Winds of Destiny: Rising
Chapter Nine: Blue Christmas
"Misaki, it's time," the President's cool toned voice spoke out from her right.
Misaki raised her head and swiftly stood from her seat just outside the media hall within the Hero Public Safety Commission headquarters before nervously smoothing down the skirt of her gray pencil dress. A press conference had been organized to report on their plans for addressing the public concerns about hero response in the wake of the attack on Deika, and they were using the opportunity to announce Misaki's promotion along with the details of the role of Commissioner of Analytics. It was a partial ploy to give the Meta Liberation Army a false sense of security that the Safety Commission was still ignorant to their involvement in the attack and their team up with the League of Villains. This wasn't the first time she had been present at one of these press conferences, but it would be her first time engaging in one. She nodded to the President before following her through the door and taking her seat next to Shadou behind the podium. As she usually did in situations like this, she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, hoping to expel her nerves along with the air in her lungs.
The noise in the room quickly died down as the President walked up to the podium and began to address the gathering of reporters. "Before we begin, I would like to take this opportunity to announce the appointment of a new executive position with the Hero Public Safety Commission. As of the first of December, Torimodo Misaki has been promoted from her secretarial position within the company to Commissioner of Analytics."
A flurry of hushed conversation spread throughout the room like wildfire for a moment before one of the reporters raised their hand and stood to ask, "Could you explain the role please?"
All conversation ceased as the crowd waited in rapt anticipation of the President's answer to the question.
"Since All Might's retirement, and as a result of everything that has happened in the months that followed, we've decided to place more of an emphasis on social analytics. Torimodo Misaki's role as Commissioner of Analytics is to identify, predict, and respond to social issues within our society as it concerns to the public's perception of heroes and the work they do. The goal in mind is to develop outreach programs which aim to bolster hero support within communities where it's been lacking lately, in hopes of preventing another incident like Deika," the President explained.
A middle-aged, male reporter in the middle of the group raised his hand and stood before asking, "What exactly are Torimodo-san's qualifications for fulfilling this role?"
'Oh, great…' Misaki thought to herself while making a conscious effort not to let her discontent show on her face. She'd been anticipating a question like that, and unfortunately, there was no good answer. It was still one of the biggest thorns in the side of many members of the executive board.
"Commissioner Torimodo has spent the last year as an upper-level employee within the Hero Public Safety Commission developing tools and practices which have been implemented to optimize efficiencies and maximize workflow company wide. A combination of her abilities, work ethic, overall job performance, and the significance of her contributions to the company were evaluated when considering her for this position," the President calmly replied.
The reporter who'd posed the question scoffed slightly and said, "That's all well and good, but what is her background? Relatable experience? Specialized education? What are her actual qualifications?"
"I have none of that," Misaki found herself saying before she could think better of it.
She glanced up at the President apologetically, but the woman just silently held her gaze and stepped back from the podium in a clear invitation for Misaki to take her place. She swallowed heavily as she stood and walked over to the stand, rolling her shoulders back and holding her chin up in a show of confidence that she wasn't really feeling much of at the moment.
Taking her place behind the podium, she glanced out at the room full of reporters staring back at her and drew in a deep breath before opening her mouth to speak. "I joined the Hero Public Safety Commission almost a year ago with no more than a public high school level education. My only job experience came from three years working at a small bank in my hometown. I had no law enforcement or hero work experience, and very little knowledge about either at the time. But what I did have was ambition, and an aptitude for math-based computer analytics," she added, almost as an afterthought.
"You want to talk about what qualifies me to analyze social issues?" Picking up the clicker sitting in front of her on the stand, she pointed it at the projector on the ceiling that was currently displaying the Hero Public Safety Commission emblem on the wall behind her and clicked the button to switch it over to the slideshow she'd prepared for a previous press conference. The projection on the wall began cycling through several images of the battles in Hosu, Kamino, Kyushu, and Deika.
Misaki locked eyes with the standing reporter and asked, "Why don't we start by talking about the actual social issues? How about the emergence of the League of Villains and the damage wrought throughout the nation by the Nomu they command? Or the undercurrent of discontent within society brought about by Stain's 'Hero Revivalism' rhetoric? What about the way that people throughout the country are responding to the retirement of All Might and the leadership of their new Number One Hero, Endeavor? Maybe we should be talking about the tragedy that just befell Deika City and the lives that were needlessly lost as a result."
She switched the projection back over to the Safety Commission emblem before concluding, "I think there are a lot more important things we should be focusing on aside from my 'qualifications' at the moment. But if it concerns you that much, I'd be happy to have a discussion about that after this press conference is over."
The reporter returned to his seat with a disgruntled expression and didn't utter another word.
Another reporter raised their hand and stood to ask, "What is the Hero Public Safety Commission's stance on the militant group that attacked Deika?"
Shadou stood from his seat behind her and Misaki happily stepped aside to allow him to take her place as he answered, "The investigation is ongoing, but we have yet to rule out any possible League involvement."
"There's been no evidence of that though, right?" The reporter followed up as Misaki returned to her seat.
"Not that we've currently been able to find," Shadou confirmed impassively.
Misaki managed to make it through the rest of the press conference without any more questions being directed her way. After the verbal lashing she'd given the first reporter who had questioned her, she couldn't say she was all that surprised. It hadn't been her intention to come across in such a condescending manner, she was just saying what she believed. She may have gone a bit overboard in pressing her point though, especially for it being her introduction to the media as an executive within the Hero Public Safety Commission. She probably hadn't made a very good first impression…
As she stood to begin making her way offstage, Shadou glanced down at her out of the corner of his eye and told her in a low tone, "Well played."
Misaki stood there speechless as he walked past her and out of the room. Had her biggest antagonist just given her a compliment? Forget coming out of left field, that ball had come all the way from outer space at her.
"You handled that well," the President's voice addressed her, suddenly breaking her out of her shock.
Misaki cringed as she turned to respond to the woman, "Sorry if I stepped on your toes at all."
The President offered her a small nod as she said, "Everything worked out for the best. Congratulations on surviving your first press conference."
She returned the nod as the two of them walked off stage and exited the media hall. "Thank you. Can't say I'm looking forward to many more of those."
The President turned to her and cast her a knowing glance, telling her, "I think you'll be just fine," before turning and walking off down the hall toward the elevator.
'Well, maybe I didn't make such a bad first impression after all,' Misaki thought to herself as she followed after the woman with a small, almost pleased smile on her face.
Snow had been steadily falling throughout the day, creating a soft, white, pillow-like landscape across the grounds surrounding UA High School. Students and teachers alike had been spending their Christmas holiday preparing their dorm common rooms for the parties they would be throwing to celebrate the occasion, since most of them wouldn't be able to travel home to spend the day with their families. Eraser Head's class would be having a banquet style dinner followed by a blind gift exchange later that evening. At the present moment, he was standing against a wall in the teacher's dorm common room watching his fellow educators make spectacles of themselves singing Christmas themed karaoke very loudly and mostly off key.
His phone suddenly began vibrating in his pocket and he fished it out to view the message he'd just received on the lock screen. Pushing away from the wall and heading toward the door, he called out to no one in particular, "I'll be back in a minute."
"Where are you going?" Present Mic called out after him.
"Gotta pick up a last-minute gift," Eraser grumbled as he continued to trudge toward the door without a backward glance.
"Well hurry up! We're gonna start the gift exchange soon!" Mic's voice trailed after him as he stepped outside and shut the door behind him.
The only people who knew that Misaki would be joining their Christmas party were him and the principle. Nearly all of the teachers had met her at one point while she'd been visiting with Eri, so it wasn't like she was a stranger. However, he'd known that a certain someone was likely to make a big deal out of it if he had said anything. Mic had taken it upon himself to play matchmaker for the two of them whenever she stopped by anymore. He'd been able to keep the idiot from involving either of them in anything too obvious, as he was sure it would only make her uncomfortable. She was there to help support and educate Eri, not to look for a date.
As he approached the front gate, he noticed Misaki standing there surrounded by three patrol robots. Sighing to himself, he walked up to them and called out, "It's okay. She's clear."
The three bulky robots swiveled around, and their mechanical red eyes focused in on him for a second before zooming back out. They relaxed their guarded stances at the sight and sound of the registered teacher and moved back to give Misaki some space.
"Okay," the mechanical sounding voice of one of them issued an affirmative response.
Another one turned to her and told her, "You're free to go."
"Watch yourself," the last one punctuated harshly as it shoved the packages she'd brought with her back into her hands before they all quickly rolled away to resume their posts at the gate.
"They're a little hostile, huh?" Misaki asked hesitantly, watching them over her shoulder as she stepped inside the gate before it slid closed behind her.
"They don't really like humans," Eraser explained, reaching up to scratch the back of his head sheepishly. Usually when she stopped by, he'd been there to meet her at the gate so she wouldn't have to deal with the robots.
"No kidding," she huffed with a raised brow as she turned around fully and walked the rest of the way over to meet him.
"Thanks for coming," he said when she stopped in front of him, and he reached out to take the gifts she was holding off her hands.
She let him take them from her with a gratuitous smile before giving a small shrug as she replied, "Thanks for inviting me."
He nodded once and turned around to walk back in the direction of the dorm and she fell into step next to him a moment later. They walked in comfortable silence down the recently plowed path leading to the area of the grounds where the dorms had been constructed. While they could sometimes be a little militant, the robots were pretty handy when it came to the ground's maintenance and cleaning large communal areas like the cafeteria and the training arenas. They arrived at the teacher's dorm building after a short walk from the front gate and Eraser reached out to open the door for her to enter ahead of him.
As soon as Eri saw her walk through the door, her eyes lit up and she called out, "Misaki!"
"Merry Christmas, Eri," Misaki smiled, crouching down, and holding out her arms to the little girl.
Eri immediately hopped down from the couch she was sitting on and dropped the tambourine she'd been shaking onto her seat. She ran across the room and threw herself into Misaki's open arms with a big grin on her expressive face.
"I didn't know you were coming!" She exclaimed as Misaki picked her up and she pulled back to stare into her eyes with shocked excitement.
"You didn't?" Misaki asked hesitantly, shifting her gaze over to Eraser who had walked in behind her and was standing by the door watching them.
"I wanted it to be a surprise," he said with a small grin.
The big, open smile on the little girl's face as she stared down at her friend had definitely been worth it.
"Dang it!" Mic's voice suddenly exclaimed from the direction of the common area.
"What?" Eraser asked, shifting his gaze to regard the man who had walked over to stand next to him.
He threw out a hand in Misaki and Eri's direction and shouted, "None of us are gonna be able to top that! I thought you were getting her that cat sweater!"
Eraser raised an eyebrow at him and dryly asked, "Weren't you the one who told me to burn that?"
"Yeah, but—!" Mic started, cutting off as Eraser began to walk away.
He knew if he gave his argument any more attention, he'd be hearing about it for the rest of the night.
...
"We're delighted you were able to make it, Torimodo-san," the small, mouselike principal of UA High School greeted Misaki as he walked over from the common area.
She smiled at him warmly in greeting as she set Eri back down on the ground next to her. "Thank you for inviting me, Principal Nezu."
"Why, of course!" The cheery principal exclaimed.
Misaki briefly noticed Eri suddenly leave her side, but she was distracted a moment later by the overzealous mouse-man taking her by the hand and ushering her out of the entryway.
"Please, come in! Hang up your coat," he said in a rush as he pulled her along.
She slid off her bright red pea coat and handed it to either Ectoplasm or one of his clones, she wasn't sure which, when he held out his hand to her as she entered the common room. She smoothed down the skirt of her black sweater dress and smiled at him gratefully just before Principal Nezu suddenly grabbed her hand again and dragged over to a table containing several large, Christmas themed mugs.
The principal picked up one of the mugs that looked like a Christmas tree and held it out to her as he graciously offered, "Have some eggnog."
She took it from him a bit hesitantly and said, "Thank you. Is it—?"
"Nonalcoholic," he confirmed with a grin. "Since there are young one's present."
"Really...?" She trailed off dubiously as she glanced over at Midnight and Vlad who both appeared to be visibly intoxicated, holding their own mugs while they belted out Christmas songs in the common area.
The principal nervously cleared his throat and spoke in a hushed tone, "Yes, well, some teachers chose to provide their own libations, it seems."
"No kidding?" She commented with a raised eyebrow.
The principal let out a nervous laugh and rubbed his paws together in a sort of skittish manner.
"Anyway! Please do make yourself comfortable, Torimodo-san. The gift exchange will be commencing soon!" He said in a rush as he turned and scurried away before she could reply.
"Misaki! Over here!" She heard Eri's voice suddenly call out to her from behind.
She turned and set the mug back down on the table before making her way over and calling out, "Coming Eri."
Eri looked up at Present Mic who was standing next to her and asked, "Now what?"
He reached down to pat her on the head and said, "That's great! Just stay right there!"
He rushed off just as Misaki arrived at Eri's side.
Before she could ask what the child had wanted, Eraser's exasperated voice sounded out from her left, "What do you want now?"
"I just need a little help with something right over here..." Mic said as he gripped the Erasure Hero's shoulders and positioned him at Misaki's side before stepping back next to Eri and exclaiming, "Perfect!"
"What are you doing?" Eraser asked in and irate manner toward the man's ridiculous antics.
"Look up!" Mic ordered, striking a pose, and shooting his hand up in the air with his index finger and thumb pointed outward.
They both looked up to find themselves standing next to each other under a very haphazardly placed mistletoe leaf.
"What the—?" Misaki stuttered, feeling herself suddenly go pale with dread at the sight of the familiar plant hanging above them.
Eraser's hair stood up and his eyes flashed red as he glared at Mic and growled in a low and dangerous tone, "You're dead."
Mic threw up both of his hands and exclaimed, "Awe, come on! Get in the Christmas spirit, man!"
"I'll tell you where you can shove your Christmas spirit," Eraser snarled as he stalked toward him.
Mic backed away with his hands held up in front of him defensively. "Now, now! There are young one's present!"
If anything, the reminder just pissed Eraser off more and he bit out, "Using the kid? Really?"
"Help me out here, Misaki!" Mic called out to her pleadingly as Eraser finally grabbed hold of the collar of his jacket.
"Sorry, DJ. You're on your own," she replied, offering him a small, sympathetic wave Eraser dragged him kicking and screaming down the hall while the others just watched the spectacle and shook their heads at their antics.
"Did I do something wrong?" Eri's timid voice suddenly asked, her large, expressive eyes staring off apprehensively in the direction Eraser had just dragged Mic.
Misaki crouched down and gently took the girl's shoulders in her hands. She looked her in the eye and said, "No, Eri. You didn't do anything at all."
"Does that leaf mean something bad?" She asked, still apprehensive as she looked up at the mistletoe hanging above them.
Misaki smiled softly and shook her head before replying, "Not necessarily. It was just a little prank is all."
"If you say so..." Eri trailed off, looking down as she wrung her hands in front of her.
Letting out a small sigh, Misaki caught Eri's eye again and gestured up to the mistletoe as she asked, "Do you wanna know what that is?"
Eri nodded slowly.
Misaki reached out and lifted Eri up into her arms, settling her onto her hip before pointing up at the plant hanging over them. "That is called mistletoe. During Christmas time, there's a western tradition that states if you're standing underneath the mistletoe with someone, you have to kiss them."
Eri looked back down at her and blinked. "Kiss?"
"Mhm, like this," Misaki leaned in and softly kissed Eri on the cheek.
Eri giggled before asking, "But you didn't kiss Sensei?"
Misaki dropped her gaze for a moment as she explained, "It's usually only meant for people who have special feelings for each other. Sensei and I are just friends, that's why it was a prank."
"But aren't we friends?" Eri asked, cocking her head inquisitively.
Misaki smiled at her and leaned in to rub their noses together. "Cute little girls are an exception."
"Everyone gather around now! It's time for the gift exchange!" The principle's voice suddenly called out from the common room and Misaki set Eri back on the ground.
She reached out her hand to the girl and asked, "Shall we?"
Eri took her offered hand and nodded enthusiastically. Misaki smiled back at her warmly and they walked over to join the UA teachers.
Misaki stood outside on the porch of the teacher's dorm not long after the gift exchange had ended, holding a steaming mug of eggnog in her hands, and staring forlornly across the snow-covered lawn. Eraser had been correct in assuming that everyone would contribute a gift to the exchange along with a separate gift for Eri. Mic was currently trying to show her how to use the drum set he'd gotten her after finally getting the thing all set up in the middle of the living area. Misaki had taken that moment to step outside.
It wasn't like she wasn't grateful for the invite; she really was. She had actually welcomed the distraction. She'd never really been one to let the loneliness of spending the holiday season without her family get her down. It had gotten to her a little bit in the beginning, for the first year that she'd spent Christmas truly on her own. This year though, she had another reason to feel more lonesome than usual and spending so much time surrounded by heroes wasn't really helping her situation much.
She looked behind her as the door opened and Eraser walked out. She nodded to him and he nodded back before walking over to stand next to her. Hearing the raucous sounds of everyone inside, she smirked and let out a wry huff before commenting, "They're quite... Lively."
"Just ignore them. They're all idiots," Eraser said as he blew into his hands.
Misaki grimaced as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and said, "I hope you know I didn't take any of that seriously?"
His expression darkened and he shot a glare over his shoulder at Mic through the wall of windows to their left. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he pays for that later."
She tightened her lips into a thin line, staring down into her mug as she tried to consider how to word what she wanted to say to him. After a moment, she took a deep breath and blurted out, "Look, it's not that I actually think anything like that, but..."
He raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "What?"
She let her words die in her mouth. Nothing about her interactions with Eraser had led her to believe that he had any sort of romantic feelings for her, and nor did she have any for him. It would be rude of her to take a silly prank like that to heart and possibly make things awkward within their friendship by confirming with him that they didn't see each other that way.
She smiled at him a bit tensely and said with a small shake of her head, "Never mind. Don't worry about it."
He stared at her a little suspiciously for a moment before returning his gaze back out to the snowy grounds. After a moment, she heard him softly say, "You looked kinda uncomfortable in there."
She tried not to cringe but failed, squinting at him out of the corner of her eye as she asked, "Was it that obvious?"
He turned his eyes away and awkwardly replied, "Well... Yeah, I guess."
Misaki sighed and hung her head. The shock of seeing that mistletoe hanging above them had disrupted her carefully crafted guard for a moment as she was reminded of the Christmas she'd spent with Hawks last year. There hadn't been any mistletoe, but they hadn't really needed any. That had been the first night they had physically confirmed their feelings for one another. The thought of kissing anyone on Christmas had jolted loose some memories for her that she would rather have kept firmly locked away while in the presence of others. No one needed her ruining their Christmas party with her depressive feelings.
"I actually just went through a pretty rough breakup a couple of months ago. Our one-year anniversary would have been this past Thursday. I thought I was doing pretty well, all things considered, but... I guess the holidays just brought up some painful memories is all," she explained in a solemn tone as she stared up into the late afternoon sky, still littered with big, fluffy snow petals.
"If you ever need to talk, I'll listen," Eraser's gentle voice offered after a moment.
She looked over at him and smiled. "Thanks, Aizawa-san. You're a good friend."
He gestured back to the door leading into the dorm with his eyes and said, "We should probably get back."
She looked down and nodded before telling him, "I'll just be a minute."
He nodded to her and turned around to head back inside.
Misaki tilted her head back, letting it rest against her shoulders as she stared up into the sky again and worked on getting her wits back together. The trickle of tears she'd felt threatening to break loose while she'd been explaining her holiday woes to Eraser teased the edges of her eyes. She swallowed heavily against the almost overwhelming sadness that bubbled up inside her as she was unwillingly assaulted by the memory of her last Christmas with Hawks.
The door behind her opened again and a familiar voice suddenly called out, "Oh, I apologize!"
Misaki sniffed and hastily wiped her eyes, turning her head to address the former Number One Hero who had just unceremoniously joined her, "No, it's fine. I'm the one who's intruding."
All Might smiled at her softly as he shut the door and walked over to stand a few meters away from her. "It's no intrusion. You're more than welcome here, Torimodo-dono."
She glanced over at his emaciated form, wrapped only in a thin looking jacket and scarf, and asked, "Aren't you cold?"
He smiled ruefully as he stared up into the snowy sky and replied softly, "I don't really feel much anymore, actually."
Those words, and the way he'd said them with such longing, hit her like a ton of bricks. She felt her breath catch in her throat for a moment as a feeling of overwhelming pity suddenly welled up inside her. He'd given everything he had during the battle in Kamino that had left him in his current state; and still he couldn't help wanting to do more. She could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. The regret he felt that he might not be around to see All For One's atrocious legacy come to an end.
"Thank you," Misaki choked out around the ball of emotion that had lodged itself in her throat.
All Might turned his head toward her and raised his brow as he hummed, "Hm?"
Misaki swallowed heavily and dropped her gaze into her mug. "I'm sure you've probably heard it a million times before, but..." She lifted her gaze to his. "What you did, the sacrifice you made for us, we will never be able to repay you for. But I still wanted you to know how grateful I am that you made it. For everyone. You really are a true hero, All Might."
A gentle smile lit up his long, thin face and a moment later he endearingly replied, "I really appreciate that, Torimodo-dono."
She returned his soft smile with one of her own and bowed her head to him before turning back toward the door. "Don't stay out here too long, okay?"
He lifted a hand to wave at her as she headed back inside.
~ Author's Note ~
Are you crying? I'm not crying... Nope... No tears here...
It felt like this chapter went from 😎 — 😮 — 😍 — 😭 in 0-60! Sorry for the emotional roller coaster! (unless you're into that kind of thing, in that case you're welcome?)
Thank you so much for reading! ❤️
LOLSAT