"Shuzenji-san? Principal Nedzu can see you now," the new secretary said. Chiyo's joints twinged in protest as she got up from her chair with a grunt. She knocked gently on Nedzu's door.
"Come in!" Nedzu's chipper tone rang out. Chiyo opened the door, finding him having already set out two cups of tea and sitting comfortably on his well-worn green sofa. She sat across from him and graciously took the tea, which she sipped on and let out a pleased hum.
"Perfect every time, Principal," she said, smiling.
"I do pride myself on knowing my faculty quite well, Chiyo," Nedzu preened. He took a sip of his own cup. For a moment, they both relished in the silence. Nedzu spoke first. "So, what was it that you needed from me?"
"Can't two old friends simply enjoy each other's company?" Chiyo jested, but Nedzu only raised a furry eyebrow in return. She sighed, set her cup down, and took a moment to gather her thoughts.
"I'm getting old, Nedzu," she said, aimlessly gazing at the floor. "And with Toshinori looking for his own successor, it got me thinking. I was quite the arrogant young woman, back in the day, and never thought I had needed a sidekick." Chiyo sighed. "I regret that now. Not having someone to pass my knowledge down to."
"You wish to have an apprentice?" he said, to which she nodded. Nedzu hummed. "And how would you go about this?"
"I did some digging, called in some favours, and found an excellent candidate, he's in his last year of middle school, top of his class." she said.
"But…?" Nedzu asked.
She pursed her lips and pulled a manila file from her whitecoat, and set it down on the table. "It'd be easier if you just read his file."
Intrigued, Nedzu grabbed at the file and flipped it open. Within the first few moments of reading, his eyebrows had risen. "I expected controversy from Aizawa-kun, but from you? This is a surprise indeed."
Chiyo licked her lips. "I'm aware that it'd be an… unpopular choice within the heroic community," her eyes sparkled with determination. "But I know he has the potential to be truly great."
Nedzu made a waving gesture. "I believe you, Chiyo. Very well! I'll allow him to enroll should he accept your offer. We will be keeping a close eye on him."
She let out a sigh of relief and relaxed a little more. Finishing her cup of tea, she moved to stand. "I'll be taking my leave. Thank you very much, Principal."
Just as Chiyo was about to exit the door, Nedzu called out after her with a teasing lit to his tone. "I should hope he be worth all this trouble,"
Chiyo turned her head towards him and grinned. "I promise you after I'm through with him, he'll be spectacular."
Suzuki Akira honestly couldn't be bothered to listen to his teacher drone on about the history of the battles Japan had fought in the second world war. Instead, he was much more preoccupied sketching a detailed diagram of the digestive system on the back of his worksheet, deeming it a better use of his time.
The screech of the cheap intercom system made him raise his head in attention.
"Hello, Kobayashi-san? Is Suzuki Akira-kun in class? If so, may he come down to the main office?" the school's secretary asked.
As the teacher responded to the intercom, Akira was met with jeers from his classmates. He only rolled his eyes in response and moved up from his desk. He could still hear the muffled cacophony of his peers as Kobayashi-sensei attempted to calm them down.
Akira took his time getting to the office, parsing through the possible reasons he could've been called to the office. He hadn't gotten into any fights recently, nor had he skimped out on his schoolwork. He stumbled as a thought flashed through his mind. Could they have escaped ? He shook his head. Don't be ridiculous. They're behind bars now.
He entered the main office, nodded and politely smiled at the secretary, and knocked on the principal's door.
"C-come in, Akira-kun." Principal Tanaka's voice wobbled from inside the room. Akira's brows furrowed. What could have gotten him so nervous?
He entered the office hesitantly and was greeted with a peculiar sight. The principal - who usually was always calm and composed - was sweating through his dress shirt and wringing his hands. Beside him was a very short elderly woman, her greyed hair pulled back into a tight bun.
The elderly woman reached her hand forward to shake his. "You must be Suzuki-kun! A pleasure to meet you, young man."
Akira blinked and dubiously shook the woman's hand. "The pleasure is mine, Miss…?"
The woman's amicable expression turned sheepish. "How rude of me. I am Shuzenji Chiyo, however, you may call me Chiyo-san, dearie."
Akira nodded. Chiyo turned to Principal Tanaka. "May we have the room to ourselves, Tanaka-san?"
Principal Tanaka jumped as if startled, and quickly bowed. "Y-yes, Recovery Girl! Right away!" He then practically sprinted out the room, shutting the door behind him with a thud.
Akira jaw dropped. Had he heard that correctly? The Recovery Girl? The one who had frequently been on the front lines rescuing injured civilians during villain attacks? Akira didn't consider himself a hero aficionado, but even he was aware of a household name such as Recovery Girl. He began to sweat as well.
Chiyo sighed and gave Akira an exasperated smile. "No need to look so nervous, Suzuki-kun. Please, have a seat.". Still in a state of shock, Akira sat down on the stiff armchair. Chiyo also sat in an armchair right beside him, although her legs didn't quite reach the ground, leaving them dangling.
That's adorable, Akira thought and immediately cringed at thinking of Japan's premier medical hero as adorable. He blushed as he realized that Chiyo was looking at him with an amused smile on her face.
Chiyo cleared her throat. "What schools are you thinking of applying to, dearie?"
Akira's brows twitched. He definitely wasn't expecting mundane small talk. "I was thinking of applying to schools with a strong medical program. It makes the most sense with my quirk." he shrugged.
Interest flashed in Chiyo's eyes. "Oh? I hear U.A. has quite the foundation in that field."
He grimaced. "I don't think I'd be very welcomed by the hero community, Chiyo-san."
She snorted. "If you are talking about your family background, Suzuki-kun, then I assure you that it does not matter to me."
Akira's face whipped towards her in shock. Chiyo raised an eyebrow. "What? You didn't think I would know that you were raised by villains?"
"I thought my file was sealed?" He sagged into the armchair like a deflating balloon.
Her mouth quirked into a smile. "Pro heroes tend to hoard favours like children do sweets."
Akira's lip twitched upwards to the jest, but the amusement quickly faded away. He sighed and said, "With all due respect, Recovery Girl, why are you here?"
She clucked at him. "I told you to call me Chiyo-san, didn't I?" She then shifted, and her expression more serious. "I am here because I wish for an apprentice, and you are currently the top candidate."
Akira let out a bark of laughter, tinged with bitterness rather than humor. "Me? You want me to become your apprentice and what? Become a hero?" His nostrils flared. "How could someone like me become a hero? I'm the reason they—!" He shut his mouth and grit his teeth.
Glancing at Chiyo, he found the very last thing he wanted: unadulterated pity. "Do you wish to help people, Suzuki-kun?" she asked. Akira gave a jerky nod in response. "You could become a doctor, which is, of course, a noble profession, but I truly believe your quirk would be a boon to the heroic community."
Chiyo hopped off the chair, dug around her purse to produce a business card, and placed it on his lap. "Think about it, and when you've made your decision, you know how to contact me." She gave him a pat on the knee and left the room.
Akira had stayed seated long after she left, stewing in his thoughts, and staring at the card in front of him. He grabbed it and roughly shoved it into one his jacket pockets. He slipped on his backpack and left the room, finding Principal Tanaka hunched over and pacing. He jolted as he noticed Akira leaving.
"S-Suzuki-kun! Tell me, what did Recovery Girl want? Does she want to make a generous donation? Offer you a scholarship? What about—" as Tanaka continued to ramble, Akira made a speedy exit out the office.
He snuck past the front gates on his way out. If he was indifferent about class before, now he was completely apathetic. There were much more important things on his mind.
In the middle of his trek back to his dingy, government-paid apartment, he stumbled on the aftermath of a villain battle. Akira vaguely recalled the details he read on his lunch break. The villain was a robber who had used his gigantification quirk after getting caught robbing a woman's purse. The reason why it had got so much attention was that Mt. Lady had made her debut, snatching Kamui Woods' arrest right out of his hands, or rather, his branches.
The fallen debris from such a confrontation was not pretty. Plenty of roads were destroyed, and there was heavy damage to the surrounding buildings. There were a few stray reporters, snapping pictures and recording footage to be aired. Police were firmly guiding civilians out of the area.
The injured were all gathered in one area, and being taken to the hospital when there were ambulances available. The high-priority injuries had seemingly already been transported, and now there were only a handful of people waiting to be taken.
One of those people was a young boy—who couldn't be older than five or six, clutching his forearm in agony, and wailing loud enough for Akira to hear him from the opposite end of the street. Akira saw that there were firefighters and paramedics nearby, but it seemed they were far too busy.
Pity bloomed within his chest. No child should cry alone. Before he even consciously realized it, he was crossing the street and making his way over.
"Hey, kid. Are you okay?" he asked. Now that he was closer, he could see the arm in greater detail. The forearm was heavily swollen and there was a large bump near the elbow— he knew it was likely the radius that was broken.
The boy sniffled and shook his head. "No! My arm really hurts…"
Akira made a sympathetic sound. "I'm sure it does, buddy. I'm Akira. What's your name?"
The boy's lip wobbled. "K-Katsuro." he said.
Akira tried to channel as much reassurance into his smile as he could. "Well Katsuro-chan, I'm sure the paramedics will get to you soon."
There was a cracking sound, and then the screech of metal and rubble. Akira and Katsuro jumped in surprise. Immediately, Katsuro let out a pained shriek, clutching at his arm even more fervently.
Akira took a quick glance at the source of the noise, which was the unstable remains of a small building. There were plenty of adults heading over there to deal with it. Right now his concern was with the distressed child in front of him.
"Katsuro-chan, I know it hurts, but please let me see." After some cajoling, Katsuro whimpered and hesitantly showed his arm. Akira hissed at the sight. The arm had turned even more agitated and red, no doubt exacerbating Katsuro's already high levels of pain.
Akira bit his lip, considering what he could do. He could use his quirk, but the police presence would make that so risky. He chanced a glance and saw that hardly any attention was being paid to them.
"I think I can help you, buddy. But you've gotta be quiet about it, okay?" he said.
Katsuro looked hopeful. "H-How?"
Akira held up his hand to show him. "I have a healing quirk—I can't repair the bone without setting it, but I can lessen the pain for you."
Katsuro nodded eagerly. Akira took a deep breath and rested his hand near Katsuro's arm, getting to work. Right as he used his quirk, he was hit with the feedback. There wasn't any visual component, per se, but more of an intuitive feeling of what was wrong.
Burrowing his brows in concentration, he narrowed his focus to the injury site. It was indeed the radius that was broken. Unfortunately, he couldn't heal the break without setting the arm, which wasn't feasible in the current environment. Luckily, it was a very clean break that'd heal nicely. Can't do much about it now.
He moved on to the surrounding tissue and focused on reducing pain. He willed capillaries to clear any unnecessary blood and fluid that exacerbated the swelling. Now the hard part -honing in even further, attempting to neutralize pain chemicals that made the area overly-sensitive.
As he used his quirk, his body tingled, mainly around the abdominal area. When he'd finally finished, he felt significantly lighter and thinner. There goes today's lunch , he grimaced.
Akira looked at Katsuro's face again, to find it looked significantly less pinched with pain. "Better?"
Katsuro nodded vigorously. "Yeah! It still hurts a lot, but not as bad! Thank you, Akira-san!"
Akira flashed him a tired smile. "It was my pleasure, buddy. Just remember, you can't tell anyone I healed you alright? I could get in trouble for it."
Katsuro's grin spanned from cheek to cheek. "I won't tell! Pinky promise!" He extended his pinky finger towards Akira. In kind, Akira wrapped his pinky around Katsuro's to 'seal the deal'.
"I gotta head home now, bud. Don't give the nurses too much trouble, you got it?" he said fondly, ruffling Katsuro's hair. As he was walking away, Katsuro waved him goodbye with gusto (with his good arm) and he returned the gesture.
On his way, Akira felt something stir within him. It was a feeling he couldn't place. He felt like every fiber of his being was vibrating with anticipation. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins. His hands trembled and his eyes were wide. Is this what it feels like? Being… a hero?
Finally, at his dingy apartment with his heart still racing, he discarded his backpack and jacket, and collapsed on a couch he had gotten for dirt cheap, mostly because it had a myriad of holes in it. He flipped open a trashy romance novel in an attempt to shake off today's excitement but threw it away in a huff after not being able to focus on the words.
He glanced at the tiny wall clock, deciding it was late enough to justify going to bed. Getting out of his day clothes, he slipped on some plain pajama pants and a white undershirt. The bed frame squeaked and groaned as he laid on the mattress. He closed his eyes and waited for the welcoming embrace of sleep.
Damn it.
No matter what, he was still buzzing with energy. The feeling from earlier, it wouldn't go away. And the scary thing was, he wasn't certain that it was entirely all that bad. He had enjoyed helping someone, even if it was just as simple as taking away their pain. He truly had never considered heroics before, believing it not to be for someone of his background.
But…
He looked at his jacket still hanging limply on the rack, more specifically the pocket. He bit his lip. Could he do this? Step so far out his comfort zone that he may be unable to turn back? Then he thought of Katsuro's smile, of his relief, and of his gratitude.
The next thing Akira knew, he was dialing Chiyo-san's number into his flip phone.
"Hello, Chiyo-san? This is Suzuki Akira calling. Yes, I know it's late. No, I did not know the elderly needed their beauty sleep," Akira shifted the phone to get it in a comfortable position and took a deep breath.
"I think I'd like to take you up on your offer."