Love compels you to yield to your new mentor

One day, you might regret it... but you knew that just as Ms. Joke had said, you'd be older and wiser at that point, with the proper perspective to know one way or another. She was right: you were just barely an adult and you'd been in the world proper for all of two days. Not only that: you were smart enough to understand that you were wrestling with some serious demons, in the form of your occasional hallucinations related to your old mentor and your constant temptation to use your powers.

You knew that if you made excuses for yourself like "this can make everyone happy" or "I'll be different than Benefactor was," it would inevitably become a gateway into situations where you abused the power further and further. You'd known that from the very beginning.

With pain and dismay written on your face, you admitted to Emi your thoughts: you wanted to control her and make her accept you into her home. Not just for this one week... you wanted to change her so that she'd be your partner forever. It wasn't that you wanted to take her from her job or her hero work. You thought that over time, you'd become an adjusted person who could help around the house and work your own job, like a normal husband. The foundation would be weird, but you'd get there. To start, though, you'd have to remove this fear of hers, that she was stealing your life away from you. You told her that the question of whether to use that power or not was driving you crazy and had been since you started living with her; you were always just a step away from becoming what your old mentor had wanted you to be.

"Ren..." Emi murmured, then pulled her seat next to yours. With a smile on her face, she placed one hand over yours on the table reassuringly. "The fact that you're conflicted about this-- that you can tell me these things-- shows that you're already a different man than he was. If you were a hero student, I'd be telling you it's just what a hero needs: a willingness to acknowledge the danger that your own quirk poses to the world and then to think, 'how do I avoid doing damage? How do I instead do good-- not just for myself, but for all people?' One of the most important things that a hero can learn to do is holster his own quirk and keep it there when it poses a danger to others. It's been tough with you, but you've always been taught to do just the opposite... with training and guidance, you'll get there too. I'm not sure if you'll ever be a hero, but you'll be a citizen that's every bit as heroic as one."

With a miserable feeling, you told her you weren't looking to become a hero. If you could help people, that was good and fine... But you weren't sure you could ever be happy or satisfied now, if you lost her. That meant your quirk would never disappear.

"It doesn't have to disappear. Think about my quirk: before I learned to control it, it was a total nuisance. It wasn't a matter of people laughing with me or at me, they were just laughing at nothing-- that's actually the worst kind of laugh! When I was a little kid, I would have done anything if you told me it'd just get rid of the darn thing. Over time, though, I figured out different ways to control it, like wearing a mask in public and training my own emotions. I didn't need the quirk removed; I just needed to figure out how to use it. Now, I use it as a pro hero!" Emi reminded you, then gave you one of her trademark grins. "You don't have to be a pro hero, but you can be a good person without giving up your quirk."

You asked if that meant that she'd be willing to let you stay here and learn instead of forcing you to leave.

"Well, I think we both know that's not the best idea right now," Ms. Joke laughed awkwardly. "How about this, Ren? Go stay with Aizawa for a while. Tell him the problems you've been having and ask him to help. That guy won't let you down." Seeing you were still sulking, she lowered her eyelids slightly, then gave you another peck on the cheek that made your eyes widen. "Once you're used to being an adult and I'm still teaching in a clown costume, assuming you haven't found yourself a nice girl somewhere, you can ask me out on a date and we'll do it the right way! Something by candlelight, perhaps, that'll be a bit more romantic than stuffing me with a dildo?" Her joke was lewd but sincere.

The idea still felt a little soul-crushing, but you recognized the childishness in any further resistance. Emi had a good point; defeating Benefactor's cursed quirk wasn't necessarily a matter of erasing it completely. To say that assumed that there was some streak within you that would only be satisfied by the corruption of other human beings. If you could instead learn to just ignore the quirk and resist its siren's call, not only could you end the lineage, but you could live as a respectable human being. That would be your victory over Benefactor-- a life that note only Emi, but also you yourself, could be proud of.

The home of Shota Aizawa-- Eraserhead-- was different from Emi's in terms of decor, but not so different as far as the general feeling it gave off. Her dwelling had been decorated haphazardly with a pervading sense that she didn't intend to spend much time there. His was much the same, but with even less personal decor. In fact, you didn't know better already, you'd assume it was a place for squatters or some kind of transients. Most of the food there seemed to have been freshly stocked for your arrival and your "guest bed" in this instance was the sofa in front of the television. It didn't seem like a place where you'd be terribly comfortable.

Aizawa seemed to sense your misgivings early on. "I'm not here to make you comfortable, Ren," he warned you, his beady eyes peering out from behind his matted black locks with a purposeful coldness. "I've more or less pieced together why Ms. Joke had to send you here... I took time off because, frankly, your training seems to be just as important as hero training. You may have good intentions, but your quirk may actually be more dangerous than Benefactor's, packaged in the body of a victim instead of a villainous psychopath," he grumbled, keeping his eyes locked on yours, as though daring you to try using your quirk against him. "The path to mastering your quirk isn't going to be simple. What I have in mind for you is going to be no less difficult than the kind of stress actual students go through, with little of the same rewards. You need to be prepared for that before we start," the man explained, as the two of you consumed a poor dinner of convenience store food.

This guy was even less domestic than Ms. Joke... you found yourself contemplating what a terrible couple they'd make, in that regard. You couldn't help but hate his harshness, too, after the kind hand with which Emi had tried to guide you. Then again, part of your festering, irritable disposition was simply leftover from cutting yourself off from Ms. Joke; you knew that for the foreseeable future, you'd probably find yourself lashing out at Aizawa, especially given his chummy, ongoing relationship with the object of your affection. He probably wasn't going to show you much favor either, given the danger that all three of you had now collectively admitted you posed. With the two of you glaring daggers at each other, but **** to tolerate each other for the sake of overcoming this curse of yours, it was sure to be a difficult road ahead.

"Once you've finished your dinner, join me outside. We're going to start training, then get into bed late. By the time we're finished, you're going to need the sleep to recover..."