Chapter 6

Foundational Heroics was ridiculously simple to teach. So simple in fact that Tanya was unsure if she had perhaps misinterpreted the curriculum and was conducting the class wrong. Just sharing a few pieces of wisdom from her experience as a pro hero with the eagerly listening students and then showing them hand-to-hand combat techniques couldn´t be all that was required of her, right? Luckily All Might was coming back next week so he could show her how it was done.

A pro of his calibre was bound to be bursting with wisdom and useful strategies for the newbies to absorb. What else did she have to teach, besides basic melee, a few tactics and common sense? Tanya was certain that she was doing far worse than her precursor in that position.

Still, she gave her best.

"Midoriya, raise your arm higher! Feet further apart and deep breaths! Understood?"

"Y-yes Ms. Argent!"

"Remember, only when you achieve control of your body can you achieve control over 'Superpower'. Pure strength alone isn´t going to cut it when you want to master utilizing your quirk."

"Yes!"

"Good. Yaoyorozu, nice work. I think it would be beneficial if you could show Kirishima the grapple again. He hasn´t quite gotten that move down yet."

"Of course sensei!"

"Bakugou, it is good to see that you take this exercise seriously, but please go over to a different station now. Any more strain on your legs and you could hurt yourself."

He only grunted in reply, but did stop from trying to kick the moving punching bag any further. Although his demeanour was lacklustre and his attitude tolerable at best, he did have potential. Should his behaviour become more pronounced then Tanya would not hesitate to send him to Hound Dog as well. The explosive teen could do great harm if that nasty temper got the better of him.

A problem child of the different kind was sitting at the edge of the gym, badly pretending to perform stretches. Instead he was ogling Ashido´s and Ochako´s shapely behinds, which were even more pronounced due to their skin tight costumes.

"Mineta! This is the third time I have to warn you to take this seriously! Any further harassment of your classmates will result in detention!"

"B-but Ms. Argent, I was j-just doing stretches-"

"Do not lie to me boy! Deception is part of hero work, but it has no place in school. For that poor attempt of a lie I want three pages on the practical applications of lying until tomorrow!"

"W-what, but I-"

"Do not complete that sentence if you don´t want to add another page to your essay. Also you should really show more effort in your training. It is disgraceful how far behind your classmates you are. Show some of that 'Plus Ultra' spirit UA is known for or you are going to find yourself expelled faster than I can say 'pervert'."

"Did she really just call him a pervert?" asked Kaminari incredulously.

"Yeah, but he is one though. No shame in saying the truth." added Jirou from behind him.

"I guess..."

Meanwhile Tanya was busy with convincing Kouda to punch Tokoyami harder than a slap. It was truly a miracle that the pacifistic boy had made it through the entrance exam. Perhaps teaching normal children was not as simple as she had at first presumed.

~[#҈#]~

The next day Tanya sat in the quiet teacher's lounge and ate the meal Lunch Rush had graciously allowed her to take from his cafeteria. She was glad that most of the faculty chose to eat in the large meeting room instead of here to have discussions over their lunch. Really, she probably should be doing the same, if for no other reason than to gather more intel for the HPSC, but with all the craziness she had to put up with in this madhouse of a school on a near daily basis, she thought she deserved this momentary respite.

'... Or not,' she thought bitterly as a shadow once more fell over her and her meal. Already she can sense her chocolate éclair becoming soggier by the second as the tasty cream seeps into the buttery pastry.

"Yo! Tanya-chan! Whatcha doing down here all by yourself again? Don't you know all the cool cats are upstairs?"

Putting her utensils down with forced calm, she looked up at her fellow teacher and hero, Yamada Hizashi, and spoke coolly:
"I think you meant Tanya-san, Mr. Yamada, and yes, I am aware the rest of the faculty is currently upstairs. I chose to eat down here willingly."

The man faltered a moment under her icy gaze, but recovered quickly as he leaned a forearm onto the table and placed his other hand on his hip.

"My mistake, Tanya-san, but I still gotta know why. Isn't it boring eating all by yourself? You'd be more than welcome with us." He snapped his fingers as if coming to a revelation. "You're not intimidated by the thought of sitting with so many senpais, are you? I know we're a bunch of experienced pros, but we're all very humble, you know."

Tanya quirked a brow.

"Yes, so humble. Still, you're mistaken, if only taking into account the fact that, other than All Might, I'm currently the highest ranked hero in the faculty, and thus, technically your senpai, not that I put much stock into such things."

Hizashi's eyebrow twitched and a frown pulled at his lips, but Tanya continued. "Regardless, my choice to eat here instead of in the meeting room simply stems from my wish for some peace and quiet before returning to class. So, that being said, if there's nothing else you need..."

Not taking the hint for what it was, Hizashi instead sighed and pulled up a seat to plop down. "Okay, asking you to eat with the rest of us isn't the only reason I wanted to talk you," the man explained, demeanour more serious now. "It's because of Shota."

At the mention of that name, it was Tanya's turn to frown as she asked, "What about him? He's still recovering, yes? Have there been any complications? If so, then rest assured that I'm willing to stay enrolled as a teacher for as long as necessary."

Hizashi chuckled. "Nah, his recovery is coming along just fine. Heck, if he had it his way, he'd already be back and tormenting his students with logical ruses and sleeping in his sleeping bag under the desk, but Principal Nedzu won't let him."

"He sleeps under his desk?" Tanya asked incredulously, her already low opinion of the man dropping even further.

While her first life had made her familiar with the concept of inemuri, that is, sleeping in the office being common and socially accepted as it was seen as a sign of diligence, she had never personally partook in any life. To her, it wasn't a sign that a person was so dedicated to their job that they worked themselves to exhaustion, but instead a display of one's mismanagement of personal resources. Bad diet and sleeping habits leading to running out of energy before your job was properly finished.

Hizashi didn't share her opinion apparently as he just barked out a quick laugh. "Yeah, it's a pretty funny sight, seeing Shota slink around like an inch worm. The students always love it when they discover that he uses the vent tunnels for a short nap during the breaks."

"I'm sure." Tanya mumbled, clearly unamused.

Sensing this, the Voice Hero cleared his throat and barrelled on. "Anyway, what I mean is that Shota has been hounding me about his students. He wants to know how they're doing in your class and all that, so I told him I'd talk to you about it."

"I see." Tanya said flatly, leaning back in her seat and folding her hands on the table. "If that is the case, you can tell Mr. Aizawa that all is going well with MY students."

Hizashi blinked behind his yellow-tinted shades. "Er, your students?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I've been making great strides in correcting the mistakes of Mr. Aizawa's frankly atrocious teaching methods," she explained almost acidly before reigning herself back in.
Frowning, Hizashi began to say, "Mistakes? I know Shota's teaching methods can be a bit unorthodox, but-"

"Unorthodox? Is that what we're calling sheer laziness, now?" Tanya interrupted. "Please, enlighten me if you can, the unorthodox nature in letting a student, who until only recently and only rectified because of my intervention, was crippling himself with every activation of his quirk, or how another's obvious traumas were preventing him from utilizing half of his power? And yet Mr. Aizawa was content to merely sit back and watch these errors unfold in the hopes that they would work themselves out without any effort on his part. If he hoped they would at all."

She snorted derisively and added: "The fact that he cannot even show enough respect to his students and co-workers to take care of his appearance or sleep the appropriate amount at home, shows me how much he is invested in the education of the next generation of heroes. No wonder his expulsion rates are astronomical if he only accepts naturally gifted students that he doesn´t have to personally train. If not for his actions at the USJ, one could almost believe he was actively hoping his students would get themselves killed out in the field."

"Hey! That's going to far," snapped Hizashi, slamming a fist down on the table. "Shota might not be perfect, but if there's one thing he cares about, it's ensuring his students live long lives as heroes."

"Actions speak louder than words, Mr. Yamada," Tanya replied, voice frigid. "And Mr. Aizawa's actions speak of gross negligence at best, and disdain for his job at worse. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to finish my meal while it's still at least somewhat warm. You can tell your friend that the students of Class 1-A are in good hands, better ones, and that their education and training are coming along smoothly."

When Hizashi opened his mouth to argue, Tanya simply tacked on a firm: "Goodbye, Mr. Yamada." while returning her attention to her food and picking up her utensils. The man stood up abruptly, and his shadow lingered above her for nearly a whole minute, until finally receding when he turned around with a huff of indignation and stomped out of the room.

Once she heard the door slam shut, Tanya released a breath that sounded more like a growl and clenched a fist around her fork. Was this going to be a new routine now? Was she going to be interrupted every at lunch? Idly she wondered if it would be considered rude to maintain a barrier over the door in the future to discourage people from bothering her.

~[#҈#]~

"Yes Mr. Principal, you wanted to speak me?"

"Ah Ms. Degurechaff... You are as punctual as your reputation claims. It is always good to work with people who respect your time."

"Indeed."

Their gazes locked momentarily and the world seemed to freeze for a heartbeat.

"Would you like some tea?" the white creature of unidentified origin suddenly asked with a charming smile that instantly broke the tension.

"No, thank you."

Although he would never poison her so unsubtly her paranoia was on an all time high.

"A shame. It was a new brand I ordered from the Philippines just yesterday. It is supposed to be extremely relaxing. I thought you could use some after your first intense few days at our lovely school and that exhilarating battle before class today."

"Oh, it was nothing. I needed to withdraw some money and he chose that time to rob the exact same bank. I would say that that was simply bad luck on both our parts."

"Is that so?" Nedzu asked with a twinkle in his beady eyes, his paws busy with preparing the beverage.

Tanya just shrugged and hummed noncommittally.

"Nonetheless, it was a fairly intimidating villain you fought today. A quirk that turned his whole body into a super-hard and durable chainsaw blade is no easy thing to work around. The press are already calling him the monster of the week."

"A very insulting term in my opinion."

"Pray tell."

That infuriating "conversation" with Present Mic in the teachers' lounge had obviously put her more off balance than she believed, if she fell so easily for Nedzu´s traps. Although perhaps she could you this opportunity in her favour...

"Well, I only got sent a preliminary summary of the case file an hour ago, so I am no expert, but from what he was yelling, young Irukaka was probably a victim of mutant quirk discrimination throughout his whole life. His résumé shows that he graduated from highschool with above average grades and attempted to find a job, but no business was willing to employ him. If that was caused by either bigoted beliefs or an inability to house his abnormally large frame is unclear at the moment, but at least he seemed to believe that it was the fault of his – admittedly grotesque – appearance."

"So you think that he attacked the bank out of desperation?"

"Yes. I am by no means condoning his actions that put innocent people at risk, but I can emphasize with his desire to escape the downwards spiral he found himself in. Social programs failed him, because he is technically still living with his family, but his father has gone missing for several years and his mother is severely disabled. The money their insurance provides is apparently not enough to sustain her treatment and pay the rent for their apartment. Add unemployment and an absent father into the mix and I believe it becomes pretty clear why he resorted to robbery in the end."

"Impressive. You managed to gleam all that from the few scarps of information the police released. How marvellous." he grinned, making it clear that he had known the whole story already.

"Humans are normally not too complex if you abstract their behaviour a bit. The motivations for crime stay the same throughout history. Greed, fear, desperation and a lust for vengeance are in my experience the most common causes for people to turn a weapon against their neighbours. From an analytical standpoint Irukaka made a somewhat logical decision when he went against the law. He believed that society had failed him after all, so he tried a different approach. The definition of insanity is to try the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. Subsequently he went for the only other option his young and inexperienced brain knew from watching the daily news."

"Mmm... So you partly blame the media for promoting villainy? A bold claim that I am sure would make for an excellent research paper. Turning a normal, young man into a violent criminal... Yes, yes that would create quite the stir in the public perception of news coverage. Humans are truly scariest when they suppress their emotions in favour of calculated goals."

"No."

Damn it! She hadn´t meant to say that out loud. Now Nedzu looked like a hungry shark which had smelled blood in the water. Tanya would need to indulge his curiosity or else he would probably not let this topic drop easily.

"Oh you disagree?"

"Yes. Humans are then at their most dangerous and depraved when they forgo logical reasoning and premeditated ideals. It is their inability to ignore their misguided feelings that has lead to so much misery and senseless violence over the course of history."

"Mmh oh yes. Naturally, not thinking things properly through is the mother of most problems, but it is also that trait which enables much good in our society. A hero rushing towards a victim to save them even at the cost of their own health or life is – while not strictly objective – an admirable action."

He was doing this to test her she knew that. By not keeping her mouth shut when she really should, Tanya had opened a can of worms that would sooner or later explode in her face. Whatever he wanted to verify about her character could be crucial to the continuation of her mission.

"And yet, by throwing their life away too hastily the hero may doom many more innocents when they are unable to come to their rescue. Prioritizing one´s overall ability to keep working over the well-being of others is the most reasonable reaction from an evolutionary standpoint."

"An evolutionary standpoint you say? How interesting. What a remarkable opinion for a professional hero to have."

It sounded serious, but she immediately realized that he was mocking her! Or was this another test?

"I am fully aware that it may sound cold to civilian ears, but you and I both know that the world is more complicated than the rose-tinted version the government is trying to show us. Sacrifices for the overall prosperity of the system have to be made all the time. The needs of the many outweigh that of the few. Even All Might cannot save everyone. If what the report says is true then he only showed up late to the USJ disaster because he was preoccupied with stopping muggings and rescuing cats from trees on the way. Had he arrived just a few seconds later a student or teacher could have paid with their lives for that mistake."

"I quite agree. It was reckless of him to neglect his duties as a teacher like that. He is still very much stuck in his 'Symbol of Peace' mindset."

Hurriedly she used his admission to change the topic. Tanya knew that he would detect her diversion right away, Administrator M had warned her of his superhuman intelligence multiple times, so she decided to be blunt about it.

"As gripping as this discussion is, you hardly made me come here for idle banter, did you Mr. Principal?"

"True enough, my dear Ms. Degurechaff. Say... How have you settled in at this fine institution?"

"Well enough. I admit it can be challenging to take care of so many children at once, but it is nothing I cannot handle. Teaching is certainly a very gratifying profession if one is able to watch young heroes learn and develop over time."

"Fascinating."

He smiled at her serenely, but she could see the glint of steel in his eyes.

"And the other teachers are treating you well I hope?"

Ah... So that was what this meeting was about. She wanted to slap herself for not figuring it out sooner.

"They are nice enough. We didn´t have much time to get to know each other yet. Seeing as Eraserhead is allegedly insisting on resuming his scholastic duties as soon as possible I will sadly not get the chance to do so either."

Tanya would miss the food very much. And lecturing or overseeing a bunch of kids was also far safer and cushier than going out in the streets to fight crime.

"Well it seems that your opinion of Aizawa is not very high. Rumours are already spreading that you would try to permanently replace him."

Oh, she could imagine who was behind this smear campaign.

"Whoever is spreading such nonsense should wash their ears and learn to think before opening their mouth. I never expressed such a thing, nor did I ever think of it. I merely uttered my displeasure about some of his educational failings."

The tea had long since finished brewing and the white rodent finally settled behind his desk, holding his cup with both paws like a sacred treasure.

"I see... Mhhh... You are really missing out on this excellent flavour. I am afraid that next time I will have to insist that you partake in at least a mouthful. I would deeply regret it if you missed out on the opportunity to enjoy this blend."

"Of course."

Was this a threat? Some cryptic message? What kind of game was Nedzu playing here?

"But alas... Maybe my taste is just different from humans? Perhaps what I find pleasant about this tea is totally lost on your kind? Or you are noticing other sensations that I cannot experience? A human brain is more complex than an animal brain after all."

Appealing to his ego with the truth would hopefully ease the strain on their barely formed work relationship.

"Humans are for the most part like any other animal: Impulse-driven, reliant largely on instinct and pattern recognition and without true thought or comprehension of the world around them. To claim that they are something special in the universe is one of the greatest lies ever invented."

"Hahahahaha... Wonderful! Why do we fight for them then? What are we hoping to accomplish by helping out these animals – as you described them?"

"That is the question." she answered diplomatically.

"That is the question." he repeated quietly, sipping his tea and nodding at her.

Wordlessly she bowed and left his office, not knowing if she had failed or passed his evaluation.