YOU'RE ALWAYS AT THE TOP OF MY LIST
control - halsey

The air was tense.

Aiko was trembling in excitement. Aizawa was focused. The student and teacher were facing each other off in one of the UA gyms. Aiko was wearing her school gym uniform while Aizawa had his normal black outfit on with his scarf around him and his goggles utilised. The heavy air surrounded the both of them. Aiko smiled sinisterly at the man before him before she ran through the different scenarios that could happen during the fight.

I know that he can deactivate quirks with his eye but it will be hard for me to fight long range with my quirk. There's so many ways this could go to but the main two beginnings would either be:

1) He activates his quirk on me from the beginning so I would have no choice but to fight quirk-less. But this could be disadvantageous to him if he isn't able to wrap me up with his scarf and I come into close contact with him. I can't underestimate him on close combat as well. He's a Pro Hero, I'm sure he has more than one ace up his sleeve.

2) He lets me use my quirk for the first half of the match but deactivated it at crucial times to catch me off guard. This gives him the upper hand then because I would have to be cautious at all times, decreasing my power level and also not being able to use one of my powerful moves against him or I will be knocked down in an instant.

He has his goggles on so I will have to get rid of that first. Both scenarios would have me engage him in close combat. If he wants it so bad then I'll give him that!

In a blink of an eye, Aiko rushed head first towards him. Aizawa was startled by the movement and confusion in his head. Should he activate his quirk or no? He couldn't tell if she was going to use her quirk or engage in close combat. He decided to choose the first option - activate his quirk in case she activated hers.

His eyes turned glowing red and his long hair was lifted into the air. His stance showed that he was ready for her attack.

Aiko, who had expected this, smirked before pulling her fist back to punch his face.

Good. If he activated his quirk, I'll wait until he blinks or I make sure that his eyes are closed then I'll use my powers. For now, I'll destroy those goggles of yours. There's always a flaw to everyone, sleeping beauty.

Aizawa dodged the punch headed towards him while keeping his eyes on her. He was eyeing her movement and muscles to see if there was a pattern he could disrupt or if she was going to use her quirk. She continued punching him from left to right while he tried to deflect and avoid them. Some punches had hit his hips and shoulders but none were fatal. He felt like she was toying with him.

Though throughout the punches, he couldn't see a pattern. He now knew that she was aware of her own fighting style. He chuckled inwardly.

She's changing her speed and movement so that I wouldn't catch on to it. Good thinking, Natsume.

After analysing her enough, he stopped her incoming kick with his own bare hands before pulling her to slam her down. Upon seeing the change, Aiko took her hands and pushed herself off of his grip before her body could be slammed against the ground.

His eyes were no longer glowing red and his hair had returned back to the normal state but she could see his eyes getting drier through the small holes of his eye protector. She ran towards him with her fist pulled back again and Aizawa placed his hands in a form of a block to stop her attack but his body froze when he saw a glowing blue circle with scribbles on it at the palm of her hands.

Shit! She activated her quirk!

Before the teacher could deactivate her quirk, a blue light blinded him and he closed his eyes to protect it. His hands were too slow, but even if it was fast enough to cover his face, he knew that the energy shot from her palm would burn holes in his arm. He brought his arm down when he realised that he wasn't injured. He looked down to see his yellow goggles broken and shattered on the floor.

Then he looked up at the girl who was just smiling cockily.

I see...so you're thinking five steps ahead during battle. You never go straight for the prey's head...you slowly get rid of the limbs to make sure your enemy has no escape route or plan B...and that accuracy and power control to hit just my goggle and not my face...

"You're smart Natsume. Smart to be a hero," he said. He could see her eyebrows furrowing.

"Shut up,"

Slowly, she walked towards him like a prey and Aizawa cautiously walked the opposite way of her. They rounded one circle before both party lunged at each other.

Aizawa had thrown his scarf towards her to capture her with his quirk activated but she swiftly dodged the last minute by jumping on it and landing close to him on all fours. Before he could recover his own scarf, she slid her right leg against the ground, causing sand to fly astray towards him.

Aizawa was forced to close his eyes and cough back the substance that were in his mouth before he was punched and blasted across the ground.

Damn it! My eyes!

Aizawa groaned. He closed his eyes in pain as he could feel some of the sand in it. He needed his eye drops fast but before he could move a muscle, he was pushed off the ground and shots were coming at him like a machine gun. The long haired man was annoyed. He would have to endure the pain and fight her with close combat.

"Stop acting like a brat and tell me what's wrong?! You're acting immature for your own age! Do your parents not teach you anything?!"

He felt like he had hit a nerve when her shots were getting stronger and faster. He could see the ground beside him blow up like a missile had been shot there, leaving a gaping large hole. He slowly hid behind a pillar located near him.

I see. You're only accurate when you're up close. Seems that your quirk is too strong that you have some recoil, decreasing your accuracy.

In terms of long range, she would overpower him and his scarf. Avoiding all the shots blasted at him, he ran out and threw his scarf at her leg causing her to trip and fall to the ground, yet she was quick to get back up. This action however, allowed Aizawa to come into close contact with her. Aizawa was merciless towards her; he kicked at her sides causing her to tumble before grabbing one arm with his scarf.

Then he pulled her in and punched her stomach, letting her cough up at nothing before pushing her to the ground. The girl wanted to get up once again as she grit her teeth.

"Tell me why you're acting like this. Why are you not putting in any effort to be a hero? You have a powerful quirk! You can save people! You can be a hero!"

"Fuck that! Why must I follow what you people say?! Just because I have a powerful quirk doesn't mean that I have to be a hero! They're useless! Fake! I don't want to be like them!"
She shouted before unrolling herself in the scarf and kicking the man by the chin with both feet.

The bearded man stumbled from the kick, head spinning by the force. The injury allowed the teenage girl to escape from the scarf and prepare herself to shoot at him once again.

Aizawa dodged on instinct.

"All heroes do is care about themselves! They don't care about anyone! They love money! All those who love saving people just have superiority complex! Attention-seeking people become heroes!"

Aizawa could see that she was slowly going berserk with her powers. Instead of seeing one glowing blue circle on her palm taht was outstretched, he sees tons of it in the air appearing behind her one by one. Her eyes was glowing blue as well as she continued ranting.

Chills were sent to Aizawa's back. He had never seen such hatred in someone's eyes before.

"People don't deserve to be heroes,"  she coldly said but before she could rain fire on the man, the glowing blue circle vanished from her palm and so did the other blue circles behind her.

She clicked her tongue once she saw the man with floating hair and red eyes.

"Annoying.." she mumbled. She was about to kick at him again until his scarf wrapped around her body tightly, immobilising her as he walked towards her.

"That's right. People don't deserve to be heroes. Some heroes crave for attention, money, fame. Some even do it because they love beating and punching people up. They really don't deserve to be heroes. They're fake."

Aiko glared at the man standing above her. She clenched her jaw as they both made eye contact.

"But you're real." Aiko's eyes softened slightly. She looked up to the man. Aizawa continued talking to her as he slowly sees a light forming in her eyes.

"You're you. You now know how cruel and two-faced this world is. You've understand and seen the hidden side of the hero world. You're not fake, Aiko. You deserve to be a hero. And it's not because you're strong or you have a powerful quirk. It's because you know what it's like when our society is filled with fake heroes. Society will crumble when these kinds of people continue to increase. If a real tragedy happens, who will save the country? Those fake heroes would run away in an instant

That's why we need heroes like you. One who saves people no matter what. One who does it only for the good, no other satisfaction. You got the determination, the will, the strength. What's stopping you, Natsume?"

The girl looked down to the floor. Tears were welling up in her eyes. She sniffed and rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe she was crying. Especially in front of a teacher. But it seems that this was the brim of her emotions.

"I don't want to be a hero. I don't want to be like dad. He says he's a hero but I see him as a coward. He hasn't been home for years and...he's left us. He never gives anything back, never asked for us, always focused on being a hero. He's probably living an easy life while I- we, we suffer...mom suffers..she barely sleeps so that we could have a roof over us and little Ryo is always crying at night because he missed dad...heroes are greedy,"

Why...am I crying? Why...am I opening up to this man? This Pro Hero? I've held this in for years so...why am I suddenly so vulnerable?

The girl sniffled but her nose was running down her face since the scarf was preventing her movements. Seeing this, the older man let the scarf go, resting it on his neck as she fell on her knees. She used the back of her hand to wipe the tears but it kept coming.

"Then prove it them. Prove it to those heroes that have those evil intentions. Prove it to your damn father that left your family suffering that you're better than him. Be a hero and save your family from the misery. Not only your family but others as well that are going through the hard time. Do you want others to go through what you experience?"

The girl shook her head, silently crying.

"Then study diligently in the UA and be the one who people look up to. Look around you, Natsume. All the teachers and students in the UA are striving to become heroes; true heroes. Look carefully. You are not alone. We're not like your dad. Be a hero and save yourself, your family and everyone that's hurting in this world.

Your mother won't have to work hard as much. Your little brother won't have to cry every night knowing that you are the one protecting him. Not his father. I know you don't trust heroes but think about it, Natsume, just pay attention and look at the people here. Then, you'll see the good in heroes. You'll see that some heroes are willing to even risk their life for strangers,"

He lectured. The girl was now quiet yet never made eye contact with the man. The man knelt down in front of her. He sighed before slowly placing his calloused palm on her head.

"You're a good kid, Natsume. Don't let this world bring you down before you can even try,"

Aiko widened her eyes as they both stared at each other. Tears now stained her face. Her hands placed on her lap. The man before her kept patting her hair as she lets it be. He saw that her eyes were now full of life - they were bright, shining and it wasn't because that she was crying.

Aiko started thinking.

So this is how a head pat feels like...why does it feel so good? Why do I feel like this...? It feels so comforting..

The air surrounding the two became lighter. She had never been patted on the head before, not even from her mother since she was always so busy.

Aiko slowly looked up to the source. Though his expression shows tiredness and annoyance, she could see the eyes of the man who was looking away from her. His eyes showed concern and care. No one had shown those emotions to her other than her mother and Ryo.

Why is my heart so light? Why am i so happy? And...why is my hand moving on its own..?

Before she could process it, her hands held the sides of the man in front of her. Her head pressed against his chest. Her eyes were wide and his hands had stopped patting her head. He was just as surprised as she was. He tensed up. He had never been hugged like this before. Not even from Hizashi when he's drunk so his heart beats faster.

What do I do? This wasn't in the job scope of being a teacher. What do you do when someone hug you?

He internally panicked before a small voice picked up.

"C-could you do that again...please...no one's ever done it to me...j-just for a few minutes..please," she whispered.

Aizawa relaxed. His eyes glanced at the small girl hugging him. He started patting her head again.

Oh..I see...you must have suffered a lot...Natsume Aiko

— ❦ —

After that, Aiko listened to Aizawa like an obedient child - well, almost. Although she still tease him and make fun of him at certain times, she still kept to her word as she excels in her own class. She had topped every subject for every exam, she started to become nice to everyone around her, paid attention in class and putting in all her effort to everything.

The positive change made her family, classmates and teachers proud of her. She was slowly shaping to be a hero. (Though Aizawa thinks her attitude still needs more discipline) The fighting incident that had occured between the two was kept a secret. Only both of them knew what happened and they were both grateful that it did. It earned both of them a mutual respect for each other.

But one thing Aizawa hated about her change was the constant "I told you so" by Nezu every time he passed by him. Aizawa was close to murdering the Principal if it weren't for his year-end bonus pay-check he was going to receive.

— ❦ —

Aiko snickered at the memory. She had arrived in school and it was already late in the afternoon. Most of the people had gone back home after the incident had been reported and teachers in the UA had to do a security sweep.

She laughed at the memory of fighting her teacher. Her rebellious stage was fun while it lasted but she had matured. She was going to look out for her family instead of making it more troublesome for them. She was going to be a hero.

Aizawa sensei, you'll always be at the top of my list no matter what. You gave me a reason to become a hero.
— ❦ —

I swearrrrr the good parts are coming soon hahsndkdmx