A Chance for the Better: Chapter 3

## Chapter 3: September

This morning, when Atsuko woke up, she immediatly knew something was very wrong with her. Having rarely fallen sick in her young life – thanks to a great immune system that she never failed to thank when witnessing the absolute *torture* that was being sick – she could tell the difference and act accordingly. Well, only in the case where she decided not to be an idiot and to take care of herself, of course.

Sadly for everyone involved, having any kind of illness usually reduced her common sense to zero. This is why, in spite of the uncomfortable churning of her stomach, Atsuko rolled out of her covers right onto the ground, decided to get dressed and go to school. UA High was the best hero school out there, after all, she *had* to give it her best, right? Plus, living in the dorms meant that she wouldn't even have to make that big of an effort to go to class. She had no reason not to go!

Finding somewhere in her tired muscles the energy to get dressed, she crawled out of her room and greeted her dorm mates, still sleepy.

"Hey, Akko, you're not quite up yet?" giggled Miki, a girl with a shark quirk that was sitting next to her in class. "You still have a bedhead. Or maybe you'd rather let Asahina do your hair for you?" She was soon joined by the other girls of their dorm, all laughing at her mess of an hairstyle. Weirdly, Atsuko couldn't find it in herself to get mad or to join the laughing. Maybe she was more tired than she thought; anyhow, she simply stood there, unsure of what to do.

There was no avoid the teasing: the secret of her relationship with Tomoe had been out since the end of the summer holiday, and ever since pretty much all the girls of their class had been fawning over the lovebirds with various amounts of a mixture between mockery and playful joking. It absolutely lost Atsuko up to an almost unbearable level, to the point that she despised having anyone see her into romantic situations. It was a first in both for her after all, in friendship and love, and she couldn't help but fear that her natural weirdness would ruin everything for her.

"Leave Tomo-kun out of this, girls," she tried, somewhat chiding them, before turning toward the dorm's exit. "We should stop talking and hurry up if we want to be on time for school, actually."

"Eh, already? What's wrong with you this morning, you're usually more funny than this, Akko." pouted one girl with bright pink hair. "You should grab something to eat first, maybe that'll make you in a better mood !"

"I already ate something, don't worry about me!"

*Lie.*

Since sharing the secret of her baby bump, Katsuko had been on edge and for very good reason. High school was a time where rumors flew faster than the speed of light and if anyone knew that she and Toshinori were going to be parents, *outside*of UA, there could be a big safety risk for herself and the baby considering the fact that the former Symbol of Peace wouldn't be able to protect her.

She was actually surprised no one else noticed too, she hadn't exactly been very subtle with her love towards Toshinori since she became pregnant in the first place and even then, her closeness to him when they worked together teaching 1-A. It was baffling how these students, especially 1-A's, couldn't piece two and two together, but for now, Katsuko had bigger things to worry about.

Her gaze flicked to Atsuko for the umpteenth time that class period and while she had fully embraced being pregnant by not wearing Toshinori's shirts and hoodies to hide the bump, she still worried about the rumors. They could either help her or destroy her and that would only depend on how Atsuko uses this information.

As for her, Atsuko didn't exactly have her mind on the revelation right now. She had actually forgotten the news of her teacher's pregnancy in the span of August, having only her Tomoe in thoughts, until she had seen Miss Sato waddle to get to her spot behind her desk, the first day after the summer holiday. It had been about two weeks ago now, give or take a day or two, and things had mostly gotten back to normal, minus the students of her class finally noticing their teacher was seriously showing.

She didn't know, at that time, that it wasn't the only thing they were muttering about in her back.

Right now, she actually couldn't think about anything. Disregarding the lesson that was unfolding, the silent chuckles of her classmates, as they mumbled rumors to each other, or the way Tomoe glanced away shyly – he sure had been doing a lot of it since the night they spent together, but she was too shy to ask if it was because she was bad at *it* – she could only focus on how bad she felt, the room swaying around her and engulfing her whole as she tried to follow the mouvement. She couldn't tell anymore if it was the result of her throbbing of her head and the violent twisting of her stomach, or if it had been caused by it, but what she was aware of was that it was worst than she had believed, and there was the urge to get out *quickly* because she'd *really rather not* cover her desk with vomit, *thank you very much*.

Still, she put her head into her arms crossed over the table and choked on her bile, swallowing it back to the best of her ability, hoping that pretending to sleep would not stir as much trouble as would puking over her school supplies do. And as time went on, seconds stretching into minutes and minutes becoming hours, she desperatly clung to what little air she had, muffling the panicked panting of her pathetic self.

*I should have just stayed in my fucking bed this morning.* The thought was bitter, but she could hardly criticize the tone. It *was* hell, after all.

Katsuko, as she went along with her lesson, noticed that one of her students wasn't paying any attention to the lesson. It angered her, but there wasn't much she could do in this situation as by time she got over there to that desk or got enough energy to yell, she would be exhausted and in need of a nap.

*I want my Toshi.*Was what continuously ran through her mind as she went about the lesson, eventually switching out a word she had been trying to say with the phrase that had been going through her mind. The class then erupted in questions as to who this 'Toshi' was and why she wanted him.

Katsuko just wanted to sleep and now she had to deal with this. *Shit.*

*Well, here she goes, screwing herself over,* was what consumed Tomoe's thoughts as he turned a bright shade of pink. Out of every of his classmates, he was the only one who knew who was the 'Toshi' she mentioned – well, him and his Akko- and *oh no* he *wasn't* going to think about her in class, *not the time, not the place, he'd rather be in the same spot as his teacher than wet himself over- damn you brain **shut the fuck up*** – although he didn't know the full name it was taken from, he could easily guess she had meant All Might. Good thing she didn't let the hero name slip, otherwise the class would get even more fired over it than it was currently.

*I'm the only one who knows that our teacher has the hots for the former Number 1 Hero and is expecting his fucking baby, wow.* The realization hit him like a train. *That has got to be an improvement over knowing nothing, like Big Bro said. Still can't believe it.*

"Miss Sato, is this 'Toshi' the father of your child?" asked a tiny voice – a girl's, not Akko's, Akko was passed out on her desk and- *wait she was passed out on her desk?!* – and *fuck he was gonna lose it, he couldn't resist saying it, he needed out right fucking now-*

"Miss!" he raised his hand as he spoke, not even waiting for her permission to speak. "May I take Ak- uh, Atsuko to the nurse? She looks like she isn't feeling well." *Fuck yes, say yes, he finally found an out.*

Katsuko breathed out a heavy sigh of relief when Tomoe saved her from answering that question, at least for now. She nodded her permission quickly and hid her face behind a book to avoid any further questions. They began to ask more questions. After about three more questions, she had pardoned herself to get some free air and gave them a free period for the sake of being left alone. She pulled out her phone and called none other than All Might himself to get him to sub for her while she escorted Tomoe and half dragged and half-carried poor Atsuko to the infirmary.

It was with relief that Tomoe exited the classroom, burning bright red from the embarassing thoughts of his mind, so many about Akko, about him, about them. It engulfed him whole in a storm, a typhon that roared within and threatened to break out. He didn't want to look at his teacher, firmly assured that his glance would immediately shift to her belly, round and protuding outwards, and he was *that* close to uttering the secret that Akko had entrusted to him with the clear instruction to *not* say a word about it, *but it had been a month since they talked and*-

Akko, his beloved angel. The girl he was supposed to think about all the time, to want to be with all the time and to want to offer the world to every day, if he believed what his classmates had told him about love when their relationship was found out. It wasn't that far from the truth, but it still unsettled him that the love he felt for Akko – the warm feeling in his chest when he held her hand and gazed into her eyes – wasn't considered to be the One Love, the True Love, the one you found in Disney movies with flowers and birds singing and- maybe it wasn't that bad, actually.

Akko. He had done it all wrong since they had gotten together. They had a night together, and what? They had barely exchanged any kisses, hugs or held hands, one always fleeting the other – him, most of the time – and he got the deep, unsettling feeling that something was wrong on both part, but he didn't dare ask her, simply because he was a coward too afraid to tell her that *hey, actually, the condom might have leaked the other day and yeah, we may be in big trouble but do you wanna kiss anyways? Don't kick me in the balls, please.*

As they got into Recovery Girl's office, he just wished he hadn't fucked everything over, like an idiot.

Well, firsts always fuck up. Wasn't that a saying?

Katsuko was pacing up and down the halls of the school, unable to just pace in a single spot for long periods of time. She was fairly worried, worried to the point of hyperventilating. She should hace noticed this sooner but she didn't and now Atsuko could be badly hurt. The thought of being a bad teacher filled her mind with regret and her eyes swelled with tears before she burst out into tears in the hallway

She could be at home cuddling with her man, but instead she was crying in a hallway like a pathetic loser. God, she needed to get her act together...but Toshinori would be disappointed in her for not noticing that her own student was suffering. That thought made her cry more and so she spent the rest of the hour crying in a hallway.

Tomoe wasn't prettier to look at, actually. Wanting to fix what mistakes he had made, he refused to go back to class until Akko had woken up. Recovery Girl had accepted it, of course, but it was clear from the tone of her voice that she'd rather have him learning in class instead of wasting away next to her. It was nice of him, sure, but his education was important too. It's not like she was going to disappear when he'd glance away.

He had stayed next to her, watching over her like a valiant knight would have, taking note of the palor of her face, of the rise and fall of her chest, soft and slow but not undisturbed by tiny yet sharp inhales of air, and of the small twitch of her fingers as they grasped and let go of the blanket she was wrapped into. She looked in pain, and it broke his heart.

Suddeny, her eyelids fluttered open. It was swift, as would one's awakening after a nightmare, and the sweat that sticked to her forehead had yet to prouve the contrary. He let out a small noise of surprise, loud enough to alert Recovery Girl that shoved him aside. The nurse looked tired and fairly worried, frowning brows wrinkling her face like would ten other years. She asked Akko questions. Akko answered them, albeit appearing still sleepy. It was hushed, quick and decidedly ciphered. He simply stared, not getting a single word from it. It sounded like another language. It sounded like he didn't belong. He decided to leave.

He found his teacher outside. She was crying, it seemed. She was calling a name, over and over. *Toshi, Toshi,* like a plead to take her away. He didn't want to be here too, he realized. He was away from himself, and he didn't know what to do, so he sat there, next to her, completely still as he took her hand silently, looking away.

*I'm here,* he thought. *I'm a traitor for knowing your secret, but I'm still here.*

Atsuko knew for sure that something was very wrong with her as she sat on a single toilet, in a lonely stall where no one could see nor hear her, a tiny object in hand, conversation from a week ago still replaying in her head. Tomoe had looked pained, remorseful when he pulled her away from their classmates, after what had felt like an eternity of sickness but might have been in fact days or weeks to the real world. Honestly, she couldn't care any less what the world thought right now.

"Akko, Akko, I think I fucked up," he had admitted, close to tears. She'd never seen him this emotional before. "What you told me- What I pleaded you to tell me a month ago, they- our classmates *know*. I wasn't thinking, I wasn't thinking I *swear* Akko, I just couldn't stop worrying that- worrying over- Akko, honey, when we- when we made it-"

"Just get to the fucking point *already*!" she had screamed, exhausted of all of this. The secret keeping, the lies, the avoidance, the whispers and mockery, the *goddamn* illness, everything was just thrown into her face and she was expected to take it. Well, she couldn't. Wasn't UA supposed to be better? It had always been, so far, so what made Heroic students so much worse than General Studies ones? What made it all so much more cruel? Was fate telling her, in its own twisted way, that she didn't deserve her spot in Heroics?

The answer that he gave her might as well have been a slap to the face.

To that day, it still replayed back and forth, every hour of the day, chanting with a high-pitched voice on every note it knew. It whispered to her as she heaved over the toilet, as she nudged her food that she couldn't feel any appetite for, as she failed to find sleep, tossing and turning until dawn in her Mount Lady blankets. And her resolve not to pry the issue, weak as it was, exhaustion warped it into a cold anger that pushed her to go buy the damn answer to her question into the nearest pharmacy, not before checking if anyone knew her there.

And here she was, staring at it like the world had fallen onto her shoulders. A pregnancy test.

Two lines. *Positive.*

*"Akko, the condom leaked."*

*Akko, you're a fucking idiot.*

She hurled it on the ground with a raging scream.