The Hardest Lesson

"Does it get any easier?"

Aizawa looked at his former student, sitting there in the breakroom, hands wrapped around a cup of steaming coffee. She couldn't even look up let alone meet his gaze.

"No."

It had started on the second day of class, their first fundamental heroics course. All Might had pitted them against each other, battle after battle and then turned to them and asked what they thought, what had been done right and wrong, what they could learn from it. And it… just came naturally to her. She watched the battles just as closely as everyone else, save her own of course, but she… well, she just saw things that her classmates didn't, or didn't want to say out loud. So she had.

She knew from middle school that she was a bit of an overachiever; she had the top of her class for a reason. She studied rigorously, memorized the lessons and thought things through. In UA that would only take her so far though. She wasn't the most powerful person in her class, that was a three way fight between Todoroki, Bakugo and, eventually, Midoriya; but she had a comfortable spot as the most adaptable member of the class. She wasn't class rep, just vice rep, but her classmates looked up to her all the same. They listened to her, they came to her when they needed their work reviewed, or if they just needed advice.

She still remembered inviting her classmates over for their first study session. She'd really gone overboard, but at the same time she'd been excited at the prospect of having them over to so she could help them. And it had worked. Not a single member of class 1-A had failed their final, at least not the written one. She still couldn't describe how it made her feel when they thanked her, or when she explained the answers to their questions in a way that reached them. She could just see it, like a lightbulb being switched on.

The session had been a one off, or at least it had seemed to be, but at the end of every term it seemed like her classmates turned to her just like they always did during Foundational Heroics. It had been a subtle thing at first, she wasn't sure when she picked up on it, but she could see it. Whenever All Might asked a question and she answered it all eyes were turned to her. It didn't hurt that she always seemed to be the one answering his questions. She had nothing against him, All Might had been an amazing, inspirational hero since before she had even been born, but he was a not great teacher.

She was.

He had told so as well, when he retired. He admitted that class 1-A had been the class that he had looked forward to for a number of reasons, but one of them had been her. She just seemed to get lessons that sometimes fell flat for 1-B or even the higher grades. He had actually begun reviewing the tapes of their lectures, listening to how she answered so he could help improve how he explained concepts to the other classes. In a way she'd been helping not just 1-A, but all of the hero courses.

After she graduated from UA she spent some years in the field establishing herself. It was challenging, thrilling and all too often heartbreaking but she acquitted herself well. It had taken a few years to become more than a sidekick, but the moment she did she volunteered to mentor for UA. Getting in new starry eyed rookies and teaching them about the realities of the business didn't have quite the same luster as her study groups had, but she couldn't deny that it felt good.

And then Vlad King announced he would be retiring. Actually, that wasn't quite true. Feelers were put out well beforehand, Aizawa contacted her months ahead of the announcement mentioning the possibility that a position might be opening. He stressed that the position wouldn't be glorious, but it would be important, before asking if she may be interested. She'd been flattered, admitting that she would be honored, and he said he'd pass it up to Nedzu. The principle contacted less than an hour later and she had a new job.

She shadowed Vlad King in his 3-B classroom as he neared his retirement, learning from him and helping his students during their final semesters. It had gone smoothly. She helped when the students needed it and stepped in when Vlad King took a step back. By the end of the year, she was confident that she could do the job.

And then she was given class 1-B.

She knew from the moment she entered the classroom for the first time that it wouldn't be the same. Her students wouldn't have the experience that the 3-B students had, nor would she have the camaraderie she'd built up with her classmates, but she was ready. Or, she thought she was ready. She was certainly prepared, she had lessons and exercises planned out, and had taken the time to review the footage that had gotten her students into UA in the first place. But then she met them.

She'd been in classrooms before. She'd taught her classmates, she'd taught more experienced students, but without the respect of the former or the experience of the latter something cracked. Perhaps it was why Aizawa used a logical ruse on them on their first day? Perhaps she was too easy, too permissive, but she could feel her authority questioned. She didn't have the name Vlad King had; she couldn't instill the fear into them like Aizawa did.

It wasn't all of them, not even close, and even the ones who did weren't bad. They were just… teenagers. Song reminded her of Ashido, she was chipper, she was eager, but she wasn't the best student, and her attention was all too often drawn to her phone, something the girl thought she was good at sneaking looks at when she thought she wasn't being watched. It had led to it being confiscated multiple times. Usually she waited until class swaps to spare the girl the embarrassment, but it had proven so great a distraction at one point that she'd had to ask for it in front of the entire class.

Genji and Rutledge, the transfer from Australia, reminded her of Kaminari and Satou in some ways. Neither of them was doing particularly well in class, but Genji went out of his way to draw out lessons. It was like a prank for him, having her try to explain things multiple ways. She was almost certain that he actually understood, he wasn't dumb, and he started grinning when he asked, but they had lessons to learn and their time was limited. Rutledge… struggled, genuinely. He was stolid and withdrawn and he knew he was behind everyone else, but she couldn't seem to convince him to come in for tutoring. If he didn't improve, it was entirely possible that he wouldn't pass at all.

But Hanzo was the most problematic. He was a powerhouse, talented, smart and had an amazing quirk, but he was aggressive, overtly hostile to his classmates and arrogant to a fault. He reminded her of Bakugo on his worst days, before he had mellowed, but treated everyone like Bakugo had treated Midoriya at the start of school. He was increasingly difficult to restrain, literally or metaphorically, shutting out partners during team exercises or unleashing his quirk too recklessly during spars. The new Fundamental Heroics teacher had warned her that he had broken up spars for fear Hanzo would hurt another student.

She dreaded what would happen at the sports festival. She was bound and determined to rein him in and warn him not to be too harsh towards the support or gen-ed students.

It hadn't come to that.

It came before it.

Aizawa found her in the breakroom, sitting alone; staring into a cup of coffee nestled in her hands. "I expelled him."

"A logical decision."

"I didn't think I'd have to expel someone." She let out a shaky breath, "Not this soon."

"You aren't in control of your student's actions, only the repercussions they face."

"I tried to reach him." She shook her head, "I failed him."

"That's not logical. He is the one who chose to attack another student. He is the one that refused to stop when ordered to. Your quirk is creation, not precognition or mind control."

She was silent for a long moment, "Does it get any easier?" She still couldn't look at him, let alone meet his gaze.

"No."

Yaoyorozu's head sank and her hands clasped tighter around her cup. "I'm not sure I'm cut out for this." Her voice trembled, her slim shoulders shook.

"Would you prefer it to become easier?"

"No."

"Will you do it again if necessary?"

There was a pause, a beat, a silence, and her head sagged, "Yes."

"Then that's exactly why you should be here."

Author's Notes: Perhaps a bit of a fake out from the start, but I got the idea and it seemed like a wonderful opening. Yaoyorozu as a teacher works really well and I expect her to be a teacher at 1-A at some point or another. I get the feeling she likes being the dependable one. Also, after this Yaoyorozu develops a reputation. Aizawa will drop people he sees as having no potential, but it's possible, though very difficult, to prove him wrong. Yaoyorozu might leave you in longer than Aizawa does, but if she drops you, you're toxic. After her first year she starts off every year looking at alternates in case someone doesn't work out and has someone ready to swap in the day if she drops anyone. It is virtually impossible to get back into her course. On that note though, if she has a side student who shows great promise and no slot opens up she'll send out letters of recommendation to other schools for them so they can transfer to a different school's hero course. Her name eventually carries a lot of weight. She might be the person who replaces Nedzu when he retires.

I wrote a few parts explaining what happened, but to be honest I didn't feel it necessary. Hope you enjoy the references. Also, I've started writing the next chapter of both Sometimes All You Need Is A Cheerleader and Analytics.