There And Back Again [Black Clover x BNHA]

Chapter Seventeen

Warning: not nice things will happen and there will be some words said that can be triggering for some. Please be cautious.

The next few days went by as well as anyone could hope for. In the mornings Asta continued to train with Aizawa, usually bringing Bakugou along and the occasional Midoriya if requested by the erasure hero. Yuno and Mimosa both began to hang around the Dekusquad more, becoming closer with that group and spending lunch with them. Noelle and Asta were officially apart of the Bakusquad, the two spending time with that group as well.

The teachers had also managed to find a way for the mages to still be included in their classes. They were still expected to follow along as best they could during lectures, but on the side they were given different homework that was tailored more towards their own learning back home (thanks to Nezu). When the students trained, the mages followed along exactly. Otherwise, the teachers continued to keep an eye on the mages.

Overall, everything had been going smoothly. Tsukauchi was brought in to investigate how they arrived here and how to bring them back home. Nezu was working with him, giving him any information that came up from the four mages themselves. So far there were no leads.

A week after they had arrived found Asta making his way to the cafeteria. Everyone else had gone ahead while he had hung back to talk to Nemuri after she had asked him too. After talking with her, the anti-magic mage was walking back to join his friends for lunch, but in the process became a bit lost. Shrugging, he went up to a student in the hallway, planning on asking for directions. However, things did not go according to his plan.

The student, upon seeing who he was, shoved him to the side, a nasty look briefly flitting across his face before a smirk replaced it. The teen propped his hands on his hips, looking down at the shorter.

"Oh, look what we have here!"

"What was that shove for?!" Asta cried, brushing himself off. He glared up at the other teen, faintly recognizing who it was. "Hey! Do I know you?"

"Of course you don't remember." The boy spit out. "I'm Monoma, the guy who went against that Yuno jerk."

"Doesn't ring a bell- wait! No one can call Yuno a jerk but me!"

"This is actually perfect that you're here. I wanted to ask you some questions anyways." Monoma glared at Asta, jealousy flashing in his eyes. "How come your stupid quirk worked against us, but mine did nothing to any of you? How is that fair?!"

"What?" Poor Asta was genuinely confused. He just wanted to ask for directions to the cafeteria, not get yelled at by some prideful teen.

"Remember?! I tried copying Yuno's quirk and I couldn't do a thing and he made a fool out of me! But then you come in and put that explosion bastard right in his place! And your quirk isn't even really a quirk! It's so close to mine!"

"Hey, don't worry about it..." Asta put his hands up in a peaceful gesture, trying to calm down the angry teen.

"You must think you're so special! Coming from some backwater village and getting into the top hero school for fun! But you know what?! You're not! You're just some pitiful orphan that nobody wanted!" Seeing the way the mage froze, Monoma internally gasped, but his anger was too far gone at this point to realize his mistake. "Yeah, I heard rumors that you're actually a nobody! Heh, guess I can see why your parents abandoned you! Just stay out of my way, loser!"

Monoma pushed by Asta, leaving the mage frozen in place. Quickly he made his escape, not wanting to get caught by anyone, least of all Kendo. She would most definitely put him in his place for what he just did, but at the moment, he just didn't care. Storming off, he fought back tears.

For a few minutes Asta just stood there, the shock still running through his system at the words that were spoken. Eventually, someone approached him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. The poor mage jumped, however, having been so lost in thought that he didn't even realize they were coming. With large, tear-filled eyes, he turned around to look up at whoever had come near.

It was a taller male student, his blue eyes filled with concern. He seemed to be built like Yami, although not nearly as muscular. When he spoke, it was with a kind voice, no malice to be found.

"Hey there buddy," he said softly, "Are you okay?"

At those words, the barriers that Asta had been so good at building over the years slowly crumbled down, tears beginning to make their way down his cheeks. Realizing that he was crying, the mage roughly wiped at his face, leaving harsh red marks behind. Gripping his arms, nails digging into them, his mind began to berate itself on failing to be the strong person he had to be.

"Whoa, what's going on?" The older student quickly latched onto Asta's arms, trying to stop the boy from hurting himself. After succeeding, he knelt down to get on the mage's level, the two connecting gazes. "What's wrong, bud? Let me help you."

"I-its... nothing..." Asta tried holding in a sob, his breathing coming in quickly. Seeing that this boy was not doing as well as he tried to express, the taller pulled him in close for a hug, feeling the boy stiffen.

"Hey, it's alright. You can let it out and then tell me. Oh, and I'm Mirio. It's nice to meet you." At that Asta finally collapsed, the tears pouring out as he clutched onto Mirio's shirt. The older teen just held him close, carefully pulling out his phone. Sending a quick message, he continued to comfort the mage.

When Asta had calmed down somewhat, Mirio drew back out of the embrace, still holding on to the other. Looking into the mage's questioning eyes, he smiled softly, tugging his hand for him to follow.

"Come on. Let's go visit someone." Feeling resistance from the younger, he paused. "Don't worry. I promise it'll be okay." After a hesitant nod, Mirio led Asta away, heading for Aizawa's office with the hope that Nejire did indeed get his attention as asked.

As this all went down in the hallway, Asta's fellow mages and friends in the cafeteria wondered what was keeping him. With the minutes slowly passing by, worry began to spread and eventually two rose from the table, making their way out of the cafeteria to see what was amiss.

When they were exiting, they bumped into Monoma who looked as if he had been crying. Seeing who he had ran into, the copy user angrily stomped by. Yuno and Bakugou grimaced, watching as he made his way towards his own fellow classmates. Continuing on the hunt for the wayward mage, the two couldn't help but wonder if the copy user had anything to do with it.

This ended up being my most controversial chapter so far when I posted it on AO3.

In my mind, I think that Asta has always been telling himself that he has to be the strong one to protect his siblings and that he can't show weakness. He tries not to think about why he's an orphan and why he has no magic because he knows that will bring him to a place in his mind he doesn't want to be. This will be explored more in the next chapter, and I am sorry for making Monoma the bad guy. I needed someone.

Please tell me what you think about this. And thank you for reading.

~Zelinith