The Shadows I Hide

Chapter 27: Choice

Izuku woke to sunlight streaming in through the full-length windows. He winced at the ache in his muscles. He hadn't been sleeping very well the past several days and his body was paying the price for it. Ochako was still asleep in his lap. He found himself gazing at her as she slept. She was still holding onto him the way she had been the night before. She had a small smile on her face. Izuku smiled as he brushed her hair away from her face. She looked so peaceful and adorable.

It took another ten minutes for Ochako to wake up after which the pair exited the building. Izuku felt rather exposed in his torn clothes But didn't really have anything he could do about it. They eventually made it back to the front gate of UA where, after a large commotion, they were met by a bunch of teachers. They were both heavily reprimanded by Mr. Aizawa before he had them taken to the infirmary. Izuku was found to have no apparent injuries while Ochako had a few scrapes and bruises. In addition to that, she was found to have no quirk. Testing revealed nothing about what had happened. Izuku sat outside the infirmary the entire time she was being tested. It wasn't until the late afternoon that Mr. Aizawa came out and finally spoke to him.

"Urarka's fine," said Mr. Aizawa noticed Izuku's expression. "Aside from her lack of quirk that is. She'll be discharged next morning," Izuku found himself unable to respond, instead he found himself clenching his fists. "It wasn't your fault Midoriya. At least Uraraka doesn't seem to think so. Alright, listen Midoriya," began Mr. Aizawa. "You mentioned to us that your quirk is unstable, and what you told us seems to be in line with what we got out of Bakugo so we believe you. Needless to say, you're a bit of a safety hazard," Izuku nodded with his eyes averted towards the floor. "However, according to what we heard from Uraraka about yesterday, she was able to snap you back to your senses, even when you thought you were too far gone. Because of this, we devised a method to keep you on the premises and in check while not treating you like a prisoner," Mr. Aizawa glanced over at the infirmary door before continuing. "I've already explained the plan to Uraraka to make sure she was okay with it and she's already agreed so this decision is up to you. If it makes you feel uncomfortable you're free to refuse. We'll just have to resort to a bit more extreme measures should that be the case," Mr. Aizawa sighed for a moment. "Basically we would set up a special dorm room for both you and Uraraka to sleep in at the same time. The idea behind this would be that she could be there to keep an eye on you should anything happen outside of school hours. Once again, you're free to refuse if you want to. For tonight we'll just have you sleep in your regular room and just have teachers on watch. Make sure to make up your mind by tomorrow afternoon,"

Izuku was left feeling super awkward alone in the hallway. He couldn't keep his face from turning red from the embarrassment. He had never been so glad to be the only one in the corridor. Izuku felt super flustered about the idea, but then again he didn't exactly want to be treated as a prisoner. Plus she had said she wanted to be there for him, so that meant she was confident in her ability to keep him in check right? He had to trust her. With his mind made up, he proceeded to his dorm room to finally sleep in a bed again.