Final exam arc starts now get hype! Woo!
Faceless12345: You can call me Penguin, if you want to instead of my full username. But yes, I'm aware that there are many different views of "heroes" and that will briefly be touched on, especially with two other Servants and mentions of others. I won't exactly go over it in excruciating detail— as Gray, Chiron, and Astolfo all have the "Good" alignment (Astolfo is Chaotic Good, Chiron and Gray are both Lawful Good). In the second installment to this series, there will be a spotlight on Servant Heroes who are less "good" than how the BNHA universe paints them and there are going to be changes to mentality— Toshinori especially will have a different view on what heroes are in book two. Now, I might be interpreting what you said wrong, but yes, in short, I do realize that my exposition falls into the one-dimensional "Heroes Are Good Villains Are Bad" line of thought, but you also have to realize that Chiron is doing his best to explain it in a way that is easiest for them to understand. Suddenly being told that your teacher is over two thousand years old isn't easy to comprehend at first. There is some minor commentary on the topic of "these guys are bad in your terms, but in my time they were heroes" in this chapter, though too! I hope this makes sense!
Ultima-Owner: That's my job!
Fostlash: Caster Cu isn't the only one who just sprints up to enemies and stabs them! Gilgamesh, Merlin, Geronimo— and Edison and Da Vinci just punch enemies! As for Izuku... well, somewhere along those lines aren't wrong for what's going to happen. There won't be much of an interaction between Ryukyu and Astolfo, since I already have an idea of what I want to do for the Shie Hassaikai Arc, but they will talk. Probably. Maybe? I'm not sure yet.
Suzululu4moe: Since there's nothing canonical, no. None of them are religious in the Christian sense, Shinto or Buddhist, maybe, but that's not the Church's area. Kotomine makes me want to commit death so there will be very little mention of him if he's mentioned at all.
If anyone asked Chiron, he would say that everything that happened in Hosu was pretty well accepted by the three students and Gran Torino. Astolfo (and Gray, once her number had been given to those three boys, the nerve of them, texting his pretend-daughter so quickly!) had been getting texts from Iida, Todoroki, and Midoriya on and off on the way back to U.A. Chiron had gotten a few calls from Gran Torino as well, asking for clarifications, but for the most part, things settled down.
The day after they returned from internships, Chiron had pulled the few students who didn't know about Servants to the side and told them the bare bones of what he and Astolfo were. Following that, Gray transferred in. The transfer went pretty smoothly, though Jiro and Uraraka had been concerned about her joining during the final exams. She had assured them that it was fine before Add made a ruckus, causing some amusement as the Mystic Code was shaken in his cage.
The aftermath of the Stain incident passed and the students fell into routine again.
Things were pretty calm for the students.
Well, as calm as students studying for final exams could be.
Astolfo and Gray had both had other students in and out of the apartment for studying. It appeared that Gray had picked up on El Melloi II's teaching habits and between her and Yaoyorozu, he hoped the students would do alright.
Some of the students who came over asked him questions on Pre-Quirk Era Ancient History— many were curious about Grail Wars and the Servants who fought there and how they became known as 'heroes'. Those who asked him were startled when Chiron told them about Gilgamesh and how he would have been considered 'evil' by the current era's standards, yet he was a hero.
It was the same for many other heroes he told them about— Robin Hood would have been marked as a villain, he told Kaminari one day after explaining the legend, even though Robin Hood's ideas were similar to many heroes in that he believed the poor should be helped. Even the still legendary Oda Nobunaga would have been marked as a Villain, though there weren't too many arguments on that, due to how ruthless the War Lord could be (wait until they found out that Oda Nobunaga was a small girl, Astolfo had joked with him after they left).
And still, there were many more who were disgruntled at the idea of people like Gilles de Rais and Jack the Ripper were even considered to be as such. More than one student went back that day, thinking about the current ideology of Heroes and Villains and Chiron did hope that none of them decided to turn into a vigilante.
Despite the extra lectures the questions towards him generated, the students seemed to be having fun at the apartment. He had told Astolfo that while he had the rest of the students over that they had a full range of everything in the apartment— within reason, of course. He didn't want anyone in his room where he was keeping a majority of their assignments!
He was quite glad that they were all studying together though, it warmed his heart when he was back from meetings to see Gray and Iida quizzing their friends on the couch while Astolfo and Ojiro made the best of what they had. Some of them staid for dinner as well and he made sure that anyone who wanted to could take home leftovers. Bakugou had (angrily) asked to watch him cook the one time he had been over, using the excuse that he didn't get American Measurements at all and also wanted to know "Shit about that fucking Drake woman" while he made dinner. Chiron had only chuckled and agreed, slowing his movements for him to keep up as he worked, all the while telling him about the woman who was known as El Draque.
Those who had known about Francis Drake previously had also been startled to know that 'he' was a 'she'.
That said, he only hoped they weren't neglecting their physical training either. The studying they were doing was wonderful, but no matter how much studying they did, none of it would help with the practical portion of the exam this year. The practical exams were going to be changed.
The core staff had discussed it briefly, and with Nezu's permission, Aizawa and Kan started working on the pair-ups for their two classes respectively. Today would be the day that Aizawa proposed the pairs he came up with and Powerloader would hand out the final product of the Support Class' labor.
Chiron entered the meeting room a few minutes early, giving both Aizawa and Yagi, who were already in there, a smile in greeting. Aizawa didn't look up from his notes as he sat, but Yagi gave him a tired smile in return.
The man had been up late again, working his body to the limits, though it wasn't like Chiron was giving him a choice in the matter.
He was definitely breaking all sorts of laws by having Yagi strengthen the Magic Circuits within his body.
And also Endeavor's.
He was hoping that he would be able to work on others'— Maijima's weren't bad, and he had taken an interest in Add when Gray explained to him what the Mystic Code was.
He was definitely in trouble with the Embassy, but hopefully, he wasn't in as much trouble with the Mages' Association. There were times where laws needed to be broken, and it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission in this case, he reasoned.
He leaned back a bit, running some hands through his bangs as the other teachers filed in slowly, Nezu greeting him as he climbed up in the chair beside him.
Maijima was the last to arrive, settling down in his chair with a hum.
"Well, now that we're all here, let's not waste any time," Nezu said and Aizawa handed a few papers out to the rest of the teachers.
"Right, I've split all twenty-two students up into pairs based on certain factors between them," the homeroom teacher said with a yawn. He picked up one of the papers.
"First up," he said, "Ashido and Kaminari. Their behavior, for better or for worse, is quite simplistic." he turned to glance at Nezu. "I'm going to leave them to you, Principal. I'd appreciate if you could scoop something out of those brains of those for them."
Nezu nodded, seeming chipper as he smiled and looked up at Aizawa. "Okay!"
Aizawa nodded as well. "Shouji and Hagakure are next," he continued before he turned to Snipe. "Those two are good in stealth. Facing off with you will give them a challenge and make them focus on their stealth solely."
"Aye," Snipe nodded, "You can count on me, pardner."
"Good. Iida and Ojiro are next," he continued. "Both are fast and very mobile. Originally, I was going to put Ojiro with Sero, but decided on this because of Iida's need to be on a solid surface to move. Maijima, I know that this isn't normally your stomping ground, but your digging and trap making would come in handy. If Iida can't run, then they're stuck if they don't use their heads."
"Gotcha," Maijima nodded.
"Ishiyama, you're next. I have you up against Kirishima and Satou. Both are strong, but their endurance is low. You'll provide them with a choice— if they're overconfident they'll fail."
Ishiyama nodded. "They will have to realize that not every fight they can with brute force alone."
"Exactly," Aizawa said, shifting his papers. "Yamada, you're getting Jiro and Kouda. I don't have to explain why, right?" he asked and the blonde grinned.
"Nah, I got ya," he said, "I'll turn my volume to max output."
Aizawa nodded. "Good. Asui and Tokoyami are next," he continued. "Asui's weaknesses are harder to pinpoint because of how she takes everything in stride. She notes what they are and fixes them quickly. Tokoyami, on the other hand, is limited to ranged combat because of his lack of close combat training. Normally, I'd want them up against myself or All Might, but I have other plans. Ectoplasm, can I leave the two up to you, instead?"
The masked hero nodded, not saying a word before Aizawa looked back to his papers.
"Ayoma and Urararaka I'm leaving up to you, Thirteen."
The rescue hero looked up from the papers, nodding a bit. "Alright… both have quirks that make them unstable when airborne, right? They'll have to rely on getting up close and personal then."
Aizawa nodded a bit. "That's what I was thinking. You'll do great."
"Yes! I'll do my best!"
"Sero and Mineta are next up," he said, just barely hiding a grimace. "Honestly, Sero would be able to do better with a stronger teammate and I debated Ojiro, then Astolfo or Gray, but for the obvious reasons, I dropped the last two."
He turned to Kayama. "You don't mind, right?"
"Oh not at all!" Kayama said with a chuckle. "Mineta because he'll be distracted right?"
"Yeah," Aizawa said as he nodded. "And Sero will be distracted because he'll be trying to keep him in line." She nodded again before Aizawa sighed, looking at the remaining papers. "And here are the powerhouses. First up, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. While incredibly talented, Todoroki relies on brute force way too much. Yaoyorozu, on the other hand, is well rounded but lacks the judgment to make a split-second decision. They'll be up against me. I'll be erasing their Quirks and be hitting them at their weak points."
"No objections here," Nezu chirped, earning nods from most of the other staff.
Aizawa nodded. "Next, All Might. I'm leaving Midoriya and Bakugou up to you."
Yagi startled, looking over as Aizawa explained. "In this case, I didn't pair them up in their ability or classwork— it's purely relationship-based. They're on horrible terms and you have a soft spot for Midoriya."
Yagi nodded slowly. "I… see. Very well, then," he agreed.
Aizawa leaned back. "And then lastly, our two Servant students— Gray and Astolfo. I don't want to test my or anyone else's luck here, so the obvious choice was Chiron." He set his notes down, looking over to the Archer. "Are you alright with that? The only other option would to be to switch you and All Might," he said and Chiron nodded.
"It's not a problem," he told them, humming a bit. "Both are very flexible when fighting, they both have a very different style. You've seen Astolfo fight, but the extent of Gray and Add's abilities outrank his in sheer destructibility," he explained, "In fact, I'd say that… if she wanted to, she would be able to wipe every single one of the staff here of the face of the earth with one strike."
The teachers tensed as he spoke, watching the normally mild and easygoing man enter a more serious mode.
"In all honesty, I know I can take Astolfo down. Not even in terms of Class ability only. He can be rash and his Rider form is not suited for fighting ranged combat on a team. It's Gray I'll be worried about. While I have looked at records and watched her and Astolfo fight, she's still an unknown. I'm just going to have to bank on her inexperience against other Servants." He steepled his hands in front of him before he turned to Aizawa. "I would request that our fight is last of the students' fights and I would like for the rest of you to watch the full fight. The students are aware of our inhuman status, whoever is conscious among them should watch us as well."
Both Aizawa and Nezu gazed evenly at him before Nezu nodded.
"We can arrange that," he said, "In fact, it would be a good idea to do that. None of the students have seen you fight for real."
"USJ doesn't count either," Aizawa added. "You fought in order to keep those alive. Servants and Humans are different. You can let loose."
"Exactly," Chiron said with a smile. "As the Great Sage and teacher of Ancient Heroes, it's my duty to teach not only Gray and Astolfo what the Knight Class can do, but also the other students what a Servant is."
Goodbye Astolfo. You will be missed.