Irrational Problem Child

Irrational Sport Festival

The two days and nights you spent in jail felt like eternity. The deputy finally unlocked your cell door and led you out to the main office, into the crushing hug of Mic. Aizawa stood by, waiting. You walked with them, blinking in the sunlight, and got into the backseat of Mic's car.

"How much did you have to pay to bail me out?" you asked suspiciously. Mic was driving. An unusual sight. But better than Aizawa driving without arms.

"The amount is irrelevant," Aizawa said.

You grimaced. It must be a lot.

"He wouldn't let me help pay," Mic complained. "Uncool."

"Thanks for driving, Mic," you said in a weak attempt to make him feel better.

"Eiko," Aizawa spoke up. "You're two days behind on classes. Listen closely..."

He gave you a concise summary of what you had missed, along with giving you several assignments of topics you needed to read up on. You hid a smile. There was something reassuring about Aizawa only being concerned over missed classes.

Something he said sparked your interest.

"Sports festival? Oh right, it's that time of year," you gazed out the window thoughtfully. "Will I be able to participate?"

"Yes," Aizawa said testily. "Nezu knows you're innocent. With him backing you, no one can have doubts about your eligibility."

"No one except the odd idiot on staff, anyways." Mic muttered.

Aizawa glared at him.

"Who?" you demanded.

"Oh-" Mic laughed uneasily. "No one. Nevermind."

You wouldn't get anything else out of him. Not with Aizawa around. You settled back into your seat, discomfited. Midnight would have your back for sure. Mic and Aizawa obviously. And Nezu, it seemed. How many of the other teachers believed you were innocent? You thought through them quickly: Vlad King, Ectoplasm, Snipe, Allmight, Cementos... honestly, you could see them reacting either way. Most of them only knew you through Dad. And Dad wasn't exactly the most popular teacher at UA.

Mic dropped you and Aizawa off at your house. Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang and you opened it to see Shinsou looking down at you with untidy hair and dark smudges under his eyes.

"Eiko," he breathed, relieved.

"Hitoshi."

He stood, staring down at you haggardly until you punched him in the shoulder. He put a hand over the spot, wincing.

"Don't ever break the law for me again."

He grimaced, knowing what you were referring to, and then smiled his usual slight wry smile.

And just like that, everything was back to normal.

The two days in jail had seemed like an eternity, but the two weeks after getting home blew by in a blur.

Everyone in class 1-A was super excited to see you walking in the classroom door the next day. Mina tackle hugged you, Tsu said "we missed you, Eiko," Denki stared in starry eyed happiness, Deku dissolved into rapid rambling, and Kirishima patted you on the back enthusiastically. All their chatter blended together into a happy hubbub, and you smiled, feeling a heart pang. It seemed that the entire class had unanimously decided to back you up. Even Bakugou gave you a slight nod.

As the day of the sports festival approached, you noticed that more and more people from the other courses eyeing your classmates as they walked through the halls of UA. And... unless you were imagining it... they were especially looking at you. Your sensitive ears picked up whispers of "scary" and "girl on the news." You grimaced, doing your best to ignore it. Hearing stuff like that was a downside of your superhuman hearing. You'd always heard people whisper about Shinsou. But somehow it was even more unsettling when the rumors were about you.