Between Two Worlds (Aizawa x Reader)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Real Life Trolley Problem

I knew what was coming.

What the fuck do I do?

I can't stop Tenya from becoming permanently injured. By now, his brother would've been in the hospital, meaning tomorrow he was going to start planning revenge and intern at Hosu.
Do I warn Aizawa? Do I tell him to keep an eye?
No.
I can't do that.
If I interfere with anything, I risk all of those students their much needed moments of growth. But in doing so, I'm allowing them to feel pain they shouldn't have to experience. Not at their age.
What the fuck do I do?!

Suddenly, a knock.

"Everything alright in there?" I heard Aizawa's voice muffled through the door.

I took a deep breath and turned to open the door.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said as I tried to regain my composure, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt and keeping my eyes down. There was an awkward moment of silence until I finally came up with an excuse to leave, "I think I'm going to turn in early, actually." I said as I went to walk past him.

"You're not very good at lying, you know that?" he said, which made me stop in my tracks.

"I'm sorry," I said, turning around, still not looking at him, "I'm just trying to navigate the best thing to do right now and I don't want to get you involved."

I finally looked him to gage how he would respond. So far, he didn't react, but rather kept looking at me as if he were distracted in thought as well.

"Is there any way I can help without asking you what's specifically bothering you?" he asked, carefully.

I paused. How could I ask him to help without mentioning Hosu? Was that possible?

"Let me ask you something," I said, my voice beginning to waver, "say you were in my position, and you knew of upcoming horrors and tragedies, and you had to make a choice. Either save those few people from that impending trauma and risk changing the future for all to something that could be worse and unstable, or let it happen knowing everything will still come out fine, but at a cost to the few?"

Aizawa kept his eye contact with me for a moment, before looking away in thought. Clearly, what I asked him was something he hadn't thought of before.

"In other words, you've got a real life trolley problem on your hands." he said before looking back at me, "It's a philosophical question anyone would have a difficult time with, even a pro."

I looked down as I held myself.

'So even he wouldn't know what to do, either.' I thought.

I saw him walk closer to me as he put one of his hands on my shoulder, and the other under my chin to gently lift it up so that I was looking at him.

"I'd say the person who has to answer that is a Hell of a lot stronger than I am." he said.

A small smile appeared on my face.

"I'm not strong. You could snap me in half if you wanted to." I said with a chuckle.

"Physically, no - you're really not." he said, making me react with a scoff before he continued, "but you've held yourself together through all of this in a way that would make all of us look rather pitiful." He lowered his hand away from my chin, "For what it's worth, the events that are about to unfold are ones that you're not meant to fix. It's not for you to decide to rewrite a story that isn't yours. That may mean sacrifices need to be made, whether physical or emotional. But a hero is someone who has given their life for something greater than themselves."

I sighed, knowing he was absolutely right, but goddamn, did this still hurt. Those poor students. I wanted nothing more than to shield them from harm, but in doing so, I'd be knowingly putting them all into harm's way. But he was right. This isn't for me to decide. I had no right to take away their growth or their experiences, even if it meant they got hurt in the process.

"It's not fair." I whispered.

"It never is." he said as his other hand left my shoulder, "but it's a hero's job to try to combat that unfairness."

I hummed and rubbed my hands on my temples, trying to soothe the headache that I had unintentionally given myself.

"If you'd still like to go to bed early, you're more than welcome to. I have assignments to grade and lessons to prepare, so I'll be up if you need anything." he said as he went to walk back to the couch.

"I'm actually not all that tired." I said, as he stopped and gave me half a glance, "I mean, I've already slept numerous times today, so I'm likely going to be up awhile. Maybe I could help you grade things? I was a TA once."

He smirked.

"Thanks for the offer, but if I remember correctly, you can't read Japanese." he said.

My eyebrows raised.

"How did you know that? I don't remember telling you that." I asked, genuinely curious.

He froze for a minute, I think realizing that I caught him knowing something about me that I didn't specifically divulge.

"Lucky guess. Now, if you don't mind," he said as he made his way to the couch, grabbing his briefcase that was sitting next to it, and grabbing papers from inside, "I have work to do."

I chuckled, knowing full well it wasn't a lucky guess.

'What else does he know about me?' I thought.