"So, what do you think this is going to be about?" Hizashi Yamada, the soon-to-be English teacher on UA, asks. They all had a moment of introducing themselves to each other while waiting for Principal Sasaki to show up.
They are all teachers. High school teachers. With an extraordinary track record. Not just in teaching alone. They noticed that when they compared experiences. Every single one of them had a history of dealing with victims of discrimination. That alone was very telling, as… well.
Mirai Sasaki forgot to tell them why he chose them. And what he chose them for.
Six of them were waiting in UA's meeting room. Every one of them was recently contacted and offered a job. With very few details. And they agreed, even if they had to travel to the other end of the country in a hurry.
Having the word 'UA' in your resume opened all doors in the country when you were a teacher. Even if you didn't stay part of it for long, it still meant that you were clearly good enough for Mirai Sasaki to pick you up for something. It was akin to nobilitation for teachers in Japan.
Besides, they were 99% sure that UA was going to be the last school in the country to get defunded. In uncertain times, that was a massive benefit. And probably a reason to go for it in itself.
"No idea." Kayama Nemuri replies. She is eyeing the remaining people present in the room while answering. The teachers huddled into one corner are merely the largest group present. "But it's going to be something weird."
"Why?" It's Hirooki Anakuro's time to reply. The physics teacher has clearly failed to catch up to her colleague's line of thinking and decided to amend this as soon as possible.
"Because we have some really high-profile people here." Nemuri replies. "I can see Chiyo Shuzenji, the head of the UA University Hospital." The tiny woman approaching her seventies is sitting way away from them, clearly wondering what is it all about as well. "I can see Higari Majima, the head of the UA Institute of Engineering." This time, a rather gaunt man in a suit. Equally curious about what it was all about. "Oh, and Ryo Inui, the UA's chief psychologist."
The presence of the last one was a curiosity in itself. The man was big and kinda furry. Long, well-trimmed beard. A moustache. Shoulder-long hair. It all kind of merged together.
There was also some military-looking guy that neither of them recognized, but he stuck to himself. So many questions they had.
There are a few seconds of silence among the teachers after Nemuri's summary.
"You recognized them all?" Ken Ishiyama says, clearly surprised by it. Nemuri looks surprised by him being surprised. The literature teacher should be lucid enough to know that much, right?
"What, you didn't check who is who when you get the message that Mirai Sasaki is inviting you to teach at his school?" Kayama looks genuinely surprised by this. And then even more surprised at their surprise. "Like, why?"
"I did." Nishida Hotaka points out. The math teacher looks oddly expressionless. He feels… honestly, her first thought about him (especially with how thin he is) was that he looked like a ghost. "And I agree it is rather odd that they are here. While clearly not knowing much more than we do. Besides…" He points out towards the folders in front of them. "...this is much more interesting."
Especially the large 'do not open before the meeting' written on it. Probably, as Hotaka mentioned earlier, some form of last-minute test. As a result, no one opened them. What was interesting was that neither did Maijima, Shuzenji and Inui. Even the military-looking guy didn't do it.
Huh.
The Non-Disclosure Agreements he had them all sign were also incredibly restrictive. Nemuri herself suspected teaching children of people in witness protection programs or something like that. Or perhaps defectors from China? That would make sense with the discrimination victims part (no one in Japan liked China nowadays). Then again, none of them speaks Chinese.
"Well, we'll probably find out s…" Yamada was about to say it when Mirai Sasaki himself entered the room. Together with his secretary, Miss Awata. They all met briefly - she directed them into this room earlier. "Speak of the de… principal."
Nemuri allowed herself to smirk at that. Hopefully, the principal was far enough to not notice what was happening. Even though he would make a convincing devil with some horns. And black suit instead of white.
"Welcome." Sasaki says once he reaches the lectern. "Before we start this meeting, I'd like to once again stress the importance of secrecy."
'Oh great, as if the NDAs weren't enough' works as the summary of what the teachers gathered in the room thought. They could be practically summarized as 'you're living on the UA grounds and have no contact with anyone outside of it until the Special Course is concluded, which should take about half a year'.
"NDAs that you all signed… yes, including the long-standing members of the UA… contained what we could reasonably write on paper." Sasaki continues as if reading their mind. "I'll add that if you leak information out of the Special Course, I'll change your life into a nightmare. I'm going to ruin your family life, destroy your public life and end whatever careers you will attempt, even if it'll be menial work. And then, once you'll be busy dying from starvation on the street, I'm going to visit you, laugh in your face, and steal the cardboard box that you'll be using as your only shelter from the cold. Did I make myself sufficiently clear?"
Nemuri actually freezes at this. Because something in the expressionless face of Mirai Sasaki makes her think that he actually means it.
"Mirai, isn't it a bit…" Higari tries to interject. He seems to have come to a similar conclusion as Nemuri did, and wasn't sure how to react to that.
"No exceptions." Principal Sasaki shoots him down immediately. "Special Course can be considered a matter of national safety. We estimate that the need for secrecy will diminish significantly within up to six months. Once that happens, the policy will change. If you believe you can't keep your lips sealed for that time, this is the last moment for you to leave this room."
No one leaves. UA is an institution. They are ready to stay silent for half a year (it's not THAT long), considering what it means for their careers. Though they exchange some worried glances.
"Very well." Mirai nods. "I commend you for that. Now, we'll move over to the primary subject of the meeting. Namely, the nature of the Special Course."
There is a projector screen next to him. Sasaki's secretary seems to operate it.
On it are four diagrams, titled 'Europe', 'United States', 'Japan' and 'South America'. There is no sign of what they are measuring, besides the fact that it's a year-by-year comparison. And that whatever is being measured, it was steadily rising for close to twenty years. Only to rapidly spike during the last two years.
And by 'rapidly spike', Nemuri means 'suddenly jump thrice as tall, and then grow a bit more'.
"Those diagrams display the number of events that can be considered 'unexplainable'." Sasaki continues. "Everything ranging from odd crimes to supposed ghost sightings. Local police have discovered the reason for that and have informed me about it. My investigation and consultations among my contacts within the government have confirmed their suspicions."
Wait, what? Nemuri isn't sure what to think about it. Why are they talking about ghosts? Odd crimes? What?
She isn't the only one with a similar reaction. It seems to be rather common among those gathered in the room.
"About twenty years ago…" Sasaki continues. "... people throughout the world, especially young ones, began to display a variety of abilities that can only be described as 'impossible' or 'unexplainable'. Despite those two words, those abilities were almost uniformly extremely weak and far from what I'd consider 'flashy'. An example that I learned of through my governmental inquiries is a man in Kyoto who can, with one hundred percent certainty, predict the result of a die throw. Regardless of the dice rolled, but only if he is the one who rolls it."
That sounds like a wonderful power for someone trying to cheat in a casino. Then again, he'd have to be the one throwing the dice.
"Rare cases of stronger meta-abilities were almost uniformly unstable or downright self-destructive." Sasaki continues. "Typically destroying the user during their first manifestation. As a result, it was believed that the situation requires no further action, except for having some research facilities try to look for the cause of the phenomenon hoping to prevent further deadly manifestations. Without success."
Now Nemuri is openly staring at the principal. And she isn't the only one. This is… if it wasn't Mirai Sasaki, they would all discount that as a form of a joke. A very costly and weird one.
But… that's him. The man who can probably enter any major governmental institution in Japan, only to be respectfully welcomed by his school's former graduates that are probably running it.
He is also known for being able to cite your entire school history if you were in UA, even if years passed and you did nothing notable.
"The government has missed the newest developments, responsible for the sudden growth of 'unexplainable' events during the last two years." Sasaki continues, completely ignoring the shock in the crowd. "Newly manifested meta-abilities are neither unstable nor self-destructive nor weak. While the central government is yet to notice the scale of the problem, regional police units, criminal organizations and terrorist groups are already scrambling to gather as many metahumans as they can. The situation is, and I'm not using that word lightly, critical."
"Wait, slow down. You don't mean that…" It's Shuzenji. Sasaki promptly continues his introductory lecture. The fact that someone - even his old-time co-workers - actually tried to interrupt him is a good sign of how outlandish his words are.
"Considering the UA's position as a source of high-quality education with its own engineering department and hospital, the Assistant Commissioner Aizawa of Takoba city police asked for my help." Sasaki continues. Despite unloading rather shocking news onto them, his face looks perfectly neutral. "Special Course includes metahumans from this city that are already using their powers to assist the police in their operations. The point of this course can be considered to be fourfold."
"First." He says while raising a finger. "We're supposed to provide them with under-the-table healthcare. This is especially important with those who significantly deviate from baseline human anatomy, as they can't be admitted to normal hospitals without causing an information leak. Two." Another finger goes up. "We're supposed to find a way of either deactivating or temporarily suppressing powers. As of now, local police are following the trail of at least several metahuman criminals that are simply impossible to be restrained by our current prison system."
That… that actually sounds rather intimidating. And very problematic for the police.
"Three." Third finger joins the two. "We are expected to provide those metahumans with education as good as possible. We cannot be sure that the meta-abilities will not disappear in a year or two, just as mysteriously as they showed up. If so, then those young men and women should have a future ahead of them. Especially in uncertain times, such as the ones we live in. This is the least that we can offer them for willingly risking their lives for the sake of public safety. Finally, point four." One more finger raises. "We are expected to provide them with both psychological help and moral guidance. Every one of our new students is a potential threat to society, especially in its current damaged state. We cannot let them fall."
At this point, Nemuri realizes what this is about. They are going to be teaching the real-life equivalent of the X-Men.
Oh. My. God. Even if you exclude the part where they certainly need a proper education (Principal Sasaki is absolutely correct with his point three) and providing them with it is a good thing to do, then… What can beat something like that in your CV?
Unless, well, this still can be a super weird prank.
"The folders in front of you include a summary of our current knowledge about meta-abilities and the established terminology." Sasaki continues. "Please read section one now."
Nemuri promptly does that.
She learns a lot of things. That meta-abilities are also called quirks. That thus far there are three main types of them (emitters, transformations and mutations), with the lattermost being divided between simple and complex mutations.
Then comes the fact that there are actual superheroes and supervillains running around. At least by classification. And that no one knows what 'causes' a metahuman to be born, except for one case during which someone manifested it in a sufficiently stressful situation (during an attempted murder at the hands of some thugs).
Some, namely mutations, appear to manifest either right from birth or soon after. Emitters and transformations are 'born' much later, anywhere between four and eighteen years in. Whether the meta-abilities are inheritable (and what happens if two meta-humans have children) is something too early to be known but should be considered a crucial field of study.
Plus a suspicion that complex mutations might coincide with emitter or transformation quirks. And the mention of the fact that the activation of non-mutation quirks often comes with unexpected minor mutations, such as non-standard hair/skin/eye colour, growth of horns, etc.
That's… that's a lot to digest. And she is yet to actually find out any actual examples of powers. She really isn't sure what to expect.
"I believe everyone has already reached the end of section one." Sasaki announces suddenly. "We will leave questions about technical details for later. For now, we're going to go through a quick rundown of soon-to-be students of the Special Course." He raises his hand. "Before we start, I'd like to quickly summarize the educational goals of the Course. The students are all legal adults. However, considering their often turbulent past and incomplete education, the Special Course is going to focus on bringing them up to the academic level normally expected of senior high school graduates. By the time we achieve this, the existence of the abilities will become public knowledge. Thus allowing them, hopefully, to pursue further education among their non-metahuman peers."
Makes sense. Especially if you do not want to entirely alienate metahumans from non-metahumans. And vice versa. He probably expects them to (mostly) continue attending the UA, alongside future people-with-power. Forging connections while making the latter realize metahumans aren't monsters or aliens in their midst.
"Now, please open section two of your folders." Sasaki says. Nemuri follows the orders and… well, damn. She would love to have hair like that. Is that some meta-human thing?
"Case one. Izuku Midoriya." Sasaki says. "Hero name Defiant. As of now, combat-wise the strongest meta-human on the side of the law within the Musutafu Prefecture. Also, the leader for the others, meaning that you're free to treat him as the Special Course class president. His quirk, Force, is best summarized as telekinesis. Powerful and detailed. He levitated every single item and furniture piece within my office to persuade me that superpowers exist, only to put them down in perfect order. He can…" Sasaki adds after a second long pause, as if to give them the time to admire the courage that this action required. "... kill a human instantly by slamming them into a wall with enough strength to partially liquefy their body. Consider this as a picture of the destructive potential of metahumans, and a proof of the importance of the Special Course."
Oh. Shit.
"Uhm…" Hirooki takes one for the team and raises her hand. Sasaki wasn't speaking for a moment, so it was rather likely that this was the space for asking questions. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but… is that example based on actual events, or purely hypothetical?"
"Based on actual events." Sasaki replies. He seems vaguely pleased by the question being asked. "A supervillain cornered him when his attempt to free a six-year-old metahuman that the villain kidnapped and abused went awry. The villain's meta-ability allowed him to survive and heal the sustained injuries, but Defiant has professed in a talk with Assistant Commissioner Aizawa that he is still having nightmares about the encounter. Something that I believe Inui should look into." The counsellor/chief psychologist nods scarcely.
The file includes a brief rundown of what was known about Izuku Midoriya's private life. Of course, Principal Sasaki did some research. In the end, however, there isn't much that he found about him. Poor family (poor, but not starving), a single mother. Unspecified medical issues. The tests that he was asked to do showed that while his education was lacking in some fields, he was clearly highly intelligent. His background at school…
Shit. That probably explains incomplete education. Poor family.
"Case two. Kirishima Eijirou." Sasaki announces. They all obediently turn the pages in the folders to witness… what on Earth is that?! "Hero name Gargoyle. His quirk is called Hardening. It's rather descriptive. He can harden his body, which makes his features progressively sharper and his body more and more rock-like. According to the current knowledge about the limits of his quirk, the highest hardening level allows him to withstand everything beneath the level of a dedicated anti-armour weapon. So, an anti-tank missile launcher or an anti-materiel rifle. Neither, however, is expected to be a guaranteed kill. The picture to the right is him in that state."
"How does that even work?!" Shuzenji is the one who speaks. "The impact alone should at least be painful, and… you can't just change your body like that without…"
"I'm aware." Sasaki interrupts her. "As of now, we have absolutely no idea how the meta-abilities work, except for the fact that most of them are directly violating our knowledge about the laws of physics and human anatomy. And no, Gargoyle's quirk isn't the most impossible among those known to us. Understanding this phenomenon is going to be the chief of our pursuits."
His academic performance appears average. Way beneath what's required to get into the UA the normal way. On the other hand, he is noted down as a gifted (if amateur) boxer. And he appears to be physically strong. A sports course was probably much more likely.
"Case Three. Uraraka Ochaco." Sasaki continues the meeting. Another page. This time a perfectly normal-looking young woman. "Hero name Singularity. Her quirk is called Gravity Manipulation. It allows her to manipulate the gravity of objects she touches with all five finger points at once. She can both make them weightless or make them weigh many times more than they should be. The maximum weight of the affected object is estimated at twenty tonnes."
"She can… oh my god." Hirooki appears to be the most shocked out of them. Then again, she specializes in physics. "The US Marine Corps is going to kidnap her for NASA the second they found out about her."
"An understandable, albeit incorrect assessment." Sasaki replies. "You'll understand in a while."
The summary is both sad and… painfully normal nowadays. Which is also rather sad. War orphan. Before her parents died, she was doing very well at school, especially excelling in anything connected to engineering.
Nemuri clicks her tongue when she figures it out. Her family had a construction company. She probably worked hard to help them. Then, war came. Shit. This really wasn't a pleasant time to be alive.
"Case Four. Mieko Eto." Principal Sasaki continues. This time it's another girl of similar age, but with blonde hair and blue eyes. She has… something floating above her extended hand. It looks like a black circle with a yellow edge. "Hero name Eclipse. Her quirk, Surface Control, allows her to create and control two-dimensional surfaces with properties of any natural surface in her vicinity. Simply speaking, if she is standing on a concrete floor, she can create floating surfaces… like the one above her hand in the picture… with properties of twenty-five centimetres of concrete."
That sounds… actually pretty out of the blue. Not like any power Nemuri Kayama ever heard about. Then again, her brush with superpowers could be summarized to watching the MCU films. And some DC films.
"Two points have to be stated." Sasaki says once they have time to digest the information. "One, the edges of her surfaces are a single molecule wide. This means that they can slice through everything. Two, she can give her surface the properties of an area in space existing elsewhere. This changes her surfaces into effective teleportation gates, allowing for instant movement between two locations. With a maximum range of about six hundred kilometres."
Oh. Oh shit. Well, that changes everything.
"Teleportation?!" Hirooki looks like she just received a gut punch. "Like… completely instant? A short distance faster than light travel?" Sasaki nods. "Oh. Well, I guess she's the person we'll have to guard from NASA more than Uraraka." She visibly deflates while saying this.
"Correct." Sasaki replies dryly. "She can't simply open a gate to Earth's orbit, at least in normal circumstances. The air composition can't be widely different between the two connected places, something that stops her from slowly decompressing Earth's atmosphere by venting it into outer space. She should be, however, able to open such a warpgate if standing in a depressurized chamber. Space shuttles could be thus deployed to the Earth's orbit by simply being pushed through her warpgate."
Nemuri is slowly getting dizzy about… well, everything she has heard. Maijima, in the meantime, looks like he is torn between revulsion and excitement at what the future will bring. It's probably understandable.
If this is what the metahumans are bringing to the table… shit. The government will not survive their arrival, isn't it? Even before the war, it would be a 50/50 chance at best, but now…
Sasaki is probably so invested in the metahuman business because it improves his school's long-term survival chances. From 'close to zero' to 'actually existing'.
Eclipse, it turns out, is a runaway. Some family issues that everyone involved kept quiet about. Academic-wise, she appears to be rather gifted. If she kept studying, she would have a fair chance of getting into the UA the normal way.
The lack of knowledge about the personality and so on of people in question is rather… painful. They'll need to fill that void themselves.
"Case Five. Kyoka Jirou." This time, a punk-looking girl. With… wow, her earlobes look like… what the hell?" Hero name Earworm. Her quirk is called Earphone Jack. She can freely manipulate and, to a degree, extend her earlobes, which she can also use to connect to either electronic equipment or solid objects. If connected to the walls of a building, she can detect even the most minuscule of vibrations, granting her the effective hearing range approaching a single kilometre. She can also project and amplify the vibrations of her own heartbeat, up to the level when they can shatter concrete."
Nemuri has so many questions that she wants to ask right now that she doesn't even know where to start. Shuzenji takes advantage of that and speaks first.
"She grew up with a body part that somehow can directly interface with modern electronic equipment?" Shuzenji asks. She sounds like she is on the verge of questioning her own sanity. "And she can hear every sound within a single kilometre, without overloading her brain? How's that even…" She takes a deep breath. "Yes. We're supposed to figure this out. I get it. Please continue." She looks like she really hopes that this is all one giant prank.
Academically good. Despite the aesthetics, no signs of problematic behaviour. Well-off parents that recently moved to Takoba from Hosu and appear to be supportive of her, despite her metahuman reveal. Well, sounds like there is someone in the Network without having a troublesome past OR issues with their family.
"This concludes the second section of the talk." Sasaki announces. "The section that includes the metahumans that appear to be… stable and unproblematic, so to speak. At least thus far. From now on, we're going to be talking about special cases."
Oh dear. This is going to get nasty from now on, doesn't it?
"Case One. Tsuyu. Surname unknown." They all move to the next page in their folders. There are some actual gasps in the hall. Nemuri isn't surprised. The girl in the picture is… weird. Too big eyes and too-wide mouth alone make her look unnatural. "Hero name Kappa. A complex mutant, whose quirk makes her into a human-frog hybrid. She can extend her tongue to about twenty meters while maintaining enough strength and precision of movement to grab and move a human around. Excellent swimmer. Can stick to the vertical surfaces, camouflage herself, eject and wash her own stomach, hibernate once the temperature drops and secrete a lightly poisonous mucus."
Shuzenji looks like she is about to have a heart attack. Kayama Nemuri might only be a biology teacher, but she actually understands that. She has so many questions right now. How does that work in practice? Can she have children with normal humans? What sort of children would that be?
Not to mention the fact that she is pretty much her own subspecies of humanity. They are yet to find a way to heal all the diseases and disorders of baseline humans. And now, subspecies? Won't they all require their own, specialized healthcare? What sort of healthcare system can actually survive that?
"Let me guess." Inui isn't a talkative person, at least outside of his therapies. Or so it seems. "People didn't like the way she looks."
"It's probably worse than you think." Sasaki replies. "She was abandoned around her fifth birthday when her mutations became more and more clear. Rather than get picked up by someone else, she spent the next thirteen years… and we're speculating about her actual age here… living in the wilds. Or, to be exact, in Takoba river. With next to no human contact."
Oh, shit. Well, this doesn't bode particularly well for the future of the complex mutants, now doesn't it?
Alright, Kayama has to admit one thing. The girl looks odd. Honestly speaking, her first reaction to the picture was being weirded out by it. And seeing her life was probably even worse, but…
To actually abandon a child over this? Oh, no. Nope. Kayama Nemuri is drawing a line there. She might not be a big fan of how the girl looks, but if she gave birth to her, she would have never done something this horrible.
"So, she is practically a feral child." Inui says. His face looks… Well, Nemuri would say that she feels bad for Tsuyu's parents if he finds them, but… no. She doesn't feel bad for them. "How functioning she is?"
"Apparently, a lot." Sasaki replies. Inui looks relieved. "She can speak normally and learned how to read quickly. Defiant describes her as 'very social and friendly if odd in behaviour and very blunt'. Overall, considering what we know about her I believe she can be fully rehabilitated. She'll require an individual approach and a lot of attention to get there."
They probably won't see her attend university. But if what the Principal said was correct, they should make her able to function in society. And perhaps achieve the equivalent of the knowledge of a senior high school graduate.
(***)
Nemuri Kayama right now: Okay, that girl looks super weird. A bit creepy. But it's no reason to treat a human being like people treated her! I would have never done that!
Nemuri Kayama in about three days: I know that girl for three days, but if something happened to her, I'd kill everyone I know and then myself.
Literally only the fact that she is most likely an adult stops Tsuyu from being kidnapped and adopted in about few chapters. It's rather heartwarming and wholesome, ngl.
Also next chapter is 50% continuation of this talk (I really like discussing societal impact of the Dawn of Quirks tbh) and 50% some actual action and plot developments. Stay tuned for more :v