In this chapter:
Both class 1-A and UA teachers have things to say about the news
2 – Morning discussions
Izuku almost choked into his yawn when Uraraka jumped in front of him arms flailing as soon as he stepped to the common area lounge of the 1-A student dorms.
"Deku-kun, Deku-kun! Morning!" she greeted enthusiastically, positively beaming with energy. "Say, did you hear what happened yet?"
Izuku coughed his surprise away along with the remnants of his yawn and was suddenly wide awake. Uraraka would have made a great alarm clock, he thought quietly to himself. "Uraraka-san! Good morning. Did I hear what?"
Uraraka chuckled a little and pressed her finger tips together. "Aizawa-sensei was on the hero news."
"Oh I see, so- wait: huh?" Izuku couldn't hide his surprise.
"I know right!" Uraraka laughed at his confused expression. "He helped to solve this huge case. There was a video too! He was super cool."
"A video?" Izuku was even more baffled. "Aizawa-sensei was caught on a video while doing hero work?" He touched his chin in thought and started mumbling to himself. "That's super rare... There is next to no data on Eraserhead in the net so this is a rare chance. Sensei probably wouldn't like it but seeing an underground hero at work could be valuable data. I wonder if can I use that video to gather new info on battle usage of quirks? Then again this is Eraserhead we're talking about so hand to hand combat could be more likely. It could also offer insight to how different villains move in a battle if quirks are not involved and help foresee what they could do once using one. What if…"
"Um, Deku-kun? Hello?"
"You should read the article as soon as you are able, Midoriya-kun," Iida said, coming to them from the kitchen and snapping Izuku out of his mumbling phase. "It is a truly valuable opportunity to us as students to peak at the work our teachers do outside classes. But first!" he then exclaimed and showed Izuku a plate full of food in his hands and pointed to the kitchen. "We must acquire appropriate nourishments for the day in a form of a proper breakfast. Make sure not to skip it! Oh and, good morning."
"Uh, yes. Good morning, Iida-kun," Izuku replied, truthfully more interested in this article and the video than eating, but his stomach disagreed so he headed to the kitchen. Even so, he couldn't help his curiosity and talked with his classmates over his shoulder. "What kind of case did sensei help with?"
Skipping beside him, Ashido grinned, clearly happy he asked. "He found the son of this really important looking business man. The boy had been kidnapped and they couldn't track them down," Ashido explained excitedly. "And then Aizawa-sensei comes in and like BAAM: the case is solved!"
Izuku smiled a little sceptically. "Are you sure it was that simple?"
"Of course!" Ashido said, grinning and gave him a victory sign. "I mean, I heard he defeated the villains all alone and everything!"
"Really?" Izuku replied, hurrying his hands in their breakfast gathering skirmishes so he could sit down and read the news.
On the sofa of the common area Asui was apparently flipping through the article on her phone. "I wonder if Aizawa-sensei will be in bad mood today. He doesn't like getting media attention."
"Oh, you're right. Crap, I didn't even think of that," Sero pondered beside her and eyed the article over her shoulder. "You think we'll get some crazy exercises?"
"Maybe it's more expulsion warnings."
"Hey don't joke about that stuff, it's not funny," Mineta begged from his seat.
A short string of little explosions brought everyone's attention to Bakugo who was lounging on one of the armchairs, seeming awfully fired up this morning. "Sounds like just what I needed. Bring it! I feel good today. Come at me with your hurdles, I'll smash them into pieces."
"Did you get inspired by the article too, Bakugo?" Kirishima asked, coming behind him and looked down at Bakugo over the back rest. "I mean, it's really different to read news if someone you know is in them, right! So come on, it gave you an extra kick, didn't it?"
"No it didn't!" Bakugo barked up at him. "Who cares what the teach does in his free time! There wasn't even any fighting in that video!"
"But you did watch the video anyway then?" Uraraka teased.
"Shut up! I stopped midway cause it was boring!"
"There is no fighting in the video?" Izuku confirmed, slightly disappointed (albeit still interested), sitting down next to Asui, who had been signalling to him to come check the article she had open. After getting rid of the worst of his hunger with a few bites, he put his plate to the armrest. "That's a bummer, I really wanted to see. But what's in it then?"
Asui scrolled up the article and showed it to him. "The moment when the child was returned to his parents. The family is apparently really rich and important so the case got a lot of media attention. That's why there was a news crew present outside the police station."
"Hmm..." Izuku hummed in thought and started reading the headlines. "'After twelve hours, the child is finally rescued'. Around 5 a.m.? That's a dedicated news crew…"
"Dedicated onlookers too," Uraraka added, flopping against the back of couch and leaning over to peer at the small screen as well. "There was a bunch."
"Huh, what's the fuzz about?" Kaminari asked from the door, entering to the common area with Jirou and Yaoyorozu. "Did something happen?"
"Sensei is in the news! He beat up some villains last night!" Ashido explained to them enthusiastically, following her explanation with a recreation of Aizawa's battle moves she came up with on the spot.
"Seriously? Wicked! Hey, let me see too," Kaminari said coming to the sofa for a peak. It was getting crowded.
"Then me too!" Mineta exclaimed and made an attempt to dive onto Asui's lap but got kicked aside by Jirou before his master plan came to fruition.
"Ribbit," Asui said and send the video on her phone to hologram mode so everyone could see it.
Izuku leant closer and watched closely as the feed started. Watching the video in a hologram didn't give it the best quality, so he made a note to himself to watch it later on a bigger screen and appropriate lighting.
It was a face of a reporter on site who first popped up on the screen. -"The police and heroes have joined forces to track down the culprits, who have remained elusive since the kidnapping. Leaving only extra demands behind to the places thought to be pinpointed as their hideouts, the villains−."-
As the reporter kept talking, on the background behind her an upset woman and a man could be seen discussing with the police: supposedly the parents of the kidnapped child. As rich and important as they apparently were, they didn't look familiar. As the reporter woman went on describing the parent's feelings and talking about possible hindrances and incompetent handlings of the case, the camera zoomed in on them.
-"A while ago we received a notice that the hero agency in charge of handling the case has obtained new information and is on the move but as of yet, there are no signs of Kobayashi Eita-kun being able to return to his parents."-
Uraraka chuckled quietly and poked Izuku's arm as the reporter went on talking about things remotely interesting. "The timing of this next thing is so perfect. I wonder if sensei planned it?"
"Uraraka-kun, please remain silent while the video is playing!" Iida instructed, talking way louder than Uraraka had, which Yaoyorozu pointed out to Iida's chagrin. Even so, the next voice on the video sounded the clearest.
-"MOTHER! FATHER!"-
In the following surprised shuffle of the people on the screen, the camera eventually pinpointed someone on the roof of the building next to the police station everyone had gathered in front of. And as people pointed up at person outlined against the sky and city lights, this dark figure moved, using what looked like white cloth to seemingly effortlessly drop down to an alley between the buildings. Whether the figure had remained in shadows or not, the students didn't have hard time figuring out who it was.
Izuku consciously made an extra effort to see everything the screen had to offer, determined not to miss anything.
The video was a bit of a mess for a while as the camera moved along with the people around to see what was happening in the darker street.
There kneeling on the asphalt on the edge of where light reached they could see a figure of man and beside him was a young boy, perhaps five or six years old. The camera couldn't pick up almost any details from the shadows, but the image was clear enough to follow. The camera came to a still just in time to see the boy drop down from the man's back and stand there for a few seconds, staring at the people gathered at the end of the alley, unsure and timid about what to do next. When his parents forced their way into the front of people, the man said something to the boy, giving him a little encouraging push to the back and the child sprang forward.
-"Mom!"-
-"Eita!" the mother cried and caught the child to her arms. "My sweet boy. Are you alright? I was afraid I wouldn't see you again. Have you been brave?"-
The reunion of the parents and their little boy was touching, Izuku would have lied if he had told someone it didn't ignite some of his determination to become a hero. He noticed how Uraraka beside him couldn't keep a smile off her face. On the video, the reporter was effectively ruining some of the impact of the scene by trying to narrate what was going on, but it was altogether a heart-warming sight. Still his attention was soon moved from the crying family to the man still in the shadows of the alley in the background as he stood up and turned to leave.
-"Wait!" the father of the family said and took a few steps after the man. "I cannot thank you enough, hero. Let me −"-
He was cut off as the man once again utilised his scarf. Attaching it to the railing of a French balcony above, he jumped, wall jumping and flinging himself all the way back to rooftop level, and crouched down on the edge of the roof.
-"What, wait! Don't run away!" the reporter cried after him, demanding he came down for an interview this instant.
Yeah: no, gathered a collective sigh of class 1-A. That's not happening…
-"Who is that?"-
-"Thank you, hero!" the young boy shouted after his rescuer and waved.-
The man gave the street below a one more glance before he sprang up and instantly disappeared from sight, a second before a policeman pointed a strong flashlight at the spot he had been crouching on.
"Gaaah! I still think it's cool!" Kirishima exclaimed and leant his head back. "There's just something special about this kind of thing. Maybe I should give being an underground hero a try one day too?"
"No, you're most definitely not suited for that," Jirou shot him down mercilessly.
"I knew Aizawa-sensei didn't like the media, but man does it take a certain type of a character to walk away from people trying to praise you," Kaminari commented and got up to go to the kitchen and silence his demanding stomach. "That's like the best part!"
"Indeed," Mineta said as well, nodding. "I certainly wouldn't have minded a hug from that mother."
"You're the worst, you know that?"
Bakugo scoffed and glared at them with a disdainful look on his face. "This is ridiculous. There's nothing interesting in that video."
"That won't do, Bakugo-kun! As his students we must appreciate the efforts our homeroom teacher makes to better this society," Iida lectured him with a strict tone, accompanied by his usual swift and precise hand movements. Everyone else seemed notice from the get go how futile this lecture would turn out to be but earnest that he was, that didn't stop Iida from trying.
Izuku tried watching to the last bit of the video where the reporter was still talking and the family was shown together once more. The rescued boy also seemed to say something when asked but the audio was drowning under the Iida vs. Bakugo argument so Izuku gave up for now. He wanted to watch it again either way. Something was bothering him but he couldn't quite point a finger at it. He also wondered if Aizawa was willing to tell them his side of the story in person today.
That was when Todoroki walked into the room, still looking very sleepy and stopped to tilt his head at the livelier than usual morning routine in the common area.
"Good morning, Todoroki-san," Yaoyorozu said and came to him. "People are excited about the news about Aizawa-sensei. Have you seen it?"
Todoroki nodded and started towards the kitchen. "I followed the development of the case live for a while before getting too tired," he replied while walking through the room. "I'm sleepy."
"My, that's rare from you. You're usually so diligent."
"The family in the centre of it was someone I know a little through family connections," Todoroki explained. "I wanted to see how it ended."
"What? You knew the kid who was kidnapped?" Kirishima asked and tossed an apple in his hand a couple of times. "But so: you're sleepy, eh?" As a test he threw the apple towards Todoroki like baseball pitch.
Todoroki caught the fruit effortlessly before it hit his face. "No. The family has had some deals with Endeavour in the past. Well, something more like business partners than family friends. I barely know more than their names, but I have nothing against them either," he said and took a bite of the apple. "Well… I knew they had a son."
Kirishima was defeated. "Gaaah, do you have to eat it so nonchalantly? I thought I could get a score in if you were tired."
"I'm sleepy, not stupid."
"Just what kind of score are you keeping, Kirishima?" Jirou asked sceptically.
"I would like to know too," Todoroki said while munching on a big piece of the apple. "I don't feel like losing so tell me the rules."
"If it's a duel you want, I'm all for it! A fair competition, man to man!"
"What's this, sounds cool," Kaminari joined in as well. "Can I join?"
While Todoroki simply nodded while taking another bite of the apple, Jirou was getting more and more confused. "Hey, seriously, what?"
Uraraka patted her to the back. "It's a guy thing or something I'm sure, don't bother…"
.
.
At one of the upper floors of UA academy main building, Principal Nedzu was looking at the news as well. "My, my," he laughed a little at the newest headline. "'The mystery hero – identity confirmed'? I guess we know someone who is going to be in the bad mood today."
Present Mic snapped his fingers and grinned mischievously. "Knowing Eraser, that is most likely the exact opposite of what he wants."
"To end up in the headlines outside UA relations might be a first one in some years," Midnight chatted from her seat, scrolling absentmindedly up and down the articles she had already read. "I wonder if he even knew the TV-crew was there."
Beside her, Cementoss shook his head. "Media or not, he wouldn't just drop the kid off without seeing him to safety."
On another chair around the angular U-shape table All Might was staring at the video and looked ready to pull his hair out. "That's not right, Aizawa-kun. That's the part where you are supposed to hold the boy in your arms and walk to the worried mother with a smile on your face and say 'everything is alright now' or something. Anything. Anything would have been fine."
On the opposite seat, Present Mic cackled. "Hah! Wouldn't that be a sight see?! Actually I want to see him do that so let's trick him into a dare or something, k?!"
"All joking aside, Principal," Snipe said and all the teachers currently reading news around the table raised their heads from the articles. "What do you make of the current situation?"
Nedzu sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "Yes. I would like to believe it is something we can joke about. But it is indeed a little strange." Raising his head he turned to look at the teachers around the table one after another. "Mic?"
Present Mic clicked his tongue and dramatically set his phone to stand upright on the table, holding it in place. "Negative."
"Midnight?"
Midnight ran her hand through her hair, sighing, and shook her head.
"All Might?"
Toshinori frowned and gripped the papers in front of him on the desk. "Nothing."
"Hmm…" Principal Nedzu thought for a moment in silence before making the decision. "There is still time. Let us wait before making more assumptions. I hope we're worrying over nothing."
In the next chapter:
Aizawa has too many things to worry about and it's time for school to start
A/N: "I'll do it weekly" I say as I forget to actually do it...