, but I know it won’t be a pretty sight. I looked at my arms to see that there were some cuts and a few bruises already forming.

I slowly moved my arms so that I could look for my phone. After I found it in the corner of my room, I slowly, painfully, made my way to it. Once it was in reach, I grabbed it and pressed the power button to check the time. It read ’00:39’ (12:39). I can’t believe it’s already just past midnight. I turned it to the camera and put the flash on. I took a few pictures of myself so I could see how much it would change in the next few hours.

I started taking pictures of everything they did to me about 2 years ago. There were some light days where all I would have is a few bruises and cuts on my body. And there were others where not one inch of my skin was my normal skin color. This is considered a slightly worse day.

I slowly shifted until my knees were pressed against my chest and my arms were around them. I put my wings away in case they came in while I was asleep, and used one of my Demon side quirks, fire, to heat myself up and keep me warm through the night.

I looked at the ceiling and thought about what I had promised Firework. I know I told him I would call him if it got bad, but I can’t bother him with this. I don’t want him to worry about me more than he already has. I slowly closed my eyes as I felt my body wanting to shut down for a few hours. Soon enough, I fell asleep thinking of how much more I had to go through the next two days. At least I know what’s coming.

*Time skip to Sunday morning*

I woke up to birds chirping by my window. I slowly opened my eyes to see light peeking through my curtains, falling against the other side of my room. I flexed my hand to see how sore it would be but didn’t get far when I couldn’t move it an inch. I forced myself to move so I could at least look at my alarm clock on my nightstand.

I was surprised when it read 9:17 am. Mr. and Mrs. Akiyama don’t let me sleep past seven. Thinking something was off, I slowly pushed myself to stand so I could walk around a little bit. I stumbled to my door and slowly opened it. After it was opened, I leaned on the door frame and stayed still. I listened for any yelling, or any sign that they were here.

After not finding anything, I slowly limped my way to the kitchen, listening for any sign of them. Once I made it into the kitchen, I saw a note on the counter. I made my way over and picked it up. It read:

Dear disappointment,

Hopefully, you didn’t die last night. I and your father are going into town today. We will be back sometime around 8 pm. You are left on your own……for now. Just know your punishment is far from over. Don’t screw up anything in the house like you already have by getting your blood on the floor and walls.

~Mrs. Akiyama

‘My blood was on the floor and walls because it splattered when you hit me!’ I thought angrily. I limped to the trashcan so I could throw the note away and then made my way back to my room. Once there, I grabbed some cloths and started putting them in a bag. Then I grabbed another bag from my closet and filled that one up too.

Once they were both filled with cloths, I grabbed my phone, phone charger, and put my shoes on. I checked the time to see that it was 10 o’clock. ‘How the hell did an hour pass when I haven’t even done anything?’ I thought. I put a jacket on, grabbed everything, and headed out the door.

If they won’t be here till late, then I am going to go to U.A. early so I don’t have to stay there any longer. It may take me a bit, but I will get there eventually. About an hour later, I could see the entrance to U.A.. My body hurts like I went through hell and back then got put through a woodchipper. I took out my phone and called one of the two people on my speed dial.

After two rings, he picked up. “Hey Kii, what happened where are you?” “Hey Firework. U-um, how f-far are y-you from the s-school?” I asked. “About five minutes from the school, why do you need me to come get you? I can be there in three minutes.” He said. “Firework, p-please don’t do t-that. I am at the school g-gates. I will just w-wait for you here.” I told him. “Fine, I will be there in a minute.” He said and hung up.

I walked through the gates and waited for him to show up. Not even a minute later, Bakugo walked through the door looking everywhere. When he spotted me, he ran over and looked at my face with wide eyes. “What the hell?” he asked. “I’m fine. I just need to get to my dorm so I can put concealer on to cover it up.”

“No, I am taking you to recovery girl. She can heal you.” He said. I let out a yelp as he grabbed my arm to drag me with him. He immediately let go and faced me with a guilty expression. “I-it’s fine. I-it just h-hurts.” I said trying to hold back the tears. “You are going to follow me to Recovery Girl so she can heal you….we can just say that I found you in an alley way after you were mugged or something.” He said.

I just nodded my head and followed him. “Why did they do it this time?” Bakugo asked. “Friday evening, they said it was because I was a Lesbian and because I was late. The next day it was because I was born and ruin their lives. Yesterday, it was because I am a Lesbian, I ruined their lives, I had a villains quirk, I am still alive, I was born, and because they were arguing with each other.” “They shouldn’t hate you for anything. Especially because of your sexuality. That’s f*****g stupid as hell and if I could, I’d kill those bitches and I would have you live with me just so you wouldn’t be with them anymore.” He said. I just stayed silent next to him as we walked.

A little bit later, I was in Recovery Girl’s office, sitting on a gurney. “Okay dearie, can you tell me how this happened?” she asked me after she looked over my body to get a look at my wounds.. “I w-was walking t-to the s-school when a guy p-pushed me into an a-alley way. W-when I hit the g-ground, I l-looked up t-to see that there w-was a w-women with h-him. I w-was mugged and a tiny b-bit later F-firework f-found me.” I told her. She eyed me wearily and let out a sigh.

“Okay sweetie. After I use my quirk, because of how badly injured you are, it is most likely that you will pass out the second I use it. Bakugo, after she passes out, please put her in her bed. Then tell Aizawa that I need some Cold Soba.” She said. I thought it was weird that she would ask the teacher for that but brushed it off not thinking anything of it.

Firework looked at her weird, so I know he thought the same thing before saying, “Okay.” With that, Recovery Girl puckered up her lips and kissed my cheek. I could immediately feel all my energy leave me as my eyes closed no matter how hard I tried to keep them open as I fell into a deep sleep.

(Third Person P.O.V.)

After she passed out, Bakugo carefully picked her up and carried her out the door. Recovery Girl sat in her office chair, waiting for Aizawa to come by. The two students didn’t know it, but Cold Soba is a coded phrase.

After a solid 10 minutes, Aizawa bust through the door. “Cold Soba? Another one?” he asked. “Yes, I am afraid that one of your students might be in the same, if not, a similar situation.” She had replied. You see, Cold Soba is a coded phrase referring to a situation in which a child might be getting harmed by parents, parental guardians, or an adult figure of some sort. They use the words cold soba because it is Shoto Todoroki’s favorite food, and he couldn’t really do anything about it and was raised to think it was normal. They use those two words for when they think it is a similar situation when the child can’t tell anyone or may not know the difference.

“What happened? Who is it?” Aizawa had asked. He could feel his protective side coming out for his students. Even though it is something he will never admit out loud, he cares for all of his students and would do anything to protect them. So, hearing that one of them might be getting abused, he is a little upset.

“One of your students came in today, with a face full of bruises. When I looked her over, her body was covered in them. There were cuts and scrapes all over her. Some were two or three days old. She also had a cracked rib or two, but I couldn’t look her over much because it hurt her every time she moved.” Recovery Girl explained. Aizawa had a worried look on his face. Even more when she started to say ‘she’ and ‘her.’ “Who is she?” he asked.

“It’s Akiyama.” She spoke.

(Aizawa’s P.O.V.)

Now I was confused. She joined my class mid-semester just last week. How did she come to that conclusion so quickly? “How did you find out?” I asked her. “Well, Bakugo was the one to bring her in. When I had asked her about what happened while I was examining her, she had explained that she was mugged in an alleyway and that Bakugo had found her moments after. What I thought was weird, was when I realized the wounds weren’t fresh. Some looked to be two days old while others looked as if they had happened just yesterday. She was also a little specific when she said a man and women were the ones that had done this. That and Bakugo looked as if he was holding something back so I think he may know what actually happened.”

The only thing going through my mind right now is, ‘Holy shit.’ “Where is she now?” I asked. “She is asleep in her dorm. Bakugo took her there before getting you.” She replied. I was deep in thought thinking of what to do next. With a sigh, I said, “Okay, I have to talk to Hawks about their internship so he can keep an eye on her while he is with her. I also have to tell ‘Zashi and Midnight so they can help me. I have to try and get Bakugo to tell me if there is anything going on. Please let me know if she comes in here again like that.”

“Of course. Do tell Hawks that he needs to take it a little easy on the kid. At least for today so she is not doing anything too stressful on her body.” She said. With that, I nodded my head and made my way back to the classroom. On my way over, I dialed Hawks’ number and called him. After the third ring, he picked up.

“Hey Aizawa!” The Hero had said. “Hawks, I have something I need to discuss with you. When can you come to U.A.?” I had asked him. “Um, I can come an hour early when I come to pick up Akiyama. Is an hour enough time?” he asked hearing the serious tone in my voice. “Can you do an hour and a half?”

“Yeah, I can do that. See you then.” He said and hung up just as I reached the classroom door. Opening the door, I walked in, my eyes immediately going towards the empty seat that was supposed to be occupied by Akiyama. I glanced at Bakugo who was staring at Akiyama’s seat. As I taught class; I kept an eye on Bakugo.

Once class was over, I was left alone with my thoughts. Bakugo wasn’t paying attention and Midoriya kept glancing between him and Akiyama’s seat. I assume that Midoriya will ask Bakugo about her on the way to their next class. Okay, enough of that. I have to get all these tests graded and get ready for my next lesson with them which is just before lunch. I let out a sigh as I started getting to work.

About two hours had passed when my class started coming in. Along with a student I was not expecting to be up this soon. Akiyama walked in with Bakugo and Midoriya on either side of her as they went to their seats. They both looked like they wanted to kill someone. I mean Bakugo always looks like that but not this much. And I haven’t seen that look on Midoriya’s face ever. Hell, he’s the cinnamon roll of the classroom.

“Akiyama, Midoriya, and Bakugo, see me after class.” I said then started to go over math. Throughout class, I kept glancing at the three. They kept glancing at each other than to their paper then to the board. Once class was done an hour later, the bell rang dismissing them to lunch. As everyone left, the three walked up to my desk. “Did y-you need s-something Mr. Aizawa?” Akiyama asked me.

“I heard about you getting hurt from Recovery Girl and I just thought to check in. How are your injury’s?” I asked her. “O-oh, there f-fine. Just a l-little sore but they are m-mostly gone.” She told me. “Okay, you can go and have lunch. You need your strength if you’re going to deal with Hawks later. He’s a handful.” I said to her. She smiled a bit and nodded her head.

All of them were about to walk out the door when I said, “Bakugo and Midoriya, I still need to talk to you, Akiyama you can go.” Both of the boys looked at each other before walking back in front of my desk. “Bakugo, you got to her after she was mugged, right?” I asked him. Midoriya glanced at Bakugo as he gave a hesitant nod.

“Okay, did she tell you anything about their appearance? Or anything at all?” I asked him. There has to be something. If Bakugo does know what is going on, I need to see if I can get anything from him. “All she told me was that a man and woman did it.” He said. “That wasn’t the only thing Kacchan, she told you that she could see that they were married because she saw the matching rings on their fingers.” Midoriya said. I saw Bakugo glare at Midoriya before returning his focus to me.

“Did she say anything about their appearance? Or why they did it? Anything at all?” I asked. “No, she was a bit shaken up and she said they were wearing jackets and masks, so she didn’t see anything. As for why, I can’t tell you part of it. That’s her decision to make not mine.” Bakugo said. “Okay, thank you for your help. Please tell her to let me know if she remembers anything in particular about them.” They nodded their head, so I sent them on their way to lunch.

I let out a long sigh and thought about Bakugo’s reactions. ‘There is definitely something more going on with Akiyama. What I don’t know exactly, but both of them know about it. Midoriya specifically stated that they were married. Kiiarda pointed out it was a man and a woman, so there’s a connection there. I could be her parents, but I haven’t met them. Maybe I can ask Hawks to make a home visit to ‘explain’ her internship. He might be able to get some insight on this situation.’

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and started grading more papers. I thought it was a few minutes, but I guess I was busy for a while. A knock sounded on my door. After a moment’s hesitation, I said, “Come in.” wondering who it could be. When the door opened, I immediately realized that it was Hawks. ‘Is it really that time?’ I thought looking at the clock on the wall, which gave me my answer of yes. Yes, it is.

“Hey Aizawa, what was it you wanted to discuss?” Hawks asked as he sat down in front of me. I waited till he got comfortable with his wings before I started talking. “I believe we have another Cold Soba situation.” I said. He looked taken aback before asking, “Another Todoroki case?”

“Yes, and I am afraid, that it might be Akiyama.” I told him. He looked confused before asking, “How did you come up with that, when she’s only been at the school for a week. This is her second Monday here.” “How did you know that?” I asked him getting a little confused. “She told me the day you were having them pick internships. She said that it was her first week there and she was happy to be here.”

“This morning, Bakugo came up to me and said that Recovery Girl wanted some Cold Soba. Knowing what she meant, I went to her office and asked about it. She told me that something was off with Akiyama’s reasoning on how she got hurt. Akiyama said that she got mugged. She said that it was done by a man and a woman. Recovery Girl told me that when she was examining her wounds, there were some that had to be inflicted at least two days ago. Some yesterday. None of her wounds were inflicted today. Which is supposedly when she was mugged." I explained to him.

“So her story, and the time she got hurt doesn’t match up.” He said. “Yes. Right before lunch, I asked Midoriya, Bakugo, and Akiyama to stay behind so I could ask them a few questions. I had asked her how she was feeling, and she said she was fine so I sent her to lunch to see if I could get anything out of them two, but they didn’t give me much. Bakugo said that she didn’t say anything, but Midoriya said that Akiyama mentioned that they had matching rings on their finger, so they were married. Bakugo’s reaction when he said that made me think he wasn’t supposed to. Bakugo said that she couldn’t make out any identifiable features about them. He also said that he couldn’t tell my why they did it and said it was her decision to make.” I recalled.

“Okay, so far all we have is that a couple did this and nothing else. Cold Soba relates to how a child or individual is being abused or harmed but feel as if they can’t say anything in fear of the person doing the harm finds out and will do something even worse; they have enough power to make sure the person will be believed as an attention seeker and a liar; or that no one will do anything to help them. How do you see a similarity?” he summarized.

“It appeared as if she was scared to say anything. And how Bakugo was acting like he knew something was going on and was mad when Midoriya said something? I had to think something besides being ‘mugged’ was going on.” I told him. “Okay, so what do you suppose we do? We can’t just go out right and ask her. She could clam up and we won’t be able to do anything.” He asked. I know he can be an airhead sometimes, but it surprises me how smart he can actually be when it comes to it.

“I say we keep an eye on her for a bit. Maybe not this week, but next week, I want you to do a home visit to ‘explain’ how your internship works and that you will be taking her on some weekends for whatever reason. Just to see if anything is amiss there. What do you think?” I said. I don’t want to do anything to early in case we are wrong. I also don’t want to do anything that would cause her to push us away.

“I think it’s a good idea. I can bring up a conversation when I pick her up. Speaking of, I am going to be late if I stay here any longer. It’s almost 3:30 and I don’t want to be late.” He said looking at his watch. “Oh Hawks, one more thing.” I said remembering Dabi. “Sure, what is it?” He asked. “Has Dabi said anything? Any update at all?” I asked him.

“Um, not too much but he did say there was someone he wanted to try and turn as well. He said that when he was sure they would say yes, he would bring me to meet them. He hasn’t said who though. I will let you know when I get more information.” He answered. “Okay, just let me know as soon as you know who it is so I can make another contract. Also, she can stay out as long as you are by her side.” I said. He just nodded his head and walked out the door.

After Dabi had made his little, ‘show,’ of Endeavor, we somehow managed to get him on our side. Actually, a couple of months ago we made a list of all the charges we plan to put against Endeavor. We are just trying to find the best time to prosecute. In doing so, Dabi found out and we ended up having him spy for us. In return, he could live like a citizen when the L.O.V. gets brought down.

I looked at my desk to see the mountain of assignments I still had to grade. ‘Holly s**t that’s a lot. f**k it, I will do it later. I wanna sleep.’ I thought and got out my sleeping bag. I went to the corner of the room, got in my sleeping bag, and went into a dreamless sleep.