My Hero Academia: Aspirations

Chapter 16

Aspirations

Chapter 16

"I'm sorry, but I can't accept this."

You stared at the genius animal, dumbfounded. He slid the resignation letter you had typed up this morning back towards you. Was he allowed to even do that?

"Sir, with all due respect, I don't think you can reject it."

"But I have," he said in a slightly chipper kind of tone. "If I let any of my staff resign after a misunderstanding, U.A would have closed down long ago."

"It's not over a misunderstanding. I am not fit nor qualified for this job," you insisted.

It wasn't that you liked putting yourself down. Nor did you really believe that, if you had been given a real chance, you couldn't improve. It was just that you wanted Principal Nezu to let you resign gracefully. You wanted no faults or blame to be placed. Sure you had been pissed with Aizawa and still kind of were but he had reasons points. He'd been acting in a way he thought best suited the law. You just didn't agree with him; nor did you believe that all the laws were just and fair in every circumstance.

"Nonsense," Principal Nezu said as he jumped off of his chair. He walked around the desk to stand in front of you. "You're uniquely qualified for the position."

"Please don't placate me sir," you requested as you clenched your teeth. "I generally can't stand undue nepotism."

"This is not anything of the sort," the white Chimera tried to assure you. "May I sit on your lap? It's quite cold down here."

Odd and awkward but you nodded in agreement. You reached down for him to lift him up. Nezu allowed you to place him in your lap. Once he was there you had the very sharp urge to just let him. His fur looked so silky smooth it was like a siren's song to your fingers. Before he even started talking again, you had to stop yourself from petting his head.

"This is much better. Your lap is quite warm and cozy."

"Thank you?"

"You're welcome. As I was saying, I do not accept your resignation. Nor did I appoint you to this position because you had no merit of your own. You have many qualities that I desire in my staff - precision and confidence in your own quirk, adaptable thinking, courage, selflessness, and a drive to challenge all the preconceptions of what is acceptable to do when it comes to people's welfare. Unfortunately that's where this whole misunderstanding comes from."

You stayed quiet as Nezu paused. He sure had a long way to say "no". The praise felt good but also a little odd. You were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Somehow you had a sinking feeling that you were going to be in trouble for following through on all those qualities. That feeling wasn't exactly conducive to making you want to stay either; getting in trouble was something that generally shouldn't happen to adults. At least not without serious legal repercussions. Otherwise it was like someone else other than the law was in charge of your life, like you were a kid again. Not something you favored.

"I've heard that you're helping Toshinori. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that he's considering his own health enough to let you help him. And I understand that you want to help everyone. In some ways you're no different than all the great Pro-Heroes I've met. You just need to consider the repercussions of your actions a bit more."

"Like healthier heroes doing their job more effectively? Saving more people?"

Oops. You hadn't meant to ask that question aloud. Oh well. Too late to take it back now.