The Lost Prince, The Founded Hero (Alternate Version)

Chapter 24: The Shining Moon In The Night

When I left the mansion, I knew I was beginning to break again and the only thing that's keeping me in place are my classmates, the old man, Uncle, and Desiree.

They're like a shining light in my dark world.

I came home around 9:30 and the old man was sitting on the couch, waiting for me. He waved towards me. "Hey. You're finally home."

I saw his face and I smiled for real as I sat down next to him. "Yeah, I'm home." I'm home. Finally home.

He put a hand on my right shoulder. "You need to call earlier. I was seriously worried." I winced at this action because that's the side where Vlad twisted my arm in that spar.

The old man seemed to notice this and frown at me. "What's wrong with your shoulder? And now that you mention it, your slouching a bit. Is everything alright?"

I groaned inside at the observant man as I knew that I was slouching because I wasn't fully recovered from the electrical shocks.

I waved it off and gave a forced smile. "Nothing's wrong."

The old man, not believing me, of course, started to give me one of those 'dad' looks, which basically meant one of two things. 'I don't believe you' or 'what did you do?'

I'm going to go with the first one for this situation.

"Take off your shirt, right now." He ordered me as he stood up. I tried to protest but the look in his eyes gave no room for argument, so the words just died in my mouth.

I started to stand up and took off my shirt and and he had a narrowed eyed look. I looked at my body. I found myself some new bruises and the largest one was on my stomach where Vlad kicked me.

He looked at it more carefully, running through some of the bruises with his fingers. Then his attention went to my right shoulder, which was swelling a bit.

He went to my eyes and I could tell from just one look that he was far from happy. "Who did this to you?"

I looked away, not having the courage to lie straight to his face. "It's fine, old man." I managed to get out to reassure him, but as you probably already know, it didn't work.

"It's not fine and what's wrong with the rest of your body? Why are you slouching?" He demands an answer with a hard gaze.

'Hey, dad! I got shocked terribly by these shock bracelets that's owned by the that dude, that killed my family and that's why I'm slouching!' Yeah, that's probably not going to end well.

I took a deep breath. "Dad, please just drop it." I pleaded in a shaky voice as I put my shirt back on.

He looked at me very carefully. "You know I'm always here for you, right?" He asks with a look I recognized (barely) as desperate.

Tears began flowing from my eyes and down to my chin. I nodded. "Yeah. I know. I've always known, ever since I met you. You've always been there for me, even when I didn't realize it. Thank you." And with that, I hugged him and he light patted me on the back.

After a while, I looked up. "Will you continue to be there for me?" I need to know. I need to know I won't be left alone. I don't want to be more broken than I already am.

He looked down at me. "What are you saying? Of course I'll always be there for you." I smiled in happiness with tears still running down my face. The warmth in my chest...it's back full force. With the old man around, it'll never feel as empty and cold as before. That's something I'll always know for sure.

He was about to let of me until I grabbed his shirt tightly. "Can we stay like this for a few more minutes?" I asked while blushing in embarrassment. This so lame and sappy of me.

He looked at me and nodded. I smiled softly, thinking of all the times he's comforted me like this because of my PTSD. He's always been there for me and always will be. For me, Aizawa is the moon; the one that shines the brightest in the dark night.

He wasn't the sun that was all cheerful and bright. He didn't try to be optimistic all the time and preferred to face reality, no matter how harsh it was.

He's the moon that shows you a path by giving you light in the darkest and coldest nights. His light isn't burning like the sun's, but it's warm, comforting, and it gives you strength.

Uncle is the sun, who shines brightly wherever he goes and is always optimistic, giving you hope, though he sometimes shine a bit too brightly.

My classmates are the stars as each one are different, but they all give off a bright light that illuminates the night sky. Each star gives off a different amount of glow and I can tell you right now, Bakugou's star is the dimmest.

Back then, even though I had Desiree, her light alone was never enough for me to keep it together. There were days where I only saw her for about an hour or 2 and others where I didn't see her at all.

The longest I've ever spent with her within a day was about 6 hours and those are only on the rare occasions where Vlad lets me take a break from training.

There was someone else in my life back then who shone brightly, but...she couldn't stay by my side for long. New tears formed when I thought of her.

Losing her created a bigger void in my heart.

But it's been different ever since I came here. The void kept getting smaller and smaller, being replaced by more and more light, thanks to the people I've met here in U.A., especially the old man.

The warmth of their lights give me the strength to keep on going, even when things turn for the worst.

I gripped around him for about 5 minutes until I stopped crying and reluctantly let go. "Thanks." I mumbled, my blush not leaving me.

He gave me a fatherly smile. "No problem." He then had a thinking look in his eyes. "Do you want to sleep in my bed tonight?" He asks me softly.

I thought about it and nodded quietly. I didn't want to be alone tonight.

We went to bed it was a bit hard to move around as the old man put a protective arm around me during the whole night, but it was warm and reassuring. Thank you, dad.

To be continued...