Chapter 65

                                    

                                          
Katsumi didn't know what to expect when she arrived back at UA. Perhaps some quiet time alone in her room, thinking over everything she admitted to herself and to the police during that interview. Maybe even talking it through with Bakugo, Kirishima, and Kaminari.
She didn't really expect to be tackled to the ground by a crying Eri.
"E-Eri?"
"They can't take you away!" Eri cried. "They just can't! You didn't do anything wrong! They can't take my sister away!"
Katsumi looked from the crying girl in her arms up to Aizawa, who put a hand over his face with a sigh. Neither of them had told Eri what was going on.
She smiled, holding Eri up in her lap, wiping away the small girl's tears. "I'm not being taken in, Eri."
Eri looked up at Katsumi with wide eyes. Katsumi moved her hair away from her face, letting out a small laugh. She couldn't stand to see the small girl crying.
"They're never taking me away from you. Okay?"
"Really?" Eri leaned forward. "They told me you had to go down to the police because of your quirk and your...your parents. They said you might be in trouble."
Katsumi's eyes got wide.
"Eri, who exactly is 'they'?" Aizawa interjected. Eri turned and pointed to a group of people behind her. Kaminari gave Aizawa a guilty smile as Mirio calmly laughed. Kirishima, Mina, Bakugo, and Midoriya refused to look Aizawa in the eye.
Aizawa glared at them all.
"Why would any of you tell Eri this?!" he raged. "No one knew what was going to happen! All that was for sure is that Katsumi would be telling her account! I have half a mind to put all of you under house arrest for the next week!"
"Sorry, Aizawa!" Kaminari was the first to pipe up. "We were all worried when Mirio brought Eri here for a visit, and it all kind of just came out."
"We were trying to calm Eri down until you got back." Mina tried to ease the blow, but it didn't work at all.
Katsumi smiled as Aizawa stomped over to the group, continuing to nag and gripe at them for their actions. She looked down at Eri, who was rubbing her eyes to stop her tears.
"I'm glad you got so concerned for me, Eri. But I promise, I'm fine. They believed me. The policeman even gave me the blessing and support to become a great hero. My parents aren't going to win this battle."
Eri sniffled and looked up at Katsumi. "Really?"
Katsumi nodded. "Yes."
A smile came to Eri's face. "So you really get to stay here? You're not going anywhere anymore?"
Something tugged in Katsumi's heart. There were layers to that question, even if Eri didn't realize what they were. 
She struggled with answering that in the past. She gave half-hearted answers to satisfy others without truly believing them herself. Katsumi believed if she could convince them, somehow that would help convince herself. 
But she was wrong.
She never convinced herself of anything that way - only pretended she did. The only way Katsumi ever learned and ever got a solid answer was when she confronted the problem at it's core, not just superficially. And she had finally done that.
And she finally had an honest, truthful answer that she believed to her core. Something in her seemed to snap into place.
"No, Eri," Katsumi smiled. "I'm never going away. I promise."