OVERSEER

I've been awake to see the day. Devour the night, I've seen decay. Give away to growth and make the most of nearly nothing.

-Evelyn by Kim Tillman

Come the next morning, Florence finds herself feeling a bit more refreshed than yesterday. She still didn't get as much sleep as she would have preferred, but it is still an improvement considering she wasn't plagued as deeply by nightmares or memories. She'll take the good mood in stride, just to see if she can hold onto it longer to fight off the darker thoughts that are leeching in the back of her mind. In her age, she has learned to take the temporary sunshine if that is what it takes to fend off the dark.

Her extra classes won't be until the end of the day; she knows to expect a large number of students. Between all the sign ups and the ones that she will be dragging there herself, the large dome that Nezu built for her class is starting to feel more appropriate. She has no doubt that there will at least be enough room, especially considering the first extra strategy class will make use of desks.

In the meantime, it won't hurt for her to oversee the other classes. Nezu has made it clear that she can spend the free time before her class as she wishes, something that she doesn't take lightly - using it mostly to either prepare or to help wherever she is needed. Lunch Rush has appreciated her feedback and helping hands most of the days this week; the same goes for Power Loader during the time she briefly visited the support classes, finding him to have his hands full with a particularly engaged and determined girl. She plans on spending next week overseeing a mixture of second and third year classes, if Snipe will allow her to do so; the other staff member has been a bit illusive for her to get a gauge on him.

For today, it wouldn't hurt to see how the first years are already applying both combat and strategy to their practical learning to get a better gauge on what they are personally missing, as well as see their quirks in action. Knowing that Vlad King will be the worst of two evils, she starts with Eraserhead's Class of 1-A. She figures that at the very least, he won't mind the extra help if it can get him a few extra minutes of sleep. She manages to find him and his class in Ground Beta running through training.

"I suppose it's my turn now, isn't it?"

It's all the greeting that he gives her and he doesn't seem surprised to see her either. She should have known that word would have reached him eventually, either through word of mouth from the ones she's already visited and helped, or from Nezu himself. She stands beside him calmly, hands clasped behind her back as she gazes over the students. A few of them falter in their training, looking over at her and Aizawa questionably, before he barks at them to continue.

"I figured it was time I see the first years' quirks in action," she explains, "As well see what they're already applying and what they're missing."

Aizawa glances at her from the side of his eyes. While he is still giving his students most of his attention as they work through one of their first (pitiful) exercises - with plans to start their search and rescue training on Tuesday with Thirteen - he can't help but wonder if he should be concerned about Florence's presence. He doubts that she will be too disruptive, and definitely not nearly as loud as Present Mic he's sure, but he hates not knowing for sure. As much as he has tried to get a better gauge of her, there's still too much of her that is left unknown to him.

Her teaching, however, is one of the few things that is straightforward about her. He teaches in a similar enough style to know that despite how harsh she sounds and how hard she works them during combat, she is only doing what he himself is trying to do. Prepare them for the real world. He never agreed with the way most of the schools, UA included, tends to sugarcoat the reality of being a pro hero. Florence, as far as he can tell, is one of the few staff members willingly to not beat around the bush about the subject. As much as he doesn't quite want to admit it, in one week, she's managed to do what no new hire has done, she's impressed him. Or at the very least, gained a certain amount of respect.

"Need reassurance that you made the right choice for your extra classes? Or should I expect you to interrupt their class now to assign another one of them a class?"

Florence won't admit it, but there is a reason why she chose his class first rather than going straight over to Vlad's, other than just putting off seeing the other teacher. Eraserhead happens to be one of the few staff members that has garnered a bit of respect from her; seeing the way he handles the students to seeing how he handles himself. No nonsense and looks as exhausted as she feels. She knows that if she were there to interrupt in any way, he would shut it down fast.

Florence scoffs, "I'm pretty confident about my choices and I'm not a fan of interrupting anything if I can help it. It's rude. I only came here to observe. If you want me to intervene in any way, I will, but from what I've seen, you seem to be a competent teacher. It's good to know that I'm not the only hardass here."

Her brutal honesty, not shying away from crass words, gives him a ghost of a smile, looking at her in mild amusement. He appreciates the fact that she based her apparent opinion on him on her own experience rather than what others have said; something that he himself is trying to do in regards to her. Present Mic would tease him mercilessly about this, he's sure, and likely say something about the two hardasses in UA having to stick together. He almost says the comment himself, but he just isn't sure how the other teacher would take it.

"Us hardasses have to stick together, don't we," Florence states lightly, her expression just shy of a smile, looking at him to gauge his reaction.

The smile on his face becomes a bit more genuine as he snorts, barely nodding his agreement. Florence gazes back to Class 1-A. For the most part, they do seem to be improving and are certainly putting their all into the exercise as they work on controlling their quirks.

"PomPom's threatening to kill everyone," she comments lightly, leaning toward Aizawa.

"Bakugou has his own way to motivate himself," Eraser explains, "Not the most conventional method, or even the most public friendly, but it is effective. I doubt he will actually seriously injure any of his peers. Despite his exterior, he already seems to have formed a small tight knit group."

She can see it. Kirishima and Mina Ashido are standing close by, unbothered by Bakugou's threats and mostly laugh them off. While he grumbles and curses, he doesn't actually lash out at them for doing so, even when Kaminari openly teases him for it. She can't help the bit of amusement that bubbles in her chest, giving her a soft smile. She can hear all the students openly teasing each other and laughing nearby, obviously making the most out of the training while still making friends. Each one is smiling. She almost forgot just what it was like being surrounded by this.

As if Aizawa finally has to ask, he speaks up as he thinks back to her nicknames for the students, "Do you really not know any of their names yet?"

"Of course I do," Florence waves off the concern, "But I can't let them know that, it ruins the fun… Speaking of PomPom, I heard that there was quite an incident yesterday during All Might's class."

Aizawa sighs deeply, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Before he even answers, she continues.

"I don't put much stock in gossip. I only ask because these are my kids just as much as they are yours so I need to know what to expect and how they are outside of my course or if there's anything I can do to help ease any situation."

Aizawa swallows thickly, breathing in deeply through his nose, almost thankful that she stopped him before he put his foot in his mouth. He should have taken Hizashi's advice about not jumping to conclusions. That said, he is at least a bit relieved that she's not wasting his time with gossip. Instead, she is trying to take a genuine interest in the kids' wellbeing as well as trying to figure out a solution. She doesn't even speak an ill-spoken word about All Might nor his teaching, she doesn't even seem to be asking about any specifics about the event, just if it is something that she can help with or something she needs to be worried about.

"I don't know what the full story is on those two," Aizawa finally explains, gesturing toward Midoriya and Bakugou as much as he can without being noticed by the other students. He opts to be as truthful about the situation as he can. "But they disrespected the exercise yesterday and put themselves and their peers at risk by doing so. All Might left their punishment to me."

Florence takes his words into consideration. Even now, she can see the interactions between the two students raising a few red flags. It shouldn't surprise her that Bakugou went overboard during an exercise, his anger getting the best of him, but she is surprised that Midoriya engaged it as well; she may have pegged the apparent more mild mannered student wrong. Granted, he may not have had a choice if Bakugou went at him full force. She takes a deep breath. She can't judge either student on the situation; she wasn't there, she hasn't watched the video of it, though Nezu was the one to alert to the situation after school. In the end, the details don't matter much since it doesn't change the end result.

"I mean no disrespect by offering, but you're welcome to stick those two in my detention for the week. PomPom's last detention was supposed to be today, but tacking another week may do him so good. Considering the nature of my course and detentions, they both know that using their quirks would only result in longer detentions so I doubt that either of them will be stupid enough to do so. Hell, even PomPom has yet to break another one of my rules after just one session."

Florence's gaze softens as she looks at him evenly. She knows how the offer could come across and she can't risk misunderstandings; besides, if she plays her cards right, Aizawa seems like he could be a good ally to have among the staff members.

"I don't mean to imply that you can't discipline your students," she explains carefully, "I just don't see the point of both of us being here after hours."

You look like you could use the extra sleep. Aizawa's eyes look even more tired today than they did yesterday. She almost wonders just how late he stays on patrols, if he even still goes on them. Or he may work a second job on top of being a hero like Present Mic (who is still trying to get her to listen to his radio station). She doesn't know his situation, and she barely even cares in the first place, but she would hate for the only other component teacher to be impaired.

"One week for both of them starting Monday," Aizawa finally agrees. "Then they both serve an even amount of time for this offense while Bakugou finishes his last."

She was right to assume that Vlad King won't take as kindly to her presence, but to his credit, he does take it in stride much better than she expected. Unlike Aizawa, he openly talks to his class about her presence there, what it means for them if she sees something that can be improved, and encourages her to jump in. He seems unthreatened by her presence, instead taking it as a chance for his students to get an extra hand of advice and help. She doesn't look the gift horse in the mouth, making it clear that she will follow his lead as it is his class at the moment - not hers. Many of the students look openly relieved at the comment, likely thankful that she won't turn this class into her boot camp style exercises.

Going back and forth between the two classes, she is struck by the stark difference between the teaching styles. Vlad King is definitely more lenient with his students, letting certain ones take the lead instead of encouraging more independent thinking. He openly encourages them by making comments about Class 1-A; she notes that Aizawa not once tried to encourage his students by engaging in class competition, instead just motivating them on a more individual level or by threats (both being styles she uses as well). He doesn't openly compare the two classes, or even make any passing comment about the other teacher. Whereas Vlad seems almost too obsessed with his pride in his class, less like a teacher and more like a gym coach.

She does her best to follow his lead, even if her words of advice are more sharp and precise. She won't want him nor any other teacher undermining her in her classroom, she refuses to do the same to him or another staff member. In the teacher lounge, away from the students, is another story. Given, as long as everyone is safe.

"Good work," she openly firmly praises Monoma, "You're quick and fast, remember to utilize that as much as you can. If you don't have the brute strength, remember to be faster than your enemy."

He seems surprised at the compliment, but takes it in stride, letting it motivate him as he continues. Florence takes the chance to glance toward Vlad, who is (loudly) encouraging a few of the others. For the most part, it does seem to at least work. She spots very students slacking off, all of which are correctly corrected. She spots the hairy one, noting his potential for one or both of her extra classes, but that will have to wait until he's in class with her again. She already promised herself that she will back off as much as she can; she'd hate to interrupt Vlad's class just for that, especially since the man already seems to be on thin ice around her.

Class B, she finds, isn't as active as Class A. There seems to be a lack of energy there, as if they still aren't sure about each other or who their friends are. But she can still see the blossoming of friendship there. They openly help each other back up during the exercise, and not once does she really hear them speak badly against any of their peers. Monoma comes the closest, with him mouthing off of how they have to get better to beat the other class, the girl with larger hands is quick to keep him under control.

"Good work, Talbot." Vlad openly compliments her in passing.

She takes the compliment with a nod, figuring that maybe Vlad won't be as bad a guy as she originally thought; at the very least, if he shows promise of being decent, then it will be much easier working with his class.

When she finally gets back home at the end of the day, she feels lighter. Almost happy. But as soon as the front door shuts behind her, it feels oddly quiet. Almost more lonely than usual. The shadows feel thicker, casting across the room in dark clouds. She's hit with her reality as soon as she steps in; the quietness, the lack of laughter. A heavy weight starts to return to her chest. She never thought it was possible for it to feel even worse than it did before.

Her only company is old memories and forgotten antiques. No one comes to see her when she gets home - a lover, a partner, or a child. She doubts there ever will be again.