Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Bakugo Expelled
Chapter thirty-one: The one where Hizashi's competency as a teacher is called into question
A true era of peace seems to have settled over the campus of U.A. High School at last. All major evils in Japanese society had been taken out, with what few notable villains that had previously been liberated from Tartarus and are still on the loose being hunted like the dogs they are by the Samurai Hero. Five boys from U.A.'s first year hero course had been returned to life after they were killed a while ago, thanks to the efforts of Sengoku and the little horned girl, Eri. Those in the 1-A and 1-B classes have moved into the big dorm building that their classes are going to be sharing, and there's even some love in the air as some of the teens have gotten together.
Yes, everything seems like it couldn't be better. …But the truth is, a good number of the 1-A and 1-B students were all panicking, and for a very simple and understandable reason; their classes were set to take a really important English exam under their teacher Hizashi Yamada, the pro hero Present Mic. It would be a joint test, similar to the joint math exam from a while ago. Many of the students were dreading the English test, as most high schoolers are prone to dread testing of any kind. Such is the way of teenagers and whatnot.
Itsuka and Reiko, girls in the 1-B class that's taught by Edgeshot, were standing in the kitchen area of the communal dorm building their class now shares with 1-A, chatting it up. As the two girls talked, they were met up by their classmate Kinoko. The mushroom girl had gone through a considerable rough patch while dealing with a large casting of depression; she allowed some acne to appear on her face, and she also gained a considerable amount of weight, now looking very much comparable to Sakaki of class 1-A.
Thankfully, the depression had been done away with, and Kinoko was now on the road to recovering. She was now regularly keeping up with all hygiene methods, and as a sign of this her face was now fully clear again. The mushroom girl of class 1-B was still very notably obese, but she was already tackling that issue as things go on at the moment, thanks to some help from a certain crimson-haired boy. "Hey Itsuka, Reiko," Kinoko greeted, "I don't suppose that you girls are ready for the joint English test that our class and 1-A has to take under Hizashi-sensei today, are you?"
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," Itsuka replied, a hint of mild worry in her tone, "But I still have my worries. I mean, the last time our class and 1-A took any sort of test together, it was that math test that chewed a lot of us up and spat us out. Sure, all of us passed it, but it was still a rather brutal experience that I'm fairly certain has given at least a few of the guys in both of the classes some cases of PTSD."
As the three girls of class 1-B talked, they were approached by Mina and Hatsume, two of the girls from class 1-A. "Hey girls," Hatsume greeted with a wave of her hand, "Are you all ready for that big English exam that all of us have to take under Hizashi-sensei today?"
The three girls from 1-B all nodded in the affirmative. "Yeah, it's going to be a tough one, if the math exam our classes took together a while ago set any sort of precedent when it comes to our classes taking tests together," Mina remarked, "Hell, I'm worried that the English test is going to break some of the students in our respective classes, myself included." Turning to face Kinoko, Mina said, "That's where you come in, Kinoko. I need to ask you for a favor, and you'll have to bear with me on it."
Kinoko, curious that Mina was asking for her held, arched a piqued eyebrow. "…You want to ask me if I have any notes for English that you can study before we take the test today?"
"No, not exactly," Mina replied, a bit of an embarrassed look on her face. Clapping her hands together and keeping them that way, sort of looking like she was praying, the pink-skinned girl said, "I need you to let me rub your belly."
"What."
Rubbing the back of her head a bit, Mina explained, "I was hoping that you'd let me rub your belly so that I would get some good luck, and the good luck boost would help me pass the big English test we're going to be taking."
"Yeah, I also need some serious good luck, so I was also hoping you'd let me rub your belly as well," Hatsume remarked to the mushroom girl.
Kinoko looked too surprised to say anything, Reiko looked confused, and Itsuka looked just plain annoyed. "…Kinoko isn't the Buddha," the class rep of 1-B said, firmly and with a hint of annoyance, as well as some confusion, in her tone.
As the girls were all talking, Setsuna from class 1-B came walking on by. Seeing so many of her fellow girls gathered in one group, the recommended girl of class 1-B went over to them. "Hey girls, how you all do?" Setsuna greeted in a casual, mildly amused tone.
Gesturing to Mina and Hatsume, Itsuka explained to her classmate in an incredulous tone, "Mina and Hatsume here both just asked Kinoko if they could rub her belly because they both think that it will give them good luck to help them pass the English test our classes are going to be taking."
Setsuna, her expression lightening up a bit, said, "Oh, for real?" Turning to look at her now well-fed classmate, Setsuna said, "Yo Kinoko, let me rub your belly. My English skills suck and I can use all the help that I can get in order to pass the English test that we're going to be taking later."
"Oh not you too, Setsuna," Itsuka said, gently face-palming. As the class rep of 1-B tried to explain that what a lot of the girls believed wasn't true, the group was approached by three of Mina's friends, those being Sero, Kaminari and Kirishima. The electric quirk user and the crimson-haired boy were both recently resurrected, thanks to the aforementioned combined efforts of Sengoku and Eri.
Getting Mina's attention, Sero asked, "Hey Mina, what are you and the other girls here talking about?"
"Itsuka is refusing to let us rub Kinoko's belly for good luck, even though all of us are set to take that English test under Hizashi-sensei later," Mina explained, a hint of complaint in her tone as she gestured to where Itsuka stood.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Sero remarked with a mildly piqued expression, "Seriously? Yeah, that would be pretty nice if we can get some good luck before we head on in to take that English test." Itsuka face-palmed again, slightly harder this time as another person was now falling for Mina's claims.
"Dude, this is the first exam or test that I'm going to be taking since I had been resurrected," Kaminari remarked, a mild hint of worry in his expression, "It'd be nice if I can get all the help that I can get, good luck included."
"Yeah, I'm not the best in the world at taking tests in general, even though I studied my ass off most of last night before I clocked out," Kirishima said, looking and sounding just as worried as his electrical friend, "If I can get a good luck boost that would help me pass the English test, then that'd be pretty awesome."
Itsuka couldn't believe that a bunch of idiots in class 1-A were all falling for Mina's unfounded beliefs; she didn't hate on them for being in class 1-A (hating on that class is Monoma's deal) but rather because all of them were being stupid. "You guys can't rub Kinoko's belly," Itsuka said, a hint of annoyed strain in her tone. Turning to regard the plump mushroom girl, the class 1-B rep said, "Isn't that right, Kinoko?"
Nodding a bit nervously, Kinoko said, "R-Right. You guys can't rub my belly." Poking the ends of her index fingers together, Kinoko said after a few seconds, "At…At least not until Eijiro has a go at it. He gets the first crack."
"Sweet!" Kirishima exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air.
…
Aizawa and Edgeshot, aware that their respective homeroom classes are set to take that big English test under Hizashi, were heading into the big communal dorm building that the students all shared. Upon entering the dorm building, Aizawa and Edgeshot spotted a lot of the students, mixed from both homeroom classes, gathered around as they watched a line of their classmates doing something in turn, like the line was waiting in line for something.
Aizawa and Edgeshot approached where they spotted Bakugo, Izuku, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu and Tenya standing off to the side, so they approached that group. When they got over to the group of five that they spotted, Aizawa and Edgeshot were able to see what the students who were all in line were all waiting in line to do; they were taking turns rubbing Kinoko's belly for some odd reason. Juzo was the student currently rubbing his obese classmate's belly, and waiting behind him in line was Hagakure, followed by Ojiro, followed by Yosetsu, and so on.
Confused by what he and Edgeshot were seeing, Aizawa patted Izuku on the shoulder, getting him and the others to turn to face him and Edgeshot. Without a word, the underground hero pointed at what was going on, making it clear that he wanted to know what all the students were all up to. "Oh, one of the students started a rumor that rubbing Komori's belly will grant good luck," Izuku proceeded to explain, "So most everyone on 1-A and 1-B are taking turns at it before we all head in to take that big English test under Hizashi-sensei, all of them under the impression that the luck boost will help them past the test."
Again without a word out of either of them, Aizawa and Edgeshot both turned to walk away, leaving Izuku and the others with him looking on mildly confused.
…
Over in Nezu's office, the quirked animal principal was filling out a few forms when he heard the door leading into his office open. Looking up, Nezu saw that both Aizawa and Edgeshot had entered and were walking up to his desk. When the both of them got up to Nezu's desk, they both placed folded envelopes on the desk and slid them over to Nezu; the one that Aizawa placed was labeled 'Letter of Resignation-Aizawa' and the one that Edgeshot place was labeled 'Letter of Resignation-Edgeshot'.
Looking at the letters without even opening them, Nezu looked up at Aizawa and Edgeshot as he said in his usual cheerful tone as he wore his usual chipper expression, "Absolutely not."
"Then at least agree to give the both of us a raise," Aizawa said as he and Edgeshot withdrew their respective letters of resignation, "We're dealing with more and more crazy as the current school year is going on." Edgeshot nodded in agreement with the underground hero.
"Fair enough, but I'll have to check first to see how much of a percentage I can boost your respective salaries by," Nezu replied in an understanding tone. Satisfied that they got at least something out of what all that they've had to deal with, Aizawa and Edgeshot took their leave from Nezu's office.
Later that day, after all classes at U.A. were done for the day, the main bulk of the school staff was having a meeting; the four female pro heroes who had been hired to the U.A. staff during the times of trouble were no longer needed as the dangers that warranted their employment were done with, allowing those women to resume what they all had been up to prior to joining the top hero academy in Japan. Even so, the rest of the U.A. staff that had been filling the meeting room was there, waiting for Nezu to take his seat as he entered the room at that moment. The quirked animal principal reached the head chair at the meeting table, got in, and began the meeting.
"First off, I have been informed by Hizashi that, with the exception of Monoma in class 1-B, everyone who took the joint English test under him earlier today had passed, many having done so with flying colors."
Nodding a few times in the affirmative, Hizashi remarked, "Oh yeah. In fact, there's even a handful of students with perfect scores, such as Mina, Juzo, Kaminari, Nirengeki-"
Hizashi would have gone on, but Aizawa cut him off, a confused look on his face. "Nothing against him, but how in the blazes did Kaminari of all people get a perfect score on a test?"
"I…think it may have to do with what all Hizashi decided to put into the test," Edgeshot remarked as he got out a sheet of paper from a folder he was carrying, "I got my student Monoma's test, and after reviewing the questions that Hizashi decided to put into said test, I can see why Monoma would be so confused by the content of the test that said confusion is what had caused him to be the only one who failed."
Edgeshot slid the copy of the test over to Aizawa, who took it up and began taking a look at it. Right away, the underground hero's eyes went wide with confused surprise. "Question one," Aizawa began with the hint of confusion in his tone growing slightly more as he spoke, "What does YOLO stand for?" Looking up from Monoma's copy of the test, Aizawa said, "Are you for real, Hizashi?"
Shrugging, Hizashi said, "Hey, I figured that if the students now and days were using a specific kind of vernacular, they at least ought to know what said vernacular means so that the people that they talk to can understand what they are saying."
There was a hint of a scowl on Aizawa's face as he looked back down to Monoma's copy of the English test that Hizashi had administered earlier. Aizawa's eyes widened a bit more, and the surprised confusion re-entered his tone, as he spoke, "Question two, translate the following sentence; Deez bitches be mad trippin'." Looking up from the test and to the rest of the staff who was at the meeting, Aizawa said, "Also, the word 'these' in that sentence isn't spelled t-h-e-s-e, but rather d-e-e-z." As the underground hero explained what he was seeing on that copy of the earlier English test, a few people at the meeting table, notably Edgeshot and Toshinori, all turned to regard the cockatiel-haired pro hero.
"What in tarnation did you smoke and or drink before you wrote up that test you gave to all of Aizawa's and Edgeshot's students, Hizashi?" Snipe asked, sounding more curious than most others at the meeting, even though he was still plenty unamused by Hizashi's actions.
"Like I said, if the kids are going to talk like that, they should at least understand what they're saying," Hizashi defended.
Letting out a troubled sigh, Toshinori said, "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to side with Aizawa, Snipe and Edgeshot on this one, Hizashi. You're supposed to be teaching the students how to speak proper English, not English slang." A few others at the meeting all nodded in agreement with the former Symbol of Peace, drawing a bit of a worried look out of Hizashi.
Later at the communal dorm building, Bakugo was talking to Izuku and Todoroki about what happened during the English test that their class took with class 1-B earlier. "That test was confusing as all get out, Deku and IcyHot," the explosive teen remarked, "I'm not sure how I was able to pass it. It looked like Hizashi-sensei was under some manner of illegal influence when he made it."
"I heard that Kaminari got a perfect score on it," Todoroki remarked in a casual tone, "Beating out other students such as the three of us for instance, as well as Yaoyorozu and Tenya." Taking a casual sip from his can of cola he was drinking from, Todoroki said, "At least my response for the third question on the test was deemed as correct."
Izuku was about to ask what Todoroki put as an answer for the third question from the test that they all took earlier, but the green-eyed boy was cut off by Hizashi walking into the dorm building, his head hanging low. The loud pro hero was clearly depressed, and the aura that he was giving off could not be missed by the boys. The three of them dropped what they were all doing and went over to Hizashi.
Hizashi stopped where he was walking to and turned to face the boys who came up to him when Bakugo got his attention. He gave a depressed sigh as he shrugged his shoulders. "Hey boys, don't mind me. I need to prepare a report to argue for my staying on the school staff here so that I can try to fight to keep my job as the English teacher here."
Bakugo and the others all looked surprised by what the cockatiel-haired pro hero was saying; from the sounds of it, it seemed that there was a chance that Hizashi might lose his job of teaching at U.A. "What the hell is going on, Hizashi-sensei?" Bakugo borderline demanded, "How can you be on the verge of getting canned from your job here?"
Gently shaking his head, Hizashi gave a mildly resigned sigh before he said, "Apparently, some of the other staff members don't think I'm teaching English to you all properly."
"I happen to think that you're doing an awesome job, sensei," Todoroki remarked, "I fail to see why some of the other teachers think you're not competent at the job."
"We can't let the staff fire Hizashi-sensei," Izuku said. Turning to face Bakugo and Todoroki, the green-haired cinnamon roll remarked, "Guys, we need to get everyone together to make an argument for Hizashi-sensei's case to let him continue teaching here at U.A.!"
The other two boys both pumped fists into the air as they cheered, showing that they were both agreeing with Izuku. As the three of them went about assembling everyone, Hizashi could feel that he had been touched by the gesture of the boys going so far for him. Competent or no, there was no denying that Hizashi was a beloved teacher who can get the students to rally for a cause without even meaning to.
Out in the main courtyard of U.A., Bakugo was standing on a sturdy wooden soapbox as he was before a large crowd of students; the rest of 1-A, all of 1-B, and a few other students from various other courses were all in the crowd. Holding up a megaphone, Bakugo yelled into it, "The school's going to can Hizashi-sensei because they think that he's shit at teaching English! No fucking way is Hizashi-sensei a shit teacher! Are we going to let this go, you extras?!"
"NO!" everyone in the crowd yelled in unison as they were being rallied to fight for Hizashi to stay and continue teaching at U.A. As the protest was growing more and gaining additional traction, a few staff members were watching what was going on from a window a few floors above the ground floor. Among those who were watching were Aizawa, Toshinori, Edgeshot and Snipe, who were all impressed that so many students were untied, were rallying for a single cause that all of them were arguing for.
Gesturing down to where the student protest was forming, Toshinori remarked to the others who were with him, "The students are quite passionate about fighting for Hizashi to continue teaching here. It seems that he really is an inspiration to the youth of today."
Letting out a mildly bemused sigh, Aizawa commented, "I'm glad to see that the student populace of U.A. is finally exercising their rights as students. If Hizashi is able to avoid being canned, then he better prove that he's worthy of all of this dedication that the students have for him by shaping up and-"
Aizawa was cut off when his phone went off in his pocket. Reaching into his pocket, the underground hero pulled his phone out and answered the call. "Hello?" Aizawa said into his phone, "…Ah, Sengoku. What's up? … …Oh, that's good news. I'll be sure to let Nezu and the others here at U.A. It's a bit sad what you had to do to one of them, but give the orders you got from the Commission, I can understand why you had to do what you did. I'll talk to you later."
"What was that about?" Edgeshot asked as he and the others turned to face Aizawa.
"Oh, Sengoku told me that he had just dealt with Moonfish and Kurogiri, meaning that only Stain remains for him to deal with," Aizawa replied. Letting out a mildly troubled sigh, he went on, "Sengoku, sadly, was forced into a situation while dealing with Kurogiri where he had to kill him rather than take him in alive. But he was able to apprehend Moonfish alive."
The other teachers nodded in agreement with Aizawa; Toshinori understood why the killing of Kurogiri would strike Aizawa as sad, and bet that Hizashi would feel the same way about it when he was filled in on the matter. After the four teachers were done talking, they turned back to look out the window to observe the student protest that Bakugo was leading.
Later over at the communal dorm building, Bakugo was hanging out and talking with Mina, Akuma, Kirishima and Kaminari in the living room area on the ground floor. As the four of them talked about what all was going on with Hizashi, the cockatiel-haired pro hero himself came walking in, his head hanging a bit out of depression as he slowly made his way over to where he would find his own room in the dorm building; he and Aizawa kept rooms in the dorm building, as teachers needed to keep an eye on the students.
"Hey Hizashi-sensei, are you going to be okay?" Mina asked, being the first to notice the man walk into the dorm building.
Hizashi turned to face the students, gave them a resigned look as he let out a sigh. "…Oh, it's nothing to worry about, little listeners. I'm about to head in for the meeting where it will be determined if I will be retained as a member of the U.A. staff is all. I just need to collect some documents that I prepared to help argue for my case to stay here before I head off to the meeting, which is going to be in about ten minutes or so."
The students who had spotted Hizashi enter the dorm building all got up and went over to him, all of them looking like they were sympathetic towards him and his flight. "Hizashi-sensei, there is no way the school will fire you," Kaminari reassured the loud pro hero, "Not unless they want a lot of the students here to riot due to sheer outrage, that is."
"Yeah, even I have to admit you're among the coolest of the teachers here," Bakugo remarked, a bit of an annoyed snarl on his face, "If U.A. does decide to sack you, then the decision will piss of a lot of students here. I'm pretty sure the staff sees that as well, so I have confidence that you will make it through and come out of things in the end alright."
Hizashi smiled appreciatively as he regarded some of his students, with there being the chance that he may not be their teacher anymore by the end of the day. "…Thanks, kiddos," Hizashi remarked, "The good vibes you're giving me will help me get through the review meeting that I have to go to."
Giving off an amused smirk, Bakugo flashed a thumbs-up to his English teacher. "…I have no doubt that you'll knock it out of the park, Hizashi-sensei. Good luck."
Nodding a few times in an appreciative manner, Hizashi said, "Thanks, Bakugo, but given what the meeting that I'm set to go to will be determining, I'm going to be needing all of the good luck that I can get just to avoid being canned."
Suddenly, Mina's eyes widened a bit, as if she were struck by inspiration. "…Hizashi-sensei, I have an idea that may help." She then turned to look at Kirishima, as if she were going to ask the crimson-haired boy for a favor.
…
Later that evening at around dinner time, every student staying in the communal dorm building was having dinner together, making things a truly big and special gathering. As all of them ate and drank together, Hizashi came running into the dining area, cheering excitedly and pumping his fists up in celebration. "I wasn't canned!" the cockatiel-haired pro hero cheered, "I'm going to be staying on the school staff, listeners!"
This news immediately got a lot of the students cheering, given that all of them had cause to celebrate since Hizashi wasn't going to be fired. While the bulk of the students were excitedly talking about how one of the coolest teachers on the U.A. staff was going to be kept, Bakugo was talking to all of the boys in his squad; Mina and Sakaki were sitting over by the rest of the girls in 1-A, as well as all of the girls in 1-B.
The explosive teen gave off an amused chuckle. "Heh, figures that we'd be keeping Hizashi-sensei," Bakugo said, "The school obviously knew that they'd have a massive student riot on their hands if Hizashi-sensei was canned." Holding up a glass of soda that he was drinking from, Bakugo said, "Here's to us, because we're the ones who argued to keep Hizashi-sensei here at U.A. as a teacher!"
The boys of the Baku-squad all raised their glasses in a toast to celebrate many things, chief among them the fact that Hizashi was going to be staying as a U.A. teacher.
END, CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Author's notes;
I really kind of like Hizashi, and I haven't observed a lot of works where a teacher at U.A. was at risk of losing their job for one reason or another, only for a lot of the students to rally to argue for the point of letting said teacher stay. So I figured I'd write such a plot to give Hizashi a good bit of much-needed love. But aside from that, the next chapter will show a classic plot when it comes to teenagers in the high school setting.