Smile for Me

Chapter 23: Covering Bases

Aizawa POV

He stared at the woman in the car who look just like Emi... but different.

In his shock of the world standing still, tires still screeching, his grip loosened. The door slammed shut, and he could see her face no longer. The tire was set free, and the car screeched as it tore off down the street.

"Eraserhead!" Mic called from down the street as Aizawa still stood in shock.

"Aizawa, what was that? You had them, why did you-"

"They had her..." he muttered.

"They....T-they had who? Eraser, you're not making any se-"

"They had Joke." He whirled to face him.

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"I don't understand," Midnight said as a group of teacher sat in their meeting.

"You said you saw...Ms.Joke?"

"She looked just like her." Gunhead confirmed. "The spitting image."

"But she was with the League of Villains. It makes no sense!" Mic blurted.

"What part of this conversation makes you think any of this makes sense?" Aizawa snapped.

"A report came in a few days ago from a local bank that said two girls robbed them, and it matched the description of Himiko Toga and an unnamed female with blue hair." Nezu stated from a piece of paper.

"It says several were killed with a knife, and many were injured."

"Then it can't be Em-....Joke." Aizawa stuttered.

Present Mic looked at Aizawa in sadness, then down.

Mic hesitantly began to speak. "If it looked just like her...I hate to say it, but we need to consider the possibility that-"

Midnight stood up from her chair, it squeaking back behind him against the tile.

"I will not let you sit here and accuse a fellow teacher- our friend- as a Villain or a traitor."

"I didn't say that!"

"Then what were you going to say?" Aizawa asked.

"All I'm saying is that we need to consider all possibilities to cover our bases. We never did find her body so that makes it a bit easier to believe..."

"So you believe that she's a traitor?" Gunhead asked, also rising from his chair.

Toshinori stood, "Woah, hold on. We're all feeling a lot of things right now, and it's clouding all of our abilities to think. Let's calm down and-"

Aizawa suddenly stood up, and the room went silent.

He glanced around for a moment, then without a word, left the room.

********************************************

Aizawa walked into the hall taking deep breaths.

It can't be her. It just can't be.

...She's gone. And she isn't coming back.

Maybe it was just my imagination. I have been thinking about...what happened a lot.

Not her...right?

He walked into the bathroom and splashed water in his face, leaning over the sink.

Snap out of it Shouta. He told himself, shaking.

"Eraser?"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT, EMI!" Aizawa shouted as tears threatened to fall.

He looked up in the mirror cautiously, only to see a horrified Hizashi staring at him.

He turns around to face his blonde friend.

"Hizashi, I'm sorry. I-"

Midnight walks into the bathroom slowly, having heard what just happened.

"Shouta..." Midnight says.

He stays silent.

"Shouta, we're really worried about you. Emi's death has taken a toll on all of us, and I'm sure seeing her in that van-"

"Someone who looked like her." He interrupts.

"...yes. Well, I'm sure that wasn't easy for you. But don't worry, we'll find out if it is her, then figure out what to do from there. Okay?" she reassures.

Aizawa wordlessly nods, still staring at the water in the bottom of the sink.

"Okay...well, we're going to go back to the meeting. If you want you can go home and we can brief you later.."

"No." Aizawa declares. "I'm going back in there to help. You guys need all hands on deck; that includes me."

He composes himself, trying to look like nothing happened, then without another word walks out of the bathroom and into the meeting room, followed by his worried looking friends.

********************************************

"Based on this blurry security footage, this unknown woman seems to match the description that Eraserhead has given us." Principle Nezu states, pointing to a screen with a frozen picture.

"Based on the information we do have, we do not have confirmation that this is Emi Fukukado, but the question has been raised, so we cannot rule out the possibility at the moment. As Present Mic said previously, we need to cover our bases."

"This does mean that for the moment, we need to be cautious, but treat this woman as a villain."

For a moment the room was silent.

"Should we actively do something about this then?" Gunhead asked. "Like plan a rescue mission or something?"

"Until we have further information, I believe it is wisest to simply wait for either the League to show their hand, or this woman to show up again." Cementos suggested.

"That sounds best for the moment." 13 agreed.

"That does seem to be the best plan." Nezu pondered aloud.

"Alright, then it's settled. We'll wait until we can either confirm or deny that this woman is Emi Fukukado, then make a plan from there. Until then, this woman is a villain and a criminal, just like all the others. Understood?" Nezu said to all of the teachers.

"Yes, sir." The teachers replied, then began to shuffle out of the room, leaving only Toshinori and Aizawa.

"You okay, Aizawa?" The scrawny Hero asked.

"...."

"When you walked out earlier I was kind of worried, but I didn't want to interfere. Why did you leave?" Toshinori asked.

"I just felt kinda sick."

Not a complete lie...

"Oh..." All Might said.

"Well, if you ever wanna talk about Emi-"

"I'm fine." Aizawa says as a stands up again. "Just need to go home and rest. The battle took a lot out of me, and I need a nap." he says he sulks out of the room and shuts the door behind him.

"What are you hiding, Aizawa?" Toshinori asks aloud.

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960 words!! Woohoo. uwu Sorry for all the pain, but I'm proud of myself so yeah.

-Sarah