A New World

~19~

Killua woke up in a hospital bed once more, hooked up to the damn machine. His throat was still sore, and he kept coughing, but otherwise he was fine. Ugh... He could barely remember what happened. All he knew was that one moment he was in combat, the next he felt like his lungs were about to collapse. Killua let out a soft groan, clenching his fist against the sheets. Damn. How did that even happen? Killua thought. He must've gone for my mask and I didn't notice. But why? He'd had no reason to.

"Killua..?"

Killua's eyes slowly cracked open, vision momentarily blurry. As his eyes focused, he realized there were three figures at the foot of his bed. Mina, Tsu, and Jiro. "Hm..?" He let out a hack, then propped himself up in a sitting position. "Oh, hey." He mumbled drowsily. Mina looked at him with concern. "Are you...alright? I mean Mr. Aizawa said you were in bad shape but I didn't think it would be this bad." Killua let out a soft grunt as he stretched, trying to rid himself of drowsiness. "Hm? Oh yeah I'm fine. It looks a lot worse than it actually is, I need that mask to breathe so when it broke I kinda passed out because I was essentially suffocating. The smoke just made it that much worse."

The three girls at his bedside didn't seem to react to the news. Shota probably told them. He realized, with a sigh. Killua swung his legs over the side of the bed, glancing over at them. "I appreciate your concern but really I'm fine, just until I get my mask back I need to stay hooked up to this machine." He explained, tapping on the clear mask strapped around his face. He's going to chew me out for this isn't he.

As if on cue, Shota burst through the door. Killua flinched slightly at the expression on his face, he'd never seen Shota that mad before. "Killua." He growled, coming to a stop right in front of him. The girls quickly stepped back, blanching at the rage pouring off their teacher. Killua struggled to his feet, making sure to stay attached to the medical equipment. He had some mobility due to the hose to the mask being fairly long. "Sh-"

"You're expelled."

Those words hit Killua like a ton of bricks. He tried to speak but the only thing that came out of his mouth was, "W-What?" Shota looked Killua dead in the eye. "Your body isn't fit for battle, this proves it enough. You almost died today in that fight with Bakugou." No, no! Killua had just started to make friends. He'd just begun to grow attached to this life, and suddenly it was being ripped away from him. "Shota I wasn't expecting him to-" Shota spoke over him. "No, I don't want to hear it from you. I gave you a chance to prove you were capable, and you aren't. What if you were on the field and that happened? You'd be dead right now."

Killua's teeth gritted. "The only reason I wasn't paying attention to protecting my mask was because he had no reason to go for it! I'm not fucking stupid! I made a mistake, it won't happen again." Killua promised. He's not serious is he? Killua thought, his stomach twisting in knots. "Just get a job in another line of work. You're a smart kid, you can still help people without getting involved in-"

"I DON'T CARE!"

Shota seemed startled by Killua's sudden outburst. His cheeks were wet, he was so mad he was crying. "I'm not just ditching everything I have here because of a little incident! Midoriya hurts himself every fucking time he uses his quirk, but you haven't expelled him." It wasn't fair. Why did this kind of thing always happen to him? Right when things were finally going good, some asshole always had to come along and fuck it up. Shota's teeth gritted and he got up close to Killua's face. "I'm not arguing with you, kid. You're not going to school next week."

Tears were fully rolling down Killua's cheeks now. He didn't think he would care this much about this dumb school, but he'd just started to enjoy himself. "Why is it that every time things start going right and I start feeling happy, some dickhead comes along and ruins it!" Killua yelled, his fists clenching so hard blood started dripping from them. Shota hesitated, a look of shock going across his face. Killua felt so mad. He felt like stabbing someone. The overwhelming urge to cause harm flooded over him. I'm gonna fuckin strangle him.

Killua suddenly felt a strong tightness around his body. He froze, the redness in his vision fading. Shota had wrapped him in his scarf. He'd been so overwhelmed by his emotions, that he hadn't realized he'd been leaking bloodlust. Mina, Jiro, and Tsu were practically cowering as they hid in the corner. I almost just lost it... Killua gulped hard, he hadn't had that happen in a while. Killua had always felt the urge to kill when he was mad, but he thought he'd long since buried it. The way Shota was staring at him made something inside him break. He looks....afraid. "I-I'm sorry I.." Killua sat down on the bed once more, refusing to meet Shota's eyes.

"Maybe you're right, I'm not cut out to be a hero."

~~~~~Aizawa's Pov~~~~~

Shota's heart thudded in his chest as he stared at Killua. What in the hell was that? At that moment, the kid's eyes changed. They looked so hollow, merciless. Unafraid to kill. However as he stared at the boy now, lowering his head in shame. His voice small, and meek. Shota didn't know what to make of it. He thought back to what Killua had said moments earlier.

"Why is it that every time things start going right and I start feeling happy, some dickhead comes along and ruins it!"

It made him wonder about the boy's past, how much he probably struggled to get to where he was now. He must've struggled so much throughout his life, and to him I'm basically demolishing his dreams right in front of his face. Shota wasn't all that sure what drove this kid to become a hero in the first place. "Killua, I want to ask you a question." He said, in a soft tone this time. Killua's eyes slowly raised to meet his, and Shota's breath caught in his throat at the look in his eyes.

"Why do you want to be a hero?"

1094 words

To Be Continued...